Lars Larson's open letter to Jeb Bush
The current debate on border security centers around fencing and walls. Other security measures are also being proposed, such as advanced electronic surveillance technology, advocated by Glenn Spencer of American Border Patrol. In a letter addressed to presidential candidate Jeb Bush, Northwest talk show host Lars Larson makes a great case for strong fences as used successfully in Israel.
-----------------------------------------
An open letter to Jeb Bush, from Lars Larson
August 27, 2015
In a country that has seen really great leaders, you bring new meaning to “bush league”.
Let me be specific in my criticism beginning with your latest statement on our border invasion.
“You can’t build a wall and solve this problem…it’s not practical, and it’s not conservative. I don’t think we should spend hundreds of billions of dollars with an impractical solution.” (Breitbart 26 August, 2015) Jeb….can I call you Jeb? I understand you’re trying to avoid unfortunate connections to the B word.
Not only can we build a wall, we must build a wall. It’s feasible, fair and fiscally responsible. Let me explain it to you in simple terms since you either lack the information or are allowing your establishment GOP inclinations override common sense for those in our party who cash in big time on all that cheap labor.
Israel has done it. If a tiny country that is our greatest ally can get it done, please explain to me why a man seeking the most powerful office in the world starts off by declaring what we “can’t” do?
I’ve been pushing this idea since my second visit to Israel in 2005 when I got the chance to see most of their wall from a helicopter. Yet today I hear almost no mention of it by American politicians, even though I’ve mentioned it to dozens of them and have talked about it extensively on my show.
Here’s how quickly Israel put up a barrier against real terrorists:
(Wiki) In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak approved financing of a 74 km (46 mi) fence between the Wadi Ara region and Latrun.[34] In 2001, a grass roots organization called “Fence for Life – The Public Movement for The Security Fence” urged the government to build a fence to separate the Palestinian territories from Israeli population centers. By 2003, 180 km (112 mi) had been completed and in 2004, Israel started the southern part of the barrier. By 2006, 362 km (224.9 mi) of the barrier had been completed, 88 km (54.7 mi) was under construction. By 2012, 440 km (273.4 mi) (62%) of the barrier had been completed, 57 km (35.4 mi) (8%) was under construction.
Unfortunately nearly every Democrat Party member, aided and abetted by “you can’t build a wall” establishment Republicans like you, declare that illegal aliens will just “buy taller ladders”. It’s a simplistic, stupid argument not backed up by facts, which I understand coming from Ds, but why from YOU?
Before I get to the costs and benefits, let’s talk about what it did for a country like Israel facing hundreds killed every year by determined terrorists.
(Wiki) “The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israel Security Agency report that in 2002, there were 452 fatalities from terrorist attacks. Before the completion of the first continuous segment (July 2003) from the beginning of the Second Intifada, 73 Palestinian suicide bombings were carried out from the West Bank, killing 293 Israelis and injuring over 1,900. After the completion of the first continuous segment through the end of 2006, there were only 12 attacks based in the West Bank, killing 64 people and wounding 445.[5] Terrorist attacks declined in 2007[5] and 2008[42] to 9 in 2010.[43]
If a fence is that affective against terrorists, how do you think it will work against low skilled workers (“doing the jobs Americans won’t do” to quote the canard used by RINO politicians)?
You have expressed concern that in some cases, a barrier would leave people separated in some communities and impede economic activity. The same was true in Israel but I’ve seen the security gates that allow law abiding Palestinians to cross (in one specific example I remember from my visit ten years ago, a farmer who lived on the West Bank of the Jordan who would cross regularly to work his olive orchards on his land on the other side of the fence). A fence lets both sides decide who comes in legitimately
Now about the cost: Israel has a barrier 422 miles long (680 Kilometers) that cost about $2M per Kilometer. Call it 1.3 billion dollars. America needs a barrier roughly five times a long. Hundreds of miles of the fence have already been built, but even assuming we had to build 2,000 miles (3,000 km) of brand new barrier, that would cost about $6B. Now assume that because it’s built by our oh-so-efficient government, let’s double the cost (call it $12B) and then because it would be constructed with Davis Bacon union labor, add 50%. Round it up to $20B.
For 2.5% of the great Barack Obama’s 2009 “stimulus” we could have it built. Put it out to bid to be started in five different locations by five different companies and get it done in less than the 8 years it took the Israelis. Hell, hire both Halliburton and Bechtel to keep the left and right happy here.
What does America get for this expenditure of $20B (one half of one percent of the current federal budget or one tenth of one percent of the federal budget over the five years such a project might take)?
Let me get to that right after I dispense with the problem no American politician (Congressmen King and Gohmert and the great Sen Jeff Sessions excepted) has been able to tackle.
Frankly, it’s easy (remember that Gov. “Can’t”).
Require every American company e-verify its entire workforce. It’s illegal to employ no green card illegals, but for starters, use Iowa Congressman Steve King’s idea: if you’re not a legal worker, your wages are not deductible at tax time. Raids and criminal charges take forever. The IRS decree would act instantly on every company.
...
Read the rest of the article online at: http://larslarson.com/an-open-letter-to-jeb-bush/
