Wednesday, January 16, 2019

BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, AND TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE by Marissa Jones


Most all know that in Donald Trump´s campaign he claimed that he would, ¨Make America Great Again¨ and build the wall dividing the United States and Mexico. After Trump failed to come to an agreement with Congress on funding for the border wall, a partial governmental shutdown was issued. This has been the longest government shutdown in history and is still continuing to this day. President Trump had requested $5.7 billion to fund his border wall idea. Many people have given up on the idea of the wall because thousands are working without pay and the economy is losing terrible amounts of money. However, there are several groups of people that are still supporting Trump as hard as ever. In fact, Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who is missing both his legs as well as a hand, started a GoFundMe to support the wall. Mr. Kolfage has accumulated around $16 million and is attempting to reach the $1 billion dollar limit on GoFundMe. He has more than 218,000 donors on his page and is trying to persuade everyone of President Trump's followers to donate $80 each so that they could at least support half the wall. He is just one of the many raising money to support this wall.
Is the wall considered more of a want or a need? Who do you think will give in first for the shutdown? Would the wall hurt our economy or be beneficial to our countrys issues?


8 comments:

  1. I believe that the wall is a need. I feel like congress will give first. The wall will not hurt our economy, and it will be beneficial to our country by being able to make our country safer.

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  2. I feel like the wall is something you need to want. Trump seems to keep his ground on most things, so i figure Congress will have to give in. It will take a lot of money which is never good with our debt, but it will keep our country safer.

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  3. I think the wall is an unnecessary burden on our economy that, as you wrote, is already in trouble. While it is impressive and heartwarming that so many people/funds came together for a common cause, but I would be very surprised if that is the way the wall gets funded (if it does). Hopefully it is obvious to all parties involved that careful but deliberate compromise is necessary as this government shutdown has negatively affected so many people already; surely our government can do its job and serve and protect its people through embracing common ground, bipartisanship, and working hard to have mutual understanding and respect.

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  4. I feel the need for a wall is a want of Donald Trump to put his name on something else shiny and new. His wall is a political device that serves virtually no purpose other than to further his own gains. It makes sense that President Trump shut down the government to reach this campaign goal; however, I do not think blaming the Democrats is an entirely accurate accusation. I hope Congress does not give in to President Trump's unnecessary border wall, when we should be strengthening the border with technology- not a medieval tactic that is easily overcome. You may as well dig a moat all along the border.

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  5. I think the wall is a want. I think there is other approaches to limiting and identifying the traffic from Mexico. I think something should be done with immigration. There is millions of pounds of drugs coming across the boarder and that needs to be stopped. However, I think Congress will give in. President Trump has been quoted to say that he cant give in now or he'll look like a fool.

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  6. It's a rather interesting question as to whether or not the wall is a want or a need. Obviously, the country has survived this long without a wall, and statistics have shown time and time again that many if not most "illegal aliens" get into the country not through the border but by other means (such as overstaying a visa). On the other hand, I've heard that we still don't have a barrier along the entirety of the US-Mexico border, which may allow many people to illegally enter with little to nothing in the way. At the very least, I could understand people advocating for finishing and strengthening the border.

    Similarly, it's hard for me to tell who will give in first. On one side, you have a president who will stop at nothing to keep his largest campaign promise. He is known for not backing down, and not getting his wall might just bring people to not vote to re-elect him when the next election cycle comes. On the other side, you have a Congress that is dominated by people who will stop at nothing to resist anything the president wants to do. They know that giving Trump the wall will ensure total "victory" for him, and they don't want that. If there was any reason Congress would give in, it would be out of concern for those the government shutdown hurts most, and because Trump may not give up. If there was any reason Trump would back down, it would be because the Democrats could (and surely will) use the shutdown as a way to attack Trump, and his efforts to get the wall might backfire.

    In terms of economy, I just don't think it makes any sense that a wall would hurt us. After all, Trump's asking for less than $6 billion--the rest of the government spends trillions of dollars all the time. 6 billion is hardly a drop in the bucket compared to how much the government spends, and I don't see any other way the wall could hurt our economy. And would the wall help our country's issues? Well, the answer to that would likely depend entirely upon your political affiliation.

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  7. In my opinion, we need the wall. I understand that the wall alone cannot put an end to illegal immigration, but it could definitely help. The way I see things, Trump is not going to back down or give up any ground. Congress will have to give first because I doubt that Trump will. The wall will be beneficial to our country by making it safer and hopefully stop illegal immigrants from taking more jobs from the American people.

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  8. I feel that the wall is more of a want. Trump promised the wall during his presidential campaign and has stopped at nothing trying to get the funding for it after being elected. I believe at this point he is just trying to build the wall so he doesn't come off as a liar or bad guy. As for the economy, I don't see how it could hurt our economy unless Mexico decides to cut off trade with the US, which I don't see happening.

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