TOLD YOU SO: The Trump Betrayal Train Continues at Breakneck Pace

[Right_in_Virginia]

There is no question that Trump played up the self-funding claims to his benefit. In August, he answered that he would be billing willing to spend $1 billion of his own money if that was what it took to win the WH. Romney and Obama spent that much. So the intimation and, in fact, the question asked were regarding Trump's willingness to self-fund the general election.

However,  as early as September, 2015, Trump said that he would depend upon the RNC to help him in the general election. So, the continued claims of self-funding were apparently regarding the primary election. 

 

[skeeter]

So, the continued claims of self-funding were apparently regarding the primary election.

Apparently. But the implication was he could not be bought.

My question is, now that we're facing the general election, why is that no longer a relevant concern?

[sinkspur]

Apparently. But the implication was he could not be bought.

My question is, now that we're facing the general election, why is that no longer a relevant concern?

Because he really can be bought?

[BuckeyeTexan]

Apparently. But the implication was he could not be bought.

My question is, now that we're facing the general election, why is that no longer a relevant concern?

It is a relevant concern. Trump has pushed back on the idea that he could be bought by shunning Super PAC and large-scale donor funding. He has said, clearly, that he will seek, accept, and depend upon RNC funding in the general. He has also recently said that he is creating a "world-class finance operation."

If that operation includes Super PACs, Trump will not be able to claim that he can't be bought. Thus far, he has sent cease-and-desist letters to Super PACs who have tried to raise funds on his behalf. Let's see what he does going forward.

[Sanguine]

It is a relevant concern. Trump has pushed back on the idea that he could be bought by shunning Super PAC and large-scale donor funding. He has said, clearly, that he will seek, accept, and depend upon RNC funding in the general. He has also recently said that he is creating a "world-class finance operation."

If that operation includes Super PACs, Trump will not be able to claim that he can't be bought. Thus far, he has sent cease-and-desist letters to Super PACs who have tried to raise funds on his behalf. Let's see what he does going forward.

Can he even do that?  I thought they operated entirely independently and could not take direction from a candidate.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Because he really can be bought?

We will certainly see very soon. Setting aside the self-funding issue, his actions regarding Super PACs will be telling. And no, claims that he is using Super PACs in the general election to help fight Hillary will not suffice as a talking point in his defense. He has clearly and consistently touted the evils of Super PACs and their influence and has backed up his words by sending cease-and-desist letters to them.

I don't necessarily have an issue with Super PACs.  People who form them have a constitutional right to freedom of association and speech just like political parties have that right. However, in the political environment that Trump has created, Super PACs are evil regardless of constitutional rights. They cannot suddenly become good things in such an environment.

[skeeter]

It is a relevant concern. Trump has pushed back on the idea that he could be bought by shunning Super PAC and large-scale donor funding. He has said, clearly, that he will seek, accept, and depend upon RNC funding in the general. He has also recently said that he is creating a "world-class finance operation."

If that operation includes Super PACs, Trump will not be able to claim that he can't be bought. Thus far, he has sent cease-and-desist letters to Super PACs who have tried to raise funds on his behalf. Let's see what he does going forward.

I don't recall him qualifying his policy on taking contributions with any exceptions during the primaries. He certainly didn't in any of his speeches or during the debates. Can you cite any source for this?

[BuckeyeTexan]

Can he even do that?  I thought they operated entirely independently and could not take direction from a candidate.

The Washington Examiner says that FEC rules require candidates to authorize the use of their names by outside groups. Thus the cease-and-desist letters were supposedly sent on that basis. I haven't independently verified the FEC rules or the letters.

[roamer_1]

Can't wait to see the specs for building a wall down the middle of the Rio Grande...................

Don't hold your breath, if you know what i mean...

[Jewbacca]

Do you have a rebuttal to the facts of the piece, other than ad hominem reply?

Or perhaps an answer to the question posed by the author:  "Which is it, Trump fans?"

Facts are not helpful to the Orange Won's acolytes.

I vote in NY, so my vote is irrelevant.  But I am voting Constitution Party, I think.  Maybe Libertarian.

[BuckeyeTexan]

I don't recall him qualifying his policy on taking contributions with any exceptions during the primaries. He certainly didn't in any of his speeches or during the debates. Can you cite any source for this?

Yes, sir.

Look, I know people that want something. I have been doing this all my life. I have been a very big contributor to many, many people of all size for many, many years. I don't want lobbyists. I don't want special interests, but certainly people -- we have lot of money coming in.

A woman sends in $7.23 the other day. It was cute. She writes this beautiful little letter. That's what she had. But we have lot of small contributors. I would even take big contributors, as long as they don't expect anything, because the only people that can expect something from me is going to be the people that want to see our country be great again.

Those are the only people. So, certainly, I would take -- I actually like the idea of investing in a campaign, but it has to be no strings attached. I don't want any strings attached. You know, these lobbyists come in. I turned down $5 million last week from a very important lobbyist, because there are total strings attached to a thing like that.

He's going to come to me in a year or two years and he's going to want something for a country that he represents or for a company that he represents. That's the kind of money I won't take.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-august-23-2015-trump-christie-cruz/ ~August 2015

Mr. Trump said in an interview that he was prepared to spend $100 million or more to become the Republican nominee and that most of it would go to galvanizing voter support in states with early nominating contests. While he boasted last month that he would spend $1 billion if need be, he said that a realistic amount would be far less and that he would count on the national Republican Party for financial help if he became the nominee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-nomination.html ~September 2015

[BuckeyeTexan]

Can't wait to see the specs for building a wall down the middle of the Rio Grande...................

Yeah, not gonna happen, but we knew that.

[skeeter]

Yes, sir.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-august-23-2015-trump-christie-cruz/ ~August 2015

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-nomination.html ~September 2015

Those quotes are pretty general, but thanks.

Suffice it to say Trump's actions now re: campaign funding do not really comport with the image he projected during the primaries.

I understand it is a reality in modern politics but to set himself apart from his primary opponents because he 'self funded' was flat dishonest.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Those quotes are pretty general, but thanks.

You're welcome. Those are just the two I found the quickest. There are other more substantive quotes that I ran across when I researched it.  If I see them again, I'll post them and mention you. Check your mentions in your profile.

[Mechanicos]

Yeah, not gonna happen, but we knew that.

Why not? We have had the engineering for it for decades? Think much more complex dam building ....
Army core of engineers could do it.... Would be a fun challenge for them...

[Mechanicos]

Those quotes are pretty general, but thanks.

Suffice it to say Trump's actions now re: campaign funding do not really comport with the image he projected during the primaries.

I understand it is a reality in modern politics but to set himself apart from his primary opponents because he 'self funded' was flat dishonest.

How was his promise to self fund the Primary dishonest? Not a one of the Trump Vilifies can find evidence he promised to fund the General election. And No A primary is a not a General Election. If your going to call the man a liar make sure its actually a lie.

[RoosGirl]

Why not? We have had the engineering for it for decades? Think much more complex dam building ....
Army core of engineers could do it.... Would be a fun challenge for them...

I know someone will correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know the river runs along the southwest border between the US  and Mexico.  How do you build a wall along that whole length that :
1 doesn't change the flow characteristics of the river
2 allows water access from the US sidd
3 allows water access from the Mexico side

[RoosGirl]

How was his promise to self fund the Primary dishonest? Not a one of the Trump Vilifies can find evidence he promised to fund the General election. And No A primary is a not a General Election. If your going to call the man a liar make sure its actually a lie.

For me, I believe Trump was only speaking about self funding the primary.  The 'but' comes in around his assertion that by self funding he couldn't be bought.  He's not self funding the general, so what does that mean as far as being bought.  He's the one that brought it up, so now that we know he is not self funding the general does that mean he might can be bought now?  If you (not you, just you in general) can follow some logic long term there's no reason to believe that self funding thr primary really means anything other than a parlor trick.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Why not? We have had the engineering for it for decades? Think much more complex dam building ....
Army core of engineers could do it.... Would be a fun challenge for them...

Gotta ping @Norm Lenhart to this one. He has definitive ideas about the wall on the Rio.

What kind of engineering doesn't violate our 50-year treaty with Mexico regarding boundaries and access to the water, doesn't cut off access to the water by South Texas ranchers, doesn't vilolate the property rights of South Texas citizens, and doesn't cede land to Mexico?

You must understand that the Rio, like all rivers, changes course over time through avulsion and accretion.

How a river moves matters mightily in boundary disputes. In Texas and U.S. law, avulsion happens when a river suddenly abandons its channel and creates a new river bend, leaving a peninsula untouched by the water. When avulsion happens, a state’s border would stay put, regardless of how much the river moved. With erosion and accretion, a river changes course more slowly, gradually sweeping away the land in its path, without creating an entirely new channel. When that happens, the boundary moves with the river.

The boundary line is right down the middle of the Rio Grande. Rivers move. Walls don't.

Border Patrol doesn't even want a wall. They want strategic fencing, where it makes sense, through which they can see approaching threats. They want better technology and more boots on the ground. I agree.

[Norm Lenhart]

Gotta ping @Norm Lenhart to this one. He has definitive ideas about the wall on the Rio.

What kind of engineering doesn't violate our 50-year treaty with Mexico regarding boundaries and access to the water, doesn't cut off access to the water by South Texas ranchers, doesn't vilolate the property rights of South Texas citizens, and doesn't cede land to Mexico?

I've said it over and over. Look at how AZ pipes the Colorado and irrigates/feeds SoCal.

You build it on the American side and divert any needed water. THEN you make crossing points as required and guard them. A first year engineering student could solve any issues that arise because no issue is that hard to deal with in the first place. We ran pipe from Alaska to Louisiana, we went to the moon on a slide rule. We left the solar system. A freaking movie director has been to the bottom of the deepest trench on earth. We build islands in oceans.

Virtual/strategic walls are what we have now. They do not and will never work because liberals exist. Dem, GOP or Other. Half of AZ has signs in it telling Americans to stay out of 'nature reserves and endangered lands" so that coyotes and drug mules can transport their cargo without hassle. National Guard are sent to the border unarmed and forbidden from actually guarding the nation.

There is zero excuse for not building a solid wall end to end. We have the ability. We have the know how. We have the engineering. What we do not have is people with determination willing to do it. Rather, they 'negotiate' it away every time it comes up as a serious possibility.

Since Trump has said EVERYTHING is up for 'negotiation', I don't expect him to build it.

But it should be built.

[skeeter]

How was his promise to self fund the Primary dishonest? Not a one of the Trump Vilifies can find evidence he promised to fund the General election. And No A primary is a not a General Election. If your going to call the man a liar make sure its actually a lie.

I'm not disputing what Trump said he would do in the general election. I'm saying his charge, and one his sycophants delighted in repeating ad nauseum, that his primary opponents were corrupted because they took donations while he remained pure as the wind driven snow turns out to be DISHONEST.

Now he and his sycophants say taking donations isn't such a bad thing after all. There's a name for that kind of behavior.

[TomSea]

There's already the Chamizal Memorial (?) Park at El Paso/Juarez about where the Rio Grande shifts; that park was created under LBJ.

So, it doesn't sound like an insurmountable problem to deal with that situation.

[BuckeyeTexan]

I've said it over and over.

Right, but I don't know how many folks here have had the pleasure of our back and forth yet. ;)

Look at how AZ pipes the Colorado and irrigates/feeds SoCal.

You build it on the American side and divert any needed water. THEN you make crossing points as required and guard them. A first year engineering student could solve any issues that arise because no issue is that hard to deal with in the first place. We ran pipe from Alaska to Louisiana, we went to the moon on a slide rule. We left the solar system. A freaking movie director has been to the bottom of the deepest trench on earth. We build islands in oceans.

Diverting water from the Rio Grande directly impacts our obligations under two treaties with Mexico. Here is a link to a CRS report about those treaties.

Virtual/strategic walls are what we have now. They do not and will never work because liberals exist. Dem, GOP or Other. Half of AZ has signs in it telling Americans to stay out of 'nature reserves and endangered lands" so that coyotes and drug mules can transport their cargo without hassle. National Guard are sent to the border unarmed and forbidden from actually guarding the nation.

We don't actually have strategic fencing because what we have in South Texas is worthless and pointless. They go over it, through it, and under it. They will always do so no matter what kind of wall you build. Criminals will always find ways to circumvent that which stands in their way. We could spend far less money on enough armed boots on the ground, strategic triple fencing, and better technology and get way better results than a wall.

There is zero excuse for not building a solid wall end to end. We have the ability. We have the know how. We have the engineering. What we do not have is people with determination willing to do it. Rather, they 'negotiate' it away every time it comes up as a serious possibility.

Since Trump has said EVERYTHING is up for 'negotiation', I don't expect him to build it.

But it should be built.

The amount of money spent on the triple fencing thus far has far exceeded any estimates provided before implementation. It will be the same for Trump's glorious wall. I agree that he won't build it. Unless we build a gigantic fortress of a wall on their side and we get all of the water, I say a wall is pointless. We need human intervention with the proper tools and the authority to take action.

[Mechanicos]

I know someone will correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know the river runs along the southwest border between the US  and Mexico.  How do you build a wall along that whole length that :
1 doesn't change the flow characteristics of the river
2 allows water access from the US sidd
3 allows water access from the Mexico side

Well first you get a few six packs and some red necks and then...

[RoosGirl]

You build it on the American side and divert any needed water. THEN you make crossing points as required and guard them. A first year engineering student could solve any issues that arise because no issue is that hard to deal with in the first place.

This is not necessarily true.  One thing you would have to take into account is, i'm going to guess that the topography of the land drops from inside Texas to the river.  The design to allow that rainwater through would be easy enough.  Not sure how you secure it to make sure that it can't be used as a tunnel into Texas.

Also, again, not kowing what the topography is, how far inside the border do you have to build the wall to out of the flood plain? Otherwise you would have to provide some kind of attenuation for storms.

What kind of soils are in the area?  Is there an aquifer that gets recharged from rain?  We're talking in the neighborhood of 700 acres of impervious area that is being added that wasn't there before.

Not saying the issues can't be solved and again I'm not at all familiar with the topography, just thinking out loud so to speak, but perhaps not quite as easy as you may think.  The securing of drainage areas may be the most challenging.