The Government Shutdown. Another controversy. The social media accounts for both my diehard Republican and Democrat friends have been blowing up. Opinions. Shares. Copy & Pastes. (You know the kind. Where some anonymous soul wrote some diatribe and at the end it says, “If you agree, copy & paste and put this on your wall.” Or something similar.)
Several Republican friends have all been repeating the same sentiment: why don’t the Democrats open their homes and house some of these illegals trying to cross the border if they feel so passionately about helping them?
That’s actually a great question. I bet there are loads who actually would. Churches often help immigrants establish themselves. It does pose a solution, right?
But how are these people seeking asylum going to get in? Under current circumstances, that is. They’re not being allowed to cross over. The goal is to Keep Them Out.
So there goes that idea.
Which brings us back to The Wall.
Trump wants it. Not because it’s an actual solution to the problem. Only because it would appease his supporters who believe the world is black and white and this is the simple way to fix a perceived problem.
Hence imposing a shutdown to force his hand. An interesting way to tackle the issue, but not an effective one. Not when hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to work without pay.
Some will argue: “But Courtney, this is what has to happen. It may be harsh, but sacrifices have to be made to accomplish the objective.” i.e. Funding The Wall.
Which is where The Wall Solution comes in. It’s called The Paycheck Challenge.
If all the people who want The Wall gave up their paychecks in solidarity with the government workers who have had to forego theirs and donated it to a Wall Fund? Boom. There’s the money.
Because the way I figure it, the debate over steel or concrete would be irrelevant. There’d be a surplus beyond $5.7 billion. Trump could build the thing out of friggin gold if he wanted. Platinum even.
Ready to do a little math?
Using a stat from the Washington Examiner, 42% of Americans support the wall.
According to WorldOMeters, the U.S. population is 328,055,902.
Forty-two percent of 328,055,902 is 137,783,478.84. We’ll round up to 137,783,479.
According to Chron, the average median income for men per week is $946 or $4,099 monthly. Women bring home $769 or $3,332 monthly.
I couldn’t find a stat for what percent of those who support the building of the wall are men vs. women, so figuring out this paycheck number is a little tricky. (Since there is a discrepancy between pay based on gender.)
Also, that average median income number number is probably before taxes. So factoring that into account, let’s say the 42%, or 137,783,479, has a paycheck of $2,700 to put towards The Wall.
$372,015,393,300
That’s the magic number. It’s over $300 billion dollars. Makes Trump’s $5.7 billion ask look like chump change, doesn’t it?
But Bam! There’s your Wall money and then some.
“But that’s ridiculous, Courtney. I can’t afford to give up a whole paycheck. I shouldn’t be expected to.”
But 800,000 U.S. workers should?
Besides, you’re a good American, aren’t you? You’re patriotic and stand behind your President. How much is this Wall worth to you?
If it’s worth shutting down the government, even if it means other Americans having to forego their paychecks and endure financial difficulty, then it should be little sacrifice for you to donate yours in solidarity.
Other options are petitioning your Representatives and Senators to donate one of their paychecks. Or all of them until the shutdown ends. Doesn’t matter what party they’re affiliated with either. They’re leaders. They should be leading, finding solutions, working together and compromising, not causing more chaos.
The trouble is, their starting salaries are $174,000. (House Majority/Minority leaders, Cabinet members and the Speaker of the House make a little more.)
For the sake of argument, we’ll take the average, which comes out to $7,250 a paycheck, before taxes. We’ll figure it’s about $5,220 after taxes.
There are 535 members of Congress (100 in the U.S. Senate, 435 in the U.S House of Representatives).
535 x $5220 = $2,792,700.
That’s a long way from the $5.7 billion Trump wants. Still, it’s a start.
Trump could help out too. Instead of donating his salary to charity, he could donate it towards the Wall Fund. At least until the shutdown ends.
Care to make up the difference? It’d help Trump get to his magic number that much faster.
No? Not willing to put actual skin in the game? Well, there’s another option. You could always ask Mexico for a loan…