Mulvaney: Trump would build "steel fence" as concession to Democrats

[ataraxia]

that there is not still enough of it to warrant further scrutiny to our policies and procedures to help us enforce our laws on the subject.

OK, maybe. I would be totally open to further discussion on the subject. But it is certainly no crisis to require so much drama and pain inflicted on Americans. And certainly not with a giant wall, the symbolic equivalent of a giant middle finger to all of Middle and South America. For no good reason. Only someone with the burning fear and hatred of a racist would think this is OK and warrants this level of panic and drama.

 

[jnug]

that sounds like a whole lot of conjecture about what DHS and CBP want or have, which I am not buying, sorry.

I know civics 101 but the main way to get anything done, including in politics, is to actually try... which it is apparent to me, regardless of how many guesses about what DHS and CBP want you want to make, has NOT been done by the establishment politicians in DC as of yet about border security or illegal immigration.

I called is "Scuttlebutt" which is all we have until we actually see a document. Committee Senators have seen the document though it has been presented to them as incomplete. They have commented on it in open hearings and CBP officials have commented on it in open hearings. However until I see the document I prefer to refer to is as Scuttlebutt. Railing is not trying and all Trump has done is railing or howling at the moon.

My comments about this thing ever getting funded are based on political reality. Trump's best shot was during the two years that he had both majorities in House and Senate. If he knew how to do more than howl at the moon he might have gotten it done though I doubt it. There has never been any enthusiasm from GOP Senators for this Wall or whatever it is now. The only GOP support it ever had was in the House and the Dems have the House now.

That the wall as it was articulated in the Trump campaign would blow out the roof of any CBP Appropriations proposal is not hard to figure. The entire CBP budget for 2018 is $16B and the entire DHS 2018 budget is $78B. While I expect the CBP requests to Congress from the Administration to advance from the FY18 numbers, there are simply better ways to spend what one could reasonably expect for an increase. Congress is not going to give CBP twice the money. Its just not. $5B annually for new physical barrier would easily make new physical barrier the largest single new line item in their budget and the second largest item in the Budget in total and it would be $5B per year for 5-6 years just to build it if any of the numbers in the public domain are accurate. They will not IMO be able to justify that even if they wanted to do so. In part that is why the Administration had been pushing what was a GOP House to bootstrap it to CR's as CR's do not exist within the Appropriations process. It was/is a cheap and dirty way to proceed if they could get it done.

Declaring a National Emergency won't get it done either because for one thing its not a National Emergency and because nobody but nobody is going to allow a President to simply declare a bogus National Emergency as a means to avoid the Appropriations process of the US Government. Where will that stop if it ever got started?

Just improving technology at Ports of Entry where most drugs and other contraband come into the country will likely cost anywhere from $250M to $500M on average per location and there are 328 of those. That would yield much better bang for the buck than any sea to shining sea physical border will ever yield.

As for more studies on the actual effectiveness of physical barrier, well, that is on CBP and farther up the line DHS and farther up the line from that the Administration writ large. Its their job. Write the WH if you are not happy to this point.

 

[bubbabgone]

If there was any plans or proposals for said wall or fence it might be something. But after 2 years Trump has not done even that. He got everything for border security he asked for in his budget ($1.6 billion) and then the Dems took the House. Now there is a $4 billion tariff on Democrats that they must pay because Mexico won't. Guess what? Neither will the Democrats.

See #74 on this thre\wad for my response.

 

[iguanaman]

See #74 on this thre\wad for my response.

So nothing then. The truth is no new walls have even been proposed. There is no plan, no proposals. A big fat nothing. Just a blank check or the Govt. stays shut. It is preposterous.

 

[bubbabgone]

So nothing then. The truth is no new walls have even been proposed. There is no plan, no proposals. A big fat nothing. Just a blank check or the Govt. stays shut. It is preposterous.

You can't go back to look? Okay. Maybe you have a computer problem. Here it is again. It's short but packed with valuable information for everyone so read it all.

"He has replaced some old barriers with more effective ones. He's currently limited as to what he can replace them with. Right now he has to use the old designs.
Some new "walls" are scheduled for construction next month in South Texas. That's good, right?
Tell me, why do you object to helping the Border Patrol by giving them what they asked for?"

Someone must have thought it was important too because they asked for links.
After I gave the links to them they scurried down a rabbit hole a bit and then ghosted. They must have seen the writing on the "wall". The links are still there but them you'll have to look for.

 

[jnug]

You can't go back to look? Okay. Maybe you have a computer problem. Here it is again. It's short but packed with valuable information for everyone so read it all.

"He has replaced some old barriers with more effective ones. He's currently limited as to what he can replace them with. Right now he has to use the old designs.
Some new "walls" are scheduled for construction next month in South Texas. That's good, right?
Tell me, why do you object to helping the Border Patrol by giving them what they asked for?"

Someone must have thought it was important too because they asked for links.
After I gave the links to them they scurried down a rabbit hole a bit and then ghosted. They must have seen the writing on the "wall". The links are still there but them you'll have to look for.

Funding for new wall beyond what Trump has had bootstrapped to CR's or tried to get bootstrapped to CR's does not exist specifically BECAUSE new funding for new wall has not been appropriated as yet. It has not been proposed by the WH and approved by the Congress as yet. Why do you think we are working off of CR's? Why do you think Trump is trying to bootstrap funding for new wall to CR's? Why do you think all he has done is try to bootstrap new wall funding to CR's?

CR's are Continuing Resolutions. They "continue" existing Appropriations for a specific extended period of time beyond their current authorizations. They are not exercises in Appropriations. They avoid the Appropriations process by "continuing" or extending the time period for the current authorizations of which new physical barrier funding is not one.

In fact Ryan got a Bill out of the House that had $5B in new border funding in it by bootstrapping another bootstrap onto the new border funding bootstrap. He could not even get the votes in the rabid, GOP majority, 115 Congress for the new border funding he had bootstrapped to that CR and had to sweeten the pot by bootstrapping Disaster Relief funding onto that CR as well to get enough votes in the House to get it through. It of course died in the Senate.