Posted on 01/12/2019 8:13:28 AM PST by Kaslin
The GoFundMe campaign that generated $20 million in private donations is being shutdown and those who donated are being refunded their money unless they decide to donate it to a newly-established 501(c)4.
Brian Kolfage, the veteran who started the campaign, on Friday posted the following message on the campaign's website:
Eight days before Christmas I started this GoFundMe campaign because I was tired of watching the U.S. government’s inability to secure our southern border. Like most Americans, I see the porous southern border as a national security threat and I refuse to allow our broken political system to leave my family and my country vulnerable to attack.
The plan of action was simple and straightforward to raise money to construct a wall on our southern border. We have raised over $20 Million from 325,000 plus donors and we are only just getting started! I have been literally overwhelmed and inspired by the outpouring of support, calls, and emails from American citizens who support our efforts to Build the Wall. I got some hate as well but that was easy to ignore with all the positive feedback I was getting. I immediately sought out and consulted with some of our country's leading professionals in law, politics, national security, construction, and finance. This team has spent countless hours over the holidays reviewing all issues pertaining to the construction of a southern border wall. Unanimously, we have all come to the conclusion that:
-The federal government won’t be able to accept our donations anytime soon.
-We are better equipped than our own government to use the donated funds to build an actual wall on the southern border.
-Our highly experienced team is highly confident that we can complete significant segments of the wall in less time, and for far less money, than the federal government, while meeting or exceeding all required regulatory, engineering, and environmental specifications.
-Our team strongly believes that we can complete our segments of the wall for less than half of the government’s estimated costs on a per mile basis.
IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT & BUILD THE BORDER WALL OPT-IN CLICK HERE!!!
To show the government how “We the People” can get this done, we have formed a Section 501(c)(4) non-profit Florida Corporation named “We Build the Wall, Inc.” to receive the GoFundMe contributions. Our website can be found at www.webuildthewall.us.
The following individuals serve on the on the advisory board, and construction, finance, and or audit committees, operations, administration, PR, Media and ongoing fundraising:
www.webuildthewall.us/team
Brigadier General Dr. Robert S. Spalding III
Industrialist John Daniel Moran, Jr.
Ex-Navy SEAL and businessman Erik Prince,
Former Secretary of State of Kansas Kris Kobach,
Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza
Law enforcement and immigration expert Sheriff David Clarke
Fox news contributor and border security expert Sara A. Carter
Former Colorado Congressman and presidential candidate Tom Tancredo
Angel Dad Steve Ronnebeck
Media consultant and journalist Jennifer Lawrence
and many others
IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT & BUILD THE BORDER WALL OPT-IN CLICK HERE!!!
We have made significant progress in less than a month. We have begun extensive due diligence and the commencement of feasibility studies engaging leading experts in a variety of fields necessary to construct our border wall. These professionals have provided us with critical guidance on the legal, engineering, contracting, environmental, accounting, maintenance, and real estate issues required to build a wall on the southern border.
We are already taking action on:
-Identifying the most densely crossed areas of the border
-Soliciting affected landowners along the Southern border
-Studying the most feasible solutions based on terrain, barrier styles, environmental impact and efficacy
-Ascertaining the willingness of border landowners to provide no or low-cost easements on their property for wall construction
If the Democrats won't provide the funding for what the American people voted for in 2016 then we the people will. When Americans see us completing real miles of beautiful wall, we know that we will raise the many billions we need to finally secure the entire border. I am 100% committed to secure our southern border and protect Americans.
There is a lot of work ahead of us, but this has never deterred me in the past. With the help of our highly experienced team, and your support, we will make this work!
The Articles of Incorporation and Mission Statement of We Build The Wall, Inc. make delivering on my promise to get a wall on the southern border built the clear objective and purpose of the organization.
“Our mission is to unite private citizens that share a common belief in providing national security for our Southern Border through the construction, administration and maintenance of physical barriers inhibiting illegal entry into the United States. In interpreting the purpose of the Corporation, the Board of Directors and Members of the Advisory Board will consider the impact of a proposed structure on a selected site’s environment and construct barriers primarily designed to prevent illegal access to the United States, rather than cause catastrophic injury. We will focus on building portions of a U.S. Southern Border wall and manage the support operations required for, and the processes associated with, the design, engineering, construction, and maintenance of the wall.”
100% of the funds raised on GoFundMe will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose. To honor the commitment, we made to our donors; all funds raised, less the processing fees and refunds, will be transferred to a special purpose account to carry out the purposes and mission of We Build the Wall, Inc. I will personally not take a penny of compensation from these donations.
When I created this fundraiser, I said if we did not reach our goal we will refund donors. I am honoring that commitment today. We will promptly refund your donation unless you tell us you approve our new plan for action.
I WANT TO BUILD THE WALL!
You MUST tell GoFundMe you still want to Build the Wall or your contribution will not be included in this historic project.
ACT NOW. CLICK HERE TO SAY YES! https://bit.ly/2SIQyBg
If you want a refund for your donation, no need to do anything. You will receive your refund a few weeks after the 90 days expires and GoFundMe will notify you once your refund has processed. If you would prefer a refund now, you can request that here: https://bit.ly/2smynWq
You can also contact GoFundMe here. You need to do this by April 10!
CHECK DONATIONS:
We Fund the Wall, Inc.
PO Box 131567 Houston, Texas 77219-1567
God Bless
The campaign was started on Dec. 16th and has generated more than $20 million. Campaign organizers plan to raise private funds to build the wall for cheaper than the government anticipated spending.
Yes, we are over taxed because of the government refusal to rein itself in. How do we change this? The answer STARTS with ending the massive amount of illegals coming into this country and using resources that belong to the citizens. In addition, elections need to be fixed ensuring that these illegals are not voting. The only way to do this is to disrupt the flow of illegals and a wall is what will help do this. So what if we have to fork over EXTRA money for now to get this done. In the long run, it will pay for itself in reduced cost to us for the illegals and it will increase the chance of clean elections that might help us elect folks who eventually WILL bring the spending under control.
Figured it would fail.
Subject matter aside, that is a great side by side comparison. You left out the playboy and the brass knuckled country lawyer.
This is stupid. They would be better off using opt ins to start a new political organization to elect pro-wall candidates
I sort thought the same.
Not necessarily pro-wall candidates.
But I like that idea.
The key is to get people with real life experiences and something to show for it.
Else we end up with more talk the talk RINO s.
I also left out the dishonest "I'm not a crook" lawyer from California, the college football player from Michigan, the aristocrat and his silver spoon from Kennebunkport, and the baseball GM from Texas.
I could have added the general from Kansas but supervising the building of the wall would be in his skill set. After all, the interstate highway system was built during his administration and he supervised the Normandy invasion that freed Europe from the Nazis. He could handle big projects.
“But it is especially important to me that the GOVERNMENT build the wall.”
Why?
Don’t you understand that the money ends up in the pockets of private contractors who do the actual work whether the contracting agency is the government or a private firm?
Since that’s the case, why in the world would you want to pay the extra overhead to have government be the contracting agency when a private firm could do it for half or even a third of the cost?
That’s just an unwise waste of resources.
Also, we should not overlook the fact that, if private firms begin this construction, the federal government — recalcitrant Democrats particularly — will stand exposed on the pillory of the world, shamed by The People of this country.
They will either cave to the manifest reality that they can join FedGov with the team already on the field, or they will reveal themselves completely as the thinly-veiled tyrants they are by weaponizing the power of the Federal Government to oppose the effort; a move that would quite likely resound throughout history as the final causus belli to the Second American Civil War.
This move to build the wall on private terms FORCES the National Security issue upon FedGov. They MUST support or oppose, and they cannot oppose without acting as clear-cut domestic enemies of these United States; as out-and-out traitors to whom death becomes a bill iimmediately due and payable.
On the other hand, if some private people put up some money and construct a wall, I think it becomes very easy for some level of government to say "It's unsightly, those yahoos should never have taken the step, we hereby ordain that the local section of the wall shall be taken down."
In short: I want the Federal government to step up, aknowledge its responsibilities, deliberately create the wall and make some sort of assertion that the wall is meant to be there and should not be casually dismantled later on.
Nothing is ever permanent, but (as Reagan said) government programs are close to immortal. I'd like to use that to our advantage.
Right. Because we need this process to take a thousand years. </SARC>
I get where you’re trying to go, but the inherent delay dooms the entire matter; it sandbags all the present-moment initiative to get something material done with a years-long processes that daily diminishes the probability that anything will ever come of it.
Nice idea, but yours is little more than a circuitous route to the long, slow, smothering death of this vital initiative.
I get the desire to make this enduring, but I don’t think beginning the work under private auspices leaves us cut off from that. There are legal instruments that could subsequently transfer both ownership and management of the structure to the Federal government.
Whether Democrats accepted that route, or showed up with wrecking balls to try to tear it down would be a pivotal moment, and moving forward with a private initiative is, I think, a good way to set the table to force that moment.
Link in title$20 million raised in GoFundMe for Trump border wall to be refunded
By Morgan Gstalter - 01/11/19 03:50 PM ESTGoFundMe said Friday that it would refund $20 million raised by more than 300,000 donors for President Trump's border wall after an account aiming to raise $1 billion for the wall changed part of its campaign.
Brian Kolfage, the veteran who created the account last month, originally pledged that “every single penny” would be refunded if the original goal had not been met. He updated the page on Friday, saying that the federal government would not be able to accept the $20 million soon.
While Kolfage said money donated to the original campaign would go to the government to fund a border wall, he wrote Friday that he has since formed a nonprofit corporation in Florida named “We Build the Wall, Inc.” to receive the GoFundMe contributions.
“We are better equipped than our own government to use the donated funds to build an actual wall on the southern border,” Kolfage wrote. “Our highly experienced team is highly confident that we can complete significant segments of the wall in less time, and for far less money, than the federal government, while meeting or exceeding all required regulatory, engineering, and environmental specifications.”
The page now states that the funds raised will be used “in the execution of our mission and purpose” for his new created nonprofit.
“To honor the commitment, we made to our donors; all funds raised, less the processing fees and refunds, will be transferred to a special purpose account to carry out the purposes and mission of We Build the Wall, Inc.,” Kolfage wrote. “I will personally not take a penny of compensation from these donations.”
You’re working to pave the way to a lasting wall; I’m setting up the chess board to use the battle for that lasting barrier to either break the entire Democrat Party leadership by forcing them to fold, or to expose them all as barenaked traitors with one-way tickets to tribunals at Gitmo.
This game is life or death, and I advocate that we play for KEEPS.
It was politically astute because it embarrassed the dems and stiffened Trump’s resolve. That level of fundraising during Christmas when people are busy and generally buying gifts and traveling is unheard of and demonstrated the importance of the issue to the public. Dems noticed.
The media is now on an all out campaign to smear Brian Kolfage as a scam artist and destroy the the fundraiser so they can pretend that the public doesn’t support the wall, but were just dumb hillbillies duped by a skeeze trading on his status as a wounded vet.
Don’t join in by being a negative nancy about how the wall gets funded. Every mile of barrier reduces the flow while sending it to the gaps of least resistance making them easier to apprehend, count and report on which keeps it in the news no matter how badly the Demonedia wants to ignore or bury it.
Because Trump is currently saddled with deep state bureaucrats slow walking every plan, drawing and permit they can. And saddled with various federal hiring rules that basically over pay for everything.
Even Trump would tell you that he could do it privately for half of what the government will pay.
The most important part of this private funding venture is the pressure it puts on the dems and the media. Look how hard they are working, trying to control the narrative and yet it keeps getting away from them.
I really wonder if they have internal polls telling them that the wall = Trump relected and no wall = Trump losing.
Already redirected my funds to their new venture...
Private landowners building private barriers with private money is neither illegal or unconstitutional. Almost all private property is fenced in one fashion or another.
I do expect environmental lawsuits, but that will just drain the enviros of ready cash as well since they won’t get their legal costs paid by the government and they won’t win, the bollard design is already well researched and approved for low environmental impact and the enviros may not even make it past the standing test because its private property.
And there are some very competent pro bono property rights like Pacific legal institute who will likely enter the fray. That will be delicious.
“I don’t believe a private venture is capable of withstanding the multitude of lawsuits this project will generate.”
They also can’t waive the 28 laws that impose expensive and lenghty delays, as well as nuisance lawsuits from Leftist front groups, like DHS can.
“I think this was wrong-headed from the start.”
All heart, no head.
I still don’t have much faith in the remnants of this effort, but the founder has made a name for himself, and some powerful connections. I expect to see more from him in the future, that has good planning behind it.
I almost mentioned them, but your list was all Democrats.
Wait, there was one Republican in your list. I missed that.
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