It’s another dazzling morning in downtown Minneapolis this morning. I’m sitting here drinking my coffee and thinking about this so called “proposed wall” along the southern border. I won’t get into political arguments with anyone about it because quite frankly I would lose. However, my logistician and auditor brain kicked in and I think we overlooked just a few minor things.
THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST, SO DON’T EVEN GO THERE.
- So this wall is supposed to cost we taxpayers $22 – $25 billion dollars. That’s “BILLION” with a “B”. Hmm. This would be a Government contract. Just what are the odds it will come in on budget? Here, let me scare you and remind you of the well over budget VA hospital in Colorado. Budget? They don’t need no stinking budget. I shudder to think just how much this will really cost. I’m sure Brown and Root is salivating at this possibility.
- Who’s gonna pay for it? Mexico? Yeh, right. You know and I know that the taxpayers will end up footing the bill and that money will come from Congress and that money comes from taxes or from borrowing. Wonderful. More debt or more taxes.
- You know, fences and walls are great when you have LONG stretches of fairly flat ground. The ground out there goes up and down, this way and that way, here and there, this direction and that direction. Don’t believe me? They have this really long wall in China.
- Does anyone actually think it would actually keep anyone out? Case in point: all them drug tunnels under existing fences. Well we will just bury the fence deeper Jim. No worries, they’ll just dig deeper or use a ladder.
- Use a ladder? So if they go over it, how can you prevent that from happening? You just have watch towers and a buttload of security cameras plus a big force of some really big guys to go round them up. Hmmm. Where have I heard that?
- Are there other ways around it? Oh yeh. I could fly over it or I could boat around it. So I guess what’s next are fences on the beaches? I’m sure some Chamber of Commerce will just love that.
Wait, wait, wait! Let me rethink those last two. A lotta guys. Towers. Lotsa security cameras. Sandy beaches. Boats. This makes my head hurt.
OH, I GET IT NOW! IT’S A JOBS PROGRAM!
Silly me. Why didn’t Obama think of this?
we don’t need no walls in Australia 😂
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really? we’ll trade you a President for a Prime Minister
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Our’s not much better case of better the devil you know so no thanks 😂
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maybe if we throw in a couple new Fords???? 🙂
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Hehehe nah a 911 then may be not a Ford fan 😂
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and here I was willing to throw in a couple Kit Kat bars to sweeten the deal and maybe even lunch. you’re a hard one to please.
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Hehehe I’m easy . Just don’t give me Trump 😂
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I dont want him either.
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Our jobs programs here include road works that aren’t needed, but I guess a big wall and all its accessories is even more effective 😉
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ummmm … no.
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U don’t think so? But think of all the jobs that will create! 🙂 😉
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let’s build a bridge to New Zealand while we’re at it
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Hmmm direct access to the land of the brave and the free … sounds dangerous lol
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yeh but I was gonna use it to escape to Oz or to Kiwi land
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Ahhhh … good thinking … well, maybe you should put in proposal 🙂
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I may as well seeing how they want to build a 2,000 mile wall.
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2,000? Long enough? Sheesh …
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well we Yanks like to do everything REALLY big and well over the top you see. why am I telling you this? you should know this.
LOL
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LOL
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Ha ha!
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I’m with Trudy, build American infrastructure first!
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What kills me is that I people fall fir this thinking all the time, without putting any logic in there at all. How about we just rebuild and renovate the roads and bridges that we already have that are falling apart? That would actually create skilled labor jobs. The people crossing the borders couldn’t take those jobs away from you and you’ll be able to afford food and rent… But hey that’s just me. Good post!
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all people have to do is look back in history and people would realize that there has been immigrants of all types and status. shoot, even my Great Grandfather was never a naturalized US citizen. he was here illegally for all I know.
Wait! someone may check and find out that it was a fact and then “swoosh!” off they send me to Ireland and I’ll be working in some pub as a cook.
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You might be better off actually. They have free health care and education… We need another Teddy Roosevelt, a president that understands the importance of investing in your country’s people nor corporations. If you are here illegally, how are you any different then all the founders? To this day no one has asked for the Native American’s permission.
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I get it. I’m gonna be deported to NYC. I doomed!
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I really enjoy structur of the post, a lot of questions.. 🙂
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yeh, never let an auditor get ahold of a project. we usually have more questions than there are answers.
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That is really great point of view !
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auditors can be a real pain sometimes.
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Yes that’s true. Patience 😀
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yes. please be patient with me will I pick apart your stuff. I work with some people that just roll their eyes when I say that I will be looking at their files. LOL
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You know Jim, if you do it right it could become a big tourist attraction. The Chinese did this quite successfully many centuries ago and people are still flocking to see it.
Leslie
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yes, it will be a great tourist attraction … in about 2,000 or 3,000 years.
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Sooner than that.
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my vote would be to use the money elsewhere but it’s not like I get a vote
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Speak to your political representative. Speak up.
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that assumes that I don’t communicate with my Congressman. I do that routinely on issues that I think are important. but the reality is they don’t always agree with me. case in point: I was totally against defunding Public TV and he came back with a “Sorry Jim, I don’t agree and voted against what I thought was important.”
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At least you tried. If more people shared your thoughts and approached him, he would have had to listen and perhaps supported your view.
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you never really know with politicians. the kiss the babies while putting their hands in your pocket.
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They’ll always have their hands in your pocket – baby or no baby.
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they usually call me “baby” when they have their hands in my pockets cuz I’m usually crying.
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I hear you.
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Very good points there Jim. I actually was going to mention the tunnels, but you beat me to it.
I did think of one way to pay for it though if they insist on building it. They can fire all those “non-essential” government workers that I keep hearing about . That would probably eliminate most of them 😉 Then they can take that money and use it for the wall. What is that wall going to be made out of anyway? I sure hope it is a pretty in case I ever get down that way to visit my brother who is a missionary in Mexico . I want something nice to take pictures of while I am waiting to climb the ladder to get in to see him… 😀
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yes, fire all of those non-essential Government employees … like the Project Engineers, the Project Inspectors, the Financing people who control the funds and make payments, the acquisition people who do the contracts and administer them, the lawyers who review the solicitations and contracts so we don’t do stupid stuff, and the entire project team that would provide overall management of the project. yep. let’s just out source all of that by doing a cost reimbursement type contract. but wait. there would be no one to do that so they could outsource it because all the non-essential Government employees needed to do that would be gone.
oh wait! I’ve got it! we will just give them a couple pallets of newly minted $100 bills and we will trust them to use them properly and accordingly. yep. it would be just like the early days in Iraq. a huge pile of money, no watchdogs, no accounting or accountability and then wondering just where the money went because it just plain disappeared and no one knows how that happened and no one saw anything.
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So those are the non essential government workers then ??
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yep. the only essential one is the one that has the keys to the Treasury vaults.
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