Posted on 08/18/2015 10:24:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Donald Trump may need to rework his Mexico wall math.
Donald Trump yesterday unveiled his policy paper on immigration reform, including how he would convince Mexico to pay for a border wall. But technology is likely to have made his first bullet point irrelevant by the time he would take office.
Trump writes that “Mexico continues to make billions on not only our bad trade deals but also relies heavily on the billions of dollars in remittances sent from illegal immigrants in the United States back to Mexico ($22 billion in 2013 alone)… Mexico must pay for the wall and, until they do, the United States will, among other things: impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages.”
Before continuing, it’s worth noting that Trump is incorrectly quoting the source to which he links (Fox News Latino). The $22 billion figure is for all remittances from the U.S. to Mexico in 2013, not only those involving illegal immigrants.
But my issue here isn’t bad math. It’s the idea that Trump thinks he’d be able to use remittances as a major cudgel in 2017 (which is when the next president would be sworn in). While most of these payments today are made via traditional wire transfers, more and more of them are being made via bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Not only are such exchanges cheaper than traditional wire transfers, but they are faster and would be virtually impossible for the U.S. government to block (given that Bitcoin transfers don’t include identifying information that could be matched against federal identification databases). There is even a service that lets people in the U.S. send Bitcoin to ATMs in Mexico, where the intended recipient can withdraw their money in pesos.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
What amazes me about these journalist morons is that they are always quick to say why this will not work but they are clueless as to what will work.
Trump is all about making the impossible possible.
The journos and the establishment are all about making the possible impossible.
I can tell you what Americans want by crushing margins. And as an aside. I am willing to bet that Trump knows this game so well that he knew there would be this kind of reaction. This is what he calls the “tap,tap,tap” of the beginings of negotiations.
Trump is in the process of wearing out his opposition. This is so obvious.
Of course it will change behavior, that’s the exact point. Those sending money will look for ways around the tax. Some will hold off sending money back until they travel back. Others will decide to set up a bank account in the US and not send the money back at all.
But this behavior will not change overnight. If this were to be implemented, it would raise tens of millions of dollars a month, seriously piss off Mexico who relies on these remittances, and cause illegals to realize how serious the U.S. is about costing them money.
Once a wall starts to go up, the behavior will change more and more.
A change in behavior is the entire purpose of this proposal. Just don’t blow smoke about how a guy who works day labor under the table is going to go and buy Bitcoin to send back to his dirt poor family in Mexico.
Bitcoin? I’m a bitcoin fan and I don’t see how $billions will be transferred that way.
Besides, trump is smart enough to find other ways to squeeze the Mexicans. Bill for welfare for example.
Have you heard of the Argo Tribe of central Honduras? They have a native Call-—a particular ancient and sacred, diverse cry they utter in villages and markets everywhere in their alternate cuklture and fine domain. It goes like this:
Argo!
Argo!
Argo _______ Yersef!!
I always retreat to that utterance, as taught to meb y my sainted grandmother some 65 years ago.
In my village, we take comfort in such tradition....
I have thought all along we should be taxing those remittances. If you are a US citizen try taking cash out the country. Hell try taking it out of your bank acct.
“Odd—I don’t recall any critical evaluations of the costs of Obamacare by Fortune.”
You’re not allowed to notice that. The Soros trolls and Bush-bots are on a mission to laugh at Americans.
reduce it to zero and use the money for a fence, boder control, doughnuts and coffee.
RE: How much do we pay Mexico in foreign aid?
SEE HERE:
http://listosaur.com/politics/top-10-recipients-of-united-states-foreign-aid/
We give Mexico $757.7 million a year. Even if we zero it out, and use the money to build the Wall, it will only be PARTIALLY good for the wall, not enough to complete it.
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