Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

[Rogue Valley]

Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

“The things that the president says are not helpful to the process.” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.

2/1/19
President Donald Trump is doing all he can to blow up border security spending talks. But few people on Capitol Hill are listening. Lawmakers and aides from both parties are plowing ahead with negotiations this weekend, ignoring Trump’s growing public disgust for a closed-door process that is increasingly unlikely to deliver a border wall. The group can reach a deal to stave off another shutdown, several lawmakers and aides said, if only the president would butt out. “With all due respect to the president, I really have stopped now listening to what he says,” Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, one of the Democratic members of the conference committee, said in an interview Friday. “The things that the president says [are] not helpful to the process. It’s not respectful to our efforts.” In the past two days, Trump has repeatedly trashed the bipartisan committee tasked with reaching a border security deal and hinted he’s likely to circumvent Congress and build his border wall, anyway. Trump called the talks a “waste of time” on Friday, repeating his dismissive assessment of the committee he made in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday. The president has also insisted he may not even bother to read what lawmakers come up with “if they don’t have a wall.” At the same time, Trump has become more direct about his plans to declare a national emergency that he argues will allow him to build a wall unilaterally. “I think there's a good chance we will have to do that,” the president told reporters Friday.

Lawmakers on both sides concede the timeline they’re working under is extremely tight. In order to have a bill to the president to keep the government open by the current deadline, the committee would likely have to finalize an agreement by next Friday, Feb. 8, giving it enough time to move through both the House and the Senate. Democratic negotiators, however, insist that White House interference isn’t yet darkening the mood of the group tasked with formulating a spending plan. They argue most lawmakers and aides couldn't care less what Trump tweeted. The 17 Republicans and Democrats on the committee are clear that they agree on the majority of issues, from beefing up scanning technology at ports of entry to hiring more agents to stem the flow of illegal drugs. Pelosi and other top Democrats this week expressed an openness to some kind of fencing along the border, an important shift in tone that could be the key to a bipartisan deal. Pelosi, who must bless any deal before it receives a vote in the House, said Thursday she would support bolstering some of the current car blockades along the border to make it harder to people to cross. “If the president wants to call that a wall, he can call it a wall,” she told reporters.

At this point I think both sides can agree that some form of "fencing" should be added at mutually agreeable border points. How much added fencing and exactly where it would be erected remain unknowns.

I suppose Trump could call some additional border fencing a political win, even though it's not what either he or his base envisioned. At best, it would constitute a contrived political win in my opinion.

But a contrived political win is very much preferable to another shutdown saga or declaring a faux national emergency.

 

[Mycroft]

Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

“The things that the president says are not helpful to the process.” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.



At this point I think both sides can agree that some form of "fencing" should be added at mutually agreeable border points. How much added fencing and exactly where it would be erected remain unknowns.

I suppose Trump could call some additional border fencing a political win, even though it's not what either he or his base envisioned. At best, it would constitute a contrived political win in my opinion.

But a contrived political win is very much preferable to another shutdown saga or declaring a faux national emergency.

Nancy wants more "Normandy fences".

Do you know what a Normandy fence is? This:



LOL!! That fence won't stop a pregnant woman in her 9th month.

 

[Chomsky]

Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

“The things that the president says are not helpful to the process.” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.



At this point I think both sides can agree that some form of "fencing" should be added at mutually agreeable border points. How much added fencing and exactly where it would be erected remain unknowns.

I suppose Trump could call some additional border fencing a political win, even though it's not what either he or his base envisioned. At best, it would constitute a contrived political win in my opinion.

But a contrived political win is very much preferable to another shutdown saga or declaring a faux national emergency.

I think your commentary is right on.

It's the political dynamics though, that I find most interesting. If the House & Senate, i.e. Republicans & Dems, unite to produce a bill, they are in essence uniting against Trump. He will be forced to sign-it and proclaim it a victory to his supporters, or be required to battle with Congress including the GOP Senate. That's a big deal! And would be an inflection point in his Presidency.

 

[Chomsky]

Nancy wants more "Normandy fences".

Do you know what a Normandy fence is? This:

View attachment 67249477

LOL!! That fence won't stop a pregnant woman in her 9th month.

Yeah, but what if those pesky illegal border-crossers come with a tank?

Ya' gotta' be prepared, my friend, think ahead!

:mrgreen:

 

[jnug]

I suspect, some amount of Normandy is all that might get into a completed negotiation successfully. They are not IMO going to allow for more human physical barrier of any sort unless the Administration does as it was asked: Tell the Congress exactly what type and exactly where you want to put it for our consideration. That is not something the administration has engaged in at any time in any way as an Appropriations Process. Not going to get through such a process in the week that is left now in this negotiation.

 

[Idiometer]

Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

“The things that the president says are not helpful to the process.” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.



At this point I think both sides can agree that some form of "fencing" should be added at mutually agreeable border points. How much added fencing and exactly where it would be erected remain unknowns.

I suppose Trump could call some additional border fencing a political win, even though it's not what either he or his base envisioned. At best, it would constitute a contrived political win in my opinion.

But a contrived political win is very much preferable to another shutdown saga or declaring a faux national emergency.

But ... according to Trump, he's already building his wall, or fence, or barrier, with "money on hand."


:lamo

 

[Rogue Valley]

Nancy wants more "Normandy fences".

Citation please.

 

[Mycroft]

Citation please.

 

[jnug]

the larger issue is STILL defeating Trump's effort to throw Article 1 off the cliff edge. If he gets some Normandy out of this negotiation I can live with that. Trump must be driven back to the Constitutional process for gaining funding which is through Appropriations. He may or may not start throwing his rattles and teething rings around his playpen and spoiling his diapers again or he might come to the microphone grinning like an idiot and calling it a victory. Frankly I no longer care whether Trump is throwing his rattles or grinning like an idiot.

 

[Rexedgar]

I think your commentary is right on.

It's the political dynamics though, that I find most interesting. If the House & Senate, i.e. Republicans & Dems, unite to produce a bill, they are in essence uniting against Trump. He will be forced to sign-it and proclaim it a victory to his supporters, or be required to battle with Congress including the GOP Senate. That's a big deal! And would be an inflection point in his Presidency.

If this is like past ”inflection points,” it will be a memory in a week or two as there will be another to take it’s place. :shock:

 

[Chomsky]

If this is like past ”inflection points,” it will be a memory in a week or two as there will be another to take it’s place. :shock:

Alright, that may be a fair point.

But somehow, to me at least, this Pelosi led dynamic feels different than previously.

 

[Grokmaster]

Congress tunes out Trump’s border wall threats

“The things that the president says are not helpful to the process.” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.



At this point I think both sides can agree that some form of "fencing" should be added at mutually agreeable border points. How much added fencing and exactly where it would be erected remain unknowns.

I suppose Trump could call some additional border fencing a political win, even though it's not what either he or his base envisioned. At best, it would constitute a contrived political win in my opinion.

But a contrived political win is very much preferable to another shutdown saga or declaring a faux national emergency.

The Illegal-ocrats aren't fooling ANYONE with their duplicitous bullcrap.