Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 17:12:49 -0400
From: Ted White <twhite8 at cox.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Capclave in danger from truckers wildcat I-495 blockage
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

On 10/8/2013 2:46 PM, mark wrote:

[...]
>
> Ah, here's a bit more info, less heat and more light: Excerpt:
> According to U.S. News and World Report, tractor-trailer drivers from
> across the country are planning on descending on the Inner Loop of
> the Beltway this Friday in an attempt to show their displeasure with
> the current political climate, especially as it pertains to their
> industry.
>
> Dubbed the Truckers Ride for the Constitution, U.S. News and World
> Report reports that truck drivers plan to circle the Beltway "three
> lanes deep" at the highway's 55 mile-per-hour speed limit.
>
> As of Tuesday morning, a Facebook page set up in support of the
> protest already has more than 56,000 fans. In addition to their
> general displeasure with the government, the drivers are protesting
> conditions for drivers who are not unionized, among other
> grievances. --- end excerpt ---
>
> <http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/truckers-ride-for-the-constitution-planners-want-to-cause-beltway-gridlock-95040.html>
>
>  So, it's not exactly a shutdown....

According to today's POST:

*Threat of Capital Beltway shutdown is a hoax, trucker says*

By Lori Aratani, Updated: Tuesday, October 8, 4:33 PM

It can be hard to get attention for your agenda in a town like
Washington, but Georgia trucker Earl Conlon figured out a way: Take the
Beltway hostage.

Conlon’s comments in a U.S. News & World Report story that he and
thousands of truckers from across the country (and possibly Canada)
planned to come to the nation’s capital Friday and bring traffic to a
standstill on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway zinged across the
Web, picked up by outlets ranging from Fox News to the Huffington Post.
The rally was dubbed “Truckers for the Constitution.”

But alas, it is a hoax.

“The comments to U.S. News were designed to do one thing and one thing
only: stir the feather of the mainstream media,” said Conlon, a father
of three. “Nothing gets the attention of the mainstream media like some
sort of disastrous threat. I knew it was going to ruffle some feathers.”

So while thousands of truckers may indeed come to Washington on Friday
and many of them may travel along the inner loop of the Beltway, honking
their horns, they won’t intentionally shut down traffic, he said.

“First of all, we know it would not be right to go to D.C. to lock down
the city by the Belt loop,” said Conlon, 50, a veteran truck driver who
has suffered through more than his share of traffic jams. “That wouldn’t
be fair to the people there.”

And Conlon is not sure that he will even make it to town Friday.

Even so, he thinks that he has already scored a small victory: attention
for his cause — mainly the overreach of government and the inability for
politicians to follow the rules as outlined in the Constitution.

Take the current government shutdown.

“We would not be having this conversation if government was balancing
this budget,” he said.
His solution: Take their perks away, and pay them minimum wage until the
budget gets balanced.

“Then, I think you’d see some action,’’ he said.

Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.

=============

--Ted White