Flashback 2006:

Senators Clinton & Obama Vote For Secure Fence Act, Bush Signs Bill

by Tyler Durden

Jan 30, 2017 3:25 PM

 

Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Inquiring minds are taking a flashback look at the Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed by president Bush.

The Secure Fence Act of 2006’s goal is to help secure America’s borders to decrease illegal entry, drug trafficking, and security threats by building 700 miles (1,100 km) of physical barriers along the Mexico-United States border. Additionally, the law authorizes more vehicle barriers, checkpoints, and lighting as well as authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to increase the use of advanced technology like cameras, satellites, and unmanned aerial vehicles to reinforce infrastructure at the border. Congress approved $1.2 billion in a separate homeland security spending bill to bankroll the fence, though critics say this is $4.8 billion less than what’s likely needed to get it built.

The final roll call shows both Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton voted for the bill.

In 2008, Obama, Clinton Backed Off Border-Fence Law

In a CNN debate in Austin, Texas, Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton agreed Thursday night that the Secure Border Fence Act of 2006, which directs the secretary of Homeland Security to construct 700 miles of double border fencing along specific sections of the U.S.-Mexico border, should not be enforced as written.

 

Stressing her desire to be deferential to the views of people who live along the border in Texas — which on March 4 will hold a primary that is widely viewed as a must-win event for the New York senator — Clinton said of a border fence, “there may be limited places where it would work. But let’s deploy more technology and personnel, instead of the physical barrier.”

 

“Well, I think both Senator Obama and I voted for that as part of the immigration debate,” she started. “And having been along the border for the last week or so–in fact, last night I was at the University of Texas at Brownsville — and this is how absurd this has become under the Bush administration. Because, you know, there is a smart way to protect our borders, and there is a dumb way to protect our borders. And what I learned last night when I was there with Congressman [Solomon] Ortiz [D.-Texas] is that the University of Texas at Brownsville would have part of its campus cut off.

 

“This is the kind of absurdity that we’re getting from this administration,” Clinton continued. “I know it because I’ve been fighting with them about the northern border. Their imposition of passports and other kinds of burdens are separating people from families, interfering with business and commerce, the movement of goods and people. So what I’ve said is that I would say, wait a minute, we need to review this. There may be places where a physical barrier is appropriate.

 

“I think when both of us voted for this, we were voting for the possibility that where it was appropriate and made sense, it would be considered,” said Clinton. “But as with so much, the Bush administration has gone off the deep end, and they are unfortunately coming up with a plan that I think is counterproductive.

When King then asked her whether she now thought her vote for the border fence was wrong, she did not give a yes-no answer. Instead, she suggested using more manpower and technology, instead of fencing, to secure the border.

 

“But, you know, John,” she said, “there’s a lot we’ve learned about technology and smart fencing. You know, there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier. It requires us having enough personnel along the border so that people can be supervising a certain limited amount of space and will be able to be responsive in the event of people attempting to cross illegally.”

That has to be one of the lamest of lame reversals in history. Somehow it is counterproductive to have a fence, but not counterproductive to create a wall of people to keep immigrants out.

And Hillary moaned about Bush “absurdity”.

"We Are Facing Social Unrest" - German Police Union Chief Demands Building Of Border Fence Around Germany

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/18/2015 18:14 -0400

 

One month after Germany implemented border controls with Austria in order to stem Europe's worst refugee crisis in history, in a move that we predicted is the beginning of the end of Europe's Schengen customs union, things are going from bad to worse. As we wrote on Friday, following the latest escalation in the European anti-Schengen falling dominoes which took place after Hungary closed off its border with Croatia only to unleash a new migrant passage through Slovenia, which is likewise expected to close its border shortly...


... Germany's untouchable until recently Iron Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing of a "national disaster" at home, where politicians across the spectrum increasingly demand shuttering the borders as Germany expects up to one million migrants this year, or else hinting it will be Merkel's scalp.

"The chancellor is walking on thin ice," judged the conservative daily Die Welt, pointing to a "growing gap" between Merkel and the base of her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) who demand she stem the record influx. "The chancellor believes the nation can manage the crisis, but this belief is rapidly vanishing in the country," said the newspaper.

Popular unease with Merkel's actions has also manifested itself in tumbling support for Merkel's CDU, which according to a Bild poll, has seen its approval rating drop to 37%, the lowest since May 2013.
But until now, despite rising anger, there has been no firm recommendation how to approach the unprecedented inflow of Syrian migrants, among which there are increasingly more frequent media reports of terrorists, either of ISIS or al Qaeda origin.
That changed earlier today when none other than Germany's police union chief, Rainer Wendt, called for a fence to be built along the country's border to stem the flow of migrants.
Wendt's call is simple: end Europe's customs union, one where cold war border fences are once again the norm.
He told the "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper that after Germany led by example, other countries would then follow suit: the police union chief said the move would trigger a chain reaction in other European countries which have seen hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and elsewhere flood over their borders.
"If we close our borders in this way, Austria will also close the border with Slovenia. That's exactly the effect we need," Wendt, the chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG), is quoted as saying.

Hungary enlisted prisoners and the country's military to help construct a fence along its border with Serbia.
Indeed it is, however such a domino effect would confirm what many have been saying for years, namely that Europe simply can not exist as a borderless zone.
According to Deutsche Welle, the German then voiced support Germany's plans to create temporary migrant transit zones along its border, which would see people filtered according to their likelihood of gaining asylum. But he said that would only work with a frontier sealed by a new fence.
The transit zone concept has been criticized by one of the German chancellor's main coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), as inhumane and impossible to implement.
Not surprisingly, Wendt's comments contradict the German government's fierce condemnation of a similar 3.5 meter (11.5 foot) fence built by Hungary, along its 175 kilometer (108 mile) border with Serbia , to keep irregular migrants out. The structure, which was finished last month, was accompanied by new draconian measures to punish anyone who tried to cross the frontier.
And just to make sure that Merkel heard the police union chief, he also hinted at a veiled warning of what will happen if Merkel keeps ignoring the migrant crisis: Wendt said Germany was facing "social unrest" due to the large number of migrants entering the country.

"Our internal (law and) order is at risk...Someone needs to pull the emergency brake now," he cautioned.
Germany expects more than 800,000 people to apply for asylum this year and has recently toughened its regulations surrounding the asylum process. But Merkel has ruled out placing limits on the number of refugees taken in, adding that she was convinced the country could cope.

The southern German state of Bavaria, which has been inundated with refugees crossing from Austria, has threatened legal action against the Federal government, adding that it may consider sending migrants back across the border.

Finally, for those wondering how this, too, is spun as bullish for stocks - just like everything else for the past 7 years - the answer is simple: since Germany will have to fund billion in social payments to accommodate all the new refugees, and since that spending will have to be funded with new debt, these incremental debt sales will provide the ECB with much needed debt which to monetize, which in turn will inject even more outside "money" into the stock market, if not the economy, and push the Eurostoxx, and why not the S&P500, to fresh all time highs.
Once again, everyone wins, except for the traditional loser: the middle class.