Stubbornness and The Wall

Terry H. Schwadron

Washington politicians under President Trump seem just as stubborn, ego-centric and insistent as always. Little can bring the narcissistic bloom to the fore quite as much as the periodic fight over continuation of government spending, a nonsensical exercise of schoolyard pushing over inevitable budget approval.

President Donald Trump and Congress are colliding over renewal of government funds as the White House demands money for a border wall with Mexico and Democrats promise the proposal will never pass. On that disagreement, each side hangs an overabundance of oratorical adornment that likely, in the end, will amount to not very much.

On the eve of the arbitrary 100-day deadline, it is highly unlikely that the President wants government to halt. It is equally unlikely that either the Republican majority or recalcitrant Democrats will want to take responsibility for a political shutdown that could affect actual people and lives, depending on how “essential services” are defined.

Inevitably, some legislative silliness will emerge for support of something that has nothing to do with a Wall, but allows Mr. Trump to call it border security and Democrats to say it isn’t.

Never underestimate stupidity, however.

From my point of view, now would be an excellent time to remind the President that he lacks the votes — and the logic — for a wall along the Southern border, no matter how it is defined. The Wall is a bad idea in general, and, by — once again — existing only as an idea without specifics, a bad idea for legislation and budget-making.

The reason to include money for the start of The Wall is simple — President Trump campaigned on it. The reason against it is absolutely everything else from our national values to cost to whether it would even work. Even Homeland Security does not think a complete Wall is appropriate across the thousands of miles of U.S.-Mexico border.

Still, Mr. Trump is making clear that he will play political chicken, as outlined as an art of the deal, with monies for Obamacare insurance supports or other actually necessary items in order to win some of the eight Democratic votes that will be required for Team Trump to win the budgetary day.

Outside of this debate, Team Trump has been very vocal in saying that their amplified threats and actual anti-immigration crackdown efforts have reduced border crossings by 60 percent over a year ago. If you believe all that is part of that presentation, then, logically, you might want to wonder if a Wall of the proportions under discussion would truly make us safer.

One problem here is the echo chamber. Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with like voices and ears, so his sloganeering gets repeated so much that it becomes its own kind of truth. There has been another weekend plus of tweets on the subject. Typical is this message: “The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If … the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be! #BuildTheWall,” Trump tweeted. The tweets follow another series of tweets Trump sent Sunday attacking Democrats for opposing the wall and insisting that Mexico would pay for its construction “in some form” and “at a later date.”

The chorus from Cabinet members was immediate and loyal. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions suggested that $4.2 billion in tax credits granted to non-citizens could somehow be re-routed to pay for The Wall, adding that “most of that money went to Mexicans” without any such evidence. (Actually, what I saw in that thought was that non-citizens are paying taxes. . . )

Meanwhile, Democratic legislators have been vocal in their opposition for the wall’s construction, saying that the project would be too costly and would ultimately be ineffective. And, as they do on all money bills, some Republicans have also expressed reservations about the cost and effectiveness of the wall, and others have said funding for the wall is not a priority. Among Republicans, including Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the former Homeland Security Committee chairman, there is a feeling that the White House should push The Wall off until later in the year.

In the meantime, between now and Friday night, I wish you all a bit of patience and some earplugs to tune out a debate that will, in the end, prove almost meaningless.

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