Don Surber: Trump fights battles he can win...
"I Don't Like How I'm Feeling." Rush Limbaugh
J.J. Sefton/AoSHQ: It's Bad
Many commentators (a lot at Don Surber) have noted that the Porktacular Congressional Bi-Partisan Omnibus mess is just advisory and Trump can spend (or not spend) as he deems fit. Trump can also divert money to building his wall. Don Surber even goes so far as to suggest the Army will build the wall. I suspect this take is a tad bit sanguine, but ok President Trump, start border wall building*, divert funds to the military as you promised, and (while you are at it) rein in overall domestic spending a bit. Surprise me.
* I have never been a huge fan of the wall, per se. Controlling illegal immigration has to be comprehensive. I would rather see a program for follow up on entry visas myself (since about half of illegals in the U.S. are from visa overstays). Punishing employers for hiring illegals is critical to stopping the incentive for most illegals coming here. Still, border control is very important. Trump ran on the wall, got elected in large part by promoting it, and a southern border wall is important. If he doesn't start getting it done, it is a massive fail on his part.
EBL: Congress Goes Hog Wild
Lem's Place: Trump outsmarts them again
AoSHQ: We'll make great deals in the future?
The wall has always been a symbol in the immigration discussion, but that symbol is controlled and limited immigration. The first I remember it was when Reagan signed Amnesty, and everyone was saying that before Amnesty; a wall would get built. No wall was built. When Amnesty came up again, the same story was made, but this time, it was put into the legislation to build the wall. But then it was never funded.
ReplyDeleteNow aside; I think Healthcare was always meant to be a debate token to discuss and garner votes. I don't think many in the DNC really wanted it. But Obama was an ideologue. He figured it was a good thing (he thought so) and voters wanted it; he should make it happen. And so he did. It cost his party dearly, but it happened.
So that's what I see with the wall. Its meant mostly as a debate token. Nobody really wants it, but Trump thought (it seemed during the primary and general) that it was finally time to build what people were told they would get. This meant actually funding the wall.
Still, the wall is hardly my biggest beef with the Omnibus. My problem is all the other things that are funded. The things Democrats want and the GOP and Trump said they would get rid of. The things that Porkbusters, later the TEA Party, and then the part of the Trump base that put him over the top want to get rid. Of the socialist pork that pays for things the private sector does better. I'll even add on to that pile NASA, which probably didn't deserve to be there before Trump's inauguration, but now with SpaceX's Falcon 9 Heavy; NASA is a just a gravy train for thousands of civil servants that have done nothing for the last 6 years.
You take out that funding, and there would be billions to be better spent in a free market economy.
The wall is a symbol, but it is not that expensive (like Obamacare) and there are areas where it would actually make a big difference. I do not expect it to be continuous or even close to completed by the time Trump leaves office (even after hopefully a second term) but it needs to be started.
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