Border at "breaking point" 76,000 apprehended in Feb, up 31%
- Thread starter MegaPoke
- Start date
Sys and been assured us this was a mid term fake story. What else could they be wrong about?
Omg imagine what it must have been like when 11,000 a day were crossing over during Dubyas Administration.
Fvck W He’s a huge part of why we have the same problem now.
It goes back to the 80s and the war on drugs, we created and continue to create a lot of the problem.
Pentagon may tap military pay, pensions for border wall
The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall, a top Senate Democrat said Thursday.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told The Associated Press, "It's coming out of military pay and pensions. $1 billion. That's the plan."
Durbin said the funds are available because Army recruitment is down and a voluntary early military retirement program is being underutilized.
The development comes as Pentagon officials are seeking to minimize the amount of wall money that would come from military construction projects that are so cherished by lawmakers.
Durbin said, "Imagine the Democrats making that proposal — that for whatever our project is, we're going to cut military pay and pensions."
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel for the Pentagon, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who met with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday morning.
The Pentagon is planning to transfer money from various accounts into a fund dedicated to drug interdiction, with the money then slated to be redirected for border barriers and other purposes.
More attention has been paid to Trump's declaration of a national emergency to tap up to $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for the wall. The Democratic-controlled House voted last month to reject Trump's move, and the GOP-held Senate is likely to follow suit next week despite a White House lobbying push.
Senate Republicans met again Wednesday to sort through their options in hopes of making next week's voting more politically palatable. They are struggling to come up with an alternative to simply voting up or down on the House measure as required under a never-used Senate procedure to reject a presidential emergency declaration. Lawmakers in both parties believe Trump is inappropriately infringing on Congress' power of the purse.
Senators are increasingly uneasy ahead of voting next week because they don't know exactly where the money to build the wall will come from and if it will postpone military projects in their home states.
Vice President Mike Pence told senators during their meeting a week ago that he would get back to them with an update. But senators said they don't yet have a response from the administration.
"It's a concern," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. He said a number of senators have been talking to the White House about other ways the administration could shuffle the money without relying on the authority under the emergency declaration, which is likely to become tied up in litigation.
The pitch is, "Why have this additional controversy when it could be done in a less controversial way?" he said. "Apparently, the White House is not persuaded."
The Army missed its recruiting goal this year, falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses and approving some additional waivers for bad conduct or health issues.
Congress also appropriated money to give members of the military incentive to take early retirement, but enrollment in the program is coming in well under expectations.
"This is pay that would have gone to Army recruits that we can't recruit," Durbin said. "So there's a 'savings' because we can't recruit. The other part was they offered a voluntary change in military pensions, and they overestimated how many people would sign up for it."
The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall, a top Senate Democrat said Thursday.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told The Associated Press, "It's coming out of military pay and pensions. $1 billion. That's the plan."
Durbin said the funds are available because Army recruitment is down and a voluntary early military retirement program is being underutilized.
The development comes as Pentagon officials are seeking to minimize the amount of wall money that would come from military construction projects that are so cherished by lawmakers.
Durbin said, "Imagine the Democrats making that proposal — that for whatever our project is, we're going to cut military pay and pensions."
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel for the Pentagon, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who met with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday morning.
The Pentagon is planning to transfer money from various accounts into a fund dedicated to drug interdiction, with the money then slated to be redirected for border barriers and other purposes.
More attention has been paid to Trump's declaration of a national emergency to tap up to $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for the wall. The Democratic-controlled House voted last month to reject Trump's move, and the GOP-held Senate is likely to follow suit next week despite a White House lobbying push.
Senate Republicans met again Wednesday to sort through their options in hopes of making next week's voting more politically palatable. They are struggling to come up with an alternative to simply voting up or down on the House measure as required under a never-used Senate procedure to reject a presidential emergency declaration. Lawmakers in both parties believe Trump is inappropriately infringing on Congress' power of the purse.
Senators are increasingly uneasy ahead of voting next week because they don't know exactly where the money to build the wall will come from and if it will postpone military projects in their home states.
Vice President Mike Pence told senators during their meeting a week ago that he would get back to them with an update. But senators said they don't yet have a response from the administration.
"It's a concern," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. He said a number of senators have been talking to the White House about other ways the administration could shuffle the money without relying on the authority under the emergency declaration, which is likely to become tied up in litigation.
The pitch is, "Why have this additional controversy when it could be done in a less controversial way?" he said. "Apparently, the White House is not persuaded."
The Army missed its recruiting goal this year, falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses and approving some additional waivers for bad conduct or health issues.
Congress also appropriated money to give members of the military incentive to take early retirement, but enrollment in the program is coming in well under expectations.
"This is pay that would have gone to Army recruits that we can't recruit," Durbin said. "So there's a 'savings' because we can't recruit. The other part was they offered a voluntary change in military pensions, and they overestimated how many people would sign up for it."
it’s a different world today than mexicans coming to work and send money home to families
okc from nw 39th to sw 59th is prolly 50% hispanic and unrecognizable to me
when i was in 8th grade spanish class to think
we got vhs tapes from mexico and translated the commercials
there’s an undoubtedly a border crisis
law and order needs to be restored and the situation in its entirety addressed
With our border literally at the breaking point, you would think the US has an ally with expertise in border security, constructing effective walls etc who would be rushing our aid — without us even needing to ask.
Just considering the $$$ billions of tax dollars that hard-working Americans so generously send to other countries — while our bridges crumble and life expectancy declines.
Plus all those wounded and homeless veterans who have fought in wars to protect other countries borders — pretty sure they would appreciate it too.
You would think that politicians elected to represent taxpayers might be saying this too.
Incidentally, February’s spike in border crossings were so high (see red line) that it’s literally off the chart.
Classic song by the way:
Just considering the $$$ billions of tax dollars that hard-working Americans so generously send to other countries — while our bridges crumble and life expectancy declines.
Plus all those wounded and homeless veterans who have fought in wars to protect other countries borders — pretty sure they would appreciate it too.
You would think that politicians elected to represent taxpayers might be saying this too.
Incidentally, February’s spike in border crossings were so high (see red line) that it’s literally off the chart.
Classic song by the way:
The New York Times blames the border influx on Trump, shocking, because they wanted to get here before a wall was built. (Like a wall is going to be passed and built in 30 days).
The people to blame are the Democrats, who were projected to win the House, and said a wall will never be built. Look at the timing.
The left pushing for illegals to vote is onlyngoing to worsen the border situation, which is their game.
The people to blame are the Democrats, who were projected to win the House, and said a wall will never be built. Look at the timing.
The left pushing for illegals to vote is onlyngoing to worsen the border situation, which is their game.
