I mean he is the POTUS for heaven's sake. Trump has said so many idiotic things that there is no need to rehash them all.
OT and destined for the RT....
- Thread starter Trading Tiger
- Start date
Opportunity cost in terms of money? or...?
Only opportunity cost there would be is the amount of illegal votes the democrats would lose lmao. If you're speaking in terms of money, more money would be saved over a period of time if the wall is built compared to if it is not. There is no opportunity cost any way you look at it.
Nah i think it's that you can't explain why there shouldn't be a wall and are therefore trying to take the attention away from that.
So $250 billion a year in combating illegal immigration should remain? Your argument that it is an opportunity cost literally makes ZERO sense. Sure its $15 billion now but that $250 billion goes down drastically and in the long run SAVES MONEY FOR THE DoD. What do you not understand about that? From a money standpoint(which is your argument) building the wall is the most economical thing to do.
You really don’t understand opportunity cost. You also don’t understand the term economical. I think there are other more efficient things to spend that $15b on. There are also other less expensive things to decrease the cost to our country as far as illegal immigration goes.
I understand both very well. Explain how money can be better spent than to protect our nation's borders and sovereignty?
So, the actual cost of the wall to cover the entire border would be closer to $60b with yearly maintenance at over $800k per mile of wall. But we can stick with the $15b (I think the WH has requested this amount or more for “phase 1”). Here is a link to a fact-check arguing for a BREAK-EVEN of the wall (so a 0% return on investment): https://www.factcheck.org/2018/03/will-trumps-wall-pay-for-itself/
You don’t think we can spend $15b on something that will give a return of more than 0%? Assuming the wall will cost about 25% of what it really will and assuming it will pay for itself, which it won’t...the opportunity cost is still too high to justify at a 0% return.
So, instead of claiming I don’t want to protect the sovereignty of our nation - which I work for everyday - how about justifying how the cost would be worth while instead of just spewing the “cost” of illegal immigration and stating the wall will decrease this.
I stopped reading at $60b and 800k per year maintenance per mile. That is absolutely bullshit lmao.
Here’s a breakdown of construction cost estimates according to various sources:
- President Trump: $12 billion
- Former House Speaker Paul Ryan: $15 billion
- Department of Homeland Security: $22 billion
- The Washington Post: $25 billion
- Senate Democrats: $70 billion
Okay, so skip over that part and address the rest of the message. I assumed your numbers were correct in the remainder of the argument.
Q) how about justifying how the cost would be worth while instead of just spewing the “cost” of illegal immigration and stating the wall will decrease this.
Okay assume it is a one time $15 billion payment and we get a 0% return.
1) less Illegal drugs - first and foremost.
2) illegal border crossings (which is a humanitarian crisis, people are dying every day) Individuals can climb ladders, but it slows them down and limits what they can carry. Vehicles cannot breach the wall, so any truck loaded with weapons, drugs, sex slaves, or worse has to stop, and the smugglers have to climb ladders with only what they can carry. There are two clear benefits of the wall in this instance alone.
3) less cartel involvement of human trafficking Great numbers of vulnerable women, children, and families travel thousands of miles every year, through deserts, cartel territories, and the material deprivation of food and shelter for a chance to cross the southern border. As many as 80 percent are reportedly raped during their journey. Families pay smugglers great sums to bring them across Central America and Mexico to the United States. These smugglers may be careless about their customers’ security, reducing them to the status of packages.
Not every aspect of a border wall has to do with immigration. By only addressing immigration and to some extent covering smuggling, the media misses one of the most critical aspects of a wall: Many communities are ravaged by theft and burglary.
4) Nowhere is the case for the double-layered security-style fence more compelling than with the Israel security fence. Between 2000 and 2005, suicide bombers infiltrated Israel almost on a daily basis. Over 1,000 Israelis were killed and countless thousands wounded – the equivalent of 42,000 fatalities and hundreds of thousands wounded in America if extrapolated from the population size. After construction of the fence, a double-layer barrier with a security zone in the middle – similar to the San Diego fence, suicide attacks perpetrated by Arab terrorists declined by well over 90%
5) less illegal workers (good for American immigrants that migrated here legally.)
6) less people on government programs (welfare etc.)
Yes, because your $250b figure is way off and there isn’t much evidence that a wall would reduce that number. We should’ve stayed in NAFTA and illegal border crossings would have continued to decline.
Anyway, this is common sense but drug smuggling and other types of smuggling are mostly done through legal ports of entry https://www.factcheck.org/2017/08/will-trumps-wall-stop-drug-smuggling/ ... how many vehicles do you think cross the border in spots where the wall will go up and would stop them otherwise? The stuff you’re talking about isn’t done by individuals running across the border. People/drugs/etc go through legal ports in things like tractor trailers and trucks.
Trumps own administration admitted that “spillover violence” was not an area of concern. Immigrants (legal and illegal) are less likely to commit crime than their American counterparts. You’re buying into rhetoric rather than facts again.
How many communities are “ravaged” by burglaries and theft because of people who came across the border in “illegal” spots?
How do you get your “data” and evidence? I feel like I’m arguing with a Fox News tape recorder (well the Fox hosts that still side with Trump no matter what). I agree with both dems and repubs and believe in country over party but some people will back Trump’s policies no matter how asinine they are. I want what’s best for our country and can see when things just don’t add up. I believe in defending our country as much as anyone else (or more) but building a wall is a waste of money. I’d rather spend the $15b on technology to increase the likelihood of catching drugs/people hidden in vehicles. Or healthcare for veterans. Or almost anything other than an outdated wall.
https://www.oann.com/debtclock/
This all at the end of the day boils down to people not liking Trump. Nearly all powerful Dem's advocated for a border wall within the last decade, obama, schumer, pelosi.. the list goes on. This isn't a debate over whether a border wall is worth it, it's simply resistance to not give Trump the victory of building the wall. The wall is/going to be built under Trump so you'll simply have to get over it. no pun intended
https://www.oann.com/debtclock/
This all at the end of the day boils down to people not liking Trump. Nearly all powerful Dem's advocated for a border wall within the last decade, obama, schumer, pelosi.. the list goes on. This isn't a debate over whether a border wall is worth it, it's simply resistance to not give Trump the victory of building the wall. The wall is/going to be built under Trump so you'll simply have to get over it. no pun intended
You obviously don’t work for/towards protecting our country and have a very limited understanding of economics. I hope you start seeking the truth one day. I wish I could say I haven’t seen anyone say such ignorant things with such conviction but our president does it all the time.
