Why Is Trump's Wall A Bad Thing?

[Dill]

(01-31-2019, 01:03 AM)Benton Wrote: Well laid out. And to the bold, that's what I've been preaching for ever. The problem for politicians is, a lot of their donors don't really want reforms. Obama moved toward targeting employers (which was good) but didn't arrest illegal employees during raids (which was bad).

(01-30-2019, 01:01 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: 4. 5 Billion dollars is not how much the Wall will cost. Non-partisan estimates have ranged anywhere from 22 billion to 31 billion dollars for the entire length of the border. Even Fox News has reported their estimate as 25 billion dollars. 5 billion dollars is a drop in the bucket for what will end up being needed for this wall. And that's before you even account for the maintenance required, which could be anywhere from 150 million per year to 750 million per year, depending on the style of wall, the weather the wall encounters and any possible damage done to the wall from people trying to cross it. And that's all assuming the construction of this wall goes smoothly. If problems are encountered, who knows how much that cost could balloon to.

You guyz both make good points, but your focus on rational, fact-based policy has led you to overlook the most important aspect of the wall--its psychological effect on the Trump base.  Where the drugs and illegals REALLY come in matters much less than the IDEA, the psychological comfort, of a barrier keeping "them" out, like garlic and crosses hung in every window of your home.

21+ billion is not too small a price to pay for the psychic security of some 40 million American voters.