Very low-energy Mexican President refuses to pay for the wall

[Dwarven Dragon]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/mexico-president-wall-trump-225340

[Ronnie]

Cue Trump with "the wall just got ten feet higher."

Probably best that he just keeps quiet.  I don't think he's helping the anti-Trump cause.

[Dabeav]

I still think his wall and "making Mexico pay for it" is the dumbest thing he's come up with...and he's said a lot of dumb things.

[Seriously?]

I still think his wall and "making Mexico pay for it" is the dumbest thing he's come up with...and he's said a lot of dumb things.

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

That's "Mexico pays for it" in Congressionalspeak where a "cut" to the rate of increase in a departmental budget is a "cut" and not increased spending.

[ag]

I still think his wall and "making Mexico pay for it" is the dumbest thing he's come up with...and he's said a lot of dumb things.

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think.. Take away the money in aid.

Well, considering that almost the only direct aid US gives to Mexico are the small amounts given to encourage Mexico to fight the drug trade, it would be pretty hard for Trump to save much there, even if he cits it to zero on day 1. I guess, one can also try cutting US contributions to World Bank and IADB, but even that would neither save much, nor even impact Mexico seriously (whiledoing a lot  of damage to completely unrelated countries)

Distinguishing remittances from other transactions will also not be easy. The bulk of the burden will fall on US firms paying suppliers: at the very least, they will be drowned in paperwork.

But, of course, it will be easy to screw Mexico: no questions there.

[Dabeav]

I still think his wall and "making Mexico pay for it" is the dumbest thing he's come up with...and he's said a lot of dumb things.

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think.. Take away the money in aid.

Well, considering that almost the only direct aid US gives to Mexico are the small amounts given to encourage Mexico to fight the drug trade, it would be pretty hard for Trump to save much there, even if he cits it to zero on day 1. I guess, one can also try cutting US contributions to World Bank and IADB, but even that would neither save much, nor even impact Mexico seriously (whiledoing a lot  of damage to completely unrelated countries)

Distinguishing remittances from other transactions will also not be easy. The bulk of the burden will fall on US firms paying suppliers: at the very least, they will be drowned in paperwork.

But, of course, it will be easy to screw Mexico: no questions there.

I rather screw the Mexican criminals and drug cartels by immediately ending the war on drugs and decriminalizing all drugs.

[SillyAmerican]

I still think his wall and "making Mexico pay for it" is the dumbest thing he's come up with...and he's said a lot of dumb things.

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

That's "Mexico pays for it" in Congressionalspeak where a "cut" to the rate of increase in a departmental budget is a "cut" and not increased spending.

There is currently enough cash flowing from the U.S. to Mexico that there are a number of ways to "have Mexico pay for it". To some folks, this may be looked on as an example of thoughtless drivel, but to others it's an example of creative leadership (something currently in short supply in Washington).

[Sir Mohamed]

If (big if) the Trumpster would take over as prez, he would come up with a fraud and then claim that Mexico de facto paid for the wall. “After I restricted trade with Mexico, it costs them billions of dollars a year, so they decto pay for the wall”, could be something he says.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Woah, Mexico doesn't wanna pay for something they don't like?

[CivicParticipant]

The border patrol will be back to work again and the wall just got 10 feet higher!

[President Johnson]

Wow, another ten feet. How tall is this wall going to get? As tall as TRUMP Tower?

[ProudModerate2]

Wow, another ten feet. How tall is this wall going to get? As tall as TRUMP Tower?

[HisGrace]

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

Trump says the wall will cost 8 billion (engineers estimate it will cost 17 billion) we give roughly 50 million a year to Mexico in foreign aid. Math isn't really what Trump does, I guess.

[For Trump, everything. For immigrants, the law]

At this rate, Trump's going to have to build a wall that goes into space.

[heatcharger]

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

Trump says the wall will cost 8 billion (engineers estimate it will cost 17 billion) we give roughly 50 million a year to Mexico in foreign aid. Math isn't really what Trump supporters do, I guess.

No problem, President Trump will just make foreign aid to Mexico $17 billion, then he'll take it all away and build the wall. It's foolproof!

[ProudModerate2]

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

Trump says the wall will cost 8 billion (engineers estimate it will cost 17 billion) we give roughly 50 million a year to Mexico in foreign aid. Math isn't really what Trump does, I guess.

The majority of his base, is "math deficient" (the "less educated").
So fooling them is easy.

[Higgs]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

[Wells]

The imaginary wall just gained another ten feet that will never be built.

[President Johnson]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

Only when corporations continue to outsource jobs. But yeah, that could also be on the table.

[ProudModerate2]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

Only when corporations continue to outsource jobs. But yeah, that could also be on the table.

So you mean corporations, like those trump owns, that "outsource" jobs that make some of his Trump brand name merchandise.
OK, got it.

[HisGrace]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

Well in that case American consumers who buy anything produced in Mexico will be paying for it.

[Higgs]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

Well in that case American consumers who buy anything produced in Mexico will be paying for it.

I know, it really does seem counterproductive. The wall is one of the things I don't agree with Trump on.

[Seriously?]

"Making Mexico pay for it" won't be as difficult as you think. Tax remittances to Mexico. Take away the money in aid.

Trump says the wall will cost 8 billion (engineers estimate it will cost 17 billion) we give roughly 50 million a year to Mexico in foreign aid. Math isn't really what Trump does, I guess.

The majority of his base, is "math deficient" (the "less educated").
So fooling them is easy.

The $50 million is understated. It's at least 4x that. I thought I saw the number close to 1/2 billion.

In any event, a tax on remittances would likely be the answer. It serves two purposes: to deter illegals from sending money back home and to build the wall.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

u.s. aid to mexico was $332m in 2014 (the last fully-reported year). over a two-term presidency (shudder), that'd add up to $2.6b, which is a fraction of what this nonsense would cost.

[ag]

I always thought Trump meant jacking up tariffs when he said Mexico was gonna pay for it?

Sure. Of course, that also means that American consumers and businesses will be putting in their share.