The Wall

Word is we will take the money for the wall out of the Aid we send to them every year. 
Item line will show we sent the same money, but withheld a portion for payment of the wall.
Accounting will show they paid for it. 

^But aren't we putting the money up front?  I hope that Mexico pays interest on that loan.

the money is going to be taken out of their aide we give them, thats the word floating around DC right now.

Mexico will not pay for it.

Hollis, we apparently give Mexico about $500 million per year, probably mostly to help with the border.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_aid_recipients

>>> But aren't we putting the money up front?  I hope that Mexico pays interest on that loan.

>>>  Estimated 40 Billion in tax payer money to build... Conservatives, you ok with this?

If we zeroed out Mexican foreign aid, that's $0.5 billion per year. $0.5 Billion on $40 Billion is 1/80, or about 1.25% "interest".  That's with a horizon of infinity.

The US Government's 10-year borrowing costs are about 2.5% at the moment.  So even if we zeroed out the foreign aid (think Mexico might change behavior if we do?),  it won't pay for the "wall".

meanwhile, thoughts from noted leftist Jennifer Rubin:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/01/25/trumps-orders-are-essentially-memos-to-his-adviser

...

President Trump seems to be testing just how gullible his anti-immigration supporters are. The “executive orders” issued today on defunding sanctuary cities, building the wall and reviewing past executive orders are not so much orders — in the sense that they change things on the ground — at all. These are props for glorified press events to take the place of real action. For the vast majority of his intended actions, the only immediate action is planning, meeting, etc. Cato Institute scholar Alex Nowrasteh observed via email, “These orders are pretty weak compared to his campaign promises — for which we can be (temporarily) thankful.”

Legal scholar John Yoo, renowned for his robust interpretation of executive power, agrees the wall cannot be built without Congress. “If President Trump wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, he will need Congress’s cooperation. Under Article I of the Constitution, only Congress can appropriate the funds necessary to construct a wall, a fence, or even a walking path along the border.” He adds, “There may be some loose change sitting around unspent from past appropriations, but nothing in the range of the $12 billion or more needed. Without the enactment of a new law by Congress, the only thing Trump can really do by executive order is start some early planning.”

A senior Democratic Senate aide scoffs, “This house of cards built from executive orders is going to collapse at some point. Not today or tomorrow, but a few months or a year from now when not a single thing has changed, his whirlwind, hard-charging first few days in office will be exposed as the fraud they are.”

...

And speaking of the Constitution, I seem to recall Republicans vowing to assert Congress’s power to appropriate and legislate. Instead, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) meekly applauds. “This is about keeping Americans safe,” he declares in a written statement. “We are committed to working with the administration to stop the influx of illegal immigration along the southern border, protect our homeland, and uphold the rule of law. I applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to make this a national priority.” Perhaps he realizes Trump did exactly nothing with his so-called order. Alternatively, he might — as with most everything else — have decided to roll over and play dead so as not to incur Trump’s wrath.

The one thing Trump could have done was reverse the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. But then again he doesn’t seem so keen on declaring illegal the hundreds of thousands of people who stepped forward in good faith under President Barack Obama’s plan. (Sean Spicer suggested anti-immigrant advocates shouldn’t get their hopes up. “He’s a family man. He has a huge heart.”)  That might have real-world consequences — and provoke a dramatic public backlash. You think his anti-immigration supporters will notice?

Who builds walls in southern Texas, N. Mexico, and Arizona?

Mexicans, that's who.

So, instead of Mexico paying for the wall, we're going to pay Mexicans to build it.

lots of stupid up in here.   You really think Mexico will pay us back? with WHAT? Kilos of meth? The circus peanut will destroy their legitimate economy.  Not to mention HOW it will be built. In 3 years? Not bloody likely. So smart. All he has to do is keep saying it until he is voted out, then say " i tried but the democrats and mexico prevented it. 

So fiscal conservatives and middle class trump supporters, you gonna call your senators when they vote to approve funding? should they? Your taxes will go up up up.

He has placed a hiring freeze on federal workers. WHO will build the wall? A big contract to his sons new construction company?

a wall would stop nobody from getting across the border.

>>  Estimated 40 Billion in tax payer money to build... Conservatives, you ok with this?

No, but that estimate is high and you cited no source.

Trump has said 8-10 Billion.

NPR says 15 Billion. 

Washington post says 25 billion.

It's not a wall, it's an alternatively factual wall:

Sec. 3.  Definitions.

 (e)  "Wall" shall mean a contiguous, physical wall or other similarly secure, contiguous, and impassable physical barrier.

So we take the existing fences, write "this is a wall" on them, and pocket the difference.

>>>>anti- illegal - immigration

Dead2, you don't agree with the position that Trump and many of his supporters are against immigration beyond those who reside here illegally?  I had the impression that Trump has been anti-Muslim immigration.

I don't think the sentence you take that from is as dishonest as you claim.

I am wondering if he has unilateral authority to divert these kind of funds. 

Doesn't even claim that authority.

Here's the full text of the "wall" part of the executive order:

Sec. 4.  Physical Security of the Southern Border of the United States.  The Secretary shall immediately take the following steps to obtain complete operational control, as determined by the Secretary, of the southern border:

     (a)  In accordance with existing law, including the Secure Fence Act and IIRIRA, take all appropriate steps to immediately plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border;

     (b)  Identify and, to the extent permitted by law, allocate all sources of Federal funds for the planning, designing, and constructing of a physical wall along the southern border;

     (c)  Project and develop long-term funding requirements for the wall, including preparing Congressional budget requests for the current and upcoming fiscal years; and

     (d)  Produce a comprehensive study of the security of the southern border, to be completed within 180 days of this order, that shall include the current state of southern border security, all geophysical and topographical aspects of the southern border, the availability of Federal and State resources necessary to achieve complete operational control of the southern border, and a strategy to obtain and maintain complete operational control of the southern border.
 

As I read it it says to take whatever money you can find in the bureaucratic sofa cushions and ask Congress for the rest.

and now.........20% duties / tariffs on ALL goods from Mexico

Such brilliant thinking-  THAT - will bring back American jobs!

errrrrr...let's move that factory to Bangladesh

Ignoramus is a good description.

Whos going to mow the lawn at maro lago if he builds this thing? 

If you remove the double negative, your post says "What moron thinks a barrier between the United States and the corrupt violent Mexican Cartels and the corrupt Mexican government is a good idea?"

as someone smarter than myself asked, how you gonna build that wall along the river through big Bend National Park. I know there is precedent of a president (bush) breaking a treaty (APM 2002), but a national park treaty in a gourgeous space to build a wall down the middle of a river? hmmmm.

Seems like the good ol' USA could have better uses for this money.

Goodbye to Big Bend National Park.  Behold, the border.  It will look great with a wall.

I thought the same about Big Bend. So pristine.  Shameful.

There will be no wall. And yes, I think it is a bad idea. He is just pretending to appease the guppies that voted for him. He will just say "they wouldn't give me the money" or "damn environmentalists" or "damn Mexico".

he does not want to accomplish anything but inflate his ego and portfolio.

I am a moron and proud of it.  If you think a wall will stop the narcos from delivering their goods, you might want to assume that moron label too. They have the money and the demand to continue their biz without even blinking.

Derp Derp

>>>>>>What moron  thinks a barrier between the United States and the corrupt violent Mexican Cartels and the corrupt Mexican government isn.t  a good idea?

I don't know, but I've been told that those people generally pass right through the ports of entry and that corruption resides on both sides of the border to make this whole trade situation run more smoothly.

I'm not sure spending $10 - $40 billion on the wall will reap equivalent rewards in that department.  But, of course, I don't really know.  Just a feeling.

There is not going to be a wall.  

I think it would be funny to go to the white house and start building a wall.

^AWESOME

"Get off my wall!"

According to TMZ.....good lord..r u related to seadoggie?

What's that you say?