Poll: Who will ultimately pay for The Wall/Slats/Barrier/Boondoggle?

[UNCjigga]

Curious to see what the current thinking is. Of course there's still the big question about whether anything physical that Trump can remotely describe as "the wall" ever gets built in his or our lifetimes...but if it does get built (or something half-assed is built that Trump fluffers can all celebrate as "winning") then who will ultimately pay for it?

Bonus discussion question. If something described as "the wall" is actually built, will it have a net positive effect on illegal immigration after factoring any impacts on trade, deficits and the economy?

 

[Blackjack200]

You left out the most hilarious option. GoFundMe donors.

 

[Chocu1a]

The retarded taxpayers who voted for this idiot. I have several in-laws who have already donated hundreds to the wall fund. Urging others to do the same! WTF.

 

[Commodus]

The funny thing that Trump and his supporters don't seem to understand just how unlikely it is the wall will be completed.

Let's say the Democrats do something stupid and cave in to budgetary demands for the wall right away. Well, that's just the early budget for it. Work on the wall won't start for a while. It will likely take years to complete, and that's assuming it doesn't need additional funding rounds or run into major setbacks (both of which are likely).

The problem, of course, is that Trump or another pro-wall Republican President is not guaranteed to be in office during the construction. Work on the wall stops the millisecond a Democratic President takes office. And with increasing chances that Trump is out after the 2020 election, there could be hardly any work done before the wall is canceled. Even if you ignore the many moral objections to the wall, the truth is that it's likely to just be a waste of money that will never be finished in any significant way.

 

[Indus]

Where's the option for people who want to mail cinder blocks for the wall instead of $$$ as taxes?

 

[UNCjigga]

I'm still waiting for someone to do an analysis of how much money the wall would cost vs. how much federal revenue would be generated by extending legal status to all Dreamers. I saw an analysis that claimed that if all eligible Dreamers enrolled in DACA, that would generate $2.5B in state and local taxes annually (not Federal because they would need different legal status.) But that didn't factor in that those who did register for DACA on average saw an 8% bump in pay thanks to legal protections (boosting potential tax revenue further.) Now consider that we could have had a DREAM Act in 2010 or 2012...total up the tax revenues--yeah, wall would be paid for and illegals would have paid for it.

 

[Stokely]

We are already paying for it. The shutdown on its own costs billions of dollars. NPR yesterday had a piece where they mentioned 16 billion dollars lost over 21 days...and that was 1995.

So even if not a foot of wall gets built, it will have costs tens of billions at least in shutdown costs alone.

Yay, fiscal conservatism...?

 

[cytg111]

Vlad will build the wall and he will make US pay for it.

 

[interchange]

Us. Whether the wall is built or not we are paying for this debacle every second.

 

[pauldun170]

Trump could avoid all this stupidity if he just picked up a history book.

War Bonds.

Change it to some moronic name that test well with FoxNews idiots and put out ads for it to go along with "Buy gold" and Eagle flying over a mountain with a flag backdrop" commemorative plates.

You could replace the Japanese on the old advertisements and just use darker shades of brown.

 

[sportage]

Do we really need to ask who will pay?
Donald can take it out of the military budget under NATIONAL SECURITY, which it is not but since when do we care about facts?
And if he takes it from the military, then he takes it from the tax payer.
And to note, this wall or fence or orange hair weave, whatever it is will cost 30 billion, not 5.
But we can figure that out when Trump takes out 30 billion for something he claimed would cost 5 billion. After he first claimed Mexico would pay for it.
I want to know.... would republicans ever allow a president Obama or Hillary to get away with this crap?
That alone would trigger impeachment.
And while the nation goes totally insane TOTALLY.... the icecaps are melting.

 

[Bitek]

No matter if it gets built or not, the tax payers will be getting screwed somehow.

Let's also not forget the private landowners who will have their land forcibly seized by the gov to build the wall. They will be the biggest losers in this.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Even if not a single brick or steel beam, or bullturd (which is the most likely thing it will be built out of), ever gets placed for it, and even if there's never a line item on a budget for it, we're already paying for it, and likely will for decades. Its just the attempted physical manifestation of Turmp's policies (and dementia).

 

[BurnItDwn]

Congress should pass a bill to fine companies for violating labor laws or hiring people without the proper paperwork. Then, use a small portion of the proceeds towards border defense at the border.

 

[Bitek]

Yea... Let's build it out of something that rusts and needs constant $$ for maintenance. Yea, genius...

 

[brandonbull]

The retarded taxpayers who voted for this idiot. I have several in-laws who have already donated hundreds to the wall fund. Urging others to do the same! WTF.

No need for anything because Nancy Pelosi can do it with some lawn mowers and weedeaters.

 

[Lanyap]

Whatever happened to the secure fence act of 2006? They were supposed to be using technology in addition to the fence.

 

[feralkid]

No need for anything because Nancy Pelosi can do it with some lawn mowers and weedeaters.

That would be just as effective as this 4th century wall idea.

 

[Lanyap]

The retarded taxpayers who voted for this idiot. I have several in-laws who have already donated hundreds to the wall fund. Urging others to do the same! WTF.

Sorry, but I find it kinda of funny when some here talk about their in-laws/relatives who are trump supporters and complain about them. How could you let them get by with it. You need to grow some balls and stand up to them.

Curious, are these people you know smart or stupid in general?

 

[TheVrolok]

Sorry, but I find it kinda of funny when some here talk about their in-laws/relatives who are trump supporters and complain about them. How could you let them get by with it. You need to grow some balls and stand up to them.

Curious, are these people you know smart or stupid in general?

My grandmother is a die hard trump fan and fox News supporter. She rarely brings up politics around me, because she knows I'm a librul. When she does spurt out the latest fox news talking point I simply respond with, "You know that's factually incorrect and intentionally misleading right?" Then she just mumbles and we go back to what we were doing.

 

[blackangst1]

DoD would be the best option. 5B is *nothing* to the military budget. Zero impact whatsoever.

A current Sargent Master (E8) friend of mine have talked about this, and he agrees.

#anecdotal

 

[Chocu1a]

Sorry, but I find it kinda of funny when some here talk about their in-laws/relatives who are trump supporters and complain about them. How could you let them get by with it. You need to grow some balls and stand up to them.

Curious, are these people you know smart or stupid in general?

They are wealthy and religious. They made money working hard and investing well. I don't agree with them on anything political or religious. I have no issues calling them out on their silliness. When my Aunt brought up their giving to the GoFundMe, I replied that I didn't realize she was Mexican. She looked confused. I told her she must be Mexican, since Trump said Mexico was paying for it. She just gasped and rolled her eyes.
My mother is the same. She supports and votes for the very people who are cutting all her state & government benefits. I find it funny that they sold their souls for money and ideology.

 

[Lanyap]

They are wealthy and religious. They made money working hard and investing well. I don't agree with them on anything political or religious. I have no issues calling them out on their silliness. When my Aunt brought up their giving to the GoFundMe, I replied that I didn't realize she was Mexican. She looked confused. I told her she must be Mexican, since Trump said Mexico was paying for it. She just gasped and rolled her eyes.
My mother is the same. She supports and votes for the very people who are cutting all her state & government benefits. I find it funny that they sold their souls for money and ideology.

Sounds like they are smart about some things and not others and then there is the religious factor. I’ve seen that a lot in the South. I worked with people in Alabama who were very conservative, religious and smart. Had a discussion with one coworker like this who was trying to explain how the earth is only 6000 years old. I asked him where dinosaur fossils came from. He said god put them there. I asked him why would god put dinosaur fossils in the ground to make us think the earth is much older. He got quiet, turned around and started working.

 

[feralkid]

DoD would be the best option. 5B is *nothing* to the military budget. Zero impact whatsoever.

A current Sargent Master (E8) friend of mine have talked about this, and he agrees.

#anecdotal

And utterly false. There's no 5B slush fund money just lying around the DoD. All funding is subject to Congressional appropriation. Every appropriated dollar lands in the district of Senators and Representatives who aren't usually too keen on having their constituents' pet projects sidelined for a $5,000,000,000.00 beaded curtain along the Rio Grande.

 

[NAC4EV]

Don't believe this