The first brick hasn’t been set, and Trump’s border wall is already going south on him

[Crabtownboy]

This is when Trump needs a strong Chief of Staff who can talk to him privately and tell him to let this one go. It is politically a disaster waiting to happen.


Mexico won't pay for it. Democrats hate it. Border-state Republicans don't like it. Congressional Republican leaders would rather not undertake it. There could be an avoidable government shutdown over it.

And yet President Trump's budget director is pushing Congress to spend $1.4 billion to start building his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The political tension could backfire for the president. Trump's insistence on a wall is increasingly doing what some had warned it would do: It's undermining his relationship with Congress, it's putting Republican leaders in a no-win scenario on whether to fund it and it could potentially derail the president's ability to get anything else done.

Analysis | The first brick hasn’t been set, and Trump’s border wall is already going south on him

 

[carpro]

This is when Trump needs a strong Chief of Staff who can talk to him privately and tell him to let this one go. It is politically a disaster waiting to happen.


Mexico won't pay for it. Democrats hate it. Border-state Republicans don't like it. Congressional Republican leaders would rather not undertake it. There could be an avoidable government shutdown over it.

Maybe. The Wall is no different from any number of things democrats have threatened to shut down the government over. Seems like their only criteria for shutting down the government is that it has to be something the president wants.

 

[Crabtownboy]

Maybe. The Wall is no different from any number of things democrats have threatened to shut down the government over. Seems like their only criteria for shutting down the government is that it has to be something the president wants.

It is not just Democrats who do not want the wall. Read the article.

 

[InTheLight]

If Trump didn't pursue funding for the wall you'd criticize him for that.

Sent from my Motorola Droid Turbo.

 

[Salty]

And yet President Trump's budget director is pushing Congress to spend $1.4 billion to start building his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

and we have spent 20 trillion dollars on the war on poverty - so what is the big deal with one billion dollars -
a project that would create thousands of jobs.

Of course, what I would do, is bring back to active duty, Sappers and Seabees to build the wall.

 

[Crabtownboy]

and we have spent 20 trillion dollars on the war on poverty - so what is the big deal with one billion dollars -
a project that would create thousands of jobs.

Of course, what I would do, is bring back to active duty, Sappers and Seabees to build the wall.

Salty,

Why not use 1 billion on repairing our deteriorating bridges and repairing roads and other infrastructures that need to be repaired and actually help people?

 

[Crabtownboy]

If Trump didn't pursue funding for the wall you'd criticize him for that.

Sent from my Motorola Droid Turbo.

No. But he should fund repairing and improving infrastructures that are in dire need.

 

[InTheLight]

No. But he should fund repairing and improving infrastructures that are in dire need.

He says he's got a plan for that. I wonder what happened to it?

 

[Darrell C]

Salty,

Why not use 1 billion on repairing our deteriorating bridges and repairing roads and other infrastructures that need to be repaired and actually help people?

But...what about the refugees?




God bless.

 

[Darrell C]

Maybe. The Wall is no different from any number of things democrats have threatened to shut down the government over. Seems like their only criteria for shutting down the government is that it has to be something the president wants.

I would like to ask the members here their thoughts on "shutting the government down."

Is this acceptable in your view?

I ask because I am not sure if there is something about this that I am missing, or if this is as absurd as it comes across to me.


God bless.

 

[carpro]

It is not just Democrats who do not want the wall. Read the article.

Doesn't change the truth of my statement.

 

[InTheLight]

I would like to ask the members here their thoughts on "shutting the government down."

Is this acceptable in your view?

I ask because I am not sure if there is something about this that I am missing, or if this is as absurd as it comes across to me.


God bless.

It depends on what the issue is that is driving the shutdown. If Trump is going to go along with a government shutdown unless he gets funding for the Mexican wall, then that is wrong. Doesn't matter what he wants to horse trade for that funding since he said for 18 months that Mexico was going to pay for the wall.

The Republicans control all three branches of the government. There is no way possible that they can escape blame if the government shuts down.

In any event, it seems like a stunt to me. I don't recall any lasting harm coming from the previous times the government was shut down. I would hope that employees would get paid, but other than that I think we can withstand national parks being shuttered and whatever other trivial things happen.

 

[StefanM]

In any event, it seems like a stunt to me. I don't recall any lasting harm coming from the previous times the government was shut down. I would hope that employees would get paid, but other than that I think we can withstand national parks being shuttered and whatever other trivial things happen.

It's the interruption of services that's the issue, IMO.

For the employees, they generally end up getting back pay, so it's like a big paid vacation for them. That seems like a waste to me. If we are going to fund them eventually, fund them now and pay them for work and not for extra vacation.

 

[InTheLight]

It's the interruption of services that's the issue, IMO.

Yes, I can see that. Can you think of any specific examples? I mentioned national parks would close. I suppose the Patent and Trademark office would close. That could be detrimental if the shutdown continued for a while. Would USDA food inspections continue? I suppose they would.

 

[StefanM]

Yes, I can see that. Can you think of any specific examples? I mentioned national parks would close. I suppose the Patent and Trademark office would close. That could be detrimental if the shutdown continued for a while. Would USDA food inspections continue? I suppose they would.

The Department of Education would not be able to distribute financial aid. That might not be too big of a deal because of the time of year, but it's an inconvenience.

There are other examples, I'm sure, but my point is mostly related to the end game. In the end, we're going to fund the government, and these employees are almost certainly going to get back pay. If we are going to pay for the government services, we might as well actually get them.

 

[carpro]

The Republicans control all three branches of the government. There is no way possible that they can escape blame if the government shuts down.

Funny. Seems they couldn't avoid the blame when they didn't control all 3 branches.

 

[Yeshua1]

This is when Trump needs a strong Chief of Staff who can talk to him privately and tell him to let this one go. It is politically a disaster waiting to happen.


Mexico won't pay for it. Democrats hate it. Border-state Republicans don't like it. Congressional Republican leaders would rather not undertake it. There could be an avoidable government shutdown over it.

And yet President Trump's budget director is pushing Congress to spend $1.4 billion to start building his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The political tension could backfire for the president. Trump's insistence on a wall is increasingly doing what some had warned it would do: It's undermining his relationship with Congress, it's putting Republican leaders in a no-win scenario on whether to fund it and it could potentially derail the president's ability to get anything else done.

Analysis | The first brick hasn’t been set, and Trump’s border wall is already going south on him

Dems are pure Hyprocrits on this, as many of them supported the Wall in 2006, but they hate trump so much, will do NOTHING he purposes, so pleasing hatred before america's best!

 

[StefanM]

Funny. Seems they couldn't avoid the blame when they didn't control all 3 branches.

If you control the House or the Senate, you're going to face some blame for a shutdown. You don't have to control all of Congress plus the White House---just enough to stop a funding bill from passing. That's why they didn't escape blame before.

But ITL's point is that they DEFINITELY won't escape blame now.

 

[Yeshua1]

If you control the House or the Senate, you're going to face some blame for a shutdown. You don't have to control all of Congress plus the White House---just enough to stop a funding bill from passing. That's why they didn't escape blame before.

But ITL's point is that they DEFINITELY won't escape blame now.

Just saw a poll by ABC news that stated 67% of american think Dems out of touch, and they also would still have elected trump today!

 

[StefanM]

Dems are pure Hyprocrits on this, as many of them supported the Wall in 2006, but they hate trump so much, will do NOTHING he purposes, so pleasing hatred before america's best!

Ummmm...source?

I think you're confusing support for some border security measures with support for a Trump-style wall. I support the former but not the latter, and that's not hypocritical.