Negotiators see deal within sight in talks to avert shutdown

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico


By JENNIFER SCHOLTES, TED HESSON and CAITLIN EMMA 02/06/2019 02:18 PM EST

Congressional dealmakers working to stave off another devastating government shutdown said they believe a breakthrough is in reach, following a closed-door Wednesday briefing from Border Patrol officials.

Conference committee negotiators tasked with crafting a border security funding plan said the bipartisan talks took a turn for the better during the meeting. The 17 lawmakers finally began a substantive policy and funding debate, discussing a three-pronged approach to prioritizing border security spending on detection technology, personnel and barriers, according to several members who attended the briefing.

“I would say we’ve got a much better chance today than we had Monday to reach some kind of resolution on this,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said after the briefing. “We’re dealing in substance now. Something we haven’t done before.”

Negotiators have just over a week to reach a deal before federal funding runs out at midnight on Feb. 15 for the same nine departments that were shut down for 35 days after President Donald Trump threatened to veto any spending bill that did not include $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/06/negotiators-avert-government-shutdown-1149246

[cstanleytech]

1. Our guys should not move one single inch on any wall for Trump unless of course there is some give

by the Repugnants and it would have to be major give like a 80% tax on anyone earning over 30 million a year as well as an increase of 70% on large corporations that earn alot of money but whom employee few or that employee many but pay barely above poverty level wages to the majority of their employees.

[DownriverDem]

18. All they need is

a veto proof bill.

[customerserviceguy]

20. You are not going to see

immigration policy and tax policy conflated in any bill designed to avert a shutdown. We will probably see a compromise on something that Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Schumer can call a "fence" and Trump will call a "wall".

Face saving for both sides is how we get to a deal and avoid another shutdown. Trump heard it loud and clear from Ann Coultergeist about caving on the three week deal, he's not going to let that happen again.

[cstanleytech]

21. I am well aware of that and I realize the Repugnants would not budge on either of those which is why

our guys should push for it if they insist on trying to enable Trump and insist on any wall.

[keithbvadu2]

2. No funding for wall!- Period! "Mexico will pay for the wall"

No funding for wall!- Period!

"Mexico will pay for the wall"

The reason Trump shifted to 'barrier' was all that taxpayer money for his Russian steel pals

[old guy]

4. No Money For The Wall!!!!

[Cold War Spook]

3. Negotiators see deal within sight.

The Republicans want $5.7 billion to build the wall and the Democrats can see $5.7 billion for border security without the wall. Where is that deal they can see?

[louis c]

7. All walls are barriers, but all barriers are not walls. There in lies the rub

The Normandy barriers are barriers, but they are far from a wall. They provided a barrier to vehicular traffic, /there are hundreds of miles of such barriers. There are fences in certain locations, especially in San Diego, which prevent people from wading into the shore from the shallow parts of the Pacific Ocean.

All these barriers were well known in 2015 and 2106 when Trump declared that he wanted to build a contiguous concrete wall with steel rebars, 30 feet high and 2,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico would pay for the wall. The estimated cost was $28 Billion.

Now, if the Democrats, with independent experts from the Army Core of Engineers think that certain areas need additional fencing or Jersey or Normandy barriers; or that fences in other areas need to be repaired, let's not for one minute think that these actions are the same as the wall Trump described in his Presidential campaign.

[cstanleytech]

9. Except you would still need to patrol any wall or barrier so rather than waste money

on any wall or barrier they would be better off at buying some drones to find anyone crossing illegally and then dispatch border patrol personal to intercept them.
The vast majority of money for protecting our borders though should be directed to the ports as thats where the majority of drugs are entering the country.

[louis c]

11. If you only want to make sure that vehicles don't enter a certain area...

Last edited Wed Feb 6, 2019, 09:39 PM - Edit history (1)

...because the terrain can not be transversed on foot, you can put up these vehicle barriers.

Same with fencing in areas that have shallow water. Also, virtual walls that are secured through technology could be effective. Democrats are not against securing the border, but we will not finance a Game of Thrones type wall.

The point is, let's not have Trump change the description of what he promised so that anything that is built fits his criteria.

[cstanleytech]

12. Agreed, we or I should say our people in Congress should hammer him time and time again over

the fact that he swore Mexico would pay for the wall.

[SunSeeker]

5. Sounds like Republicans are ready to cave on wall money.

Which must mean Trump is too.

[DrToast]

10. McConnell has hinted that they're going to make a deal with or without Trump now.

So yeah, Trump will probably cave rather than have his veto overridden.

[PSPS]

17. That's the plan. Even the bills mcconnell refused to bring to a vote would have passed veto-proof

That's the only reason he didn't let them be voted on.

[DirtEdonE]

6. Negotiators?

There is no negotiating with traitors. Democrats should beg trump to close government again so they can place the blame squarely on him where it belongs then send bill after bill to re-open government to that other filthy traitor mcconnell and the rest of the pubican traitors in the senate.

It worked out so well for the pubicans last time I'm sure they'll stick by trump again. It's fun to watch them commit political suicide.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. "threatened to veto"

There is a thing called "overriding a veto". A provision provided in the U.S. Constitution that is a concept that is obviously foreign to these GOP wankers.

[DirtEdonE]

13. trump is overriding the gop - gross old pubicans

And they seem to be enjoying him on top so much - they refuse to change positions and override him.

[Hulk]

14. it WILL include money for some sort of walls...

...in certain places. It should. There probably are short stretches where a wall might help in stemming people from crossing at dangerous points - federal lands so litigation is avoided, where an eye could be kept on the wall - as in populated and guarded currently. It's like "immigration"; there are so many fixes needed for so many particular situations. Nearly every story I hear is different for undocumented people living in the US in the shadows today.

So, give the orange Humpty some wall in the deal. Not enough that he can stamp "TRUMP" all across it to remind Americans just what a truly fucked place we found ourselves in from 2016-20. But give us something. The DACA can-kicking down the road is better than nothing, and we need to toss out half the repuKKKe Klan from the Senate and do some more thinning in the House before our next President is elected. THEN we can address immigration and run right over the top of this treasonous cowards in the party of cowards.

[srobertss]

16. If it can prevent deaths by discouraging people from treacherous crossings

then I would support strategic borders, along with following legal processes for asylum seekers at ports of entry (not keeping them in Mexico where they have little access to US immigration attorneys.)

Especially if we could prevent another shutdown. They’re saying that it’s going to take a year to recover from this last one. And federal contractors are never going to recover that lost income.

The difficulty is finding people with knowledge who will speak fairly about this. After the briefing they got today from border officials, one of the Democrats said (can’t remember who) that it seemed like they had been coached to support walls where they weren’t really necessary.

[Blarneyman]

15. I'll believe it when I see it

And I don't think I'm being cynical, just realistic.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

19. We live near Joshua Tree National Park. It won't survive another shutdown.

It's expected to take at least 100 years for nature to repair the damage caused to the fragile ecosystem by off-roaders, vandals and graffiti "street artists" who just couldn't resist spraying their crap on the rocks. There were even people who cut down Joshua Trees, just for the hell of it! They aren't good for firewood, and take a long, long time to grow. There was also a plethora of juniper trees cut up, I assume for firewood. I was surprised we didn't have a major fire in the Park during the Trump shutdown.

Here's an article from The Washington Post:

‘A travesty to this nation’: People are destroying Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park

In most depictions, Joshua trees tower above the earth. Feathery-looking limbs topped with spiky green leaves twist skyward, completing the gangly succulent’s striking appearance.

But now, viral pictures of these protected trees show a vastly different scene unfolding at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California.

The trees in the photos have been felled and are lying on the dusty ground — and Park Service officials say people, not Mother Nature, are to blame.

Shared widely on social media Thursday, the photos have sparked outrage over the plight of national parks that remain open amid a partial government shutdown, leaving them understaffed and vulnerable to the antics of unruly visitors. Parks nationwide have struggled to deal with a variety of issues ranging from rampant littering and overflowing public restrooms to the vandalism of habitats.

“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican, what’s going on at Joshua Tree National Park is a travesty to this nation,” one person tweeted.

. . .

Before shutdown:



After shutdown:

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For anyone who voted for Trump because they wanted a radical change in Washington, this is only one consequence of their actions.