(01-29-2019, 05:29 PM)jagibelieve Wrote:

(01-29-2019, 04:55 PM)TJBender Wrote: No, that's your opinion, and the presentation of your opinion as fact on a matter of national security is example numero uno of why neither party should ever, ever have complete control of all three branches. It is the opinion of a minority of Americans that failing to fund a border wall somehow equates to dereliction of duty by the Speaker of the House. In truth, plenty of alternatives that aren't as ineffective and environmentally destructive have already been proposed, but the opinion of that minority of Americans continues to be that it's wall or nothing.

Opinion.

Put the damn sensors in the ground, install the IR cameras, send up the drones, enhance screening procedures at legal points of entry, beef up Border Patrol staffing in sectors that need it most and enjoy the continuing decline in illegal immigration. I would consider that to be addressing the problem in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner, and last I checked, that's been on the table for a long time. It's just that dopey little fence that a minority of this country somehow thinks they're entitled to holding things up.

Tell that to the ranchers and the Indian Tribes along the border that have vehicles driving across their land filled with drugs or doing human trafficking.  The same ones that have property either damaged or stolen from them.

If drug cartels or human traffickers can do it, then pretty much anyone with malicious intent is able to do it.

National security is mandated by The Constitution and is the job of the federal government.  It doesn't matter if it's a "minority of Americans" that think that it needs to be addressed (though I doubt the 'minority' part which is opinion on your part).  It's the law and not my or a "minority" of the population's "opinion".  Border security provides for the common defense.

Where you are also wrong is that the opinion of the very people that live along the border is that along with a barrier of some type more border patrol agents are needed.  That's fact.

No. It's an opinion. My opinion is that bubblegum is the most nausea-inducing substance ever created. It's a fact that that's my opinion, but it's still an opinion. My opinion does not mean that domestic policy should spend billions of dollars outlawing bubblegum.

A wall in the desert is a waste of funds better allocated to more flexible and effective means of border security, and it would be an environmental disaster on top of that. The electronic wall combined with much tougher and much more heavily enforced legislation surrounding the employment and lodging of illegal immigrants would go a long way towards solving the problem.

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