Add the border wall boondoggle to the other Shrub Rethug boondoggles (out of moohlah, they need MORE

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http://www.themonitor.com/articles/border_17564___article.html/fence_funding.html

Border fence funding in limbo

September 21, 2008 - 4:51PM

Kevin Sieff (The Brownsville Herald)
BROWNSVILLE -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has run out of money to build remaining segments of the U.S.-Mexico border fence in the Rio Grande Valley and elsewhere, and the project already is $400 million over budget.

Unexpected construction costs and legal holdups have paralyzed construction just weeks after DHS broke ground in the Valley. ....

With 17 miles of fencing in Brownsville "on deck," according to DHS officials, the city's fate now could lie in the hands of a single congressman charged with approving a federal funding request. ....

But to secure an additional $140 million, DHS will need the approval of U.S. Rep. David Price, D-NC, chairman of the Sub-Committee on Homeland Security. ....



http://www.themonitor.com/articles/cost_17462___article.html/fence_department.html

Border fence hits wall, congressional investigators say

September 18, 2008 - 10:59PM

Dave Hendricks
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire

WASHINGTON -- Unless the federal government wrests land from 77 stubborn Rio Grande Valley residents in the next 10 days, all bets on the border fence are off, congressional investigators testified Thursday. ....

Slightly more than half the fencing, 341 miles, was complete at the end of last month.

The department began trucking concrete to the southwest border from as far away as Colorado when a Mexican contractor couldn't supply enough, Stana said, explaining the cost overrun. Labor costs have also soared as the department, in its rush to complete the remaining 329 miles of fencing before the end of the year, pays a premium for workers.

The design of the fence itself also changed drastically, boosting the cost per mile. Cost estimates were for a 10-foot steel fence, but the department built a 15-foot fence that was thicker than planned. ....

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