The Great Wall of the United States theater

President Trump has made a lot of speeches of how the Mexican government is going to pay for the Great (useless) Wall of the United States. When they said NO, he started to push for you, the American taxpayer, to pay for it and that sometime (over the rainbow) in the future that the Mexican government will eventually pay for the wall.

I suspect that he will place that sometime, the day after he leaves office in about eight years, if he lasts that long.

Now he’s backing away from having Congress approve a paltry $1.5 billion, or one thousand five hundred million dollars in seed money. In other words, getting the Camel’s nose under the tent. So once that’s been wasted, Congress will approve the waste of another twenty thousand million dollars or so on this flawed concept. And flawed it is; a good speech line item, but devoid of utility.

Read this Washington Post article about how the completed border wall is just theater, and a waste of taxpayers money as it doesn’t solve the problem, just places a band-aid on it to show something is being done. Totally ineffective, but entertaining! The article describes how easy it is for smugglers to cut through (or scale) the wall… all of thirty minutes, including a ten minute lunch break to eat the delicious tacos that they make in Mexico.

Fortunately, President Trump has an out. It’s to call the Democrats rotten and unfair as they are the ones who will block the appropriations bill and shut down the government if he asks for the money.

He fails to note, if he actually knows, that the Democrats can’t do that any more than the Republicans could stop Obamacare in the House or Senate. Both sides make a lot of noise, but that’s all it is.

The only thing that could possibly stop the paltry $1.5 billion seed money is for the Freedom Caucus, of about 32 members and other Republicans, to say no.

This is the same way that they killed the Obamacare repeal and replace, a disgraceful, amateur attempt at repealing Obamacare. I wish I would have been elected. I would have got it right the first time.

The House has 430 members at this time (plus 5 vacancies), 237 Republicans to 193 Democrats. It’s clear that the Republican members do not like Trump’s proposals as they will still have a winning majority without any support from the Freedom Caucus, 205 to 193.

Even in the Senate, where the Republicans have a majority, the Democrats can filibuster for a maximum of 50 hours before it comes to the vote. That’s when the bill will be approved.

So President Trump has found a way to back out of many of his 100% commitments except for tax cuts for corporations, elimination of the Alternate Miinimum Tax and other areas that have dual beneficiaries. Blame the Democrats and keep a straight face, although he quietly realizes that his own party of convenience doesn’t support him.

My observation is that Mr. Trump’s real interest is in passing legislation that benefits the Trump family. I’ll be surprised to see border tax and infrastructure proposals as they have a downside… no benefit to the Trump family. On the other hand, a reduction in corporate taxes (I agree with that), elimination of estate (death) taxes and other areas that will have a positive impact on the family fortune will be promoted as good for our economy.

That it also benefits the country is not the first consideration, and if it dovetails, all well and good. And if it doesn’t, that’s called theater, going through the motions but without any real substance.

I think that what President Trump really thinks about is to “Make America the Trump family Great richer Again. I’m sure that he’s upset that Fortune magazine only gives his falling net worth at $3.7 billion, and that he’s number 544 (down from 324) on the world’s richest list. He wants to fix that.

A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Once a businessman, always a businessman.