Conspiracy Watch: The Amero

Are the US, Mexico, and Canada about to share a single currency? No! ¡No! Non!

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THE CONSPIRACY: Secret plans are afoot to merge the United States into an E.U.-like union with Canada and Mexico. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a trade agreement being discussed between George W. Bush and our neighbors, is actually a cover for a soon-to-be-formed single North American Union. Dollars and pesos will be replaced with a new North American currency called the “Amero.” The new “superstate” would erase the current borders, leading to a flood of former Mexicans into the region once known as the United States.

THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS: Jerome Corsi, coauthor of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, who’s managed to enlist the sympathies of Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist and anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). And Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.), who introduced a bill last September stating the United States should not enter into said North American Union.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH: The spp is real, but it’s a run-of-the-mill free-trade program along the lines of nafta. The idea for a single North American currency has been floated by academics, but that’s it.

Kookiness Rating (1=maybe they’re on to something, 5=break out the tinfoil hat): 4

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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