Posted on 02/10/2017 10:28:38 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Twelve billion here, fifteen billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. Put them together, though, and it comes close to the actual projected cost of the border wall. Reuters reports that the Department of Homeland Security’s proposal runs far ahead of the funds that Republicans in Congress planned to allocate:
President Donald Trump’s “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct, based on a U.S. Department of Homeland Security internal report seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The report’s estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12-billion figure cited by Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The report is expected to be presented to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly in coming days, although the administration will not necessarily take actions it recommends.
The plan lays out what it would take to seal the border in three phases of construction of fences and walls covering just over 1,250 miles (2,000 km) by the end of 2020.
It’s not the only variance from first projections. The new DHS study projects that the wall will be completed by late 2020, assuming Congress begins allocating the funds by May, presumably in the upcoming omnibus bill. That’s longer than the two-year estimate Kelly gave Congress just a week ago, which will certainly raise questions about his preparation for that testimony.
It also makes the issue of funding a little more fraught. Initially, Ryan indicated that the House would pursue the funding in the fall, as part of the FY2018 budget process. A two-year completion schedule at that point would have meant that the wall could be completed by late 2019, enough ahead of the presidential primaries to claim victory on a long-made promise from Republicans. A three-year-plus schedule suggests that the wall may not be complete until midway through an election year — and that gives Democrats plenty of reason to start blocking the funding, starting in two months during the omnibus FY2017 negotiations.
The time difference matters a lot more than the cash difference, though the latter is not exactly a few coins in the cushion. A nine-billion-dollar miss might seem like the lunch budget for the federal government, but it would actually be about 0.1% of all discretionary spending projected for FY2017 (although the appropriation will probably stretch out over the three-year period, too). At DHS, it’s more significant; the proposed FY2017 appropriation was $48 billion, so a $9 billion miss is rather big. Republicans might feel pressure from their conservative ranks to find the money by cutting other spending, and that will no doubt fuel opposition from Democrats.
It’s still probably better to have this fight earlier rather than later. If Ryan and McConnell wait until fall, the momentum for the project could stall, and Trump’s electoral mandate might have dissipated. Kelly better deliver it on time, and on budget, if Republicans want to reap political benefit from it. Besides, if they wait any longer, the bill’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger.
Very good estimate, but I noticed you did not take into account the high tech security equipment. e.g. cameras and detectors, in the mix ( they have those at the border between San Diego and Tijuana and Israel’s wall with Gaza as well ).
There’s always Prozac, but you did make it to my No-Call list.
Good luck.
And while you’re taking your Prozac try to remember - American tariffs are paid for by any American consumer that still wants to buy a product from Mexico and try not to freak out too much about that.
That is why a had such a big percentage for incidental features. I have done force protection construction for the armed forces. There are lots of aspects to this that would be cost items if I was going to speculate. Anti-tunneling cut off slurry walls below ground is something you would want to have in certain remote areas.
Where we have border construction, it has sometimes required the Corps of Engineers to build a road to get to an area, then provide protection from snipers.
nah camo...for a touch of atmosphere
Sounds like bargain. We got a tunnel in Boston that stretches for two miles that cost that amount, the Big Dig.
It costs America far more per year for the MILLIONS of Illegals collecting freebies and NOT paying any income tax.
Keep up your pro-cheap garbage tactic since it pleases you. I don’t need anything from Mexico. I can find better quality right here in the USA. Unlike people like you who obviously live on drugs, I don’t need any. I’m extremely well educated, well traveled, well balanced, and as the French say, “Bien dans ma peau.”
Well, Molly, regardless of your unbalanced harangue a few posts ago, regardless of what you need or don’t need, regardless of your ad hominems, education, travel, French, and all your other attempts to deflect the point here, American tariffs will still be paid by any American consumer who still wants to buy a product from Mexico.
Bye bye and good luck.
What you spend on Mexican “stuff” employs Mexicans, produces taxes for the Mexican government, and increases the outflow of American capital, weakening our base. What you spend on American made goods employs Americans and continues to flow through the American economy, providing others with jobs and our own tax revenue. You and those like you would rather buy cheap and sell out your own country for the possible difference of a few dollars. Don’t try to convince me because I spent too many years in business to swallow your hog-wash.
You probably drive a Jap car too!
American tariffs on imports from Mexico will be paid by any American consumer who wants to buy a product from Mexico. How is that “hogwash”?
And just what product from Mexico is so desirable as to be better than supporting the economy of the US?
Missing the point there Molly. The economics of a tariff do not depend your personal feelings or morality. Those who still want to buy products from Mexico will pay for the tariff.
$21,000,000,000??? Clown Dunce nobama and his pals blew $10,000,000,000,000.00. What did that buy us? Build it...add some claymores.
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