sleeper;1834253 wrote:Great! So it's still a massive public work by BIG government. I'd love to see Trump divert funds from DoD spending to build the wall then. Also needs to increase taxes to pay for it otherwise he will continue to mount up national debt and burden future generations with more BIG government spending.

Change we can believe in.

sleeper;1834253 wrote:Great! So it's still a massive public work by BIG government. I'd love to see Trump divert funds from DoD spending to build the wall then. Also needs to increase taxes to pay for it otherwise he will continue to mount up national debt and burden future generations with more BIG government spending.

Change we can believe in.

ptown_trojans_1;1834226 wrote:Ok, so he wants to build the wall, how will it be procured?
Will it be DHS that leads the procurement? DHS uses a Coast Guard multiple award contract for construction. They might use that, but it will need to be extended and expanded "big league".
Will it be the Army Corps, Southwestern and South Pacific Divisions? They have contract vehicles to use, but none nowhere close to the proper value needed.
I also wonder what the specs will be, and then how bids will be selected.

If I had to guess, it will be out of the Army Corps and be procured through a series of contracts and contract vehicles that will balloon the costs and bids.
That is also not fast. Procurement will probably take a year plus and that assumes no snags in law suits or budget. Plus, most Contracting Offices are already spread thin right now with work.

Spock;1834279 wrote:Donald is in the business of construction. It will likely be done on budget and on time. That's his expertise. the reason why government projects are often blown up on funds and late is because politicians don't know what they are doing

Spock;1834279 wrote:Donald is in the business of construction. It will likely be done on budget and on time. That's his expertise. the reason why government projects are often blown up on funds and late is because politicians don't know what they are doing

like_that;1834328 wrote:CC doesn't understand how federal contracting works. I wouldn't expect anyone to know, but don't try and pretend you know why it takes awhile.

QuakerOats;1834262 wrote:It is a defense project; like buying planes and ships to patrol borders. You will figure out. Good luck.

Spock;1834346 wrote:oh

I know why it takes awhile. "Federal" contracting is the problem. Outside of the DC beltway things are done differently and more efficient

Commander of Awesome;1834412 wrote:Thinking more about Trump's wall plan, I am trying to understand the economics behind this. Doesn't that just make things more expensive for us/we pay for the wall? For example, Mexico sells an avocado to the US for $1, grocer sells it for $2. With 20% tariff, Mexico sells it to us for $1.20, grocer either sells it to us for $2 and makes $0.20 less or sells it to us for $2.20. Am I understanding this correctly?

gut;1834428 wrote:Yeah, this is pretty dumb. Taxes are almost always passed on to the consumer. But even if not, the tarrifs [equally on all goods, if I read correctly) come from the company, which I'm guessing in most cases is a US corporation. Why the company MIGHT pay instead of the consumer is substitute goods not subject to the tariff (which prevents the grocers from selling it to you for $2.20).

The spin [which we might call alternative lies] will be he's punishing the companies for having jobs in Mexico, and if that causes them to relocate back to the US then Mexico would be "paying" indirectly.

like_that;1834433 wrote:Yeah this is bad Trump, and any Republican that is ok with this is pretty much turning a blind eye. They would rip Obama for this and they should. We don't need FDR protectionism. Gotta hope this is just a threat and Mexico backs down.

like_that;1834433 wrote:Yeah this is bad Trump, and any Republican that is ok with this is pretty much turning a blind eye. They would rip Obama for this and they should. We don't need FDR protectionism. Gotta hope this is just a threat and Mexico backs down.

Heretic;1834436 wrote:Which I can't personally see happening, since that would be the president of Mexico essentially saying, "Yes Sir, Mr. Trump! We were stupid not to listen to Big Brother America and now we'll gladly pay for you to have a wall to keep our filthy people away from your superior country!!!!" And since this stupid shit is in pure posture mode ("They will" We won't" "THEY WILL" "GFY"), that's not likely.

O-Trap;1834348 wrote:Defense handles enemies.

I really don't think you can call a wall "to keep out the illegals" defense.

gut;1834435 wrote:He's playing this just like he would in a negotiation where he has leverage. And it's not going to work that way here, because Mexico knows he can't unilaterally wield that perceived leverage.

BGFalcons82;1834448 wrote:We have a $60,000,000,000 annual trade deficit with Mexico.