On The Shutdown Neither The Democrats Nor Trump Are Fulfilling Their Duty To Govern!

In the public commentary on the government shutdown I am sick of hearing how the Democrats are saints and President Trump is one hundred percent the villain! The Democrats position of open up the government and we'll negotiate on the wall is a total empty, deceptive offer; the only way Trump is going to get anything except a token amount of funding under that scenario is if he makes a major concession to Democrats on immigration like legalizing the 800,000 foreign born childhood arrivals that were brought to America by their parents without visas or agreeing that all asylum claims can be made from the applicants home country and even then he isn't going to get twenty-five billion enough to build a wall across the entire border where it is justifiable to do so, Democrats are too emotional about the wall to them it is the embodiment of a great evil - any Democrat offer in those negotiations will be a bad deal offer. Essentially what the Democrats are asking of President Trump is for him to be a sucker to give away his leverage for no hope of a fair deal offer - that isn't responsible governance on the Democrats part. The Democrats other main line of argument is we were elected with a mandate to oppose the wall so we must do what our constituents want and oppose the Wall; that is too much spin the American people voted you Democrats into Office en masse because Donald Trump is a hugely irresponsible President on a multitude of fronts; trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act when he had no better replacement when he should have just tried to improve it doing the responsible move, on foreign affairs being a tornado that continually criss crosses the world, enacting tax cut legislation that guarantees America in the medium term future will default on her national debt, etc. and the American people want you to stop his irresponsibility. The Democrats appear to completely forget though that Donald Trump was duly elected President of the United States and his constituents gave him a mandate to stop illegal immigration through the southern border. Therefore, if the Democrats are being responsible that means they have a duty to compromise if Trump behaves reasonable and offers a reasonable compromise.


President Trump has to accept that he and his party lost big-time in last years November elections Democrats picked up forty seats in the House so he has to make adjustments to his expectations he is going to get less of what he wants the American people spoke and such is the way they voted we are a Democracy President Trump. To frame it another way the will of the American people expressed in that election means that he has to reassess what he can get on the Wall, he must be reasonable on the issue. Being reasonable about it means he realizes that his base on the wall issue really cares about stopping illegal immigration through the southern border because these immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens, lower wages for U.S. citizens and use public and government services to the detriment of U.S. citizens, etc. his base doesn't really care about a Trump wall, a big beautiful wall or any other great wall, responsible effective southern border protection is what his base really wants. Fence designs that were in existence before he became President will do; the media doesn't like to focus on this because it isn't provocative but President George W. Bush is really the Father of barrier protection on the southern border the Bush Administration built a lot of fencing there and proved that fencing works in dramatically reducing illegal immigration. The other thing President Trump must recognize if he is to become reasonable on this issue is that his wall or giant barrier plan will be a wasteful expenditure of money and a lot of money at that! This wall plan calls for a very high barrier like thirty feet with heavy steel slats, pipes or columns. This will be relatively easily sabotaged, mischiefed and made ineffective. Coyote and the like organizations that make lots of money taking people across the border aren't going to be stopped by this wall which can readily be overcome. Trump Walls come in a multitude of designs but they all can be readily ruined; saboteurs can use an acetylene torch to cut the steel (Home Depot sells a portable unit for $300), jack hammers with a portable power generator can be used to break concrete bases. Moreover, they can readily be sabotaged to where their unfixable and the entire six, eight whatever size sections will have to be replaced in their entirety needing the crane and crew of workers to accomplish it; this type of sabotage may be as easy as cutting the steel slats at their base where a repair welder wouldn't have enough slat remaining in the section to weld a replacement piece that would be supported or the saboteurs could cut the slats or columns then use a tow truck with an adjustable boom and have a heavy steel ball with a hook welded to it attached to the tow truck cable and just have the ball do some pendulum swings against the cut section of the wall and it will be bent beyond repair.


If President Trump becomes reasonable and says I am going to permanently compromise because of the outcome of the election and permanently drop my plan for a wall the only border security I am looking for is border fence designs that were in existence prior to my administration and I am only asking the Congress to fund the number of miles of fence that Congress funded during the Bush Administration. Then Trump gains the high ground amongst public opinion its not politics its not ego driving his position. If the Democrats don't then cut a reasonable deal on border fencing then President Trump sticking with the border fence priority can further the pressure the Democrats by proposing the following have his staff scour the appropriation bills and remove from those bills line items equally four times the fence funding he is requesting, remove twenty-three billion dollars, in areas Democrats won't like. Democrats like to send money from Washington to their districts; focus on that type of spending so cut new funding for housing for low income families, new education grants, new economic development grants, new infrastructure grants if need be cut spending for the education department that would go to any new hire. Then President Trump can take the position I'll sign all the appropriation bills absent this twenty-three billion of spending Congress sends me, American people I am willing to open up the Federal Government immediately I am willing to start giving paychecks to the 800,000 Federal Workers not being paid by the shutdown immediately he can truthfully say the Democrats are one hundred percent to blame for the pain these workers and their families are experiencing. The absent twenty three billion he can use as leverage in the later negotiations over fencing funding.


President Trump and Speaker Pelosi really need to appreciate that the American people don't need this contest of will's they're engaged in, the American people don't need this precedent and harbinger of the future. America desperately needs both parties in Washington to work together to solve some of the many problems the country faces. Both President Trump and the Democrats both acknowledge it is wrong that the American people pay significantly more for pharmaceuticals than other developed countries they should be able to pass significant legislation in this area, they both agree the country needs a significant infrastructure spending bill they should be able to compromise and pass such a bill, for example!