I think Nancy Pelosi is at this stage with respect to what she'd offer Trump.

[Edited to add] And that's exactly what she told him.

Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi told NBC's "Today" show in an interview set to air Thursday that she will not provide President Donald Trump with the border wall funding he has demanded and shut down the government over.

Asked by NBC's Savannah Guthrie if she was willing to give up any money specifically for the border wall, Pelosi said "no."

"We can go through the back and forth," Pelosi said in a clip that aired on MSNBC on Wednesday. "No. How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall."

Trump is folding like a cheap WWE chair.

He is also shutting down the wrong government, he should be shutting down the government of Mexico for wall funding.

nohero said:
I think Nancy Pelosi is at this stage with respect to what she'd offer Trump.
[Edited to add] And that's exactly what she told him.

Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi told NBC's "Today" show in an interview set to air Thursday that she will not provide President Donald Trump with the border wall funding he has demanded and shut down the government over.

Asked by NBC's Savannah Guthrie if she was willing to give up any money specifically for the border wall, Pelosi said "no."

"We can go through the back and forth," Pelosi said in a clip that aired on MSNBC on Wednesday. "No. How many more times can we say no? Nothing for the wall."

 NancySmash!!

basil said:
Trump said today that he will only accept a deal that has $2.5 billion for the wall and not a penny less! That's down from his "$5 billion and not a penny less" last week. I think he is managing expectations with his base.

I stand corrected. I had read this on CNN, but I don't think he ever said he'd accept $2.5 billion, he may have suggested it, but never said it explicitly. Fake news!

I believe Pence is the one who floated the 2.5 billion number.

jamie said:
I believe Pence is the one who floated the 2.5 billion number.

I think he was making the point that there is no point in negotiating with anyone but the Master of the Deal himself.

Apparently the North Koreans have figured that out as well, and now they basically do not want to waste their time with Pompeo and Bolton anymore.

Predictions on tonight's speech?  National emergency?

jamie said:
Predictions on tonight's speech?  National emergency?

nah.  just lots of scary lies.

I know my husband will want to watch it just to see, as always, when he goes “off script” and starts to ad lib his nonsensical bs. 

It's quite fascinating.  I don't recall ever seeing a U.S. President paint himself into a corner so thoroughly and then double-down.

jamie said:
Predictions on tonight's speech?  National emergency?

 A lot of hand movements....a lot of hot air....this guy has a master's degree in bovine scatology....

Is he going to have the opportunity to go off script?  That would be the only reason the watch.  But even that I couldn’t stomach. 

I'm tuning it to see how the Secret Service responds to his pants bursting into flames.

This is all just a side-show, designed to distract us from the Russia probe and all his other debacles.

I think declaring state of emergency is probably the only exit ramp left for him. At least the lawyers will be happy.

basil said:
I think declaring state of emergency is probably the only exit ramp left for him. At least the lawyers will be happy.

The law giving the POTUS authority to declare a state of emergency is not very specific as to what constitutes an emergency.  Still, I would hope most judges would really want to understand how a border situation which has been pretty unchanged over the years has suddenly become an emergency.

tjohn said:

Still, I would hope most judges would really want to understand how a border situation which has been pretty unchanged over the years has suddenly become an emergency.

 it actually HAS changed over the years.  It is very much improved over what it was from about 1995-2005.

ml1 said:

tjohn said:

Still, I would hope most judges would really want to understand how a border situation which has been pretty unchanged over the years has suddenly become an emergency.

 it actually HAS changed over the years.  It is very much improved over what it was from about 1995-2005.

There you go again, you and your facts

ml1 said:

tjohn said:

Still, I would hope most judges would really want to understand how a border situation which has been pretty unchanged over the years has suddenly become an emergency.

 it actually HAS changed over the years.  It is very much improved over what it was from about 1995-2005.

We are seeing a big drop in the number of unauthorized immigrants who are trying to enter the country to find work. A lot of this can be attributed to an improving economy in Mexico, some of which is thanks to NAFTA. Mexicans would rather stay home if they can earn a decent living. So why do we urgently need a wall right now since the number of crossings is declining so steeply?

On the other hand, we are seeing a big increase in the number of Central Americans who are fleeing violence at home and seeking asylum in the U.S. by turning themselves in at border crossings. Yes, this is a problem, but a wall won't stop them. We'd be better off investing $5 billion in stabilizing those troubled countries and building their economies, especially since our drug consumption habits are largely responsible for the current turmoil.

Beto's short video about the border and the wall, if you haven't seen it.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1078711815259996161

kthnry said:
We are seeing a big drop in the number of unauthorized immigrants who are trying to enter the country to find work. A lot of this can be attributed to an improving economy in Mexico, some of which is thanks to NAFTA. Mexicans would rather stay home if they can earn a decent living. So why do we urgently need a wall right now since the number of crossings is declining so steeply?
On the other hand, we are seeing a big increase in the number of Central Americans who are fleeing violence at home and seeking asylum in the U.S. by turning themselves in at border crossings. Yes, this is a problem, but a wall won't stop them. We'd be better off investing $5 billion in stabilizing those troubled countries and building their economies, especially since our drug consumption habits are largely responsible for the current turmoil.

Birth rates in Mexico are roughly the same as the U.S. now, so that's another factor.  Mexico also instituted universal health care in 2009, so that's probably factoring in as well.  Why would poor working people want to live here without health care when they can stay in their own country and have their health needs provided for?

I wonder if there is any compromise possible where the money funds asylum courts and not a wall.

FilmCarp said:
I wonder if there is any compromise possible where the money funds asylum courts and not a wall.

I think from Democratic side: yes, but from Trump: no. His whole campaign was based on this stupid wall. How the heck is he going to explain that there won't be a wall without looking like an idiot to his base?

So much for that -

Tests Showed Border Wall Could Be Sawed Through

President Trump “has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as ‘absolutely critical to border security’ in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw,” NBC News reports.

“A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after experts from the Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.”

Border barriers (e.g., fences) are proven to be effective in some sectors of the border.

Border barriers without Border Patrol agents are useless.

We need Congress to pass an comprehensive immigration bill that includes things like border security, DACA and updated immigration policies.

It's not that hard, but Trump just wants a wall for the same reasons that he wanted a headline like this:  https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/i-wrote-donald-trumps-infamous-best-sex-i-ever-had-story-guest-column-1101246

nohero said:
So much for that -

Tests Showed Border Wall Could Be Sawed Through

President Trump “has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as ‘absolutely critical to border security’ in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw,” NBC News reports.
“A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after experts from the Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.”

Oops

basil said:

nohero said:
So much for that -

Tests Showed Border Wall Could Be Sawed Through

President Trump “has repeatedly advocated for a steel slat design for his border wall, which he described as ‘absolutely critical to border security’ in his Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday. But Department of Homeland Security testing of a steel slat prototype proved it could be cut through with a saw,” NBC News reports.
“A photo exclusively obtained by NBC News shows the results of the test after experts from the Marine Corps were instructed to attempt to destroy the barriers with common tools.”

Oops

What's the point here.  Walls without defenders are of little value.  I believe that has been known since the Great Wall of China and Hadrian's Wall to name two.

LOST said:
At what point should the workers who are not getting paid walk off the job?

 My "sensitive" spouse offered to buy a sandwich for the nice man who processed us at the airport. He laughed.