1st… let me acknowledge that the last diary I wrote several days ago advocating that Pelosi make a grand deal with Trump via a one on one summit was wrong. It is correct to draw the line in the sand on this particular shutdown. The principle that shutdowns can not be used to enforce an unpopular and wasteful presidential pet project is absolutely correct. Particularly when said President accepted the responsibility and is bleeding support over this showdown on a daily basis.
That said… I really want Trump and Pelosi to reach a grand bargain one on one after this drama is over. I think Trump is one of the worst negotiators ever. I feel much more confident in the outcome of a Trump Pelosi bargain than a Boehner Obama bargain.
So how can there be some sort of solution short of the declaration of emergency, or the Republicans in Congress finally not caring about being primaried in 20 and over riding Trumps veto.
We can take the 5.7 billion Trump is demanding for a wall and use it to purchase the private land the border covers.
I can’t pretend to be an expert on this. I wonder how much would buying the privately owned border land, that the current owners are willing to sell at fair price, cost in total?
If it’s substantially less than the 5.7 billion, then this idea may not be workable. If it is roughly equal to, or even more than the 5.7 billion, both sides could (sort of) get what they want.
Democratic lawmakers would simply be approving a land purchase. In fact if this were offered and the president turned it down he could be tarred with the use of eminent domain to take the land from the current owners, when Democrats were willing to purchase that land through good faith negotiations, fair and square. And… of course, Trump does have a history of supporting the use of eminent domain.
Further, even during this shutdown there are government lawyers working on these eminent domain seizures. I think the house should pass a law that forbids the use of justice department funds in furtherance of the legal pathway to build the wall through the use of eminent domain and send it to the Senate. Are Republicans really going to be the ones maintaining the government shutdown while forcing private land owners off their land?
If he approved of this Trump would not get a dime to build the wall, but he could say he was paving the way for the wall to be built, while not railroading the land owners. That could be his out.
Then, at some brighter point in our future, President Sanders or Clinton (Chelsea) or who ever can turn that land into federally protected wilderness areas…