Trump Weighs Signing Compromise Budget and Border Wall Bill

Singer Joy Villa's 2019 Grammy Awards "Build the Wall" dress

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
Normally, when it comes to politics, I don't like the word "compromise."  My cynicism towards the "C" word is not because I don't believe we should be willing to compromise, but because in politics the word usually means that the GOP lost ground, and the Democrats got what they wanted.  In other words, the Democrats don't compromise, but they will throw that word around when they reach what they believe to be a change that will allow the country to lurch further to the left.

When it came to Trump's border security wall the Democrats laid down the gauntlet.  They huddled behind Nancy Pelosi who proclaimed, only "a dollar for the wall."

Then, suddenly, the Democrats offered a bill with some of the money Trump wants for his border wall ... well, at least it's much more than a buck.

Did they ... GULP ... compromise?

The Democrats have been running the numbers, and the reality is, most Americans want border security.  An open border stance by the Democrats is not a very popular stance, and if they are totally unwilling to work with the President regarding the border wall, they will lose the House, and not even come close to gaining the White House, in 2020.

On the same token, if President Trump signs the current proposed deal on the table, even if it is only a fraction of what he wants in the long run, he did not lose, either.  A part of negotiating is getting what you can with the hopes of getting all of it in the long run, even if it takes doing it in chunks.

NBC News reports that the new proposed agreement provides nearly $1.4 billion for 55 miles of new border fencing, which could include steel slats and other "existing technologies," and an additional $1.7 billion for other Homeland Security priorities like new technology and more customs personnel.  Additionally, Democrats dropped a demand to cap the number of beds for illegal aliens detained within the country by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

If Trump signs it, he didn't lose, he simply settled for just a part of what he wants, for now.  We can always go back to the table for more in the future.

If he doesn't sign the bill, we go back into government shutdown-ville, which Trump has not necessarily been losing, but he may if we got back into that type of situation, again.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary