The Big Mexican Wall...

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

Am I the only Liberal who is all for building the wall along the Mexican Border that the conservatives want? Building it would accomplish a few things at once. 1) By agreeing to build it right now it would help get the immigration bill passed. 2) It would be a huge public works program that would provide hundreds if not thousands of jobs in some of the hardest hit states in the housing bubble. 3) While I don't think it will stop illegal immigrants from crossing the boarder, it will take away a huge talking point for right wing politics. No more chants of "Build the Wall, Build the Wall"

To me the idea of it is silly, but sometimes silly things can be used to good ends.

[WovenGems]

1. Dude

Fences and walls are only asking me if I know how to climb. The Great Wall wasn't effective at keeping out the Mongols what makes you think a wall of any type will work? A huge waste of money for all but the one who gets the contract.

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

3. Bro

read what I said. I don't think that it will be effective at keeping anyone out. I do think that it would make a great public works project providing a ton of jobs and it will take away one of the republicans most effective rallying cry.

[Cigar11]

2. The one thing I’ve know about fences …

They require all the same maintenance and infrastructure support the Republicans refuse to fund for the Country they were elected to govern.

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

4. True, but

as with all things republican, if it is something they want, they find a way to justify the cost...

[savalez]

5. Yeah, next they'll want to pay for it with cuts.

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

6. and we demand that

those cuts come from the pentagon, those extra unwanted tanks that were ordered could probably pay for most of this.

[Gman]

7. The fact is that they've already built as much wall

As possible in populated areas. The big joke in Texas has been the undocumented workers the contractors hired to build the fence.

[Chan790]

8. Want to kill the proposed wall forever?

Attach an amendment saying they have to use union labor every time they bring it up.

[davidpdx]

19. True it would kill the wall part

But it would also probably take down the entire bill. Let's hope the wall part isn't in the proposal at all.

[truebluegreen]

9. I'll bite.

I don't know what the cost-per-mile is but it would be an excellent stimulous/busy-work project to put all kinds of people to work. Use union labor, take it out of the Pentagon budget and build one on the northern border too.

I'd rather build actual useful infrastructure but we know the rePukes would never agree to that.

[WovenGems]

10. If

We are going to do a big public works project, and we should. Let's make something useful like say a geothermal power plant.

[truebluegreen]

11. Sure, that'd be my preference.

But Republicans would never fund a program that didn't hurt someone, some way.

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

12. Exactly

See this is the compromise that we have all been looking for. We get a large public works stimulus project and they get their crazy coo-coo bird wall. Everybody wins. And, as a bonus, we get to take away one of their craziest talking points while helping the economy at the same time.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

13. How about fixing our dangerous bridges first?

and our school roofs

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

16. I think you missed my point

I would love to do those things first or even instead. Basically, I said "How about we do something productive" and you said "I like these more productive things better, so no, unless we do what I want to do"... That attitude just leads to the stalemate that we currently sit in. We (liberals) have large compounding differences in ideology with them (conservatives). So we have two choices, do very little and watch everything that our country has done slowly melt away, or find things that we can agree on and put the larger ideological fights off for another day. I, being a pragmatist, want the former.

[csziggy]

14. What do we call this wall? "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart"? "Wall of Shame"?

Either names sounds appropriate to me. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall)

If we do build MORE of this wall, some day I expect a politician (maybe a Mexican one) will make a speech and say, "Mr President, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"

[Rstrstx]

15. News flash: we just built one

It's hideous by the way - and it screwed up the ecosystem of the Rio Grande

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

17. Link please

At last measure I understood us to have completed a total of off ~350 miles of the ~1900 mile border, and I have heard the cries of environmental impact, but I have never seen an actual study done that said that there was any.

[Rstrstx]

24. Sure thing

http://www.utexas.edu/law/centers/humanrights/borderwall/analysis/briefing-The-Environmental-Impacts-of-the-Border-Wall.pdf

http://www.no-border-wall.com/environmental-impacts.php

http://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border/realid-history.asp

http://notexasborderwall.blogspot.com/2008/11/testimony-on-environmental-impacts-of.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/21fence.html?_r=0

http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/923


There should be tons of more articles out there, it was well covered in the local papers. About the part it being hideous, well I can take my camera with me the next time I go down around the river if that'll suffice

[FSogol]

18. You do know that most people who are in the country illegally, overstay their tourist/student visas,

right? What would a wall between us and Mexico do? During my entire childhood, this country criticized the Soviets for the Berlin Wall. Now we want to build them.

If we want to spend money on public works programs, lets fix the roads, bridges, tunnels, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, water distribution, and electrical grid. No reason to waste money on Republican stoopid ideas.

[davidpdx]

20. Very true

And they can come from countries all over the world. One reason the US was so skittish about allowing the visa waiver program for South Korea was overstayed visa and human trafficking. Eventually they worked it out (somehow) and Korea is part of the program.

[NewYorkTaxPayer]

21. I am aware

but once again, you missed my point. I don't think the wall will do anything, but a public works project is never a waste of money in a down economy. Building an actual wall would put thousands of people to work and act as a second stimulus. I have already stated in my earlier posts that I would prefer projects like those you describe.

I ask myself the following, would I rather spend time fighting the republicans over a wall that I can't come up with a good reason not to build, even though I can't come up with a good reason to build it either. Or would I be happy to give them this, gain political points in the beltway, create a massive public works project that would help the economy, and perhaps create some good will between members of congress that can get them on a path back to working together? I would choose the later.

[ConcernedCanuk]

22. Building a wall between two neighbouring countries is NOT a good idea.

.
.
.

For JOBS?

For the ECONOMY?

Doesn't sound like a wise motivation to me . .

and it will not stop one single immigrant from getting to the USA if they so wish

tunnels

boats

planes

shipping vehicles

etc., etc.

Maybe the USA could figure out a way to help the oppressed in Mexico with the Billions they will have to spend to create and maintain such a wall?

But if they DO build it - and figure out decades later that it was not a good idea - they can hire the Germans to take it down.

Germans learned over 50 years ago it was not a smart move . . .

CC

ps: - ever noticed us Canucks are not sneaking into the USA despite our much colder climate up here?

wonder why . . . .

[geek tragedy]

23. Draft Republicans to form the Night's Watch. nt

[bravenak]

26. And now their watch begins.

And I get to be the one saying 'edd fetch me a block'.

[bigwillq]

25. No to the Wall (nt)

[bravenak]

27. Doesn't anyone remember the Berlin Wall.

I remember it coming down. What a ridiculous idea. Unless there are wights and others and wildling over there.

[burrowowl]

28. The only thing it will keep out

are wild animals that cross back and forth across the border roaming their territories. Very Bad for for ecology.
Very expensive to build and maintain. The fence is an ASININE idea!

[NYC_SKP]

29. Happy to report that my alert was sent. Who else sent an alert?