Building a Wall - a Boondoggle From Any Angle

As promised in the election campaign, the POTUS seems determined to move ahead with a wall along Mexico's northern border.

There are any number of articles from reasonably sane publications and organizations that refute all of the contentions made by those in support of a wall.

Newsweek ran one that originally appeared on the CATO Institute's website back in August of 2015.  The original article was called "Donald Trump on Immigration: Same Anti-Immigration Ideas, New Salesman".  Newsweek titled the article: "Trump on Immigration: Fantasy Meets Ignorance".

Newsweek had another article that appeared later that fall. " Illegal Immigration: Myths, Half-Truths and a Hole in Trump's Wall"

Both articles are worth reading, but a few highlights:

• Until the mid-1960, America had allowed in up to 50,000 Mexicans annually, almost all as temporary agricultural workers.  Most went home after their jobs ended each year.
• Once temporary visas were ended, the undocumented numbers started to skyrocket.
• Employers in the USA complained and an amnesty in about 1986 merely increased the problems.
• Despite claims by those opposed to immigrants, there has NOT been a crime wave attributed to these migrants, illegal or legal.  The real problem seems to be white men without a high school diploma.  Claims that Mexico is emptying their jails appears to be nonsense.
• Undocumented workers pay taxes and contribute to Social Security, using bogus Social Security numbers which the government knows are fake but it still accepts the money...
• Costs associated with undocumented immigrants are substantial - locking them up might cost up to $10B; emergency healthcare, another $10B; education of their children, another $17B.
• Even the illegal immigrants contribute to the economy.  One study done in Texas in 2005 estimated $17B to the state's gross domestic product.
• Attempting to expel all undocumented immigrants could cost up to $600B or more.

"Indeed, the nation would suffer significantly if all these people were sent home, according to a 2015 report by the American Action Forum, which describes itself as a center-right policy institute. Such a mass deportation “would cause the labor force to shrink by 6.4 percent, which translates to a loss of 11 million workers,’’ the report says. “As a result, 20 years from now the economy would be nearly 6 percent or $1.6 trillion smaller than it would be if the government did not remove all undocumented immigrants.” The impact would be felt across the economy, the report says, although the agriculture, construction, retail and hospitality sectors would be the hardest hit."

• The fence, or wall, faces some significant geographical challenges.
• Mass deportations could take up to 20 years.
• About 50% of undocumented immigrants didn't cross the border illegally where the wall would be anyway.  They either came by plane or by land, with the proper papers, but then just overstayed their visas.  A wall doesn't address that issue.
• A study in 2007 found that a 700-mile wall could cost over $50B over 25 years.  The border is almost 3 times that long and it's now 2017.
• Even if the wall IS built, organized crime units now smuggling people into the USA across the border aren't going to stop because of some wall.  It's odd, and inconsistent, that gun advocates insist that banning guns won't stop gun-related crime and yet seem to believe that a wall will somehow stop human smuggling.
• Immigrants take very few American jobs.  Many studies have proved this.

     "What, then, should the United States do about illegal immigration? A fence won’t work, mass deportation won’t work, and every plan the government has adopted in recent decades has done nothing but enriched and empowered crime syndicates that have transformed a modest problem into an intractable one.

   Perhaps, then, it is time for the country to take a deep, collective breath, stop trafficking in fantasies and face the reality that the only system that ever proved effective in dealing with Mexican nationals wanting to come to America for work was the one abandoned in 1964, when some were given residence and others received temporary visas. Maybe, in this case, the answer for the future can be found in the past."

Once again, in the USA as in so many other countries, politicians seem intent to make some kind of political mileage out of trafficking in fantasies, lies and half-truths.  It's time they were called to account.

Education - Making Murica Great Again

Just as a matter of professional interest, I've been paying a bit of attention to soon-to-be-President Trump's Cabinet appointees, particularly Education Secretary.

Betsy DeVos.  To quote her bio on Wikipedia: 

"DeVos is a prominent member of the Republican Party known for her advocacy of school choice, voucher programs, and ties to the Reformed Christian community."  

She is probably a billionaire, or at least moves in billionaire circles, father-in-law one of the founders of Amway, not that such things would automatically be a problem.... however....  

Some of her family connections are explained here.

She was recently grilled by the Senate as part of her confirmation hearing.  Some of the proceedings are recounted here: 

Six Astonishing Things Betsy deVos Said - and Refused to Say - At Her Confirmation Hearing

Now I know what some people are gonna say, so I will attempt to preempt it all by noting here that I'm aware that the Washington Post is a "liberal", "left-leaning", 'biased" media outlet (to quote some of the epithets I've heard about it).  I think it tends to report stories in a fashion more like cheap tabloids than serious new outlets, but that doesn't mean the exchanges didn't take place or that Ms DeVos didn't say what she said.  So if we could focus on those.... (keeping in mind that I can find many other sources that will also quote what she said...).

• Such as here - from NPR
• and here,,, from People.com
• and here... from Slate.com

So it's worth reading the article with that in mind.  Some highlights:

• Apparently schools need guns because at least one (in Wyoming) might need a gun to protect against grizzly bears.
• She doesn't seem to be aware of federal legislation that requires public schools to provide education and related resources to students with disabilities
• She wouldn't answer a question about whether all federally funded schools should be held to the same standards of accountability.
• She wouldn't commit to enforcing laws already on the books that attempt to protect students from fraudulent institutions (one example being Trump University.  Trump has paid $25M to settle fraud claims related to that institution).
• Her personal history makes it pretty clear that she is a religious zealot and doesn't believe in the separation of church and state.
• Her plans don't seem to include concern with the achievement gap that begins in infancy.  What's really odd is Ivanka Trump's child care proposal.  Is the proposed Secretary not aware of this?

Some personal thoughts:

• I just can't imagine why there isn't much concern about schools becoming armed camps, with guns, security guards, metal detectors and such.  Doesn't anyone see this as a problem?
• I have no objection to private schools, but I DO have a problem with them being funded by tax dollars, specifically for this reason: they don't have to accept every student who wants to attend there and they aren't mandated to provide services to everyone.  You make private schools work within the same regulatory framework as public schools and then we'll talk about funding.
• Some individuals have suggested to me that public schools are merely indoctrination camps for young minds, bending those malleable brains to all sorts of liberal nonsense.  I can make two points: First, I know, for a fact, that some of my former students aren't socialists, despite any attempts I (allegedly, as a teacher in a public school) might have made to turn them into such.  So I question the ability of schools to do what they are being accused of.  Second, I can also say that I was criticized personally by a Board member for "pushing my own opinion" on students.  This was specifically connected to the topic of Acid Rain.  You might remember back in those days when Ronald Reagan was supposedly quoted as blaming acid rain on pigeon poop?  There was this story from the Orlando Sentinel.  Sound familiar?
• It's worth noting that some of the worst-performing schools are in some of the poorest parts of America and that many of those parts are controlled by Republicans.  I know that correlation doesn't equal causation, but it does make you wonder.  And I'm not the only one who thinks like that....
• There are studies that show private schools don't have better achievement than public schools "when you take into account family resources, parental involvement, etc".  If you cherry-pick your clientele, you can make it seem like your success is better, but I go back to my second point.

Anyhow, education.  One thing (out of several, to be honest) that has the potential to lift people out of poverty and yet is targeted for budget cuts whenever governments (of a certain stripe) want to lower taxes for people who certainly don't need them and then find they have to cut spending to "balance the budget", don't 'cha know.  Because we certainly wouldn't want education spending to put the country into debt, would we.

Dick & Betsy DeVos

I'm anticipating (perhaps not the best word to use) a train wreck with the Trump administration at the engine's throttle.  If you don't agree, prove me wrong, don't just yell at me.  Arm-waving proves nothing.

I guess if you want to drain the swamp, you have to be careful not to just drain it (and the alligators) right into the Oval Office.