Politico recently calculated the cost of Donald Trump’s oh-so-realistic immigration plan. It came to 166 Billion dollars. (Billion with a B.)
I guess when you’re rich and delusional, a billion here and there isn’t daunting, but really– are the Republicans who are cheering Trump on really prepared to pay that much money to deport the people who–among other things– are picking their vegetables?
Here’s Politico’s breakdown– the price tag for each of Trump’s immigration policies:
• Mass deportation: $141.3 billion
• Triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers: $8.4 billion per year
• Building the wall: At least $5.1 billion (not including yearly maintenance)
• Nationwide E-Verify system: $2.15 billion
• Visa-tracking system: $7 billion
• Mandatory detention: $1.7 billion
These are just the cash outlays; the total doesn’t include the higher prices of produce and other economic “hits” to an economy that depends much more on the exploitation of undocumented workers than we–or The Donald– like to admit.
This is only one of Trump’s spectacularly stupid positions, of course.
Although it is really difficult to choose a favorite idiocy (and increasingly difficult to distinguish satire from reality), my favorite to date has to be this gem, uttered during an interview with Bill O’Reilly (who, next to Trump, actually looked reasonable): in a discussion of the Fourteenth Amendment provision granting “birthright citizenship” to children born in the U.S., Trump said that the Fourteenth Amendment “would never hold up in court.”
Putting aside the obvious–Trump doesn’t understand the difference between a Constitutional provision and a statute (or the operation of the American legal system, with the exception of bankruptcy law)–this effort by nativists to eliminate birthright citizenship has been embraced by a number of Republicans. Including Indiana Governor Mike Pence when he was in Congress.
A recent interview with WRTV included discussion of Pence’s sponsorship of the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009,” a bill to “redefine” birthright citizenship to prevent children born in the U.S. of immigrant parents from being considered citizens. (Fortunately, like virtually everything then-Congressman Pence sponsored during his tenure in Congress, the bill went nowhere.) Most Hoosiers had been unaware of Pence’s assault on that part of the 14th Amendment until Trump’s antics focused attention on the issue.
As for Trump–I don’t object to the spectacle of an yet another un-self-aware, self-aggrandizing, self-parodying jerk running for President. What freaks me out is that this one is currently leading the GOP pack.
Germany doesn’t have birthright citizenship. If you are born there to immigrant parents (who are not yet German citizens), your child will have to complete 14 yrs of school and be fluent in German and take a test in order to become a citizen. (I know this because of our Turkish neighbors that moved in Germany in the 90s and had three children born near Stuttgart that had to do this). You can continue to live there without citizenship as long as you follow the rules and don’t become a criminal.
But then again, Germany has rules in which all have to live by. When you move (within 10 days), you have to go to the local council office and register your name, address, employer, income, citizenship with passport, marriage license record etc. They will then give you a certificate so that you can get your utilities turned on, your vehicle insurance (if you have a vehicle) etc. This would be considered a national database of all citizens and non-citizens living in the country.
Is the US willing to do such a thing?
In the history of this country, has there ever been another clown the caliber of “The Donald” seeking the presidency? I would vote for him to be entered in the Guinness World Book of Records in the fool category, if they have one. He is a waste of cyber space time and a waste of oxygen…but can of course pay for all he wants to stay ahead of the game. And his attitude makes it appear this is all a game to him.
Not trusting the GOP at any level; I still wonder if this entire Trump situation is a distraction from the candidate they will eventually – and suddenly – pull from their hat and actually nominate.
The republicans need to invite Ross Perot to their next candidate debate. He might look pretty good in that group.
@Joanne
No one in the Republican Party can fill Donald Trump’s shoes. He’s their man. He has 50% or so of American’s seeing him as favorable. The Republican Party is going to have to live or die with him. They’ll try to clean him up. And they will be successful to a certain extent.
Unfortunately, if he wins, America dies.
Donald Trump employes more Illegal aliens than many business men, yet he stands up and says these things and no one calls him out. He is a shining example of the worst of Americans. Why anyone would take him seriously is beyond me!
@MJane
You’re right he has to be called out for what he is. That’s not easy. That’s the problem with organizations like MoveOn who don’t engage: Boycott is not calling him out. With him it makes matters worse.
If you call him out you better have very deep pockets or NOTHING. It’s better to have NOTHING, since he will make sure, if he is effectively engaged, that you will pay a deep $$$price with a massive lawsuit or worse.
From past experience, I would suggest checking out accommodations at the nearest homeless shelter before taking him on.
Trump lacks only a Klan costume. He doesn’t just hate brown people; he hates everyone who isn’t Donald Trump. Notice that he’s stayed away from everything involving Church (in a global sense) and religion. I am puzzled as to why any female–regardless of political party–would even consider voting for him.
While so much of our focus is rightly on Donald Trump, we need to pay some attention to his followers. All those poll numbers are confusing to say the least. Just how many of our fellow Americans have joined in on this circus? Who are they? And most importantly, what is driving them to cheer on such intolerance and hatred?
Trump began the initial Republican debate by not agreeing to support the Republican party. And, as Theresa asks, “…what is driving them to cheer on such intolerance and hatred?” Supporting the Republican party, just as supporting the Democratic party, entails supporting that party’s voting constituents. He cannot be counted on or trusted to support those whose votes he believes he already has in his pocket.
It does seem that a lot of people have glamorized Donald Trump. I don’t know if it is because they like to be in the presence of somebody with that much money hoping being close to him will rub off or what. It is a mystery to me. He does admit to having illegal immigrants working for him. I am surprised that many females seem to be entranced by him too. I wonder if they even understand what his agenda really is, and he never seemed very respectful to their gender. They had a TV special a while back and his and his wife’s clothes closets were larger than most people’s houses! Will that be our next president? Nothing much surprises me anymore. I guess we will all wait and see, but what is driving all his followers is hard for many to understand including me!
@Theresa and Pat
They’re being driven by religion. Many years ago Walter Cronkite said it very plainly as I remember: “This is white supremacy masked in Christianity.” The main fuel over the years has been and still is massive anti-Semitism which has morphed into deadly RACISM which is a close kin to anti-Semitism.
That’s why Trump stays away from religion. That’s where he has his main followers.
I hope you know, I’m not talking about ALL Christians.
We are learning a great deal about the depth of hatred that motivates the base of the Republican party. That hate has been their organizing principle for decades. Glad to see it on display for what it is. Take a good look America. Do you like what you see?
One avenue to explore is the similarities between Germany in the late 1920s and the US since 2000.
Germany was still trying to recover from their loss of power from defeat during WWI. The US is still trying to adjust/recover from the Iraq/War on Terrorism.
Germany’s economy was a mess mostly due to the restrictions put upon it by the victors of that war. The US economy still recovers from the debt of Bush’s war and our failure to control Wall Street.
Germany’s national pride was damaged. American’s have been told for the past decade and a half that our country is failing because other countries now have a piece of the pie.
Since the turn of that past century the concept of race had taken hold in Germany and much of the rest of the world. Focus in Europe was on Jews. The idea that being a Jew was a racial designation and not a religious one took hold thanks to the then scientific community and the church. The idea that brown people are to blame for whatever problems now exist in the US has taken hold here due to the repeated racist statements by republican leaders over the past fifteen years.
It only took a mega maniac to put it all together in order for the German people to follow Hitler into what the Volk believed would be a return to German greatness.
The Koch Brothers and the rest of their little mob have been using a “Nazi playbook” since the late 60’s. The Koch’s father was a founder of the “John Birch Society.” Their plan as outlined in their “Blue Book” has always been to take over the Republican Party.
They’ve done it. Can they succeed in taking over America? That’s another story in itself. Could the Germans defeat the Russians? No.
German military intelligence attempted to stop Hitler’s insanity in the late 30’s to no avail. (See The Oster Conspiracy of 1938 by Terry Parssinen.) He destroyed Germany in the process. How does this important fact in history compare to the present state of politics in America?
These are the same guys who voted for Reagan. He was their hero, as he took down the undeserving ‘welfare queens,’ unions, and lowered taxes for the comfortable. So as things get worse, they just keep pulling that ‘R’ lever harder. Just like the guys in the Klan, who had as much to lose economically as anyone else buttressing the ‘plantation’ economy, these guys can’t see they are shooting themselves in the foot because Trump is telling them what they want to hear–get rid of immigrants and your jobs will miraculously come back. David Cay Johnston is pulling his hair out over the press not even challenging Trump on his Chinese factories, immigrant labor, and bankruptcy with other people’s money. http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/19/david_cay_johnston_21_questions_for
“Politico recently calculated the cost of Donald Trump’s oh-so-realistic immigration plan.”
No, they didn’t.
You have to be able to distinguish as Sheila stated: “……satire from reality.”
That’s actually very simple: It’s satire as reality. It’s all stage managed behind the scenes. It’s like going to Broadway and viewing a re-creation of the hatred of Nazi Germany which eventually destroyed the Weimar Republic. However, it takes place in the U.S. instead of Nazi Germany.
The answer to the cost issue is very simple : Create a tax on all the former employers of deported ILEGAL trespassers. This is coming from a brown skinned Native American LIBERAL.
Mr. Trump loves his , and my country.
Groper, yes, Politico did calculate the cost of the Trump plan. See http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/donald-trumps-immigration-tab-166-billion-121500
Trump is a distilled Republican Concentrate, a loud mouth who is loose with the facts. I find it funny the Republicans running have to continually reset to the hard Right to try to over come Trump’s huge popularity with the Republican Base.
Totally unsaid by the Republicans who are trying to devise various plans to deport illegals, are the companies that hired them in first place.
King Donald never ceases to amaze me with his lack of respect for everyone except himself; his pomposity in public; his arrogance in his everyday dealing with the people who are making him the one on top of the polls, the media circus; his sheer lack of diplomacy; his clownish command at the podium; his all-around racist remarks against anyone with brown skin; and on and on and on…….Do people actually see him as being able to run this country with his bad attitude? I think the Dems must be hoping he will self-destruct before he gets that far. I hope they are right. He is one scarey dude.
Today’s entry is more accurately titled: “You’ve Really Got to Hate Foundational Americans”
And they do.
There’s a war on Western Europeans, both in America and in our homelands. This racism wants to tear down and dilute the greatest cultures the world has ever seen.
We’re aware of this. We know what they’re doing, and we know why they’re doing it. It’s the only sanctioned form of racism allowed in the world. When Trump wants to keep America for Americans, the enemies of Western Europe and America’s greatness become infuriated.
No, Stewart, Politico doesn’t have the first clue on how to conduct a cost/benefit policy calculation. Here’s a clue for liberals, since they’re awful in accounting: each ledger entry has two sides.
IMO Trump and the GOP both have no intentions of him being President. He’s a celebrity making money hand over fist now by playing his celebrity. The future value of his name now in incalculable.
What’s the GOP get? They get a dozen plus candidates sounding reasonable in comparison at a critical part of the campaign when the game is looking for flaws by which to dismiss candidates.
When’s the last time you heard about any of the other clowns saying rediculous things? Before Trump.
So the script will play out. Trump will move up to the top ten of the wealthiest in the world list unless he blows it again. One of the Koch hand picks will win the primary because his rediculous ideas will have been kept out of the paper through this critical campaign time. Hillary will have spent her wad fighting for media space against Trump whereby he gets it for free by just running his mouth.
A brilliant political strategy at a time when by their actual accomplishments the GOP ought to be sliding into oblivion.
The Ministry of Truth media now is fully in charge of the country. Well done Herr Goebbles.
Too bad America. You were not capable of earning or defending Democracy.
Gooper, “Foundational Americans”? You mean American Indians?
One advantage of having Gopper with us is the saying “hold your friends close but your enemies closer”.
He defines today racism as ignorance of the truth that races are hierarchical with whites being superior and others inferior. Not a new idea but it must be well disguised to be accepted in public nowadays so he packages it as “culture” for now. A move straight from the Ministry of Truth handbook. Read “1984” for other clues to the strategy he is blindly following. That strategy is the only option left for recovery of credibility by a political party that has had no accomplishments for America in decades.
He sincerely believes he is a free thinker but in reality has been brain washed to the core by Koch/Ailes media just as in other countries and other times. In fact the difference now between North Korea and the Kochdom is that the North Koreans know their leader is a jerk but can’t fix that. That’s where we’re heading.
Gopper believes that Trump’s four bankruptcies qualify him as an expert in accounting. One of the few capable of tabulating the cost of his delusions.
I’m not sure that Trump hasn’t had a single bankruptcy. His corporations have.
One sure way never to have a corporate bankruptcy is never to risk anything and never to create a new business venture.
I think we are over complicating this. Carlin said think about how dumb the average guy is and consider that half of the people are stupider than that. What we have now is a party of learning and a party of ignorance. That’s not to say there are not dumb Dems and smart Reps, but generally speaking, the GOP has become the party of dumb white people. Consider that among that relatively low IQ population, some number, say half, are tea party types. That makes them roughly the dumbest quarter of all white people. Then among those people, some smaller number support a man who to the rest of us appears to be a comedic actor in character. I mean, are you sure Andy Kaufman is dead? I am having my doubts. Anyway, we are down to something like the dumbest 15% of white people.
The question we should be asking ourselves is, how is it that our political system is being wagged by this tail of the population, and how can we make reforms to our process to ensure that Buford T. Simpleton does not choose our president?
Gopper points out the if Trump were President and under him the country went bankrupt he personally would be able to avoid that fate.
Reppog, perhaps the answer to your wondering is that we’re not a country of exceptional ignorance but of successful entertainment media oligarchy funded brainwashing.
Though we are all profoundly ignorant compared to mankind’s total knowledge, and getting more so every minute, how that handicaps us is not being able to defend ourselves from mis-information. The brain washers choose what they want us to believe and we are collectively unable to see the evidence that what we’re being told is just plain wrong. I think that global warming and civic literacy are perfect examples often cited here.
I doubt that we are more ignorant than other countries but we’re certainly more media saturated and oligarch intensive.
Who runs his corporations?
A lawsuit lasting about 20 years involved Trump’s use of illegal immigrants from Poland who were paid $4-$5 an hour to work 12 hour days 7 days a week to help demolish the Bonwit Teller building which was replaced by Trump Tower. (When he talks about illegal immigrants being exploited, he speaks from experience.) The suit charged that the Trump corporation hadn’t make payments into pension funds for either the Poles or the unionized labor.
The immigrants were initially hired by a subcontractor who went belly up (Trump wants us to believe he’s to smart and cunning to be taken advantage of), so the employees became Trump’s. After the job was finished, the poor Poles went back to Poland, and we’ll never know if any of the workers got their due because the results of the lawsuit are sealed.
Grammatical correction. Trump wants us to believe he’s “TOO” smart and cunning to be taken advantage of.
Nancy, it’s fundamental to corporations that they protect the assets of the owners of the means of production from the consequences of business failure. That’s why in most cases those who claim risk as a justification for obscene returns are lying. They almost never put more at risk than they can afford to comfortably lose. It’s workers who lose when companies are mismanaged, not owners.
Gopper confirms his white-supremacist tendencies today defending Trump. How fitting.
“The sleep of reason brings forth Monsters”
This is Goya’s title for one of his “Caprichos,” inscribed on the etching itself.
rea.son (re’zan) l. an explanation of an act, idea, etc. 2. a cause or motive 3. the ability to think, draw conclusions, etc. 4. good sense. 5. sanity –vt., vt. 1. to think logically (about); analyze 2. to argue or infer —stand to reason, to be logical —rea’son-ing n.
Finis.
They need the uneducated voters behind Trump. That is what you would have to be to vote for him. He probably wears his hair as he does to cover the “666” that is on his forehead 🙂