Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.
The Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061)
authorized construction of 700 miles of fence. Passed with bi-partisan support
and signed into law by 43.
Was ‘partially funded’, whatever that means.
Under 44, billions were allocated for
various Homeland Security scheme involving a fence, immigration enforcement,
etcetera. WSF asks the question, where did all that funding go? Damned if I am
smart enough to use my limited computer skills to answer the question. Cynical
me bets much of it ended up in untraceable offshore accounts.
Along comes 45 wanting to spend $5
billion and the Deep State/Democrats (hard to tell where one starts and the
other ends) are aghast. Why?
Does 45 plan to actually build fence as
opposed to increasing already bloated bureaucracies? Less bloat exposes the
inhabitants to more accountability for their misfeasance/malfeasance and
expense accounts.
How dare he?
No
funding for juicy consultant contracts? No funding for in depth ‘studies’? No lavish
conferences? Without all the ingrained kickbacks built into the current ways of
government business whole sectors of the economy will suffer. Next thing you
know the deplorable taxpayers might get more than a token return on their
taxes.
This rant is at a macro level. Let’s go
to a micro level. Living in the Seattle area 1974-1997, I was involved in
politics and became friends with a cynical individual who described himself, in
private conversation, as the mayor’s ‘bagman’.
A bigger, better bridge to West
Seattle had been an ongoing ‘goal’ for better than thirty years. In 1978 the
drawbridge over the Duwamish was rammed by a freighter and damaged. Finally a
new high rise bridge was built in 1984.
My friend the bagman over drinks one
night said,
“Now we’ve built that damned bridge, it
hardly pays to be in politics”.
Is this the problem with building the
wall?
