Trump offers the Democrats a deal

The President offers a “compromise” to break the stalemate

Trump said he wants to build in 2019 not a full-length wall, but merely 230 miles of wall, costing $5.7 billion dollars in the 2019 budget. That’s about right, about $25 million per mile. A group of MIT engineers estimated a cost of 27 to 40 million per mile, but that was based on his previous prototypes, which were before the new steel slat design.

So Trump is willing to trade DACA and TPS for only 230 miles of wall material which is probably sorely needed (I would have to hear from the DHS experts to change that “probably” to “definitely” or “definitely not.”) Remember the photographer who shot the entire length of the wall found areas where there was nothing at all to prevent people from simply walking in. Trump may well be right in saying we really do need another 230 miles of barriers.

Note that Trump’s proposal is just that – a proposal. An offer. A negotiation. If the Democrats really want to negotiate in good faith, in my opinion, they should submit a counter-proposal to show the American public exactly where the two sides disagree. If I were in their shoes, the first thing I would demand would be a permanent DACA solution, not a delaying action that will create this same crisis again in three years. That is management by procrastination.

The Dems could really declare a win if they agree to Trump’s deal (with DACA made permanent) by taking control of the narrative and saying – “We did not fund a border wall across the southern border. We only funded 230 miles of barriers in areas that are basically unprotected today.” That would be a major victory over Trump, whose base was expecting a shiny new wall from sea to shining sea, all paid for by Mexico.

And, of course, it would also get the government open again, and government families would again be able to pay their bills.

12 thoughts on “Trump offers the Democrats a deal

  1. Tom Nichols

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    @RadioFreeTom
    9h9 hours ago
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    While I want my colleagues in government service to get paid, if Dems cave now to any “deal,” the only people who will be empowered will be Coulter and Limbaugh, and there will be no end to the mischief that will follow; it will make this shutdown seem like a dress rehearsal.

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  2. I am of the opinion that Obama’s administrative action on DACA was unconstitutional. I suppose reasonable people can disagree on that. But I think it is outrageous that federal judges have chosen to ignore the law to reach the absurd conclusion that Obama had the discretion to put a DACA program in place, but Trump does not have the discretion to end it. It is clear they have decided that Trump is such a heinous individual and that the Dreamers are so deserving of aid they are justified in inventing law to help them and frustrate Trump. As it happens I agree with the first two premises, Trump is that bad and the Dreamers do deserve help. But judges still have an obligation to follow the law as it is, not as they wish it was.

    I do support a legislative fix that will protect the Dreamers. If such a fix can be a silver lining of this awful government shutdown that allows the shutdown to end, great. People who are more familiar with the border than I am seem to feel that additional and improved fencing could be of benefit in certain places. If Trump does get the funding he seeks (or some percentage of what he wants) I hope that it is spent in the areas it could be of the most benefit. But that is not the reason I want to see a negotiated compromise. I just want the government shutdown to end. I would also like to see a legal fix for the Dreamers. If the Democrats see no reason to trade wall funding for a DACA fix because of the Courts of Appeal frustrating Trump, that might be enough to convince the Supreme Court to intervene.

  3. One thing I’ve seen in a few places re: Trump’s DACA offer is that it’s currently being heard in court (and kept alive while it’s in court), and that’s one of the reasons why the Democrats won’t negotiate for it.

  4. The longer the shutdown goes the more all politicians will be blamed. I’m generally on the side of “give people enough rope to hang themselves” Let Trump claim a Pyrrhic victory. Drug use and death won’t go down because drugs are a Demand problem, not a supply crisis.

  5. There was a deal to keep the government open. Trump reneged on that deal. It’s important not to reward him for un-reneging.
    He opens the government, then we figure out how best to secure the border.
    Scoopy, I don’t agree that “because there is no wall there” is a good reason to build a wall somewhere. Sure there are likely places where that would help, but better control at legal crossing points and making sure legal visitors leave when their visas expire will give more bang for the buck.

  6. I agree with Scoopy entirely. I think Trump set his DACA fix offer at 3 years specifically so that he could “make a concession” by agreeing to a permanent fix. Of course Trump will declare victory. But that’s really just the nature of politics.

    I have to strongly disagree with Mr. Dark. To say “we have nothing to lose” if the shutdown continues is to say “we” don’t care at all about the people who are being hurt by the shutdown, not even the federal workers who are not being paid. Someone told me the other day that the Democrats shouldn’t even negotiate with Trump “because we shouldn’t negotiate with terrorists.” I agree completely with the people that say Trump shouldn’t have allowed the government to shut down over this issue. But there is a nearly infinite list of things Trump should never have done. We are stuck with him until at least 2021 (or until he is impeached and removed from office). Not negotiating runs the risk of the government remaining closed until 2021. Refusing to negotiate makes Pelosi and Schumer just as bad as Trump. Undisputedly “winning” matters more to them than the welfare of 800,000 federal workers and by extension the American people. They may even be worse because at least Trump has made an offer to compromise.

    1. Laughable post. Trump rejected an already accepted deal, to keep the government open, on a completely unrelated issue, and is using innocent people being harmed as pressure to get what he wasn’t. That’s not the definition of negotiation, that’s the definition of taking hostages.

      I’m not sure how people can frame in their mind it’s a both sides thing when PEOPLE GETTING PAYCHECKS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FUCKING WALL.

      The entire premise of Trump’s holdout is he, and the Republicans, don’t give a shit about people anyway. They rather people work for free, their money isn’t affected, and their lives aren’t affected – so they don’t give a shit – which has pretty much always been their platform. They hope once again to strongarm logic by hurting as many people as they can, and use their propaganda machine to blame it on the opposing machine.

      The GOP spin machine of Hannity, Limbaugh, and others makes the Soviet Pravda look like a coloring book right now. It never amazes me how many dumb mother fuckers exist in this world.

      1. Propaganda machine….as opposed to the outright lies the other side reports? The mainstream media’s credibility is in the toilet and it’s getting worse every week.

        1. Yeah, “outright lies.” I had the radio turned to a local station the other day that broadcasts my local basketball team, and left it on there. The next time I was in my car, it took me five seconds before I could change the station to hear Rush ‘Pill Popper’ Limbaugh mention ‘deep state.’

          Right wing nutjobs like Limbaugh, Coulter, Alex Jones, Hannity, make millions doing nothing but brainwashing uneducated white people who can’t think for themselves.

          I mean, why don’t these people just go follow L Rob Hubbard and get it over with? Scientology could use some more nutjobs.

        2. Did the mainstream media lie when Trump said that his trying to get a tower built in Moscow ended in January 2016, or did it lie when Trump said that his trying to get a tower built in Moscow ended in November 2016?

          Did the mainstream media lie when Trump said that Mexico was going to pay for the border wall, or did it lie when Trump asked Congress to pay for the wall through U.S taxpayer money?

          Did the mainstream media lie when Donald Trump Jr said the meeting with the Russians was about adoption or did it lie when he said that the media was because he was told that at the meeting he would be told about alleged dirt on Hillary Clinton?

          You’re right, there is ‘fake news’ but it’s pretty clear who the fakery is coming from.

  7. Optics don’t matter. Optics only matter if reality matters, and it doesn’t with trump.

    If they fund one INCH of wall as part of this, he will declare victory and his people will be emboldened.

    It simply isn’t an option. He can’t be allowed to win this one. Every minute the shutdown continues, he loses support and followers. We have nothing to lose, he has everything.

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