by Sandy » Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:51 pm
Bottom line: Trump lost this battle in a major way.
The Democrats were already well out in front of this as far as polling data and favorability was concerned. People who keep up with the facts and know what is happening, including even larger majorities in the border cities and states along the border, know, and have seen what works. The Democrats just beefed up the border patrol's budget by $1.6 billion, more than they were asking for and an action that effectively silences the claims they want an "open border" or don't care about border security. They do, more than Republicans because for Democrats, clearly, it is about realistic solutions to stop illegal crossings and not just political grandstanding to gather cheers from rally attendees. What the Democrats just did will give law enforcement what it needs to stop the drug traffic, or severely slow it down as it comes through the ports of entry.
Disapproval of Trump policies and actions has been edging its way up in polling data toward the 60% threshold for some time now. On the issue of declaring this a national emergency, opposition is at 65%. Opposition to building a wall is in similar territory. It is going to be difficult to defend taking money from a fund that provides for housing construction for military families, improvement of services and facilities for military personnel, research for better technology and equipment, disaster relief funding for victims of fires, hurricanes and floods and for rebuilding of infrastructure damaged by natural disasters. What will happen seems predictable. Lawsuits have already been filed, the courts will stay the spending until a ruling is issued, the facts are pretty clear that there is no national emergency, there will be congressional resolutions against it, the courts will declare the president's action unconstitutional and there will be no wall.