Why Democrats Oppose The Wall: Trump Will Actually Build It

The conservative consensus is that Democrats don't want to fund President Trump's wall because they hate him. Well, yes, Democrats do indeed hate President Trump, and yes, it's a deep-seated hatred, a visceral, soul-rotting hatred, but that's not the real reason they won't fund the wall.

The biggest reason Democrats won't even partially fund the wall is their absolute certainty that given the money, the president will actually build the thing.

President Trump's not some out-of-the-loop politician who can be outmaneuvered by a Deep State whose embedded bureaucrats will tell him everything's going swimmingly while they sabotage the project with cost overruns and endless delays. No, the president will know how much it should and will cost, how long it should and will take, and how to overcome government roadblocks. This is his wheelhouse. He's done it his whole adult life.

And, since the wall is his signature issue, his personal passion, President Trump's going to be all over the construction. That looming steel show-stopper will be blocking invaders in record time, under budget and ahead of schedule. Knowing that the wall will become a reality if the President gets the cash brings out the cheap-labor-express, wealthy power brokers like the Billionaires for Open Borders: Michael Bloomberg; Rupert Murdoch; other distinguished members of the Forbes 500; and, as Lou Dobbs often reminds us, the "globalists, the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, Koch brothers and Wall Street."

But it's not just the Washington insiders who like cheap renewable labor. Retail giants like Target, Walmart, and others reap the benefits of illegal immigration. In fact, most industries get in on the deal.

President Trump needs to declare a national emergency, its time. Then go back to the negotiating table. Their only objection seems to be the wall so once that's off the table they should easily pass funding for remainder of border security.

From article:

In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins. Ulysses S. Grant

I agree with the point of the article.

This is the main battle over whether the wall gets built or not.

Everything is set up, planned out and tested. All the legal challenges have been overcome. And Trump has two years remaining to actually do it. Only the money is needed.

If the President gets full funding now, he can button up the Rio Grande Valley and the border cities before Jan 2021. It would be a hard impediment to mass immigration of an unskilled long term underclass.

“How can he ever get it built when our government is fighting him on every effort?”

It only takes money at this point.

They stood up a program office, did a complete plan defining the whole route, prioritizing segments and detailing costs and schedule. The functional requirements and design specs have been defined. Congress received the plan in the Spring, and have not been able to find fault with it.

The Army Corps of Engineers established two standing contracts (East and West) for the program, and screened a pool of capable vendors to quickly bid out segments. They contracted 40 miles with the FY17 money (35 completed), and 80 miles with the FY18. They appear quite capable of contracting out $5 billion this year (~250 of the most expensive miles).

The legal obstacles of Right of Way/Eminent Domain have been refined and tested (the President said much of that work has been done up front). The ability to waive 28 different laws that impose delays (environmental, etc.) has been tested, and overcome the court challenges.

All of the who, what, when, where, why and how is known; and the folks are ready. All it takes now is the money. This is the time in the program for the money bomb. With two years left in his Presidency, there is time enough to get it done.

“can he get the money?”

I think so. He has been wargaming this since he started, and this scenario for at least a few months before the midterms, when Republicans crafted the nature of this shutdown to spare the public but starve part of the bureaucracy with Democrat leanings.

He has a Trump card, with his emergency powers, but I anticipate that the strategy is broader. I expect that one way or another, there will be billions more spent on barrier during the first term. I am more curious about how much, than about whether or not.

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