GOP wants to waste $5 billion on a wall because Pelosi humiliated Trump

Republicans are responding to Trump’s public humiliation at the hands of Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer by mounting a full-press effort to waste at least $5 billion in tax dollars on a useless wall.

The Democrats bluntly explained to Trump that he does not have the votes in Congress to fund the wall and continuing to fume about it while threatening to shut down the government is useless and counterproductive.

The party apparently believes that a big show of support for Trump’s pipe dream project is needed to stop the political bleeding.

Politico reports that House Republican leaders like Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) are “discussing several hard-line spending tactics that would assert support for Trump’s $5 billion wall request.” Ryan is reportedly even considering a plan that would give Trump his wall money and freeze federal spending into the new year.

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) told Politico, “When Nancy Pelosi challenged the president by saying, ‘You don’t have the votes,’ that put us in a situation to at least demonstrate from a negotiating standpoint that we do have the votes.”

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) also said, “I think we all need to get behind it and illustrate to the president that we’ve got the support for it.”

But Ryan’s scheming would not be supported by Democrats and more failed wall legislation would further embarrass Trump.

Politico noted, “Failing to secure the votes would be the ultimate humiliation for GOP leaders.”

Trump has threatened to shut down the federal government and shoulder the blame for the unnecessary disruption to the lives of millions of Americans, all to raise funding for the wall idea.

Pelosi and Schumer made it clear to Trump in their meeting that they oppose the racist idea, as they have since Trump took office two years ago.

Trump promised during the presidential campaign that Mexico would pay for the project, but their government repeatedly has said no such thing will happen.

In fact, while his allies in Congress are strategizing to spend billions on a wall, Trump is still claiming that Mexico will pay for it.

He tweeted, “Our new deal with Mexico (and Canada), the USMCA, is so much better than the old, very costly & anti-USA NAFTA deal, that just by the money we save, MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!”

The argument is nonsensical but even if taken at face value it doesn’t explain why GOP lawmakers are still pushing forward with a plan to spend on the wall, other than as a sad attempt to bolster Trump’s sagging ego.

In response to his newest posturing, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wrote, “Since you found a ‘way’ to ‘pay’ for your boondoggle wall I assume you’ll stop threatening to shut down the government next week if American taxpayers don’t fork over $5 billion? Let us know when the check is in the mail.”

Trump’s wall isn’t happening, and he was embarrassed when Democratic leaders made it clear directly to his face that he doesn’t have support for it. Republicans are scrambling to make it happen before he has another embarrassing public tantrum.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.