Trump Slams GOP for Lack of Wall Funding in 'Ridiculous' Spending Bill

Alex Hall | September 21, 2018
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If the GOP establishment was an obstacle course to Barack Obama's policies, it has been accused of being a treacherous swamp to the agenda Trump was elected to fulfill.

MercuryNews reports:

"Earlier this week, the Senate passed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government running through Dec. 7. It aims to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month and includes less far less funding than Trump sought for his long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

'I want to know, where is the money for Border Security and the WALL in this ridiculous Spending Bill, and where will it come from after the Midterms?' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Dems are obstructing Law Enforcement and Border Security. REPUBLICANS MUST FINALLY GET TOUGH!'"

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If Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives in the midterms, or even lose so much as a few seats, the new Congress will not be sworn in until January. Adam Shaw of FoxNews phrased the concerns of Trump's base sharply when he wrote:

"The Republican push to keep the wall out of play until after the midterms is stoking long-standing fears from Trump’s base that Washington Republicans are kicking the can on an issue they aren't passionate about until they no longer have control of Congress -- and can then tell voters that the matter is out of their hands."

So far the Democrats have conceded to a mere $1.6 billion which falls very short of the $5 billion minimum President Trump has requested. The Senate bill on the other hand comprises of a whopping $854 billion, that will keep the government and the military running through December 7th. This includes $675 for the Pentagon alone, as well as a $206 million increase to the funding to fight opioid addiction. The legislation still needs to be voted on by the House, and its dubious whether Trump will sign it it if doesn't fund the wall he so famously promised. Some speculate he will use a government shutdown as his nuclear option to secure wall funding. Many of his base see the wall, and by extension immigration, as a bigger civilizational issue than Obamacare. His supporters fear that Democrats are using immigration as a weapon to change the electorate and America into a one-party country ruled by Democrats. Tucker Carlson, the rising star talk show host of Fox News, famously critiqued the Democrats for weaponizing immigration to turn red states blue:


“To the modern Democratic Party, Americans are an after-thought... What interests them is power. In order to win and maintain power Democrats understand they need reliable new voters, voters who will support them obediently without making difficult demands like a higher standard of living. That’s why the Democratic Party suddenly supports open borders so fervently. Immigration is really the only issue that matters to them because packing the electorate is the only way they can regain control of this country.”

 

The GOP is arguably experiencing a crisis of identity, between one vision of a GOP that enforces a patriotic agenda that puts American interests first, versus a vision of the GOP that Obama aptly condemned as the "Party of 'No'" (plus low taxes!).

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