Pardon the second thread on this, but it absolutely deserves one for the comments today.
And here it is:
On Wednesday, White House communications adviser Mercedes Schlapp acknowledged that U.S. taxpayers would be paying for the wall.
“Yes,” Schlapp said when asked by a reporter whether taxpayers would ultimately pay for the wall. “And you know what else taxpayers are paying for? The financial burden of this illegal immigration.”
“When during the campaign, I would say ‘Mexico is going to pay for it.’ Obviously, I never said this and I never meant they are going to write out a check,” Trump said.
We have seen so many Trump supporters evolve on this position. In the beginning it was Trump will get Mexico to pay the full cost of the wall in cold hard cash right through until now the narrative is that the money we will save is the same as Mexico paying for it.
And lets not forget the evolution from wall meaning a concrete barrier to wall meaning absolutely anything.
“Much of the Wall has already been fully renovated or built. We have done a lot of work,"
It’s over. You won. Republicans, just declare victory and reopen the government so that the rest of us who are not behaving like the crazy people in Bird Box, can get back to work. Don’t worry, we’ll continue to carry you.
It’s important. If his “plan” (such as it is, to give him the benefit of the doubt) never took into consideration the practical realities of appropriating funds for the wall within our existing, real-world political institutions, it is worthless. And it’s directly related to his repellent attempt at extortion/hostage-taking now.
For those of you who support him, are you ready to agree with Newt Gingrich that this was essentially a “campaign device.” Or, to put it in plain language: a comically self-evident con job that was completely obvious at the time?
It’s like someone asks you to dinner and says: Hey, let’s go to an expensive place. I promise I can get the other customers at the restaurant to pay for what we order . You both order expensive meals. Dessert. Maybe some liqueur. You loosen your belt as the check comes and your dining companion says: Okay, now you need to pay the bill. You need to. See, now I’ve got this idea about how to reimburse you in some unspecified way at some later date.
When you challenged the person, he said: I never said they’d pay directly!
You’d probably perceive this person as a toxic and awful liar. And you’d be right.
The only explanation I have is that he is not perceived as toxic and an awful liar because the folks he took to dinner are either delusional or very, very sick enablers unable to see the reality in front of them.
In either case, some form of intervention is indicated.
Mother do you think they’ll drop the bomb?
Mother do you think they’ll like this song?
Mother do you think they’ll try to break my balls?
Mother should I build the wall?
Mother should I run for president?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing line?
Mother am I really dying?
Hush now baby, baby, dont you cry.
Mother’s gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mother’s gonna put all her fears into you.
Mother’s gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
Of course mama’ll help to build the wall.
Mother do you think she’s good enough – to me?
Mother do you think she’s dangerous – to me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Mother will she break my heart?
Hush now baby, baby dont you cry.
Mama’s gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Mama wont let anyone dirty get through.
Mama’s gonna wait up until you get in.
Mama will always find out where you’ve been.
Mama’s gonna keep baby healthy and clean.
Ooooh baby oooh baby oooh baby,
You’ll always be baby to me.
On Tuesday and Wednesday Lawrence O’Donnell on the Last Word show cited the email that went out before and after Trump’s national address. O’Donnell had printed a copy and showed it on air. He highlighted the fine print at the bottom that said that the donations were going to the Trump 2020 campaign fund. Last night at the end of his show, O’Donnell noted that Trump must be watching because he sent out a tweet towards the end of the show saying that NBC and MSNBC were “going crazy” with all of the fake news they were reporting. I think we are about to be deluged with the President and his staff crying fake news every hour of every day. Film at eleven.
That’s funny. In the same document iyt is also stated… “Visa fees: Even a small increase in visa fees would pay for the wall. This
includes fees on border crossing cards, of which more than 1 million are
issued a year. The border-crossing card is also one of the greatest sources of
illegal immigration into the United States, via overstays. Mexico is also the
single largest recipient of U.S. green cards, which confer a path to U.S.
citizenship. Again, we have the leverage so Mexico will back down.
Conclusion: Mexico has taken advantage of us in another way as well: gangs,
drug traffickers and cartels have freely exploited our open borders and
committed vast numbers of crimes inside the United States. The United States
has borne the extraordinary daily cost of this criminal activity, including the
cost of trials and incarcerations. Not to mention the even greater human cost.
We have the moral high ground here, and all the leverage. It is time we use it
in order to Make America Great Again.”
So there was no commitment to forcing Mexico to write a pre-payment cheque as the only way to get them to fund the wall…
No. Threatening to raise/raising visa fees are listed as ways (unexplained, dubious, gibberishy) to compel Mexico to make a one-time payment–that’s why you see the word leverage twice. The document is organized clearly.
And the game’s up: Trump’s own spokesperson explicitly acknowledged that Americans will be paying for the wall.
