Just looked it up, and US air passenger-miles went from 191 billion in 1980 to 670 billion in 2016, a 3.5-fold increase. By contrast, passenger-miles in light vehicles have gone from 2011 billion in 1980 to 3045 billion in 2016, a factor of onlly 1.5.
Source
I think pretty obviously air travel plays a relatively larger role in today’s society than that of 1980.
A) You can’t look at it as 25 billion out of a 5 trillion budget. It’s more like 25 billion out of a 1.2 trillion budget, since most of the Federal budget is mandatory spending on Social Security, Medicare and other programs that are required to be funded. The discretionary portion is about 1.2 trillion.
B) Because 25 billion is a COLOSSAL amount of money in any real sense. More than NASA gets, and in the ballpark of what the DoE and HUD are slated to get. It’s the amount of the ENTIRE budget of the state of Georgia.
And to spend that much on something that all sane people agree is not going to be helpful, and that the landowners on the border don’t want, and that is slated to be a massive boondoggle is just irresponsible.
But when you look at the districts along the Mexican border, they all look blue, except for the expansive one that covers half of southern NM.
And the majority of voters voted against Trump, but we’re stuck with him anyway.
That’s overstating the issue of visa overstays. A fact check of the issue shows a lot of older data. Estimates tend to point to overstays accounting for a percentage of illegal aliens in the low 40s. It’s a big chunk. A statement like “nearly half” is supportable. A slight majority might be possible. “Vast majority” is a claim that’s pretty clearly false based on the best data available.
There’s still a big point that a wall at the border isn’t that effective given even those numbers. There’s also the real prospect that those wishing to enter adjust behavior and affect the numbers. When we tweaked asylum processing in 2009 asylum claims went way up. With the overloaded immigration courts handling the claims it’s now a good way to enter for 2-3 years legally while waiting for a hearing.* We can reasonably expect people to adjust their behaviors if we build more wall. Maybe that’s even more asylum claims or finding areas that are still open. I was joking with my sister over Christmas about visits to the San Diego Zoo going way up if we had a wall stretching along the entire border. People don’t walk all the way from Central America to the US border if they are easily dissuaded. “Shit. Wall. Guess I need to walk home now.”
Overstating the case against the wall with claims that are clearly false doesn’t help the argument.
NM-2 went Democratic this year. It can happen, but it needs strong turnout in Las Cruces (and it’s even better if NMSU students register there instead of voting absentee somewhere else), and enough people in other areas like Alamogordo and Clovis and Hobbs to go against the general Republican lean in those cities. Little Texas is hard to overcome most years.
And that’s how the America-hating fuckstick thinks he’s going to get out of paying those workers who have to report to their jobs: he’s calling it a strike so he can fire them when the shutdown is over.
I know, how stupid would anyone have to be to think this would work? Well, we haven’t yet plumbed the depths of this asshole’s stupidity, so I couldn’t say.
In another thread, I posted some 2016 DSHS reports that show illegal entries of 170,000 and 739,000 visa overstays.
The constitution clearly provides that policy is made by congress and the president should carry it out. Nobody seems to have pointed this out, although Alesan certainly hinted at it. Proposing such a wall is entirely congress’s prerogative and it is about time the turtle came out of his shell and admitted it.
I suggest building a wall 60 ft. long, 3 ft. deep and 3000 miles high. That would be some tourist attraction and would put the name Trump forever in the books.
Maybe they should do away with the TSA all together, flying might be a bit more enjoyable …
In Europa at least you pay an employee for being your employee (thus the right to get paid during the yearly holidays) and a free-lancer or an external contractor for his work, work which will have to be measured according to the contract signed either by the hour or by results achieved plus expenses incurred. Is it not like that in the USA?
In depth discussion of this here (I’m clearly not the only person to have this thought):
Still seems to me, seeing as they are clearly the wronged party here, and have the power to cause enough disruption to absolutely force someone to cave. They should be discussing some kind of joint action, whatever the law says. Even the threat of a mass resignation, mass sick-out, or mass strike (whatever the Taft-Hartley Act says. Would be enough. If it was me I’d be pressing my union rep to organize that (its not of course, and I understand why someone wouldn’t do that)
Does the Taft-Hartley Act say anything about industrial action that falls short of an outright strike? Like an organised sick out?
