12 January 2019 — 1831 mst

Notes on & music for El Presidente Trumps’s borderline wall

President of the Montana State Senate Scott Sales (R-Bozeman, SD-35) thinks building Trump’s boondoggle barrier along our border with Mexico is such a great idea that he’s asked for a bill (LC-3098) to appropriate $8 million of Montana’s money for the project. His proposal has received a certain amount of attention, not all of it favorable.

How he arrived at $8 million is a puzzle. Trump wants $5.7 billion to build 234 miles of his barrier (a high picket of steel slats, he says). If the money is allocated on the basis of population, Montana’s share would be approximately $17 million (one million Montanans, 328 million Americans). Sales proposes spending just 47 percent of that. Coincidentally, 47 percent was Matt Rosendale share of the vote in the election for the U.S. Senate he lost to Jon Tester.

In one sense, 47-percenter Sales is being a piker. But in another, he’s being a spendthrift, as Montanans won’t be relieved of their obligation to pay full federal taxes. Therefore, Sales wants Montanans to double pay for the wall. Finally, by proposing spending the taxes paid by hard-working Montanans to build the wall, he’s confirming that Trump lied when he said Mexico would pay for the wall. Don’t expect a tax refund postmarked Mexico City.

When Sales faces the music for his proposal, there’ll be some sour notes. I suspect LC-3098 never will materialize into a bill that gets a hearing. Meanwhile, here’s Tom Russell’s notes of sweet reason on The Wall.