This is what modern
corruption, waste, fraud and abuse look like:
President Trump is so eager to
complete hundreds of miles of border fence ahead of the 2020 presidential
election that he has directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars’ worth of
construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental
rules, according to current and former officials involved with the project.
He also has told worried
subordinates that he will pardon them of any potential wrongdoing should they
have to break laws to get the barriers built quickly, those officials said.
It also means that Congress’s Power of the Purse as
enumerated by the allegedly Republican Revered Constitution is now nothing more
than a suggestion:
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is
expected to approve a White House request to divert $3.6 billion in Pentagon
funds to the barrier project in coming weeks, money that Trump sought after
lawmakers refused to allocate $5 billion. The funds will be pulled from Defense
Department projects in 26 states, according to administration officials who,
like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the matter.
And those laws designed to ensure fair, competent contracting
is done with taxpayer dollars – not even thought about:
“Border Patrol insists on
compressed acquisition timelines, and we consent. Their goal is to get
contracts awarded, not for us to get a quality contract with a thoroughly
vetted contractor,” said one senior official who is concerned the agency has
been hurried to hand out contracts as quickly as possible.
Military officials expect more contract
protests because the arrangements have been rushed, the official added. The
Army Corps already has had to take corrective actions for two procurement
contracts, after companies protested.
And of course, there’s no consideration for environmental
damage or private property rights:
The companies building the fencing
and access roads have been taking heavy earth-moving equipment into
environmentally sensitive border areas adjacent to U.S. national parks and
wildlife preserves, but the administration has waived procedural safeguards and
impact studies, citing national security concerns.
“They don’t care how much money is
spent, whether landowners’ rights are violated, whether the environment is
damaged, the law, the regs or even prudent business practices,” the senior
official said.
CBP has suggested no longer writing
risk-assessment memos “related to the fact that we don’t have real estate
rights and how this will impact construction,” the official said.
Now many folks would say that interests of national security
require us to forgo the legal mandates and Congressional preferences so that we
can secure our border. And were we under active military invasion they MIGHT
have a point.
But we aren’t. All
this wall is being done as a spectacle to fuel race-based animosity against
powerless defenseless migrants literally fleeing for their lives. They are seeking succor in the US – a country
whose proxy war with Russia in the last century in Central and South America
largely drove the violence and destitution they are fleeing. They come here and
mow our lawns, build our houses, feed us, clean our office buildings, pick our
fruit and slaughter our chickens. They
add dollars to local economies, they send their kids to school to learn English,
and they give away billions in tax dollars for services they can not
receive. American born citizens do not do the jobs they
do, nor will they once immigrants are thrown out.
The Wall is a political misdirection. It takes money that Congress set aside for other
purposes and throws it at a useless barrier that won’t make meaningful changes
to immigration or economic policy so the President can stoke fears to keep
power. And along the way, the Part of
Law and Order and the Constitution can keep trashing all those things because
no one will notice. Or care.
Oh, for a functional Deep State.
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