So Mexico is building a border wall and Kamala is getting them to pay for part of it.

like the fact that mexico has not said it is building a wall, much less paying for it like the mis-leading headline of this thread

 

We know.

 

I sincerely doubt the president of Mexico is idiot enough to consider a Game of Thrones wall. This one is likely effective.

 

Mexico wants the wall more than we do after Dr. jill Biden's taco serenade.

 

Didn't Mexico already pay for the wall a couple years ago? Why do they need to pay again?

 

So now a wall is a good thing?

Maybe the left could just send me an hourly memo on what I'm supposed to think so I can keep up.

 

Just FYI. JJ is a "her" .

(Or am I no longer allowed to make that distinction?)

And JJ is it a wall or not? If not you should change uour title.

... But you will probably do your normal ratings blitz and disappear as is your MO.

 

That just goes to show you, it's not what you know but who you blow.

 

The biggest wall in the world. The Great Wall of china. Perhaps the biggest attempt to control border crossings was ineffective. People wanting to pass just bribed the guards at the gates. If anyone was serious about this issue the only solution is to raise the standard of living in Mexico. That means build more factories south of the border. If there is no opportunity at home people will vote with their feet and go where there is opportunity.

 

Its a subscription model

 

No, the Wall as a concept is unequivocally evil. Unclear how “good” this is, but it is not evil like a Wall, or even the Miller Remain In Mexico policy.

 

You can if that is OK with jj, although hard to see how it applies in this context, other than an forced grievance.

Here is an interesting passage from a true philosopher of our times, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, in his latest substack, which I strongly recommend as a regular read.


And, of course, his insistence on deadnaming Elliot Page (calling him by his former name) because, to him, people don’t have the right to choose their names or gender roles.


Fifty years ago, when I chose to convert to Islam, I heard a lot of the same complaints that Page faces. People thought I was influencing Black children away from Christianity, that I was ungrateful to the country, that I was insulting my Catholic upbringing. In fact, I chose a religion that took me back to my African roots rather than the religion that the slaveholder who owned my ancestors followed. I felt more like Me. Some people then—and still today—refuse to call me by my legal name, as if they should have the power to determine my identity. That’s just another form of slavery.

 

1. JJ is a woman.
2. I was just kidding about what to call her

 

I think most rational people said a wall was generally a good idea in specific high traffic areas, and a 2000 mile wall was idiotic.

 

This place is like watching human cartoons.


In this case the Roadrunner.

 

I still can't get over the fact that some people believe a wall would solve all the problems of people sneaking into this country illegally. If Mexico is going to contribute 1.5b to shore up the border, how is this a bad thing?

 

Mexico and the US agreed, in high traffic crossing areas like El Paso, Nogales, and San Ysidro (San Diego) to update both sides, to make border crossing more efficient and safer. Makes sense, especially when you consider things like 90% of all drugs coming in from Mexico enter in these ports. And it's a cooperative effort where both sides agree and benefit. Good job, Ms. Vice President.

As for Trumps boondoggle of a wall, placing it in the middle of the desert was, and still is a stupid idea that is nothing more than a waste of money. The wall section Trump did build is already in disrepair, and hasn't stopped a single undocumented immigrant from entering. We'd do better flushing that money down the toilet. At least we'd be doing less environmental damage.

 

Most border security is a waste of money. This is no different. I just like to point out that there is never an amount of money that will lead Republicans to claim the border is controlled. Nor an amount of infrastructure. Nor an amount of personnel. Nor an amount of equipment. Because big government isn't effective at stopping the labor market from finding suppliers to meet their demand. No matter how much it spends. So we are going to throw another $1.5 Billion. And 2 years from now, unless the labor demand contracts substantially, we will still be hearing about "open boarders."

 

The key to understanding the mindset of centrists and many liberal Democrats is that their entire worldview is set around showing Republicans they can implement conservative policies more ruthlessly and efficiently, setting a good example. You see this when the deficit is reduced, or when Clinton reformed welfare, when Obama did the ACA, etc.

 

Noah Smith interviews economist Leah Boustan, coauthor of
Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success

some key interview excerpts.

What we learned is that immigrants take steps to 'fit in' just as much today as they did in the past.

The children of Mexican parents do pretty well! Even though they were raised at the 25th percentile in childhood, they reach the 50th percentile in adulthood on average. Compare that to the children of US-born parents raised at the same point, who only reach the 46th percentile. Of course, children of other immigrant backgrounds do even better, but the children from Mexican households are experiencing a lot of upward mobility.

But we find that Mexican immigrants are actually the group that experiences the fastest assimilation, as measured by the names that they pick for their children. So, Mexican immigrants are certainly trying to become American to the same degree (if not more!) than other groups.

First, more than any specific policy, I think that politicians and policy makers have to be more vocal about the successes of immigrants and their contributions to the US economy and US society. The classic idea of the US as a “Nation of Immigrants” was a concept promoted by President Kennedy in the early 1960s, that immigrants built the country and that they served patriotically in WWII. These days, I mostly see politicians playing defense.

Interview: Leah Boustan, economist