$18 Billion Border Wall Breeched by $90 Saws.

Smugglers sawed into new sections of President Trump’s $18 billion border wall 18 times in the San Diego area during a single month last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records FOIA’ed by the Washington Post. Evidence suggests the smugglers used inexpensive battery-powered reciprocating saws, which you can buy at Home Depot for about $90, to saw through the new compsite steel bollard walls.

Even if workmen stop sawing though the wall, Mother Nature might knock it over during the desert monsoon season if storm gates aren’t installed and left open, which would defeat the whole absurd, costly premise of the thing.

More:

“Smugglers sawed into Trump’s border wall 18 times in one month in San Diego area, records show,” Nick Miroff, Washington Post

Related:

“Long-term maintenance for Trump’s border wall could cost billions, but government isn’t saying, Nick Miroff, Washington Post

“Trump administration awards $569M border wall contract despite calls to spend more on the coronavirus fight,” Kim Slowey, Construction Dive

Updates:

“Trump order to paint border wall black could drive up cost $500 million or more,” Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post

“Ups and downs: Trump’s $27m-a-mile border wall being scaled with $5 ladders,” Luke O’Neil, The Guardian

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The Wall: Get Going, Mexico!

The Border Wall: Make Mexico fit again!

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Trump Prepares National Emergency Declaration

After temporarily freeing the 800,000 hostages and temporarily reopening the federal government after six weeks of shutdown, President Donald Trump is said to be preparing a Declaration of National Emergency in case Congress doesn’t give him $5.7 billion for his border wall by Valentine’s Day. He’ll declare an emergency because of the grave threat of invasion by savage caravans of duct-tape-wielding rapists at the US-Mexico border. Funding for the wall will come from Mexico Trump’s daddy Deutsche Bank Russian oligarchs the loose change under the Pentagon‘s couch cushions, and money slated for 50 disaster relief projects including some in Texas and Florida, states that voted for Trump in 2016. The man is a political genius.

More:

“Legal and practical hurdles would await Trump emergency declaration,” Wesley Morgan, Politico

“A ‘National Emergency’ Is Not An Option To Save Trump From Failure,” Elie Mystal, Above the Law

“The US border situation isn’t a national emergency, Pentagon officials tell Congress,” Heather Timmons, Quartz

Updates:

“‘I want him to declare an emergency’: Eric Trump urges his father to use executive power to build a border wall,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post

“Trump: ‘Good Chance’ I’ll Declare National Emergency for Border Wall,” Daily Beast

“Trump teases national emergency declaration could come during SOTU,” John T. Bennett, Roll Call

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Trump: ‘Emergency! Emergency! I Mean, If I Wanted to….’

After spending a week threatening to declare lack of a border wall a national emergency, President Trump backed off, saying he could do that if he wanted to, but he won’t do that just yet. There are two reasons for him to say that:

1. Diverting Army Corps of Engineers project money from disaster prevention and recovery for useless political promise fulfillment isn’t a good look; and
2. Democrats in the House and border landowners would tie him up in court well past 2020.

More:

“No ‘Emergency’ Will Allow Trump to Build His Wall,” Noah Feldman, Bloomberg

“Toddler-in-Chief Doesn’t Wanna ‘Do’ a National Emergency,” Claire Lampen, The Cut

“Bipartisan blowback hits idea of tapping Army Corps for wall money,” Annie Snider, Politico

“Texas Border Landowners Vow To Reject Buyouts For Trump’s Wall,” Nomaan Merchant, AP, via Talking Points Memo

“6 real emergencies that should be more important to Donald Trump than the wall,” Paul Brandus, USA Today

Related:

“That GoFundMe to build a border wall is issuing $20 million in refunds,” Taylor Hatmaker, Techcrunch

“A Border Is Not a Wall. It’s much more interesting.” Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic

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Oval Office, Networks, and Truth Abused by the Politics of Fear

President-for-now Donald Trump put in a prime-time Oval Office appearance on Tuesday in a futile effort to explain away his federal government shutdown, which locked-out 800,000 federal employees and denied services to millions of U.S. taxpayers. Stephen Miller’s sulfurous script was dark with fear-mongering, untruths, and racism, but the delivery by Mr. Trump, a former Reality TV personality, was unconvincing, even though the tale followed many of his long-time personal falsehoods. In a jaw-dropping display of audacity, Mr. Trump claimed he wanted to stop a humanitarian crisis on the Mexican border, a crisis he exacerbated by refusing entrance to asylum seekers and separating children from their families.

Fact-checkers and bookmakers are still busy counting up the president’s counterfactual assertions.

More:

“Trump tried to play a normal president on television. The result was very strange.” Alyssa Rosenberg, Washington Post

“Trump Gets Instant Fact-Check From Fox News’ Shepard Smith After Oval Office Speech,” Matt Wilstein, Daily Beast

“The cascade of false claims as Trump makes his case for a crisis on the US-Mexico border,” Marshall Cohen, Priscilla Alvarez, Geneva Sands, David Shortell and Jeremy Diamond, CNN

“Trump Appeals for Wall, Citing Misleading Statistics of Crisis and Crime Along Border,” Peter Baker, New York Times

“The U.S. Doesn’t Have a Border Crisis. Trump’s Campaign Does.” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“The real crisis is that Trump has no idea what he’s doing,” Matthew Yglesias, Vox

“Gamblers Made $270,000 Betting That Trump Would Lie a Bunch in His Address,” River Donaghey, Vice

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A steel barrier is America’s greatest defense.

President-for-now Donald Trump says the U.S. needs a steel barrier to protect it from a national crisis:

V.P. Mike Pence and group had a productive meeting with the Schumer/Pelosi representatives today. Many details of Border Security were discussed. We are now planning a Steel Barrier rather than concrete. It is both stronger & less obtrusive. Good solution, and made in the U.S.A.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2019

Mr. Trump wants $5.7 billion in tax dollars to build a 234-mile steel wall of unknown design, a sort of pig-iron-in-a-poke situation. A project like that could require as much 3 million tons of steel, according to industry sources. That must please all the former steel company execs and lobbyists in the Trump administration.

“I intend the call the heads of United States Steel and a couple of other of our great steel companies” said the president. “I will have them come up with a template or design of a beautiful steel product, which we now may use and use that as our barrier.”

Actually, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has some very effective steel barriers, and they’re quite compact. Mr. Trump should try one out, for size. Oh wait, that might be awkward. Federal prison guards aren’t being paid due to the president’s shutdown.

More:

“Trump Offers a ‘Steel Barrier,’ but Democrats Are Unmoved,” Michael Tackett and Catie Edmondson, New York Times

“Trump Sees Border Wall As Another Boost For U.S. Steel Industry,” Jim Zarroli, NPR News

“Most illegal immigration doesn’t come through the Mexican border where Trump wants to build his wall,”Carmin Chappell, CNBC

Related:

“Trump Was Never a Great Dealmaker. The Shutdown Proves It.” Timothy L. O’Brien, Bloomberg

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Trump Tantrum Prolongs His Government Shutdown

As the end of the year approaches, President Donald Trump has thrown a temper tantrum, shutting down the federal government, and barricaded himself in the White House until his extortionate demands are met. If congress wants to reopen the government, he wants $5 billion for a border wall of undetermined design. No wall, no government.

Seeking new threat targets, Mr. Trump now says he’ll shut down the southern border if he doesn’t get his way, a move that would violate international law and cost U.S. businesses billions of dollars.

The chief executive continues to sulk in the White House, foregoing a planned Mar-a-Lago New Year’s party.

More:

“Trump struggles to make a coherent case for his border wall,” Steve Benen, MSNBC

“More Americans blame Trump for government shutdown: Reuters/Ipsos poll,” Chris Kahn and Ginger Gibson, Reuters

“Most Americans would rather spend the $5 billion Trump is demanding for the border wall on infrastructure, education, or healthcare,” Bob Bryan and Walt Hickey, Business Insider

“About That Wall Trump Said Mexico Would Be Paying For: QuickTake,” Mark Niquette, Bloomberg, via Washington Post

“No Deal in Sight: Shutdown Here to Stay Amid Border Wall Stalemate,” John T. Bennett, Roll Call

“Trump: Give Me a Wall or I’ll Engineer a Recession,” Eric Levitz, New York Magazine

Related:

“Trump admin to unpaid federal workers who can’t make rent: beg, barter, and get a lawyer.” Boing Boing

“Taxpayers Are Subsidizing Mar-a-Lago’s New Year’s Eve Party Despite Trump’s Shutdown,” Ryan Bort, New York Post

“Five lessons that never seem to be learned from shutting down the government,” Leon Panetta, Washington Post

“The Border Wall Is a Symbol of Our Symbolic Politics,” Jonah Goldberg, National Review

Update:

“Trump Gripes About Lonely Xmas With No One But ‘Machine Gunners’ Who Don’t Smile,” Nicole Lafond, TPM Livewire

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Merry Christmas: Trump Shut Down the Government

“I am proud to shut down the government…I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not gonna blame you for it.” — Donald Trump, December 11, 2018

“The Democrats now own the shutdown!”  — Donald Trump December 21, 2018

President Trump has shut down the federal government because Congress didn’t fund his imaginary border wall. The senate had passed a wall-less continuing resolution funding the government through February, but Mr. Trump turned it down, so the federal government can’t pay its bills past midnight tonight. It’s no big deal to Donald Trump, who has a habit of stiffing people who work for him and has been bankrupt six times.

Donald Trump promised to make Christmas great again, but all we’ve got so far is much greater drama. Somebody’s getting a stocking full of beautiful clean coal on Tuesday.

More:

“Trump last week: I’ll own the shutdown. Trump now: It’s the Democrats’ fault.” German Lopez, Vox

“‘He takes no ownership — that’s just Trump’: President eschews responsibility for a shutdown he once craved,” By David Nakamura, Washington Post

“The ‘all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-$5-billion-for-the-wall’ shutdown,”  John Bresnahan, Politico

“From Parks to Airports, How a Shutdown Would Affect Federal Agencies,” Glenn Thrush and Mitchell Ferman, New York Times

“She wanted to buy her grandkids a bike for Christmas. But now the shutdown looms.” Washington Post

“Why Trump Can’t Build His Wall,” Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg

Updates:

“Partial shutdown likely to extend past Christmas,” Associated Press

“‘Very possible’ shutdown could last into new year, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney says,” Erica Werner, David Weigel, and Philip Rucker, Washington Post

“Trump Gripes About Lonely Xmas With No One But ‘Machine Gunners’ Who Don’t Smile,” Nicole Lafond, TPM Livewire

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Border Wall: Art of the Threat

After being schooled on TV by Nancy Pelosi, President Trump is conducting his latest extortion campaign via Twitter and White House Staff Creature Stephen Miller. The Trump Doctrine: Gimme $5 billion for my border wall, or else:

“If we don’t get what we want one way or the other, whether it’s through you, it’s through military, I will shut down the government.”

The deadline is Friday.

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How Much Is That In Pesos?

President Donald Trump, the great deal maker, wants U.S. taxpayers to pony up $18 billion to pay for the first leg of his border wall, saying “in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall.”

If you’re counting on this, US $18 billion is 345,295,800,000.00 Mexican Pesos. No aguantes la respiración (don’t hold your breath).

Related:

“Nation with Crumbling Bridges and Roads Excited to Build Giant Wall,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

“Four things Trump could spend $18 billion on instead of a border wall,” Oliver Staley, Quartz

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