Monday, January 07, 2019

Trump holds firm on border wall, offers steel option as compromise

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged on Sunday not to bend in his demand for a wall along the southern border with Mexico but said the barrier could be made of steel instead of concrete as a potential compromise with Democrats who refuse to fund it. Trump’s comments came at the start of the third week of a partial government shutdown resulting from the dispute that has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers idled or without paychecks. Trump threatened again, without providing specifics on where the funding would originate, to declare a national emergency as an alternative way to build the wall, depending on the outcome of talks in the coming days. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s acting chief of staff, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that agreeing to a steel barrier would allow Democrats to stick to their refusal to fund a wall. “That should help us move in the right direction,” he said. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer did not show his hand when asked whether the White House offer to move away from a concrete structure was evidence of compromise...MORE 

Clearly aimed at the large mills and unionized steelworkers in the NE.

1 comment:

soapweed said...

Well, just an initial thought: This approach would at least pass revenue to those industry interests, further causing steel investment in the waning US industry, rather than funneling incredible amounts of dollars into the largely owned Mexican cement outfits. General contractors and their subs will benefit as there is more specialty contractor work in general with a steel structure than a predominately concrete structure. There will still be massive concrete use in diversions, footings, caissons etc.
Could be wrong, but I think this spreads the work to more interests.