Are we the Mexico of the Midwest?

• Author: Marcus, Morton J.
• Position: Commentary

Can you still remember what NAFTA means? Just a few months ago it was the hot topic, the subject of a television extravaganza, a face-off at center ice between Ross Perot and Vice President Gore.

Then, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the North American Free Trade Agreement in a dramatic prime-time vote designed to boost CNN's ratings, and NAFTA became yesterday's news.

If you recall, eight of Indiana's 10 representatives in the House voted against NAFTA. They were safeguarding jobs, striking a blow for fair labor laws and endorsing strong environmental policies. (Do I hear celestial trumpets sounding?) These brave, these noble few stood on the rampart and cast their votes over the parapet down on the teeming foreign masses assaulting the humble Hoosier fortress.

It was a moment of sweet irony. What were they defending? Their righteous voices raised in the cry of battle sounded only a hypocritical note. Have they never heard the siren song sung by our own industrial-development chorus? "Come all ye who yearn good profits to earn; Indiana, at your behest, Mexico of the Midwest."

Do we not tell industrial prospects they can get all the labor they want here at wages below those in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio? Are we not proud that our workers' compensation is less of a burden on the bottom line than in competing states?

Occupational Health and Safety? Why, Indiana's enforcement of these laws is "reasonable" compared to other states. Environmental regulation? Put your trust in our Indiana Department of Environmental Management and see what a difference state control can make compared to federal EPA enforcement. Unions? Not a problem.

Taxes? The burden for industry here is less than will be found in most states. Welfare system? Unemployment compensation? Listen, if you can't make it here, you had better go somewhere else because payments in this state are kept to a minimum.

True, we may not have the quality of education available in some of our neighboring states, but we get by in most instances just fine. Our...