The Power of the Purse

I find it very hard to understand anyone who thinks we have a crisis or emergency at our southern border.

Yes some migrants try to cross illegally, generally to then claim asylum after they surrender.

No documented terrorists have been found to cross that way, although of course the possibility can't be ignored.  Still we don't have instances of terrorist acts committed by people crossing that border illegally.

There have been some crimes, and sometimes violent crimes committed by undocumented aliens, but these are actually pretty rare and the fact that they people were undocumented aliens is not much of a factor.

We have plenty of news coverage of what is going on at the border and the main issues concern the safety of people trying to seek asylum and a better life in this country.

The problem is that we have a chief executive who was searching for some excuse to grab some money to build a useless wall and is misusing an act meant to facilitate action in real emergencies.

This needs to be fixed, because that is Pandora's box once it is opened.

The constitution requires appropriations to be made by the congress, because the power of the purse strings is the best way to control a wayward executive.

If that line is crossed we may find ourselves going further and further into tyranny.

It has happened, unfortunately, many time throughout history and we need to nip it in the bud.

There are simple solutions that would allow quick response in real emergencies and still preserve the constitution.  Simply requiring any such declaration to be ratified by congress within a reasonable time would do the trick.

It obviously isn't something they can pass right now, but it needs to happen.

National Emergency?

There is a situation on the Southern Border that has been going on a long time.

It isn't really getting worse, in fact by most accounts it has been getting better.

Still the dontard is determined to act like this is an emergency and try to use money intended for other purposes to build a silly wall.

To the extent this is likely to fail, it is probably just a stunt to fire up the anti-immigration part of his base.

These are the people convinced that having Spanish as an option on automated phone systems is somehow a threat to their liberty.

This is not something new in American history.

From the earliest times there were people who decried how new immigrants were destroying the American way.

Wave after wave of immigrants were greeted by some with distrust and hate even as they built this great country to what it is today.

We wouldn't have settled the west or built our great cities without them, but each wave was going to destroy our values.

Oddly, the immigrants we object to now actually share a lot with us already, at least historically, being from American countries that revolted against a European master and who won their freedom.

In some ways they aren't much different than the waves of poor Americans who fled the dust bowl and southern poverty over the years

They are just on the other side of a border created by events they had nothing to do with.

Emergency?  The only thing that comes close is our failure to act like good neighbors and extend a helping hand.