Trump to declare National Emergency to build wall

Kit the Coyote

New member
President Trump will declare a national emergency to fund his demand to build a border wall, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on the Senate floor Thursday.
Trump to sign border deal, declare a national emergency

So anyone who has seen my posting on any of the political boards I follow is going to know I am no fan of President Trump. I think he is sort of the embodiment of every negative stereotype we have of both politicians and businessmen. But I haven't been on the impeach Trump or he is criminal bandwagon since I haven't seen anything that actually warrants that so far.

But now we come to a tipping point. If he uses his emergency powers, no matter how technically legal it is or not, to primarily go around the Congress' NO on funding his wall, that is a direct assault on the balance of powers and the Constitution. The emergency powers were never intended to be used as a means to wrest the power of purse away from Congress.

So to me, this is a direct violation of his oath of office.
 

Catholic Crusader

Kyrie Eleison
Banned
Are you aware that those same emergency powers have been used dozens of times in the last 40 or 50 years for all kinds of stupid crap? Google it? At least this time it will be used for something good and legitimate. I posted the actual federal law in another thread, but I am on my phone right now so I cannot find it. But the president has the authority along with the Secretary of Defense to build any wall or grade any road along the southern border if it helps interdict drug trafficking, and he can do all that without a vote from Congress. It's totally legal. When I get off my phone and back on my PC I will post more details
 

ok doser

lifeguard at the cement pond
Are you aware that those same emergency powers have been used dozens of times in the last 40 or 50 years for all kinds of stupid crap? Google it? At least this time it will be used for something good and legitimate. I posted the actual federal law in another thread, but I am on my phone right now so I cannot find it. But the president has the authority along with the Secretary of Defense to build any wall or grade any road along the southern border if it helps interdict drug trafficking, and he can do all that without a vote from Congress. It's totally legal. When I get off my phone and back on my PC I will post more details

doncha hate having to make a post like that from your handheld? :chuckle:

i do
 

Kit the Coyote

New member
Are you aware that those same emergency powers have been used dozens of times in the last 40 or 50 years for all kinds of stupid crap? Google it? At least this time it will be used for something good and legitimate. I posted the actual federal law in another thread, but I am on my phone right now so I cannot find it. But the president has the authority along with the Secretary of Defense to build any wall or grade any road along the southern border if it helps interdict drug trafficking, and he can do all that without a vote from Congress. It's totally legal. When I get off my phone and back on my PC I will post more details

The key in your comment is "without a vote from Congress". The President's Emergency powers are quite sweeping and are intended to allow him to respond to an unforeseen emergency when there is not the time to consult with Congress and Congress to act. But here, he had time to consult Congress and Congress has acted. This is a direct usurpation of Congressional power by the Executive using a legal loophole.
 

ok doser

lifeguard at the cement pond
The key in your comment is "without a vote from Congress". The President's Emergency powers are quite sweeping and are intended to allow him to respond to an unforeseen emergency when there is not the time to consult with Congress and Congress to act. But here, he had time to consult Congress and Congress has acted. This is a direct usurpation of Congressional power by the Executive using a legal loophole.

have we ever had a similar situation in which congress has been unwilling to do its job?
 

Catholic Crusader

Kyrie Eleison
Banned
The key in your comment is "without a vote from Congress". The President's Emergency powers are quite sweeping and are intended to allow him to respond to an unforeseen emergency when there is not the time to consult with Congress and Congress to act. But here, he had time to consult Congress and Congress has acted. This is a direct usurpation of Congressional power by the Executive using a legal loophole.

Horse crap. Its the law. Specifically, 10 U.S.C. section 284, which gives the president and the Defense Department the power to build the wall.

Section 284 provides that the Secretary of Defense “may provide support for the counter-drug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime” by measures that can include the “construction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.”

While negotiating for a full wall, which requires congressional authorization, he could proceed to construct the section 284 wall in drug corridors. And if this is challenged in court then the president, the DEA and the DOD can provide evidence that the locations for the wall are, indeed, drug corridors, and the construction should be allowed to proceed.

Ten days ago, yours truly, the all-knowing and all-seeing, predicted the following:

So, what is coming up:

  • The State of the Union speech which will provide Trump with the best platform to make his case, and which historically provides a small bump in the polls
  • The new caravan will reach the border in three or four days
  • 2,000 more troops sent to the border, for a total of 4,300
  • Government shutdown because of Nancy and Crying Chuck reneging on their promise to negotiate

Oh yes: That last bullet point will trigger the crisis declaration.

I called it a crisis declaration. Whatever. Tomato, Tomato.....

But does anybody ever listen to me? Nooooooooooo..........

TODAYS STORIES:
This congressman in the Air National Guard just got deployed to the border

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...tional-guard-just-got-deployed-to-the-border/

Which construction projects would be affected if Trump uses military money to build a wall?
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...-trump-uses-military-money-to-build-his-wall/


DzK4Ty2XQAA6e16.jpg
 

Catholic Crusader

Kyrie Eleison
Banned
Are you aware that those same emergency powers have been used dozens of times in the last 40 or 50 years for all kinds of stupid crap? Google it?.......

The US is currently in 31 other national emergencies. Here's what that means.
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-11/us-currently-31-other-national-emergencies-heres-what-means

".........the US is still technically in crisis right now. There are 31 active national emergencies — including three that have been declared under Trump, and one that dates back to Jimmy Carter's administration in the late 1970s.

What qualifies as a national emergency? No one really knows — there is no clear federal definition. But a declaration does give the president special and far-reaching powers, including those that would normally be illegal. Under the National Emergencies Act of 1976, the president is required to specify which of the 136 statutory powers they want to use, but these powers don't have to match the emergency identified. That means, for example, Trump could conceivably use a national emergency to control communications systems — including the Internet — in addition to appropriating Department of Defense funds to build a wall along the southern border
....."

ME: The list of 31 current emergencies is too long to post here. Go to the article to see them:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-11/us-currently-31-other-national-emergencies-heres-what-means
 

Kit the Coyote

New member
Please note, my point has nothing to do with is it technically legal for him to do it. I will agree that the emergency powers are written in a way that makes it possible but that doesn't change the fact that it is an end-around of Congress and the spirit and intent of the balance of powers.
 

ok doser

lifeguard at the cement pond
Please note, my point has nothing to do with is it technically legal for him to do it. I will agree that the emergency powers are written in a way that makes it possible but that doesn't change the fact that it is an end-around of Congress and the spirit and intent of the balance of powers.

has congress demonstrated a willingness to address the emergency situation at the border?
 

Catholic Crusader

Kyrie Eleison
Banned
Please note, my point has nothing to do with is it technically legal for him to do it. I will agree that the emergency powers are written in a way that makes it possible but that doesn't change the fact that it is an end-around of Congress and the spirit and intent of the balance of powers.

Well, if you want to talk about the "spirit" of the way things should be done, I would point out that the Congress has turned its back on the American people and purposely left our borders wide open, and as a result we have have murder, rapes and drug trafficking. Pelosi has decided to say, screw the people, the illegal aliens are coming in.

I will ask you a question: What if a police department decided to just stop helping people. What if all the officers got together and said: You know what? When we see crimes and we hear scream we are going to just keep on cruising down the street. We are not helping anybody.

Would you say that in such a hypothetical situation, it would be the right of the people to rise up and defend themselves and make citizens' arrests?

That is what Congress has done. We are in a crisis at the border and Pelosi wants to pretend there is none simply because of sheer hatred for Trump. Congress decided to not do its job. Trump has every right to use every trick in the book to defend the people and do what government is supposed to do.


 

Kit the Coyote

New member
has congress demonstrated a willingness to address the emergency situation at the border?

Yes, they have offered Trump up to what he asked for and more money wise for increasing border security, increasing the numbers of judges and border patrol agents, and some barrier funding in key places.
 

Kit the Coyote

New member
Well, if you want to talk about the "spirit" of the way things should be done, I would point out that the Congress has turned its back on the American people and purposely left our borders wide open, and as a result we have have murder, rapes and drug trafficking. Pelosi has decided to say, screw the people, the illegal aliens are coming in.

I will ask you a question: What if a police department decided to just stop helping people. What if all the officers got together and said: You know what? When we see crimes and we hear scream we are going to just keep on cruising down the street. We are not helping anybody.

Would you say that in such a hypothetical situation, it would be the right of the people to rise up and defend themselves and make citizens' arrests?

That is what Congress has done. We are in a crisis at the border and Pelosi wants to pretend there is none simply because of sheer hatred for Trump. Congress decided to not do its job. Trump has every right to use every trick in the book to defend the people and do what government is supposed to do.

Congress offered to address all those things.
 

Kit the Coyote

New member
Democrats with some Republicans passed a bill on Jan 3rd that included the following:

• More than $1.3 billion for new fencing in the Rio Grande Valley and funding to replace secondary fencing in San Diego and other existing pedestrian fencing.
• $366.5 million for border security technology.
• $7.7 million to hire 328 additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection customs officers.
• $224.6 million for "non-intrusive Inspection equipment" at ports of entry.
• $7.08 billion for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Over $8 billion dollars to improve border security.
 

Kit the Coyote

New member
"Repubs must not allow [The President] to subvert the Constitution of the US for his own benefit & because he is unable to negotiate w/ Congress,"

A Republican who gets it.

Someone else who gets it:
We are a constitutional republic which grants Congress the power of the purse. This ensures democratically supervised expenditure of the people's money.


Congress has said no to President Trump's border wall, and democratic authority matters. And by declaring a national emergency on a domestic policy issue in the traditional preserve of Congress, which makes this different than most other national emergencies, "future President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" now has a remit to bypass Congress to get her " Green New Deal."


In short, this is good short-term politics for Trump, bad long-term politics for Republicans, and a bad precedent for the nation.
Why, in 100 words, Trump is wrong to declare a national emergency
 
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Kit the Coyote

New member
I will ask you a question: What if a police department decided to just stop helping people. What if all the officers got together and said: You know what? When we see crimes and we hear scream we are going to just keep on cruising down the street. We are not helping anybody.

Would you say that in such a hypothetical situation, it would be the right of the people to rise up and defend themselves and make citizens' arrests?

Or more likely fire the officers involved and hire new ones. So what if the police decided the courts were not doing their job and just decided to execute anyone they thought was guilty on the spot? After all, they have the legal right to use deadly force to protect the public. That is really a better example of what Trump is doing.
 

The Barbarian

BANNED
Banned
The key in your comment is "without a vote from Congress". The President's Emergency powers are quite sweeping and are intended to allow him to respond to an unforeseen emergency when there is not the time to consult with Congress and Congress to act. But here, he had time to consult Congress and Congress has acted. This is a direct usurpation of Congressional power by the Executive using a legal loophole.

It's a real headache for the republicans. First headache is that the wall is opposed by a large majority of Americans.

Second headache is that it's going to end up in the courts for a long time, so Americans won't forget about it soon.

Third headache is the thought of Elizabeth Warren able to bypass Congress by declaring emergencies.

And keep in mind, George W. Bush's border fence? It's still mostly unbuilt. Legal tangles with emminent domain, Treaties with Mexico on flooding and structures on the Rio Grande, and so on.

Should be interesting.
 

The Barbarian

BANNED
Banned
I will ask you a question: What if a police department decided to just stop helping people. What if all the officers got together and said: You know what? When we see crimes and we hear scream we are going to just keep on cruising down the street. We are not helping anybody.

Would you say that in such a hypothetical situation, it would be the right of the people to rise up and defend themselves and make citizens' arrests?

This actually happened, in the nation of Georgia. The president fired police. All of them. The country went through a period without any law enforcement at all.

What happened? Nothing much. People mostly continued to obey the laws. Drivers learned to cooperate with each other in traffic. Eventually a new, uncorrupted police force took over.
 

The Barbarian

BANNED
Banned
Or more likely fire the officers involved and hire new ones. So what if the police decided the courts were not doing their job and just decided to execute anyone they thought was guilty on the spot? After all, they have the legal right to use deadly force to protect the public. That is really a better example of what Trump is doing.

That happens now. Not every day, but way more than it should.
 
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