The Arizona legislature commissioned a Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) for the arid state. An op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star takes the DCP to task for failing to come up with an actual plan to conserve water, but the writer himself fails to adequately address the main reason Arizona is running out of usable freshwater.
After 8 weeks of back-and-forth theatrics between Pres. Trump and Democratic Leaders (that included a 5-week partial government shutdown), the President received $75 million more in border wall funding than what Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer offered in December.
The cost for obtaining the additional $75 million for fencing was far too high -- a substantial weakening of interior enforcement, including an incentive for illegal-alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).
For the moment, I have to say that I was relieved when the President got through his long State of the Union section on immigration.
There had been so much talk about the possibility of a big new announcement and about the efforts of some inside the White House to put together some kind of new comprehensive compromise plan, I was braced for some major backtracking.
On the eve of his State of the Union address, the president is under great pressure to increase the number of foreign workers instead of continuing to honor his campaign promises that immigration policies should prioritize the needs of Americans who have not benefited by the national economy in recent decades
With 28 pages of photo essays from TIME's correspondents and photographers around the world, the magazine warns readers that the Central American caravans at the U.S. southern border are just the beginning of millions more sure to follow out of the 258 million current international migrants outside their country of birth who are on the move.
Americans are bombarded with polls telling them what they think. Often, these polls are presented in a way to convince Americans what they should think. To understand how well a poll captures public opinion the key is to look at how the questions are being asked and who are being asked the questions.
Many in the media are reporting that there is no crisis at the border because apprehensions are below "historic highs." That is true, but this framing is misleading. The increase in family units, unaccompanied minors, and asylum seekers has created an untenable situation. And total apprehensions increased in FY2018. The media recognized the problem in 2014. Now they tell us there's no need for concern.
Wisconsin appears to be on the verge of joining 17 other states that allow motorists to drive on highway shoulders in order to reduce congestion during peak travel times. This "solution" reminds me of the story about the guy who came home to discover that he left the water running in a sink and attacks the problem with a mop and bucket instead of shutting off the water, in this case the "water" being population growth that is 88 percent fueled by immigration.
The federal government is shut down, at least partially. The reason, we are told, is President Trump's demand for a "wall." That isn't really the President's demand, and that really isn't why we are at such an impasse.