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Make Them Hear You! The Government Shutdown

Make Them Hear You! is a weekly feature on KGNU, produced by Chris Mohr, letting listeners know how they can have their voices heard on issues up before Congress. You can hear it Wednesday mornings at 8.20am during the Morning Magazine.

Make Them Hear You! The Government Shutdown KGNU News

Donald Trump may be blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown even though he said he would proudly accept responsibility, but an amazing number of conservatives also oppose the Mexico wall. Here are what the Cato Institute, the National Review and other conservative pundits have been saying.

1. Walls don’t work. Illegals tunnel under or use ramps or ladders over walls to simply drive or climb over them.

2. Most illegal immigrants come to the US legally and then STAY past their visas.

3. Walls don’t stop drugs. The DEA states almost all drugs come in through legal points of entry, hidden in secret containers.

4. Walls in canyons with rivers have been washed away.

5. A wall would force the U.S. government to take land from private citizens in eminent domain battles at incalculable cost.

6. Concrete or steel walls block surveillance capabilities.

7. The Wall will cost countless billions annually to maintain a nearly 2,000 mile, militarized 24-hour surveillance border operation.

8. Where walls have been built, there has been “no discernible impact on the influx of unauthorized aliens.”

9. A wall blocks farmworkers from EXITING when their seasonal work is done.

10. The conservative Cato Institute reported an estimate for 700 miles of wall was originally 1.2 billion. It ended up costing SEVEN BILLION.

11. According to MIT engineers, the wall would cost $31.2 billion. As the conservatives of the Cato Institute put it, “President Trump’s wall would be a mammoth expenditure that would have little impact on illegal immigration.”

11. Texas Republicans have proposed a “smart wall,” using 21^st century technology like laser, heat and motion sensors and the like instead of fourth century technology, more effectively and at a fraction of the cost.

The economic costs of the shutdown has already exceeded the $5 billion Trump wants for his Wall. We are paying federal employees to do nothing, according to the conservative American Action Forum. That’s pure waste. Standard & Poor’s estimated that the costs of the 2013 government shutdown came to $24 billion. And as for security, during the shutdown, FBI investigations, CIA work, and Department of Homeland Security are operating with skeleton crews.

I recently traveled by plane and waited in long lines because several Denver TSA agents had called in sick. They get low pay and are having to work for free for now. Federal employees living paycheck to paycheck will be facing evictions, foreclosures, and making difficult choices between food and medicine. Both Colorado Senators have called for an end to the Trump shutdown and continuation of the Wall negotiations while the government is running again. Soon millions of Americans will have to wait for their tax refunds.

If you have an opinion on the shutdown or the Wall, you can contact your Representative or Senators.