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Donald Trump and Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto
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You're right, Bernie. It's ridiculous and wasteful. That $21.6 billion could pay for numerous things to improve the lives of Americans: we could improve the lives of the indigent, improve medical care, improve public education, resolving water preservation issues, fund the cost of repairing our infrastructure, to name only a few. And, How many Americans could get a degree at a community college for the cost of the wall?
“On Friday, Reuters reported the highest estimate yet: a possible $21.6 billion price tag for a ‘series of fences and walls’ that would take more than three years to build, according to a leaked Department of Homeland Security internal report.
"To be sure, this is not the final plan, and this plan may not be adopted, but DHS Secretary John Kelly is expected to see the report in the coming days, according to Reuters. Nevertheless, the report shows a substantially higher figure than past price estimates. Trump’s administration has cited a $12 billion cost and House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have floated a $15 billion upfront cost. This new, more expensive plan is reportedly one of the final steps in the process before DHS pushes to request taxpayer funding from Congress."
By the way, Mexico is never going to pay for a wall. We are! We will pay the taxes to build it. If Mexico were to pay for the wall through increased taxes on imports—on goods exported from Mexico—we would pay again for the wall every time we purchased a product from Mexico.
