(01-11-2019, 10:43 AM)mikesez Wrote:

(01-11-2019, 08:58 AM)MalabarJag Wrote:
Thank you.

Yes, mikey has a real problem with reading comprehension. The $5B is a one-time expense, not a continual drain every year, so the price has to be compared to the waste accumulated for the life of the 'wall.' And yes, it will probably cost more before it is finished but a wall barrier is still a one-time expense. The metal bollard version will probably require little maintenance.

Um, the $5 billion is a down payment that everyone agrees is insufficient to complete the wall on its own.  The real price is $20-30 billion.  The idea is to pay about $5 billion a year until it is built.  So it's an indefinite time frame.  
And then you asked me to compare this amount to "trillions" that also come from an unspecified time frame.  How many years did you mean?
Let's call that number N.
The annual federal budget is now $4.4 trillion = $4.4e12.  And you have stated that there is waste equal to at least $2e12.
So the waste % is equal to
$2e12 / $4.4e12 * N = 45% / N.  So if you think N is 5 years, then waste is 9%.  But you can pick a different number for N.
Which federal expenditures, amounting to 9% of the annual federal budget, should be cut as waste?