Posted on 03/05/2019 10:47:50 AM PST by Red Badger
A U.S. company is offering to build 234 miles of President Trump's border wall for just $1.4 billion, a fraction of the $8 billion the Trump administration is hoping to use for that project.
Fisher Sand and Gravel Company's President and CEO Tommy Fisher said the government is overpaying and said that for $4.31 billion, he can build the wall and incorporate paved roads and border technology plus warranty.
"Our whole point is to break through the government bureaucracy," Fisher told the Washington Examiner. "If they do the small procurements as they are now … that’s not going to cut it."
Of the $8 billion Trump is hoping to spend, he already has $1.375 billion of that amount from Congress, which can only be used to build fencing in the Rio Grande Valley. Trump is seeking to repurpose another $3.1 billion in defense funding for more border wall and $3.6 billion more through his emergency declaration that Congress and the courts will challenge.
Fisher said that the roughly $1.4 billion is enough to build 20 miles of levee wall in the Rio Grande Valley, plus another 214 miles. That pot of money, however, can only be used in the Rio Grande Valley, according to the bill Congress passed approving those funds and was only expected to be used for about 55 miles of steel slat fencing.
The Army Corps of Engineers is not ready to start looking at how to spend the $8 billion Trump seized in his national emergency order last month, a representative told the Washington Examiner last week. The corps is considering how to spend money Congress gave DHS last fiscal year and has not requested bids from the private sector because it's still in the procurement process.
Replacement and new wall projects have struggled to get underway in Trump's first two years in office. Just 35 miles of wall have gone up in that time. The Army Corps of Engineers has procured around 75 miles but has not awarded $900 million for the project of the $1.35 billion that was in the 2018 omnibus.
DHS officials and several lawmakers are expected to visit the site of his border wall construction site in Arizona next week.
——The Corps of Engineers is still in the procurement process.....
Hmmm. One wonders if that is a stall point
it will be cheaper if they just place landmines all over the border..
The democrats in the House will now investigate Fisher Sand and Gravel for collusion and obstruction of justice.
5.56mm
My name is earl schieb, I’ll seal your border
And paint the wall ....
$6 million a mile.
I’ve said from the day Trump was inaugurated they should do a reverse auction for wall-builders. Let’s see who’s hungry and who’s got the best ideas and highest efficiency.
The man is a Patriot.
That was Venezuelans:
You will just end up killing a lot of deer, pigs, and other wildlife.
I remember reading about the big dam projects and
how the construction companies got together to bid and
build it and how workers came from all over America just to work on it.
I hope Trump will come up with something like that,
farming it out to small contractors is not the way to
go on a project of this scale.
what’s the bad news?
First, he'll have to pay "prevailing wages" to his crew, which will be double what he normally pays them.
Then he will have to submit all of the paperwork that he is complying with the Fair Labor Act, the Equal Opportunities to Minorities and Snowflakes Act, the Don't Kill Fuzzy Pink Frogs Act, etc.
Then he will have to submit to an audit by the IRS, DEA, NCAA, etc. to make sure his books are properly cooked.
By the time he's finished, $8 billion won't be enough for the 234 miles of fence.
Including the cost of the land?
I’ve done business with this company for years. They are top notch.
The Davis-Bacon Act can be suspended in case of emergency. Likely the American Iron and Steel Act is the same.
Been saying that since the 90’s
For that matter, I will take a few buddies of mine and build a billion dollars’ worth of wall, however many miles that covers.
Yes, Mr. President, the aforementioned is a bona fide offer and upon acceptance, we will be on the job withing days
Your staff can reach me through the usual channels.
Respectfully,
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