Economy The [Wall / Government Shutdown] Megathread

Would you approve of Trump using emergency powers to build his wall?


  • Total voters
    92
  • Poll closed .
@TheGreatA what is also getting lost in this is the wall is based on lies, right? The arguments Trump and co. are making for the wall are based on cherry picking and anecdotes and to the extent they're using data it's either flat out wrong or misleading. That matters a lot to me. And that's why it's bad policy.
 
I'm not talking about you specifically, you have made no such offense. It had been brought up as a point before, so I just felt like I needed to address the point, before it gets out of hand. The last couple of weeks, most of my statements have been met with the same derision, "well, you're Finnish, so what do you know?", as if this is enough to dismiss these statements as untrue.

It is not offensive to me, it is what is to be expected. If I did not want to deal with it, I would simply not display my location.

What you were saying is not really different from what I have been saying. We understand these tendencies among Trump voters. Instead of moralizing them, or trying to change their behaviour, I'm simply detailing the behaviour as it is, and I'm trying to explain why Trump acts the way he does, considering that he has such a base of voters, that he can rely on, to do certain things.

The psychology behind Trump's "winning" is a bit different from the political contests that some may have become used to. In "winning", truths can sometimes take a back-seat to hyperbole, provided that this hyperbole achieves an objective. The people that vote for him are not so much concerned with pure facts or logic (very few people are, in general), as much as they are concerned with what they can gain.

A wall would be seen as enough of a gain, making Mexico pay would be a little bit of extra on top, but this is the kind of hyperbole that Trump voters are perfectly willing to live with, as long as it accomplishes their primary objectives.

Trump's "game" is to distract people with a controversial position (for example making Mexico pay) so that he can accomplish his true objective (build a wall). He has used this to great effect for the entirety of his career, and it is a wonder how so many haven't picked up on the little trick he has, his own means of achieving "compromise" (by denouncing his previously wildly controversial position in favour of a comparatively more rational one). His "base" fully understands it, they know "him" and his ways of doing things. His opposition, often seems clueless, so I'm trying to enlighten people as to what is actually happening. This has gone on for years now so I think that we can move onto detailing things as they exist, instead of reacting to whatever he's doing, on a constant basis.
Ok I follow you. So if I understand it right, "Trump proclaims, huge concrete wall, mexico pays for it." He does this so after a period of time, his idea is whittled down to "steel barrier, US taxpayer funds it". Am i following? So in that case, Trump wins because he still gets his wall, and the opposition think they win because he didn't get "a huge concrete wall paid for by Mexico"?
 
I'm not treating you like a fool I just think the argument you're making is foolish. People throughout our history have disagreed with those in power to varying degrees and life goes on. I think we're fine to piss off something like 35% of people if it means avoiding bad policy and carrying out the will of the other 65%. Seems like you're arguing it shouldn't be the other way because Trump won but you're ignoring co-equal branches of government. Like I said, Trump voters are misplacing their distrust. They behave like a cult. So we give them their policy even if it's bad policy?



Better informed people would view the wall going up (at this point) as a crippling blow to democracy. If it goes up now that means either Democrats folded (demoralizing over half the country) or Trump circumvented the process to get his wall by pulling funding from other necessary sources (emergency funding). That my friend is a blow to democracy, not caving in to a rabid minority.



I'm not convinced we should be concerned about that. Bad policy is bad policy.



That's reasonable, of course, but again Obama and Trump both passed major bills. "shit not getting done" is just the shit some people didn't want. That's democracy.

And btw I am not naive to the state of our politics now. I think they're in really bad shape and certainly the worst of my lifetime (I'm 38). I do not think folding on the wall changes that one bit though. If I was convinced giving these guys the wall would heal our politics it would be a no brainer, but obviously it's crazy to believe that.



Again, this is reasonable but I think you're misguided on what the people's will actually is. You seemingly think presidential elections are the only ones that matter but the legislative branch is a co-equal branch of government. That is how the people's will is reflected in government.

If the president does not represent the people's democratic will, then the system is functionally impaired. That is my opinion on it.

The wall itself is really not even a matter of that much interest to me. How much of a battle it appers to be, to get it up, is what's more interesting. The political games behind this seemingly ridiculous wall, that's what I will be looking at, with much greater interest.

As for the wall itself, I can make my arguments for or against it, another time. I can see the positives, but I can also see it as wasteful compared to other alternatives.
 
Ok I follow you. So if I understand it right, "Trump proclaims, huge concrete wall, mexico pays for it." He does this so after a period of time, his idea is whittled down to "steel barrier, US taxpayer funds it". Am i following? So in that case, Trump wins because he still gets his wall, and the opposition think they win because he didn't get "a huge concrete wall paid for by Mexico"?

Exactly, and they think that they have achieved a victory in having exposed Trump a "liar" to his base, when all along his "base" did not give a damn about his tendency to use hyperbole, and were fully content with him achieving this primary objective even if the secondary objective needed to be dismissed.

Having Trump build a wall, with no Mexican support, is not a political victory of any kind to Democrats. It will be a political victory for Trump. The Democrats, at this time, know it, and that is why they cannot allow him to get his funding. They have caught onto his "game" and will no longer allow him to compromise based on his ridiculous original positions.

Whoever is still arguing about having Mexico pay for the wall, has missed the boat. That is not a matter of concern at this point, neither to Trump, nor Democrats. Probably never should have been.
 
People have kept using my "Finnish-ness" as a crutch to discredit my arguments for years, I'm not unaccustomed to that.

If a guy wanted to talk to me about Finnish politics, and his opinions on it, I wouldn't discourage him by saying "well, you just don't know what you're talking about because you're not Finnish", unless I was on the losing side of the argument.

If you have your shit together in an argument, you don't need to rely on crutches such as a preconceived notion of how much a "foreigner" is supposed to know or not to know. You can just debunk their weak arguments, in that case.

Nobody needs to remind me that I'm Finnish, and not American, believe me, I know. I've heard that one for over a decade. While all this time, probably having had a more significant interest in American politics than most Americans themselves.

Same here
 
If the president does not represent the people's democratic will, then the system is functionally impaired. That is my opinion on it.

My view is that the people are divided and that is reflected in the government. And the design of government is brilliant in that your party can lose the presidency and you'll still have representation in government. It's a strength, not a sign of dysfunction.

The wall itself is really not even a matter of that much interest to me. How much of a battle it appers to be, to get it up, is what's more interesting. The political games behind this seemingly ridiculous wall, that's what I will be looking at, with much greater interest.

Agreed. It's getting too much media coverage and I actually think the idea that he'll circumvent Congress is more interesting.

As for the wall itself, I can make my arguments for or against it, another time. I can see the positives, but I can also see it as wasteful compared to other alternatives.

I see it as almost entirely negative but we'll leave that for another time perhaps or never since the wall isn't something interesting to either of us.
 
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To me, I prefer that a candidate, even one that I oppose, will be able to apply their political program. I'm not in favour of obstructionist politics, but rather, "every dog has its day" politics. I can live with silly shit being done, but I cannot live with shit not being done, because it discredits the people's democratic will...

It would be very dangerous to treat any POTUS or party as if they had an uncontestable majority for their mandate or election promises and let them enact their agenda unblocked as you seem to be suggesting.

If a platform as pitched to voters is only marginally the majority (or in Trumps case minority) then the system BY DESIGN is geared to force compromise. Trump has been offered many compromise positions including bipartisan ones. And while its his right to reject any compromise and say 'no, this goes down only one way and that is to appease my voters', then it is necessary and good that the system allows it to be blocked by design.

Your view goes directly counter to the philosophy of check and balances and separation of powers. and if adopted would severely compromise the US system.
 
Exactly, and they think that they have achieved a victory in having exposed Trump a "liar" to his base, when all along his "base" did not give a damn about his tendency to use hyperbole, and were fully content with him achieving this primary objective even if the secondary objective needed to be dismissed.

Having Trump build a wall, with no Mexican support, is not a political victory of any kind to Democrats. It will be a political victory for Trump. The Democrats, at this time, know it, and that is why they cannot allow him to get his funding. They have caught onto his "game" and will no longer allow him to compromise based on his ridiculous original positions.

Whoever is still arguing about having Mexico pay for the wall, has missed the boat. That is not a matter of concern at this point, neither to Trump, nor Democrats. Probably never should have been.
Completely agreed. They know his games and I think know with the Democrats in control of the house, they can send out many sensible bills, (such as to reopen the government) to allow them to be ignored by Mitch McConnell and the Senate. Since the dems have the house now, I don't see anyway out of this for Trump or the republicans. He either needs to declare the emergency, ratchet up the obstructionist, open border stuff against the dems, or try to grind the country down with all this shutdown talk and pressure the dems to give in, and give his wall just so he shuts up and goes away. (which he won't)
 
If the president does not represent the people's democratic will, then the system is functionally impaired. That is my opinion on it.
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he does not and that is fact. So perhaps the issue is you do not understand US constitutional structure.

He does however represent a PORTION of the people. The controlling party in the House represents a portion. The controlling party in the Senate represents a portion. And they are all, by design, meant to be checks and balances to one another so a POTUS or any arm cannot just put their portion of the citizens first and over ride the others.

What you are thinking the US is much closer to a dictatorship or perhaps a parliamentary system with the Prime Minister has a Majority and party discipline in place and thus his will cannot be thwarted. But even a parliamentary system where they do not have majority control provides the types of checks and balances you seem to think should not exist.
 
like Obamacare not increasing health costs?

The wall is coming! MAGA!



Thats why you make a prototype
But the ACA promise wasn't that it would not increase health costs, the promise was that it would reduce the rate of increase for healthcare costs compared to not doing anything. Which it did.
 
It would be very dangerous to treat any POTUS or party as if they had an uncontestable majority for their mandate or election promises and let them enact their agenda unblocked as you seem to be suggesting.

If a platform as pitched to voters is only marginally the majority (or in Trumps case minority) then the system BY DESIGN is geared to force compromise. Trump has been offered many compromise positions including bipartisan ones. And while its his right to reject any compromise and say 'no, this goes down only one way and that is to appease my voters', then it is necessary and good that the system allows it to be blocked by design.

Your view goes directly counter to the philosophy of check and balances and separation of powers. and if adopted would severely compromise the US system.

You seem hell-bent on trying to argue the point, by making my words out to be something that they are not.

I think that any rational observer can acknowledge that America has arrived into an era of obstructionist politics, which is discrediting democracy in the eyes of voters, who are struggling to see any of the proposed changes being made.

"Checks and balances" are great to have against borderline insanity, but we have to also acknowledge that institutions "checking" everything means that your vote loses power. As a voter and an individual you have to be concerned with how much actual power your vote has, above that of the power of government institutions, unelected "experts" and such. How capable the government is in "checking and balancing" your will, is ultimately not your concern. You're dismissing your own interests by playing the role of the government, rather than acting in the interests of the person being governed. Trust me, the government will take plenty good care of it, it's the democratic will of people that is at far greater risk of being discredited than the government's ability to keep that will in check.

I much prefer a state of affairs where the democratically elected leaders will have relatively free hands to operate, within reasonable limits. I can live with a wall, I cannot live with the idea that a population cannot even build a wall when it desires such a thing. Now, obviously I have kept in mind that it may not actually be a majority of Americans that desires such a thing, which is why I have stated that it is only those that voted in favour of Trump, who may feel that it is crippling to their faith in democracy, if this thing isn't seen through. The opposition may very well rejoice in that.
 
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he does not and that is fact. So perhaps the issue is you do not understand US constitutional structure.

He does however represent a PORTION of the people. The controlling party in the House represents a portion. The controlling party in the Senate represents a portion. And they are all, by design, meant to be checks and balances to one another so a POTUS or any arm cannot just put their portion of the citizens first and over ride the others.

What you are thinking the US is much closer to a dictatorship or perhaps a parliamentary system with the Prime Minister has a Majority and party discipline in place and thus his will cannot be thwarted. But even a parliamentary system where they do not have majority control provides the types of checks and balances you seem to think should not exist.

I detailed, even prior to Trump being elected, on this very forum, why, precisely because America is not a dictatorship of that sort, Trump's reign was going to fall short of expectations. There is no reason to pretend that I'm a fool. Again, my history on this forum will display to anybody that I'm not, so let's get over this little talking point, of how I'm not supposed to know what I'm talking about.

You have decided to argue semantics, again, by making your case about the president representing only a "portion of the people's will". Nonetheless, he is a representative of the people's will, even if only a portion. And that will must have a real-life response in action. If not, then people will lose faith in the process.

If all three "portions" of the people's will, the president, the House and the Senate, end up preventing that will from being seen through, the system is not functioning as intended.

The reason why the system functioned in the past, is because the political sides had enough common ground to find room for compromise, and to even to let go of some political objectives, in the name of common, national interests. That is not happening right now.

How that was achieved, and what has changed in that regard, I could try to detail all of that another time. Anyway, I think Americans know what has been happening, so I'm not going to pretend trying to lecture to them.
 
You seem hell-bent on trying to argue the point, by making my words out to be something that they are not.

I think that any rational observer can acknowledge that America has arrived into an era of obstructionist politics, which is discrediting democracy in the eyes of voters, who are struggling to see any of the proposed changes being made.

"Checks and balances" are great to have against borderline insanity, but we have to also acknowledge that institutions "checking" everything means that your vote loses power. As a voter and an individual you have to be concerned with how much actual power your vote has, above that of the power of government institutions, unelected "experts" and such. How capable the government is in "checking and balancing" your will, is ultimately not your concern. You're dismissing your own interests by playing the role of the government, rather than acting as the person being governed. Trust me, the government will take plenty good care of it, it's the democratic will of people that is at far greater risk of being discredited than the government's ability to keep that will in check.

I much prefer a state of affairs where the democratically elected leaders will have relatively free hands to operate, within reasonable limits. I can live with a wall, I cannot live with the idea that a population cannot even build a wall when it desires such a thing. Now, obviously I have kept in mind that it may not actually be a majority of Americans that desires such a thing, which is why I have stated that it is only those that voted in favour of Trump, who may feel that it is crippling to their faith in democracy, if this thing isn't seen through. The opposition may very well rejoice in that.
No disrespect but I do not feel you are being honest in pursuit of defending your point.

No one is 'checking' everything. That is just false. Trump has been offered many compromises including bipartisan ones that his own party were proclaiming were great accomplishments of the parties working together.

OK fine, Trumps style and what he thinks gets him votes is to not be seen as accommodating or someone who accepts bipartisan solutions. He believes he gets the biggest voting boost if they see him defiant and dismissive of other views and they love him being the 'FIGHTER'.

That is all good and it is his right to be that guy.

But you CANNOT then say or put the onus on everyone else to just give him what he wants.

Trump is the prime example of WHEN checks and balances are necessary. It would be fair to say the Republicans ran a blatantly obstructionist 'never give' gov't against Obama that hurt the democratic process by even refusing to table things for vote to see if the votes (peoples will) was there to carry it. But that is not what is happening here. Trump can have his wall with compromise, bipartisan compromise, but he says NO, no compromise, just gimme because that is food for his base. No others should bend to that as that would be a betrayal to their base. Compromise is not for either.
 
I detailed, even prior to Trump being elected, on this very forum, why, precisely because America is not a dictatorship of that sort, Trump's reign was going to fall short of expectations. There is no reason to pretend that I'm a fool. Again, my history on this forum will display to anybody that I'm not, so let's get over this little talking point, of how I'm not supposed to know what I'm talking about.

You have decided to argue semantics, again, by making your case about the president representing only a "portion of the people's will". Nonetheless, he is a representative of the people's will, even if only a portion. And that will must have a real-life response in action. If not, then people will lose faith in the process.

If all three "portions" of the people's will, the president, the House and the Senate, end up preventing that will from being seen through, the system is not functioning as intended.

The reason why the system functioned in the past, is because the political sides had enough common ground to find room for compromise, and to even to let go of some political objectives, in the name of common, national interests. That is not happening right now.

How that was achieved, and what has changed in that regard, I could try to detail all of that another time. Anyway, I think Americans know what has been happening, so I'm not going to pretend trying to lecture to them.
i do not know your prior posting history so I am only replying to what you say.

You are taking an overly emotional and defensive stance here which is not productive.

There is nothing semantic in my position. You seem, again, to not understand the very purposeful design of the system of check and balances and divisions of power in the oft repeated 'the POTUS should get his will regardless or it damages the system' point you keep trying to make.

NO, FALSE, WRONG. No POTUS should get their will regardless. That would in fact damage the system. If a POTUS wants to get his will regardless then he needs to put forth a more populist platform that garners strong majority support at each level.

If he chooses a more fractious platform that only garners minority support that is fine, that is his way of saying I don't compromise to get votes. And again that is fine. But then the system by design is in place to say 'you cannot push that minority agenda without seeking the compromise within gov't that you did not want to offer in the election'. Again all fine. It is the system at work as intended.

I don't know what else to say other than you keep repeating the idea that 'any POTUS should be able to push an agenda without having to reach compromise when he does not have control of the other levels of gov'ts and that it is wrong or destructive of US gov't otherwise', is just a horrible and fundamental misunderstanding of the US system.

I think Finland is a Parliamentary system like Canada, correct? And if Finland has a history of mostly majority gov'ts then maybe that is the cause of your lack of understanding of the US system, as what you are thinking the powers of the POTUS should be much more resembles a PM with a majority and party discipline in a Parliamentary system.
 
No disrespect but I do not feel you are being honest in pursuit of defending your point.

No one is 'checking' everything. That is just false. Trump has been offered many compromises including bipartisan ones that his own party were proclaiming were great accomplishments of the parties working together.

OK fine, Trumps style and what he thinks gets him votes is to not be seen as accommodating or someone who accepts bipartisan solutions. He believes he gets the biggest voting boost if they see him defiant and dismissive of other views and they love him being the 'FIGHTER'.

That is all good and it is his right to be that guy.

But you CANNOT then say or put the onus on everyone else to just give him what he wants.

Trump is the prime example of WHEN checks and balances are necessary. It would be fair to say the Republicans ran a blatantly obstructionist 'never give' gov't against Obama that hurt the democratic process by even refusing to table things for vote to see if the votes (peoples will) was there to carry it. But that is not what is happening here. Trump can have his wall with compromise, bipartisan compromise, but he says NO, no compromise, just gimme because that is food for his base. No others should bend to that as that would be a betrayal to their base. Compromise is not for either.

Believe me, everything will be checked from now on. Anything less and Democrats will compromise their position for the 2020 election. They will put that particular election even above national interests, and perhaps it will be wise for them to do so, in long-term thinking.

Compromise will be deemed a loss of face at this point.

You're saying what you're saying as if you are arguing with an American Trump supporter. Let me remind you that you're talking to, in fact, a foreigner, who has no particular investment in Trump. A large part of what you are saying I have already acknowledged. I leave the bickering and condemnation of Trump's tactics and his voters, to the Americans, there's plenty enough of it as it is. It doesn't get us anywhere, I prefer to talk about the "meat and potatoes" rather than decrying something that will continue to be there, and will always be there, the tribalism of politics.

In general, people on this forum need to understand that not everything needs to be an argument.

i do not know your prior posting history so I am only replying to what you say.

You are taking an overly emotional and defensive stance here which is not productive.

There is nothing semantic in my position. You seem, again, to not understand the very purposeful design of the system of check and balances and divisions of power in the oft repeated 'the POTUS should get his will regardless or it damages the system' point you keep trying to make.

NO, FALSE, WRONG. No POTUS should get their will regardless. That would in fact damage the system. If a POTUS wants to get his will regardless then he needs to put forth a more populist platform that garners strong majority support at each level.

If he chooses a more fractious platform that only garners minority support that is fine, that is his way of saying I don't compromise to get votes. And again that is fine. But then the system by design is in place to say 'you cannot push that minority agenda without seeking the compromise within gov't that you did not want to offer in the election. Again all fine. It is the system at work as intended.

I don't know what else to say other than you keep repeating the idea that any POTUS should be able to push an agenda without having to reach compromise when he does not have control of the other levels of gov'ts and that it is wrong or destructive of US gov't otherwise, is just a horrible and fundamental misunderstanding of the US system.

I think Finland is a Parliamentary system like Canada, correct? And if Finland has a history of mostly majority gov'ts then maybe that is the cause of your lack of understanding of the US system, as what you are thinking the powers of the POTUS should be much more resembles a PM with a majority and party discipline in a Parliamentary system.

I have to say that's a new one. In all my time on such forums, nobody has ever accused me of being "emotional", considering that I rarely if ever refer to the other person during a debate. I have no need for that, I just stick to addressing the points that the other guy is making, without worrying about their emotional state, which I can only hope that they can keep in check when going through the process of a meaningless argument on the internet.

You're attributing all of these statements to me as if we are in some grand disagreement over something. The only thing that I have said in the post you decided to quote (of course, by only picking a single statement out of context), is that I dislike obstructionism, which I imagine is a rather generally held stance among independents. I'm observing America's descent into an era of obstructionism, and I am trying to detail why that has been happening, from my perspective, with Trump's wall serving as a mere sidenote.

Just because I want the president to be more effective in making changes, to represent the people, does not mean that I want them to have absolute, dictatorial powers. That's a ludicrous notion to take, from what I have been saying. From my own government, I understand the adverse consequences when the position of a president is "emasculated", and made purely ceremonial. It hurts democracy, it really does. The people need a "face" for politics, otherwise they lose interest (just see America's interest in politics beyond presidential elections).

For democracy, the position of a president must remain strong, not dictatorial, but strong.

And again with the "lack of understanding about the American system". Just give it up. I know the system, okay? Enough to debate about it on a general level at a MMA forum. It's not that complicated. You don't need to try convince others that I don't know my business. I have no need of doing such a thing for you, because I can have enough respect for you as a poster. We have no fight here, anyway, we barely have a disagreement about anything other than semantics and definitions, mostly because you're trying to pick apart statements that I've said, by zoning in on single statements instead of the overall message. I said the people's will, you said a portion of the people's will, give me a break.

Again, if there's an actual matter to disagree over, I can debate it. But this? This is just a waste of time.
 
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What is so controversial about defending your own borders

Nothing. Just don't say you're going to build a wall . . . then get presented a budget that includes money for said wall . . . refuse to sign it and then close down part of the government because you can't build a wall . . .
 
I’ve found a solution to the wall. Build it out of Hillary Clinton’s E-mails since no one seems to be able to get the fuck over them.
 
I think Nevada is like no lie 80+% Federal Land
I wonder how it's being effected
 
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