Posted on 01/08/2007 4:27:22 PM PST by Dane
The cost of building and maintaining a double set of steel fences along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border could be five to 25 times greater than congressional leaders forecast last year, or as much as $49 billion over the expected 25-year life span of the fence, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
A little-noticed study the research service released in December notes that even the $49 billion does not include the expense of acquiring private land along hundreds of miles of border or the cost of labor if the job is done by private contractors -- both of which could drive the price billions of dollars higher.
The Congressional Research Service also questioned the effectiveness of a fence in preventing people from crossing the border illegally, especially if it does not span the entire 1,952-mile border. Secure fencing of some kind already exists along 106 miles of border, mostly in short stretches around cities.
The findings did not deter Congressional backers of the border fence, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-San Diego, the fence's principal proponent.
"Mr. Hunter firmly supports expanding the San Diego border fence across the U.S.-Mexico border," said spokesman Joe Kasper. "This doesn't have to be and should not be as costly an endeavor as some are suggesting."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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Just build the freaking fence already... Geesh.
Those Soviets had a real hard time with illegal immigrants. Especially the East Germans. They probably had 1 or 2 a year.
Remember the Alamo..?
sw
ping
Ted Steven's bridge to nowhere must be part of it.
$13,000+ per foot? Bovine scat.
I see our resident lib dem Dingus is now using the SF Chronicle as an unbiased news source.
No surprise there.
L
This is probably using the Federal rules that stipulate union labor rates.
I think all illegals who want to stay should be sponsored by a real American citizen who would be held equally responsible for the crimes these illegals commit every day.
Would you volunteer, Dane? (Assuming you are not an illegal yourself.)
Can I see some receipts please?
There is a big distinction between this wall and the walls of the Communists. They put them up to entrap their citizenry, this one is to protect our people.
Much more like the Great Wall of China than the Brandenburg Gate.
Good start, though!
Or at least give our Border Patrol weapons so they don't have to run from the Mexicans. I'd be willing to bet that the American people would even donate money to build that fence...............if a reputable company could be found to build it. And that doesn't mean Diane Finstien's husbands company that is a main contractor in Iraq.
Um, FA? It ain't going to work. If there is a market on tis side, and a supply on that side, no fence will ever stop it, no matter the cost.
Not that I am taking sides...but, black-market cigs are pretty easy to find in NYC, you know...cost a lot less then the $70/carton legal ones...
Come to think of it, you can get drugs in prison.
Why is that, you think?
Cheap, compared to the cost of losing a major American city to terrorism.
Let's stop talking and start building.
There is a market in stolen cars. Do you leave your doors unlocked and your key in the ignition?
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