Government shutdowns

[Danny Bateman]

1 hour ago, deedsker said:

I can't find what the cost for reconstruction is on average, but I found the average cost for new construction and ROW acquisition is. We could rebuild 20% on all existing roadways in the United States, from scratch, with that much money. Or, we could give just $1.3 billion of it to Nebraska and fix every single road in the state and save the country $38.7 billion.

 

FWIW, Delaware is the most expensive state to build a new lane-mile at $80,320 in 2014. That means in Delaware, you could build a new 4-lane highway for 65 miles for the approximate cost of building one mile of wall.

 

Nebraska was 49th at $6,835 per lane-mile.

 

https://midwestepi.org/2017/05/03/what-are-road-construction-costs-per-lane-mile-in-your-state/

 

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2013/hm60.cfm

 

 

 

 

The Wall™ has always been a colossal waste of money & a symbolic promise to those more easily swayed towards simple solutions to difficult problems among us. It's not going to make us any safer, period. There's long been a bipartisan habit of serially adding to the existing fencing along the border; thus the existing barrier is already pretty adequate.

 

We could allocate those funds MUCH more wisely than wasting them on The Wall™. But it seems like Democrats are going to agree to wall funding as a tradeoff for DACA protections because they think The Wall™ itself is silly & will never be built even if they allocate some money.

 

Plus they know if they don't Trump will demagogue them since he made it such a central campaign promise to his base during his campaign. Heck, his campaign already dropped an ad linking Dems to murder over the shutdown. The evolution of the whole issue astounds me - it seems they've all forgotten that Mexico was going to pay for The Wall™? That they don't care anymore suggests to me that anyone who got really hyped up on it originally don't really care who finances it - they just want Mexicans kept out, period.

 

Such a stupid issue.

Edited January 22, 2018 by dudeguyy

[deedsker]

11 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

It's hard for me to believe that it only takes $6,835 for a mile of road per lane.

 

They have to be including all roads which a large number of them in Nebraska are dirt/sand or gravel roads.

No doubt, it looks like I-80 from Lincoln to Omaha cost $4.9 million per lane mile. Urban projects, where land values are higher, come with an exponentially higher price tag. It is just some food for thought. 

 

Doing the same calculation for Delaware, who probably has less rural roads weighing on their calculation due to it being the highest, still would only cost $1.1 billion

[BigRedBuster]

A physical wall is obviously a huge waste of money.

 

However, I would have no problem putting a lot more money towards border security.  There obviously is a huge problem with security in the area.  I believe I read where a border patrol officer is the most dangerous law enforcement job in America.  That's not because innocent mothers and children are involved.  It's because of the people who are trafficking these immigrants have a lot of money to gain by getting people and drugs across the border.

 

Add more officers and equipment.

 

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by BigRedBuster

[RedDenver]

28 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

A physical wall is obviously a huge waste of money.

 

However, I would have no problem putting a lot more money towards border security.  There obviously is a huge problem with security in the area.  I believe I read where a border patrol officer is the most dangerous law enforcement job in America.  That's not because innocent mothers and children are involved.  It's because of the people who are trafficking these immigrants have a lot of money to gain by getting people and drugs across the border.

 

Add more officers and equipment.

 

 

John Oliver did a segment on how adding officers and equipment seems like a good idea but isn't really solving the issues:

 

[Danny Bateman]

So it seems that this shutdown is over, though there are still several hurdles to clear moving forward.

 

Chiefly, we've got a CR that provides funding until February 8th, while funding CHIP (healthcare for low-income kids whose families don't qualify for Medicaid) for 6 years. The latter is undeniably good.

 

However, Democrats merely squeezed "an assurance" from Mitch McConnell to work on a bill to protect DACA recipients & vote on the bill before the 8th. I'm as dubious of Mitch McConnell's word as anyone on planet Earth - I believe the man is a slimy political liar & partisan hack - but I guess incremental gains in securing CHIP funding are good.

 

It seems Dems are trying to pin failure to protect DACA kids on the GOP if McConnell goes back on his word. Getting him to come through is an uphill climb. Let alone the ability to get a Senate-approved bill through the House & get Trump's signature on it. God only knows what he believes at this point. He seems amenable to signing such a bill, but Stephen Miller & John Kelly are not, and they seem to have the reins as the moment.

 

What an absolute mess. I miss a competent executive branch.

 

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by dudeguyy

[sho]

@dudeguyy  I can't access the link here at work, any indication on wall funding in this approved plan?

[Danny Bateman]

2 minutes ago, sho said:

@dudeguyy  I can't access the link here at work, any indication on wall funding in this approved plan?

 

Nothing from what I've seen, which makes sense since it is only a short-term bill designed mainly to keep the federal government up & running for a few weeks. Funding specifically allotted for a border way would likely have to be in a full budget bill that will get passed at some point in the future. Although somehow CHIP funding for 6 years is explicitly a part of this short-term bill.

 

Honestly I've got no idea what happens. It's impossible to know when the president can't make up his own mind & we don't even know if it's his final opinion in the WH that matters.

[VectorVictor]

4 hours ago, dudeguyy said:

Heck, his campaign already dropped an ad linking Dems to murder over the shutdown.

 

[BigRedBuster]

Wrong thread.

 

Edited January 23, 2018 by BigRedBuster