Mexico's foreign affairs secretary pushes back against Trump: "We will never pay for a wall"

"How about a live-fire 100 mile wide dmz zone on the mexico side?"

You are spot on, a change to the rules of engagement might discourage the slimebags from invading us. There are some canyons in the desert near San Diego where all the drug smuggling happens; I think some live fire might do some good there.

"We know how prideful those people are. No problem. We’ll make them pay for the wall without them even knowing they are paying for the wall."

Exactly. A fee here, a little tax there, all under the radar. Then, when Trump leaves office in 2025, he announces that Mexico paid off the wall on August 30, 2023 when some poor slob paid another $22 to send his mamacita her monthly allotment of his illegally earned wages.

"Fact is, most of the common people of Mexico ARE “great, moral people”, as are those in Central America. Those seen most in the US and the media are corrupt politicians, drug traffickers, gang scumbags and illegal aliens. The majority of people south of the border are none of those."

And, most of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are great moral people, too. I've seen the surveys, about 60% of the Palestinians want to live in peace with Israel. But the 40% ruins it for them all.

The level of corruption in Mexico is probably 10 times higher than in the USA. Murderous gangs, extortion, graft, bribery, basically things that very rarely happen in the USA except in the inner city ... where Mexican and Central American gangs do it!

My Christian character says to look for the best in people, and I do. But my common sense brain says that Mexico, as a country, is not worthy of either praise or much respect. The national character, and the culture, is one that needs to stay south of the border.

And, before anyone screens "RACIST," be advised that I have a Hispanic surname and that every relative in my family tree has Hispanic surnames as well. This is not about race. It's about truth.

Careful, this is not the time to be punitive.

The tax rate on remittances should equal the amount lost to the Treasury for those Mexicans working illegally off the books. So if the lost Treasury revenue is $2 billion, then the tax rate should be $2 billion divided by the amount that is sent home, which in 2017 was approximately $30 billion. So that equals 6%.

What’s good about this is that the onus is now squarely on the illegal Mexican working off the books. The ones working legitimately have HIM to blame, and the company that hires him.

<"I’d wager that with the new trade deal, Mexico will, in effect, pay for the wall...."

Yup, I expect that was always Trump's gambit. Of course the ninnies in the Mexican government would scream like stuck pigs. But when the trade imbalance improves by $5 billion a year, then over the next six years Mexico will have paid $30 billion toward the wall.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.