Quote:
Originally Posted by Platapus
Good question. My take on it?
Because the Republican congress did not want the wall. More accurately, the Republicans do not want to be held responsible for the massive costs (acquisition and O&M of the wall)
By waiting until the Democrats got the house (there was not much doubt in that), this open up two political outcomes
1. If the Democratic House approves the funding and the expenses of the wall become excessive, the GOP can point their fingers at the Democrats and claim "well you funded it! It's on you!"
2. If the House does not approve the funding, then the GOP can point their fingers at the democrats and claim "see, they don't care about security or safety". Democrats being weak on security is a traditional campaigning strategy by the GOP.
Neither of these would work if the GOP remained in control of both houses. In the event that the democrats did not gain a majority in the house, this wall funding thing would not have been pushed.
That's why it was not a crisis when the GOP had both houses but is now suddenly a crisis when the opposing party has control and responsibility.
This is also why Trump is being pressured not to use the Emergency rational as it removes the accountability (and finger pointing) from the Democrats and moves it back to Trump and by association the GOP.
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You know, I think you're right.
And Trump doesn't really want the wall, either. He's just saying what sovereignty-minded Americans want to hear.