# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2016
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40302 "2019-02-05T17:35:50Z")
Red Rover, Red Rover, let Jose come over! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40303 "2019-02-05T19:57:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Red Rover, Red Rover, let Jose come over! And if he makes it over, we salute him and sing “José, can you see…” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40304 "2019-02-05T21:59:11Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > or just “We know…” On the driver’s side window … backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40305 "2019-02-05T23:02:33Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [**Trump: ‘We will build a human wall if necessary’**](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/428500-trump-we-will-build-a-human-wall-if-necessary) > Ooooo! Kind of like [Hands Across America](https://www.history.com/news/remembering-hands-across-america)? Only everyone will be facing Mexico and poised to knee immigrants in the groin as they attempt to pass. Kids, being short, will get the knee in the head, I guess. No matter, they’ll be with their parents so no one should complain. I’m trying (probably unsuccessfully) to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations for how much something like that would cost, and I’m coming up with about **$135,210,230,064** in wages for a _single year_, not taking into account things like places where a physical barrier already exists, or where it would be impossible to build one, and also not including things like HR overhead, managerial overhead, OSHA regulations, and the like. Either I’m misestimating, or Trump is even stupider than he’s already proven himself to be. I don’t find that particularly surprising, but geez, how far down is he planning to dig himself? Someone check me on this: Length of border: 10,318,241 feet Total number of people required for a single shift if there is one person every 5 feet or so, so they can hold hands without straining: 2,063,648.2 people Covering the border 24/7 and assuming everyone works a 40-hour work week, you’d need 4.2 people for each of those positions: 8,667,322.44 people (Total workforce, and that’s without any extra people in case someone can’t make it for some reason.) So, multiply 8,667,322.44 people times 40 hours per week times 52 weeks per year times $7.5 per hour (I think that’s still minimum wage for unskilled labor?), and you get over $135 BILLION for a year’s wages. (This would be reduced by all the distance covered already by either natural or man-made barriers, but even if there are barriers for half the distance, that’s still a pile of money. That would be offset in a bigly way by the infrastructure needed to support a workforce of that size, such as management and all the HR functions like benefits and payroll and whatnot, and is there any company or government on the planet that’s had a workforce of that size, ever?) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40306 "2019-02-05T23:53:37Z")
But many, many people have called him and said “President Trump, I love you and your wall idea so much that I’m quitting my job and volunteering for a year! In fact, I’m calling from a Greyhound bus heading for the Southern Front.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40307 "2019-02-06T00:26:49Z")
Colonel Klink will threaten to send Sgt Shultz to the Southern Front. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40308 "2019-02-06T02:54:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Colonel Klink will threaten to send Sgt Shultz to the Southern Front. And then Col Hogan can dig elaborate tunnels under Shultz and the rest of the line. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40309 "2019-02-06T05:25:01Z")
**Morgyn** , don’t forget the cost to ensure everyone on the human wall is legally permitted to work in the US. We don’t want a repeat of the Trump golf club incident. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40310 "2019-02-06T05:39:45Z")
Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty says we don’t need health care because God will take care of us when we die. > **[‘Duck Dynasty’ Star: I Don’t Need Health Care Because I Have ‘Immortality...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/duck-dynasty-boss-on-health-care-i-dont-need-it-because-i-have-immortality-given-to-me-by-god/)** > > Robertson told Fox Business Network that publicly funded health care is useless because he will live forever in God's embrace. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40311 "2019-02-06T06:39:19Z")
Here’s yer hat, adios, motherfucker… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40313 "2019-02-06T11:23:01Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On the driver’s side window … backwards. I’d say that just evil, but you’re assuming they can read. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40314 "2019-02-06T15:56:12Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty says we don’t need health care because God will take care of us when we die. > [‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson: I Don’t Need Health Care Because I Have ‘Immortality Given to Me by God’](https://www.thedailybeast.com/duck-dynasty-boss-on-health-care-i-dont-need-it-because-i-have-immortality-given-to-me-by-god/) I guess you have to get even more stupid to get the press interested in you again. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40315 "2019-02-06T18:13:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’d say that just evil, but you’re assuming they can read. Just leave [this](http://chittagongit.com//images/illuminati-icon/illuminati-icon-24.jpg)on a slip of paper, tucked into the wiper. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40316 "2019-02-06T18:39:21Z")
Sadly, the Illuminati has become irrelevant in the Trump era. Today’s conspiracy theorists have no recognition of alien lizards, number signals, or Skull and Bones societies. Those are Cold War notions that have grown quaint or largely forgotten in the overt ubiquity of social media. The Russians openly fix elections and are cheered for it. The president hides nothing about his evil intentions. Obama, Hillary and CNN are the conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40317 "2019-02-06T21:26:54Z")
Congressman Matt Gaetz says that the US would be safer if we build a wall than if we have background checks for gun purchases. [Gaetz Tries To Get Father Of Parkland Victim Removed From Background Check Hearing - TPM – Talking Points Memo](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gaetz-tries-get-father-parkland-student-victim-removed-hearing)? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40318 "2019-02-06T21:42:09Z")
> [@gyrate](#): > > just leave [this](http://chittagongit.com//images/illuminati-icon/illuminati-icon-24.jpg)on a slip of paper, tucked into the wiper. 👁🔍🧬📝🛰 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40319 "2019-02-06T22:38:28Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m trying (probably unsuccessfully) to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations for how much something like that would cost … one person every 5 feet or so, so they can hold hands without straining … you get over $135 BILLION for a year’s wages. Holding hands?! You some kind of pinko commie softy liberal? Look, the effective range of an M16 is 550m. Put a foxhole every kilometer of the 3,145 km of the border. Add 4 patriots per foxhole to take watches. Double that so you can trade out reserves… let’s double that again for cooks, clerks, infrastructure, etc… mmm carry, the one… that’s 50,320 people… let’s budget an annual salary around $30,000 (E3 to E5 range)… 1.5bn and change. (I wonder if I need to mark this as sarcasm.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40320 "2019-02-06T23:59:07Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Holding hands?! You some kind of pinko commie softy liberal? Maybe if it paid well enough. Right now I’m just a progressive liberal who thinks, hey! Full employment could be achieved if we just do what the CFSG says and build a wall out of people. He didn’t say nothin’ about no guns, so I took him at his \ word. > [@Apollyon](#): > > \(I wonder if I need to mark this as sarcasm.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40321 "2019-02-07T03:08:12Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Matt Gaetz says that the US would be safer if we build a wall than if we have background checks for gun purchases. > [Gaetz Tries To Get Father Of Parkland Victim Removed From Background Check Hearing - TPM – Talking Points Memo](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gaetz-tries-get-father-parkland-student-victim-removed-hearing)? That man is a puckered poopchute, without question. But as ideas go, a massive, impenetrable wall around Florida is not the worst I’ve heard. I’ve seen Disney World already, went to an alligator farm, barfed up Busch on a white sand beach at Spring Break. That’s about all there is, so might as well lock it the fuck down. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/40322 "2019-02-07T03:39:32Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That man is a puckered poopchute, without question. But as ideas go, a massive, impenetrable wall around Florida is not the worst I’ve heard. I’ve seen Disney World already, went to an alligator farm, barfed up Busch on a white sand beach at Spring Break. That’s about all there is, so might as well lock it the fuck down. Ummm… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2015) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2017)