https://www.businessinsider.com/gov...tez-ideas-for-trump-border-wall-money-2018-12 Most Americans would rather spend the $5 billion Trump is demanding for the border wall on infrastructure, education, or healthcare President Donald Trump pushed the US government into a partial shutdown over his demands for border-wall funding. Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested some alternative uses for Trump's demands for $5.7 billion toward the wall. INSIDER polled people on alternative uses of the $5.7 billion in border wall funding, and most preferred other ideas, including infrastructure improvements, covering a half-million Americans' healthcare expenses, and expanded pre-K education. The only group that supported the wall was conservatives, while border money came in last for moderates and liberals. As the partial government shutdown drags on into its sixth day, President Donald Trump has remained steadfast in his demands that $5 billion for a wall along the US-Mexico border be included in any package to funding and reopening the government. "Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border," Trump tweeted Thursday. "Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking, Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country." But according to an INSIDER poll, most Americans would prefer to put the $5 billion Trump is demanding toward other policy goals. At the start of the government shutdown, Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lamented House Republicans inclusion of $5.7 billion in border-wall money in their doomed funding package. "And just like that, GOP discovers $5.7 billion for a wall. $5.7 billion," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "What if we instead added $5.7B in teacher pay? Or replacing water pipes? Or college tuition/prescription refill subsidies? Or green jobs? But notice how no one's asking the GOP how they're paying for it." In response to Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, Washington Post writer Jeff Stein suggested a few alternatives for the $5.7 billion in funding, including funding pre-kindergarten education for every child in the US or covering the healthcare expenses for hundreds of thousands of Americans over the course of the year. INSIDER polled these alternatives against funding for the wall and found that the wall was not a particularly popular option. Conducted as a SurveyMonkey Audience poll with 1,025 respondents that ran December 21-22, INSIDER asked respondents, "What is the best use of $5.7 billion in federal funding?" and offered four options: "build a portion of a wall along the US-Mexico border" "fund pre-kindergarten programs for every child in the US for a year" "pay the healthcare expenses for roughly 530,000 Americans for a year" "fund infrastructure improvements" The figures were based on Stein's estimates for the utility of $5.7 billion in different areas of administration and calculations based on the most healthcare spending data. Only 19% of respondents thought the wall was the best use of that funding.
https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...icans-blame-trump-for-shutdown-than-democrats Poll: More Americans blame Trump for shutdown than Democrats More Americans blame President Trump than Democrats for the six-day partial government shutdown, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/12/19/poll-voters-would-blame-trump-gop-for-shutdown-1068673 POLITICO/Morning Consult Poll Poll: Voters would blame Trump, GOP for shutdown If parts of the federal government shut down later this week, most voters will blame President Donald Trump and Republicans over Democratic minorities in Congress, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.
Shows how dumb a lot of people are. If the wall is not funded the $5 billion will go to people from other countries. If the wall is funded and a few policies are put in place the money will go to citizens. A dozen or two countries have built walls in just the last year or two; it's working fine for all of them.
TSA workers had the same thing happen under Obama. So now their union is all batshitty when before it was just business as usual... wow...
Did Obama indicate then that he would keep the government shutdown until he got his way? If not, then that might be the difference between now and then.
First, leading Republicans, including Ryan, noted that Obamacare largely would move forward even if some elements were defunded. In that sense, Obama was not fighting to "force" Obamacare, because he didn’t need to. Second, in 2013, two issues, Obamacare and the debt ceiling, were on the table. In 2018, funding for the wall stands alone. In 2013, a compromise on the debt ceiling cleared the way to reopen the government. There is also a legal difference. In 2013, Obamacare was already law. Funding for the wall is not. The situation in 2013 was more complicated than today. Obama, like Trump, aimed to protect a favored policy. But he also wanted to raise the debt limit, an issue of at least equal importance. https://www.politifact.com/facebook...obama-2013-and-trump-2018-are-shutdowns-same/