What can Dems extort from Trump in exchange for the wall?

Great Debates
1

I think Dems are already doing exactly the right thing – not giving an inch to the toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

But if he wants his $5.7 billion so badly, why not take advantage of his inept dealmaking and put together a trade? Lots of people (mostly Republicans) have already suggested DACA protection in exchange for the wall, but that’s just something they already had under Obama. Here are a few things off the top of my head I might propose as a trade for the $5.7 billion:
[ul]
[li]Immediate full citizenship for all Dreamers[/li][li]Full federal recognition of sanctuary city status[/li][li]Complete cessation of deportation efforts for non-felons[/li][li]Immediate amnesty for all undocumented aliens meeting reasonable conditions[/li][li]Clear, attainable path to citizenship for amnestied aliens[/li][/ul]

Don’t bother replying that his base will never go for it. That’s a given, and fuck them anyway. Trump is such an infantile egomaniac, he might just go for it. And it would go a long way toward solving our “problem” with undocumented aliens, to the extent that it’s even a problem.

What do you think? What would your wall trade package include?

2

I wouldn’t engage in any transactional horse-trading with Trump. He’s completely untrustworthy, and I’d have no faith he would carry out any agreement. He’s already making noise about overriding congressional decisions not to fund the wall by declaring an emergency… why should I trust him not to deport DACA kids after a law is passed?

I’d just angle for a border security package that actually does some good and isn’t a vanity/campaign project.

3

The Democrats are trying to do that.

Trump walked out

If Trump won’t negotiate, it’s kind of hard to get anything done.

4

Well, his resignation and suicide seems the obvious choice.

5

Yes, all true, but play along. Let’s pretend Trump gets desperate enough to deal when he sees the Dems won’t budge, and let’s further pretend the deal could be structured so Trump doesn’t get a cent until the entire package is signed, sealed and delivered. (And while we’re at it, let’s pretend none of it needs Senate approval.)

Under those fantasy conditions, what would you consider a fair trade for holding your nose and partially funding the wall?

6

I think it would be easy to get Trump to give concessions on things that aren’t related to the immigration issue. Any concessions on immigration would be considered a surrender by his base, but something totally unrelated - like China policy, tariffs, environment, Paris Accord, etc. wouldn’t get as much heat, if any.

7

Tru dat.

Here’s my proposal: Pelosi should tell Trump that if the Senate passes and Trump signs the House appropriations bill ‘as is’, then she promises to tack on the $5.7B for the wall onto H.R.1, which she guarantees will pass the House, after which the Senate Republicans will have no Dem opposition to getting it to Trump’s desk.

  1. The deal should be structured this way so that if Trump agrees to the deal then changes his mind before signing the House bill, the Dems haven’t given up anything.

  2. If Trump and/or McConnell decide later that H.R.1 is too big a price to pay for wall funding, it’s no loss for the Dems: H.R.1 wasn’t going to pass anyway.

  3. If Trump tells McConnell that he wants his wall funding, dammit, and all that voting rights stuff doesn’t matter to him one way or the other, then $5.7B is a small price to pay for getting H.R.1 onto the books.

8

His resignation would suffice! I want him to live a long, long time after he leaves the White House - and spend most of that time behind bars.

9

Lower the qualifying age for Medicare by seven years annually for ten years.

That gives time for the Government to lower health care costs and for health insurance companies to switch to insuring cars and houses.

10

The Democrats have already made their offer - a path do citizenship for the DACA recipients.

There’s no need for any hypotheticals here. The Dems already offered, Trump already shot them down.

11

How about his tax records, a promise to testify under oath for the Mueller investigation and a public apology for his role in spreading lies about Obama?

12

Trump will not nominate anyone for any judicial vacancy until January 21, 2021. That’s fair.

13

It depends on how worked up his base has historically been over an issue. His supporters have been anti-environmentalists for decades; they’d be about as happy with environment-related concessions as they would if he appointed Hillary as Secretary of State.

14

Except, of course, appointing Obama to the Supreme Court.

15

Someone must die first, unless the resignation of the last two guys is part of the deal.

16

If Trump promises that, I’m betting RBG retires almost immediately.

17

Only after they do. Nobody sane would do something just because of a Trump promise.

18

Question: does POTUS have line item veto power? Could this be used to gut a bill but still get the tacked on funding?

19

Nope. That issue was settled by Clinton vs City of New York, 1998.

20

If Trump cared about immigration, he would be doing things to stop immigration. Instead, he loafed on the subject until Congress was about to start investigating his past in earnest and then shut everything down and turned it into a spectacle for fundraising (either for the 2020 election, or to throw into his “go bag”). So, practically speaking, there’s nothing that they could offer him that he’ll take, because he’ll always go one higher, to keep things off the rails.

But there is the chance that they didn’t offer a certain quantity of something, but instead a very specific something, that he would have to fold. As I have said, they should offer to fund the wall, at whatever dollar value he wants, if the bill to fund it also includes provisions for tracking down and arresting business owners who employ illegal workers.

If Trump accepts it, he’s at legal risk himself and will upset a whole bunch of people in his previous line of work - who he is still friends with - and if he rejects it, then the Democrats can walk all over him, because the common man loves the idea of arresting rich people. Trump thrives on populism, but his policy isn’t actually very populist, and you can call him on that, real easy, if you’re willing.