Wall of Waste: Border rancher wanted Trump wall, Biden left him 'rusting' field of steel | Washington Examiner
By: anna-giaritelli (Washington Examiner)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Millions of dollars of steel are wasting away in the high desert after being neglected by the federal government for two and a half years since President Joe Biden halted Trump-era border wall construction.
In the 901 days since Biden took office, not one has gone by that fourth-generation cattle rancher Russell Johnson has driven his truck down the dirt roads behind his house and not been greeted by fields of construction materials that have been left behind and forgotten by construction crews.
Fourth generation cattle rancher Russell Johnson walks past rusting steel beams left by the government on his land. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
The countless steel beams, each more than 30 feet long, that sit all over the property are not even the worst part — it's the gaping, nearly mile-long hole in the border wall just a few hundred feet behind it.
"I'd much rather see this going in gaps than just sitting out here," Johnson said during a July tour of his land that he says has become the federal government's "warehouse" for materials from canceled projects.
Steel beams sit not far from a 3/4 mile gap in the border wall. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
Border residents like Johnson cannot physically or legally move what was left behind in various spots up and down the 1,950-mile U.S.-Mexico border, and that has limited where Johnson's livestock can graze. It is also an "eyesore" in a beautiful landscape and a reminder of the government's failure to clean up what it left behind.
"I don't think they have any idea," Johnson said when asked if the White House or Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas knew about the abandoned materials. "Secretary Mayorkas has never been out here."
Promised a wall, left with a backyard wasteland
The 30-foot-tall wall runs 100 miles along Highway 9 from El Paso, Texas, west into central New Mexico, where it gives way to a giant opening on Johnson's property that runs along the border. Nearly a mile of his more than eight miles of land has no wall.
An excavator sits idle more than two and a half years since President Joe Biden halted all border wall construction. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
In January 2021, after Biden took office, workers literally walked off the job site and never returned. The $15 billion in funding for roughly 740 miles of the wall meant each mile of the project averaged about $20 million. Trump completed 450 miles, leaving roughly 290 miles worth of projects unfinished, including Johnson's mile-long gap and an expensive pile of materials that taxpayers had prepaid.
Rancher Russell Johnson points to the valley where a gate was recently installed in a spot that had been open for two and a half years. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
In the two and a half years since Johnson first shared his disappointment about being left with a hole in the wall on his land, drug smugglers and Mexican cartels have jumped at the opportunity to use this spot, as well as a smaller gap no more than 20 feet wide, to seep into the U.S. almost undetected. Johnson's deer cameras have captured many such crossings by day and night, according to images shared with the Washington Examiner.
Johnson's game cameras show a group of men walking through his property. Russell Johnson
Johnson said U.S. Customs and Border Protection installed a gate in the smaller gap within the last two weeks, but the consequences linger of it being open for so long.
Weathered, man-made foot trails that lead away from the smaller gap in the wall were still visible in the area, not a far walk from Johnson's house.
Foot trails from the small gate opening in the wall show how people have snuck into the United States through Russell Johnson's land. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
Johnson, who gave up his job as a Border Patrol agent in 2016 to return to the family's cattle business, had been excited when he learned that the wall was going in, not only because it would block illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
The portion of the wall that was installed in place of barbed wire fencing was a huge relief for ranchers like Johnson for how it would prevent cattle in Mexico from slipping into the U.S. through fencing that was cut by smugglers.
"One thing this wall has done is alleviated the responsibility off of us in maintaining an international boundary," Johnson said. "Anybody that ranched along the border that had barbed wire fence — you were basically the first line of security between any [livestock] disease or outbreak of any sort coming out of Mexico into the U.S. And a lot of people don't realize that, even within our own industry, the ranchers along the border were keeping not just our ranches safe but our industry as a whole because we were maintaining that."
'Rusting away'
The backyard wasteland is filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of once-pristine eight-foot-wide panels of slatted steel beams.
Stacks of iron and steel behind it sit on rancher Russell Johnson's borderfront property in New Mexico. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
The nearly mile-long gap in the wall that runs over the Chepas Mountain was chiseled down in the Trump era to make the grade less steep for vehicles. In preparation for the wall, the massive rocks from the mountainside were moved to the field of materials and were supposed to be crushed into gravel and used for all-weather roads along the wall to improve Border Patrol agents' safety while driving.
"What was nice about it was none of it was going to go to waste," Johnson said.
Instead, piles of rock and gravel remain in two spots nearby, on Johnson's ranch and his neighbor's land. Nearby, construction crews are paving cement roads over the Chepas Mountain with canceled wall funds, part of the environmental, safety, and remediation projects that DHS said it would use the Trump-era wall funding to build instead of finishing nearly 300 miles worth of canceled barrier.
Other projects, such as installing culverts under floodgates to ensure water can flow through, are being added. Dozens of floodgates in the wall are welded shut and frequently cut off by smugglers who break through. Permanent locks on the gates have yet to be installed, Johnson said.
Piles of rock, debris, and gravel sit alongside the unused border wall steel, some piles two to three stories high. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
Two broken promises
Not only did the Biden administration choose not to complete the project, Russell said, but no one has communicated to him what will happen with the materials or a plan to restore acres of his land to its healthy condition that cattle can graze on.
In March 2022, CBP proposed plans to wrap up the projects, which spanned across much of New Mexico and into Western Texas.
The project was funded by money that Trump redirected from the Department of Defense after he declared a national emergency, which legally allowed him to redirect funding from outside the DHS to building a wall. The wall money for this particular project was pulled from 10 U.S.C. § 284 Counter Narcotics budget.
CBP's proposal stated that steel bollards would be capped, retention ponds backfilled, gaps closed and gates installed, drainage systems completed, erosion control measures implemented, and "disturbed areas" would be replanted.
As part of its proposal, CBP also vowed to clean up any sites where materials remained.
"All construction materials will be removed," CBP wrote in its remediation plan. It identified construction materials as "construction vehicles, tools, rebar metal, steel bollards, barbed wire fencing, etc., left behind from construction activities."
Staging areas, or areas used to store materials and vehicles to be used in constructing the border barrier, were to be "removed" and "restored to a condition prior to construction."
The piles of rock and debris from construction activities also "will be removed," the plan stated.
CBP awarded the first of its remediation contracts for the New Mexico projects in September 2022. Work was expected to begin in October or November 2022 and be completed between November 2023 and May 2024.
The Chepas Mountain in New Mexico has border wall on either side of it. Anna Giaritelli / Washington Examiner
"It just doesn't sit well with me that this is taxpayer money just sitting out here and rusting away in the New Mexico desert," Johnson said. "This is brand-new metal. It's already been fabricated and stuff, ready to be installed in the border wall, but the government, rather than putting it in and installing it like it was intended to be, they're going to sell it for scrap, which is going to ... make this worth pennies on the dollar compared to what it could have been.
Trolling, taunting, spamming, and off topic comments may be removed at the discretion of group mods. NT members that vote up their own comments, repeat comments, respond to themselves, or continue to disrupt the conversation risk having all of their comments deleted. Please remember to quote the person(s) to whom you are replying to preserve continuity of this seed.
Tags
Who is online
417 visitors
There is a lot that can be done with the materials abandoned by the Biden Administration.
The list could go on.
We all know if anyone touches those piles of rust and debris Brandon will have Garland and the DOJ file criminal charges. He already forced Arizona to remove it's container and razor wire wall by threatening DOJ charges.
They don't care about the damage from illegal immigrants and drug cartels using his property as a highway into the US. Why would they care about the damage being done to his land; and revenue lost from his not being able to have cattle graze on it?
It is going on 3 years and Brandon still hasn't cleaned up the mess he created by stopping construction on the border wall. The financial costs of his stupidity are still being felt at all levels.
Typical Biden incompetence and a failure of Democratic Party policies.
The problem being that if it's "rusting away" in a desert environment it's pretty damn poor steel and wouldn't have lasted long as a wall anyway.
American steel isn't what it used to be.
You really think all of the poles being used are round and metal- they were meant to be sheathed in concrete or other materials. Not laying exposed to the elements for three damn years with no protection.
Going to have to call BS on that.
I have the same situation outside of my home town of Douglas, AZ which is about 150 miles or so from Deming right on the AZ/NM/Mexico border. Big gaping hole in the fence and huge amounts of steel and equipment just left rusting in the desert sun where they were left laying on 1 Jan 2020, the day Biden took office and construction was halted on the wall. Just another in a long list of things Joe can point to and say "I did that.".
Unfortunately this is typical government incompetence. The poor use of resources is the most critical management distinction between the public and private sectors. Private sector businesses are driven by profit and that means keeping costs low ... and that means making effective use of resources. The public sector can make its own money and lacks that fundamental drive to be effective.
We have people from Mexico stealing the stuff piecemeal and hauling it into Mexico, in many cases right under CBP's noses.
I believe you.
Wrong! This is typical of the total incompetence of the Biden administration.
Seems as though the previous administration was getting things done along the southern border very competently.
Of course you disregard reality and translate every situation into partisan terms.
You are essentially claiming that our government is competent except when Biden is in charge.
Blind partisan bullshit.
I never said that. I'd did say that the government was incompetent because Biden was in charge. See the difference?
Are you saying that the Biden administration is in anyway competent, especially concerning our southern border?
Please. I'd do believe it is your partisanship that is showing.
Do you want to be the pot or the kettle?
You need to understand the implication of your words. I stated that our government is incompetent pretty much regardless of which party is in control. You then told me I was wrong. Wrong? Then you go on to focus on Biden.
Well I was not wrong. Government incompetence predated Biden and will continue after he is gone. It does not matter which party is in control, incompetence (and corruption) is systemic (now). Stop looking at everything through partisan lenses.
And clearly you do not even understand the concept of partisanship. I made a non-partisan statement about government incompetence (that means blaming both parties, historically, presently, and for the foreseeable future) and you focus on Biden and then claim I am the one showing partisanship.
Get a clue, man. Your comments are foolish.
And why didn't Mexico build the wall like Trump said they would?
In the long run, what difference does it make now?
So where would you rank Brandon the Human Fuck Up Machine's on the list of incompetent corrupt administrations?
Or are you claiming it really doesn't matter who is in charge- so just keep Brandon in place?
Ask a serious question. Your childish, witless name-calling and emotional reasoning deserves no respect. Don't post like Trump.
No. I do not want Biden as PotUS. He is too old. I do not want Kamala either. The Ds need to step up to the plate with a solid candidate.
But regardless of which party wins the White House, our government will remain systemically incompetent and corrupt (not entirely, but too much) for the foreseeable future.
Because Mexico has no incentive to build the wall. The money sent back to Mexico is it second only to it's oil income. Plus it gets rid of many of it's undesirables.
Trump started the wall and the moron Biden stopped the wall. Just one of Biden's errors.
Because Trump wants to be president again.
Exactly and obviously. How is it then that Trump supporters bought his bullshit?
Very poor attempt at deflection Cj.
So an honest answer to a stupid question is now deflection?
I didn't but it seems you and the left had. He had started the wall. The materials were already purchased and waiting for it to be erected. I knew that he would at least build the wall and work on Mexico paying for it ( I would just deduct the cost of the wall from the foreign aid we send them. (over $550,000,000 in fiscal 2021 alone)
Somewhere alongside Jimmy Carter. A well-meaning, inept, feeble man who can't seem to do very much right.
For the vast majority of us, it really doesn't matter all that much. Our lives don't change substantially from one president to the next.
Biden has indeed made a mess of many things. But at the end of the day, how different is your daily routine than it was 36 months ago?
Probably because he never said they would build the wall perhaps? Paying for it and actually building it are two different things.
You voted for Trump, I did not, yet you claim that I bought his bullshit (and, bizarrely, 'the left' who obviously did not vote for him). Your reasoning is yet again ridiculous.
Well what you 'knew' did not happen. Further, it is naïve; why would Mexico pay for the wall? Especially after Trump publicly demeaned Mexico and bragged about forcing Mexican authorities to pay for the wall. Seriously, how could anyone think Mexico was going to play ball with Trump?
Referring to humanitarian aid? You think a PotUS has the power to redirect those funds without the approval of Congress? Learn how our system works.
Yeah, I think it is obvious what cjcold meant. You focus on a technicality to ignore cjcold's point in order to defend Trump. What motivates people like you to defend Trump?
Fact is that Trump did not get Mexico to pay for the wall. Another (obviously) outrageous braggadocio lie from Trump. His most recent lie at this level is that he would stop the Russian Ukraine war in 24 hours.
Why do people continue to believe Trump??
What competent thing has Biden ever done? Your posting history indicates you are blindly partisan in Biden's defense
Do you ever comprehend my criticism of Biden or do you forget it immediately? Just amazing seeing the failure of some to objectively read what other's write.
Countering the blind partisan nonsense of people like you is not defending Biden, it is illustrating the absurdity of your comments.
Now, try to keep this in your brain, I do not support Biden for PotUS. He is too old and I do not see him up to the job. Further, I am quite concerned that he might not finish his term and that would leave the USA with president Harris.
The presidential election is an either or choice.
You might as well say you support Biden because these people here will never care about you saying you support neither.
It does not matter if they care or not. What matters is that they comprehend. If they continue to either fail to comprehend or engage in faux obtuseness then I will continue to illustrate their foolishness and respond harshly to their stupid comments.
Thing is, if Trump has any chance of winning the general election and the choice is Biden or Trump, I will vote for Biden in order to stop Trump. That is a shitty way to operate, but our major parties have let us down miserably in terms of candidates.
If there is no realistic chance for Trump to win and it comes down to Biden vs. Trump, I will vote for someone else.
It is quite unlikely that Biden will have opened up a 'safe' lead over Trump prior to election day.
If so, I will use my vote to help ensure Trump loses.
I'll use mine to make sure neither one wins, because neither one deserves to win.
Sounds great. How do you do that?
It is Biden vs. Trump (hypothetically) as the D and R nominees, what do you do to ensure neither wins?
Well so far he has kept Hunter out of jail.
I will use my vote to ensure Biden loses. That being the case you mind as well just stay home election day. Our votes will just cancel each other out.
Simple, I'll vote 3rd party like I have in the past. Sorry, I should have stated that I'll make sure neither gets my vote.
There you go, you would willingly vote to put Trump in office. People like you are the reason the GOP is stuck with Trump.
Yeah, I am for neither too unless Trump has a realistic chance to win.
Both parties are likely to produce terrible nominees. We could have solid, decent, competent, honorable nominees like governor Tim Walz vs. governor Chris Sununu, but our dysfunctional system yields Biden vs. Trump.
Where did I say that? I did say that if my choice was the same as 2020, I would vote the same as I did then to keep Biden out and yes that would require me to vote Trump. Not an ideal situation but the best alternative. A third party candidate has no chance and would just be a wasted vote.
So what are you complaining about? That is what I wrote.
Nobody forces you to vote for Trump. You will willingly vote to elect Trump as PotUS.
It is people like you (who would vote for Trump) that gives him power. It is because of mindsets like yours that the GOP is stuck with Trump as its likely nominee.
If you want my opinion I think that anybody that actually wants the job of POTUS is none of those nor are they totally mentally stable enough.
As I watch the quality of our presidential nominees continue to degrade, your position gains merit.
If it was between Biden and Trump who else could I vote for. I will not vote for Biden and voting for some third party would result in the same thing. I will do nothing that will help Biden. I will probably vote for someone else in the primary as I did in both 2016 and 2020 but if it is Trump vs Biden again I will vote Trump. If it is Trump vs anybody else we'll see.
You miss my point.
The reason the GOP does not push out Trump is because of his supporters. His primary supporters are those who will vote for him to be the nominee. His secondary supporters are those the GOP can count on to vote for Trump as the nominee. You are one of the secondary supporters (and who knows, maybe even a primary).
Your other choice is to not vote or vote in principle for who you want as PotUS (third party).
And the GOP knows that this is how people like you think and thus Trump's power.
I wonder, is there anything that Trump could do that would cause you to not give him your vote? Obviously trying to steal a US presidential election through lies, suborning his V.P., coercing officials, etc. was not enough ... you would still hand the power of the presidency to an abysmally dishonest, ethically-corrupt character who demonstrably is willing to throw the entire nation under the bus to get what he personally wants.
He beat Trump.
Not on that list. Under Biden, we’re out of COVID. First gun control legislation in 30 years. 12 million jobs created and unemployment at a 50 year low. $1.2T infrastructure bill. Out of Afghanistan after 20 years of wasted blood & treasure. Salary increases now outpace inflation. Bull Market. Brought NATO together in full support for democracy in Ukraine. CHIPS act to remove our reliance on other countries for critical tech. Medicare can negotiate the price of drugs — the VA currently pays about half a much as Medicare for the same drug. Gave the IRS the resources to understand the tax dodges of the rich. Stricter asylum rules were put in place in May 2023 — Border Patrol agents recorded just over 100,000 apprehensions last month[June 2023] of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally along the southern border, a sharp drop from the 169,000 apprehensions reported in May. Biden is a serious president.
On the other hand you have the Trump tax cut enriching the already rich and adding $2T to our debt. The impromptu trade war that devastated farming and drove manufacturing into recession. You had Trump’s handling of COVID starting with lying about its danger while NYC and northern NJ were massively infected from Europe, and going downhill from there resulting in double the per capita death rate of other western industrialized nations. Ultimately resulting in $4.9T of debt to rescue the economy (and another $3T created by the Fed to rescue the markets.) The astounding stupidity of attempting a coup, causing an insurrection, and attempting to steal huge numbers of highly classified docs. Trump is a dangerous, infantile clown.
And he did what to get us out of COVID? Making and social distancing have been shown to be ineffective. The vaccine was fast tracked and made a available by Trump.
Of course the greater majority of those jobs were the ones lost due the pandemic and the panicking from the left that caused massive layoffs and are now coming back
How many have gotten away? How many were caught and released?
The pullout from Afghanistan was a complete f***up. There were American servicemen killed and countless us citizens and legal residents left behind to fend for themselves
He has weakened our armed forces by allowing openly gay and transgender and cross dressers to serve.
He is seriously "F***"d" up.
He stopped construction of the border wall that would have had an effect of slowing illegal immigration. He is trying to forgive the college loan depts of those deadbeats who refuse to live up to their responsibilities. He would like to pass legislation that would qqa man to unfairly compete in woman's athletics. He picked a Supreme Court Justice only because she was a woman and she was black never mind if she was actually qualified. After all she could even tell what a woman is.
Trump moved our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He made the country energy independent and a net exporter of energy. He started the border wall. Up until the pandemic hit and the left panicked he had the best unemployment rate in 50years an it was getting better. He fast tracked the production of the COVID vaccine that was effective. He nominated three excellent and qualified justices for SCOTUS.
Trump may have a shitty personality in but he was a much better president than Biden
Biden is more "F" d up than Trump could ever be.
There was no attempted coup nor was there an insurrection. Not any more than there was when Hillary lost in 2026
Like Hillary did and like Biden did?
This right here is a perfect illustration of blind partisanship. You falsely claim that masking and social distancing are ineffective. That is complete bullshit. These measures are indeed effective, but they address only a portion of the problem and are not foolproof. For example, social distancing is a very effective way of isolating oneself from infected particulate matter expelled from an infected person exhaling. Masks (good ones, not loose cloth) will indeed catch much of the particulate matter from an infected person. That is, if one is infected, one can do a solid for everyone else by wearing a good mask. And an infected person can really help by not interacting with other people until the infection is gone.
Next, Trump gets credit for the production of the vaccine and Biden gets credit for its distribution. Only a blind partisan would see only one side of an extremely clear fact of reality.
Good grief, no wonder our political system is so fucked up.
Unbelievable blind partisanship.
They attempted to steal huge numbers of highly classified documents???
No on the contrary I know exactly your point and what you are saying. According to you it is wrong for me to vote to keep Biden from a second term but it is ok for you to vote to keep Trump out.
And you demonstrate that you do not understand my point.
Trump should never be given the opportunity to hold the office of the presidency. He has demonstrated that he will throw the nation under the bus for his personal gain.
My point (again) is this: The reason the GOP does not push out Trump is because of his supporters. His primary supporters are those who will vote for him to be the nominee. His secondary supporters are those the GOP can count on to vote for Trump as the nominee. You are one of the secondary supporters (and who knows, maybe even a primary).
In short, you are one of Trump's enablers.
And this is an example of you attempting (absurdly) to defend Trump:
Why write something so demonstrably wrong? To what end? Claiming something that we all know is false paints you as a blind partisan with no credibility. How is this advantageous to you?
Doesn't matter. The 'orange asswipe' said, "Mexico will build the wall." So--------was he just lying again or was it just more Trumpian bravado?
Like you said. "Doesn't matter!"
Biden should never be given the opportunity to hold the office of the presidency.(fixed it for you)
In just two years he "f'd" up this country it will take three times as long to get back to sanity.
Because it is and was and always will be false. There terms coup and insurrection were only used by the biased left. Wing media to discredit him in particular and the right in general.
Out of curiosity, since you claim you are non partisan, what Republican ,running or not , would you vote for over Biden.
Chris Sununu, Condoleeza Rice, Mitt Romney, or anyone in their league. If anyone like these were to run I would vote for them (vs. Biden) and would donate $$ to their campaign.
Frankly, just give me someone 45-65ish, competent, experienced, presidential with sensible policies. DeSantis was an early consideration but he has proved to be too far right socially. I think he is competent, experienced and could be presidential, but his policies turn me off. Also, with his ridiculous war on liberals, he is greatly compromising his ability to win in the general election.
Right now I would even settle for Christie (hard to believe we have come to this) or maybe even Pence (sigh).
And similarly, I really wish Tim Walz (or equivalent) was running on the D side.
And I do not merely claim to be non-partisan ... I am. I greatly dislike our political parties and our binary system and my positions are not based on theirs.
Why on Earth would I state that I am non-partisan if I am (secretly) supporting a particular party? If I were partisan, would I not want to support the party to which I cling?
T H I N K
It is hopeless attempting to reason with someone who would willingly give Trump another term as PotUS. Given what he has done, that is irrational, irresponsible and unpatriotic.
I wouldn't. Rice, Romney, Sununu or any of thos GOPs would set up a judiciary which would last for decades and interpret The Constitution in manners to make it impossible to revert for decades.
Don't understand this Biden bashing. Climate problems are real. And for the first time in my lifetime (I'm a Vietnam Veteran) there is a real possibility that the Russian dictatorship will be ended or at the very least placed into a corner where it will be the Russian people to decide what they want and where they want to stand in the economic and social world order. GOP control of US government would solidify The Russian dictatorship's existence and possibly bring it's attributes to our shores. Trump wants this as do far too many in our government, media and financial structures.
I guess you keep failing to read what I write or only see what you want. I have said that I will vote for Trump if he runs against Biden or a Biden or Clinton clone. I will vote for another candidate in the primary but I haven't decided who yet just like I did in the last two primaries. Unfortunately for me by the time my state has it's primary the race is already settled and my vote doesn't count.
Already said he is not running
Also said she does not want the job.
Not really a republican. You can almost see the horn growing from the tip of his nose
You are the one failing to read. I stated that you would vote for Trump if he is the nominee. I never stated that you would vote for him to be the nominee. But I did leave the possibility open. Now read what I wrote and try to figure out how you could get it wrong.
But I guess you missed the part where I said I would vote for him if his opponent was Biden Hillary or their clones.
Unfortunately, knowing the Democrats that is exactly what they are going to nominate and I cannot let the lefts policies ruin this country any longer even if that means Trump gets another term.
Do you not remember what you asked of me? Here, read what you wrote:
What does "running or not" mean to you?
A stupid comment. He is clearly a registered Republican. Remember, he was the GOP nominee in 2012? It does not matter if you dislike his positions; that does not change his party affiliation.
Further, I gave you examples of the types of people I would vote for. In reply you come up with this half-baked, confused response that does not even recognize the question you asked.
You are not even paying attention to what you write, much less properly reading what I write.
So now you (possibly) have a better idea of what I am looking for in a candidate. And maybe you can see that I could (in theory) find what I want (imperfectly, of course) in either party. I want a fiscally conservative and socially liberal, grounded, experienced, presidential, honorable person. I do not care about race, gender or party affiliation. Those factors are not as important as those I listed first.
They bash him because he does not have an R next to his name. It really is that simple.
What D would you vote for to be PotUS?
No I did not. I focused on the part that matters — where you admitted that if Biden, Hillary, or similar was running on the D side that you would vote for Trump.
Thus you would willingly vote for Trump ... you would vote to put that traitor back into the most powerful office on the planet.
You are part of the group that enables Trump; the GOP knows that people like you will vote for Trump as the nominee. Without your votes (and those like you) another candidate would emerge as the most likely nominee. People tend to shy away from candidates that are not seen as potential winners.
Irrational, irresponsible and unpatriotic.
As I said, I will not vote for Trump in the primary and never have. Again you only read what you want.
See, arkpdx, you do not comprehend (intentionally, I think) what I write and then project your affliction onto me.
Read this:
—and that ⇡ was explaining this ⇣ —
No matter how clear, you ignore what I write and insert your own bullshit. You have no defense so you resort to intellectual dishonesty.
In short, it is people like you who give Trump his power. Not by voting for him in the primary (although I would not put that past you despite your claim to the contrary) but rather by being a reliable vote for Trump if he is nominated. The GOP knows people like you will reliably vote for Trump as the nominee which gives Trump viability and thus he is enabled.
At this point, I believe this has turned into harassment because you are not answering EXACTLY the way some want you to.
No bugsy, arkpdx is stating that I have not acknowledged that he will not vote for Trump in the primary. Yet, I have done so at least twice and the above comment proves it.
You do not know what you are talking about.
Now you know how we feel when we are asked the same question over and over again.
Frustrating as hell, isn't it?
You repeatedly deflected and refused to acknowledge Trump’s wrongdoing. Once you finally stopped deflecting and answered my question, we were done.
But now you routinely whine (as you do now) about being forced to be honest and actually answer a simple, direct question. Get over it.
Here, arkpdx keeps insisting that I have not acknowledged his intent to not vote for Trump. You can read my answers and see that I have not deflected in the slightest. I have explicitly stated what he claims I do not acknowledge.
In both cases, yours and his, I am dealing with intellectual dishonesty (yours and his).
And everytime you have have responded you say that I am going to vote Trump even when in have clearly stated that I will only vote for him if the Dems nominate Biden or another dolt like him. Are you implying that the only people that the Dems have are insane losers with dementia like Biden?
Again, you fail to read. I know your conditions.
If Biden or equivalent is the nominee you will vote for Trump (if he is the nominee).
My point is that you have stated that there are circumstances in which you would actually vote to give Trump the most powerful office on the planet. And the circumstances you offer are those that are most likely to happen (Biden is the most likely D nominee by far).
Thus it is people like you who make Trump viable. The GOP knows that they can count on you to vote for Trump in the general and thus you enable Trump.
You are not one who refuses to allow a traitor like Trump to have such power. You are one of those who will acquiesce to Trump if he and Biden are the nominees (which is currently the most likely scenario).
Keep lying to yourself all you like, you are going to0 vote for Trump no matter what
I suspect that too. Although I acknowledge his conditions, I am not convinced that truth has been offered.
Boy you must be psychic! Can you tell me what the winning numbers are for the next Powerball drawing?
1.1 million Afghans helped us in our war effort. We can’t take a million refugees, or 500,000, or 250,0000. We don’t even want 100,000. In fact, Republicans complained about the 70,000 we got. If we had doubled the time to two weeks, that would have given ISIS-K twice as much time to bomb us, three weeks would have given them 3 times as much time to bomb us. Those extensions would also have doubled or tripled the number of refugees. With so many attempting to leave, the airport would have looked as it did for twice or three times as long. Biden doesn’t care about Afghans, he wanted us out, and that's what happened after 20 years of wasted blood & treasure.
None of GWB, Obama, or Trump sent American civilians to Afghanistan. They went because we were pumping $300 million a day into that hole. They were told more than a year earlier that we were leaving, and Biden told them again months before the evacuation. Those that stayed were aid workers who made a deal with the Taliban, or people greedy enough to risk it. Not his job to get them out.
Here’s a real Afghan War fuckup: In 2013 Trump said “We should leave Afghanistan immediately. No more wasted lives.” Yet when he became president he sent thousands more soldiers there because he thought it would make him look tough on terrorism. He allowed the war to run for another four years during which 50 Americans were killed and another $400+ billion were squandered. Trump, the “great negotiator”, negotiated the shittiest possible deal with our enemies, the Taliban. This deal had unenforceable, nonsense ‘requirements’ for the Taliban to discuss power-sharing with the Afghan gov’t. But, before those Taliban-Afghan Gov’t negotiations even started, Trump released 5,000 Taliban fighters and pulled out 4,500 soldiers leaving only 2,500. With these actions, Trump simply told the Taliban they had won long before Biden became president. To recover from that would have required Biden to send soldiers back into Afghanistan — a move that would have been on par with Trump’s stupidity.
Yeah, the great negotiator moved the embassy without getting anything in return. It was a big bargaining chip, squandered by that idiot because his son-in-law wanted it to happen.
LOL, the country was [oil] energy independent because people stopped driving during the pandemic, oil use dropped by 30%. Trump can certainly take credit for that strategy. The US has been a net exporter of energy since 2011 because of natural gas. Fracking could make us an oil exporter as well, but the oil companies would have to want that. We’re not likely to see that because then the price oil would no longer be tied to the world market — not as profitable for their businesses.
You seemed to be concerned and think that we can take the over 5 million. Illegal aliens that have crossed our southern border since Biden took over bringing drugs and disease with them.
Really? Is that also why all three of the previous presidents promised to move the embassy? Oh right they did have a son in law yet.
Oops wrong again. We became energy independent in 2019 and the pandemic did not start in this country until 2020. Let see what else happened in 2020? Oh yeah the country elected a incompetent dementia suffering idiot as president.
Are you aware that Trump was PotUS until Jan 20th, 2021? All of 2020 was during his watch. Attempt to have a modicum of objectivity.
Regardless, his claim that we became energy independent happened because of the pandemic. I notice that you didn't criticize jumpdrive for that.
We were never literally energy independent — even in terms of fossil fuels. In 2019 we exported more than we were importing for the first time since 1957 because our production levels shot up. But it is wrong to deem that energy independence ... it is a misleading misnomer.
To be literally energy independent we would need to (predominantly) produce our own energy from our own sources. That is impossible to achieve currently because our refineries are still mostly designed for sour crude (that which we import) whereas the fossil fuels we mostly export are sweet.
We could be energy independent if we converted our sour refineries to process sweet crude but that is prohibitively expensive.
Another (smarter) way to become energy independent is to work to become the world leader in renewable energy technology (and a leader in exporting renewable energy itself). That will take time. In the meantime, we could bridge the gap by making smarter use of cleaner (but still not ideal) resources such as natural gas (plentiful here).
So the very best we can claim is that we are still working to be energy independent (using the term honestly). And that we would like to repeat the situation of being a net fossil fuel exporter since that suggests we are less of of a fossil fuel consumer.
Stop believing whatever Trump claims.
I understand this analysis, but I think energy independence really means that forces like the war in Ukraine, production limits imposed by world oil producers, etc. DO NOT have a marked affect on our fossil fuel costs. In 2019 we had a net energy export of 0.8 quads (in oil, a quad is 172 million barrels). The 2022 net export was 5.94 quads; so, more than 7 times the 2019 number. But, gas prices rose dramatically in 2022, inflation was a factor, but instability in the world oil market caused by the war in Ukraine was the main factor.
Natural gas prices have been pretty stable over the last 10 years because NG comes from the US & Canada.
I pointed to the pandemic as being responsible for true independence because the difference between our production capacity and consumption was large; caused by a 30% drop in oil consumption. Gas prices as low as $1.80/gal. We won't be energy independent until we are free of external effects -- or at least those effects happen in friendly countries where we can exert more control. This probably means energy from alternative sources and increased oil/NG production.
Property owners forced to store government items should be compensated for the use of their property.
And, gee, thanks Joe Biden for wasting more taxpayer money to placate a handful of folks.
Maybe withholding paying taxes. We already know they'll just get a slap on the wrist from this administration.
That's any day that ends in "Y" for this dumpter fire.
Pretty sure it was Trump who left all of that substandard steel to rust in the desert. So with all of Trump's billions he couldn't find a way to put together a crew to put it up? After all, it was always Trump who was screaming for it.
Have seen videos of these pipes being chopped to pieces in a minute using a $80.00 Sawzall from Home Depot.
This article stinks of a lack of facts.
Uh no. That is on Biden. See posts #2 and 3.1. How close to the border are you? I can look out my front door and see the border fence/wall 6 blocks away. No offense but I think I can safely say I have a much better handle on what goes on here than you do. Sorry, but your facts seem to be lacking
Didn't bother reading the article before commenting?
Brandon is the one that ended the border wall construction. He is the one that is leaving the materials to rust on people's property. He is the one using tax payer money to pay off contractors for not working to complete the wall; and for contracted materials that were never made.
Your "But Trruuummmmppppp!!!!" deflection is rejected.
Bazinga!
Pithy comeback. Uh no what exactly?
Steve Bannon was actually arrested for running a scam to fleece suckers in the "We Build the Wall" fraud. One of Trump's last acts as president was to pardon him.
If the billionaire Trump wants it so badly, why doesn't he build it?
Seems the materials are already there just "rusting" away.
Blaming Biden for not wanting to spend my tax dollars on this ridiculous boondoggle is disingenuous.
If the far right wants a idiotic wall that can be defeated in minutes they should pay for it themselves.
That NY Post article is pure bullshit as are all NY Post articles.
Uh no, Trump did not leave all that steel laying in the desert to rust. As I said that was solely in Biden when he officially stopped construction on 1 Jan 2020 by way of executive order. Again you obviously live nowhere near the border and have no real clue of what things are like down here. The people on the border that are directly affected affected by the illegal invasion were mostly for the wall, but you would not know that because it sounds like you were sucking up what the liberal MSM were feeding people.
truth!
laughable about the money.
instead of a wall to help keep them out, I guess you would rather your taxes go to house, clothe and feed them. that's so smart
/s
Trump was the one who put them there with my taxes and didn't do anything with them with his billions.
But it is Biden who wasted your tax money by not working on the wall.
Blame the man in charge now, not someone out of office for over 2 years.
If "all that steel" is actually there, it was Trump who ordered it.
Biden never wanted anything to do with Trump's wall.
It was Biden who wasted it.
You can deny it all you want, but them's the FACTS.
The FACTS are that Trump and his right-wing billionaire cronies could easily finish the wall with their own (or citizen donated) money.
So glad that my taxes are no longer going to Trump's idiotic wall.
yeah, and Bill Gates could buy you a dozen Ferraris and a couple of mansions.
So?
Instead of your money going to a wall that could only help curb illegal immigration, your tax dollars are now going to feed, clothe, provide healthcare and education, and shelter.
Sounds real wise.
/s
Seems that the vast majority of immigrants from our Southern border are willing to work much harder for less pay than do most of us.
[DELETED]
And yet, here we are, paying for them instead.
NYC has spent over $500 MILLION this fiscal year ALONE.
Chicago was spending $20 MILLION per month to shelter them.
We currently spend billions per year on immigrants.
You mean the ones that Abbott and DeSantis shipped them?
They'll find jobs and will work harder than their right-wing haters.
[DELETED]
Any AND all. What difference does it make how they got there?
Many are not eligible to work in the US currently.
Not as sad as the plethora of folks who continually think so many others are those things without even knowing what some of the words mean.
In fact, there are probably more folks doing that than there are actual fascists, racists, and bigoted haters.
But the words "fascists, racists, and bigoted haters" are the words that their superiors have told the to use when ever they try to deflect from the real problems we face.
Except for a very few on this site, all of our families were immigrants.
Even many native originals can trace their history back to Beringia.
I definitely know a fascist, a bigot and a racist when I see one.
And yes, I do know what all of those words mean Texan. Do you?
Okay? And? Every person that ever walked here immigrated from somewhere at some point.
Fascinating as that may be, it has no relevance in this discussion.
Well, I'll keep reading your posts and looking for proof of that claim.
Damn straight.
Which is why you won't catch me misusing those words.
Because Brandon the Human Fuck Up Machine will have his AG/DOJ sue to stop it. In case you forgot Brandon forcing Arizona to take down their empty container and razor wire wall. Seems someone already had an idea to use the abandoned materials- and the government came after them. Better to let it rust away than have it actually be used for anything.
Again, thanks to Brandon the Human Fuck Up Machine. If anyone tries to use those materials to erect a border wall Brandon will sick Garland and the DOJ on them. They are tax payer property falling under the domain of the federal government. Seems only illegal immigrants crossing the border are allowed to steal them- and bring them back into Mexico.
How many times does it need to be pointed out to you that Brandon is costing US taxpayers billions of dollars by not building the border wall? Didn't read any of the links I provided? Paying contractors to guard the rusting piles; paying private property owners to store the rusting piles; paying companies off that were under contract to produce materials. Great use of taxpayer money./S
No wall is perfect. You act like the BP would suddenly disappear. Drones wouldn't be used to patrol the border. States wouldn't help with patrolling- like they are doing now. Minutes to get through the wall is all it should take to get response teams out to stop illegals from crossing. Because Brandon's plan of ringing the dinner bell for illegals to come to the US isn't working. If Democrats/leftists want illegals here so damn badly they should be forced to take all of them into their states/cities and pay for their care; housing; and education.
Your unbiased opinion- even with other links provided disproving your blame Trump and Republican BS.
Biden has never given a rat's behind about the Southern border security to begin with except that he wants it deliberately left wide open.
Yep, I'm sure you think all those drug cartel/MS-13 gang folks pouring across are such reliable hard workers!/s
Most well stated. Thank you!
Wonder how much of the Trump Administration's taxpayer money that went for the alleged wall ended up in 'friends and supporters' pockets and how much of that money is now safely held in offshore accounts?
Honestly we have much bigger problems to deal with than immigration in the southwest. Number one is water. Immigrants coming and doing jobs no one else wants to do really isn't that much of an issue for me.
Illegal immigrants don't use water?
The shear # of illegals entering our country is exasperating the water condition in the southwest.
But just keep letting record setting numbers of them in every year. I am sure that will improve the water situation./S
Not nearly as much as Brandon the Human Fuck Up Machine is costing US taxpayers by letting the material sit and rot; paying off contractors not to finish material; and other contractors to guard the rotting material.
But don't worry. Brandon will get around to taking care of all of the material one of these years.
The 'Wall of Waste' was the Trump Administration putting all of that crap down there in the first place.
Agreed. Everyone knew that a democratic admin would stop building it, so by the time Trump finally found the funding (still confused as to why Mexico hasn't paid for it) and things actually got going, it was pure waste.
And-----------everybody has forgotten that the GOP--even when controlling both houses of Congress declined to fund 'the wall' in any meaningful fashion. Hence the opportunity by Bannon and other Trumpian grifters to 'do their thing.'
love the concept of a "permanent lock"
an oxymoron if there ever was one...