Cfrtjryk

I feel like this is a unique opportunity to pass effective campaign finance legislation. Politically I think not giving Trump the wall is the better strategy, which may be why such a deal will not happen.

In terms of effect I think the pros of campaign finance reform far outweigh the cons of the wall, even if the entire 5 billion end up being wasted money.

When I discussed this proposition with other people, with whom I tend to agree politically, many felt that there shouldn't be funding for the wall under any circumstance.

**What are the major political barriers to a deal like this happening?*

edit: I guess the main point is that I don't see why democrats keep saying that they won't budge on funding the wall. Compared to taxes or health care or many other issues the downside of the wall is truly miniscule.

edit: I can see now that campaign finance reform may not be in the hands of congress or the president at the moment due to the supreme court. However the question to me still remains as to why so many democrats insist on not giving up 5 billion for something in return. I think the current dynamic would give the democrats a very good bargaining position if they where to offer wall funding.

The question is complex and poses potentially a multitude of possible subquestions because there are an infinite number of possible deals that Democrats could try to make.

But, in the case of campaign finance, in particular, one of the biggest issues is that the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Citizen's United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) dramatically limited the extent to which effective campaign finance legislation can be constitutional. And, it makes little sense to reach a bargain in exchange of legislation whose effect will be illusory because it will be struck down under clear constitutional precedents.

What you're suggesting is that the Democrats give Trump $5 billion to build a wall in exchange for creating new campaign financing rules that (presumably) benefit the democrats¹. This sounds like a bribe. OK that was harsh.

Any changes to campaign funding rules will affect all congresspersons', and presumably the president's, ability to get re-elected, and thus there will be a large subset of politicians that will feel uneasy about changing the rules, even if it might work in their favour eventually, which cannot necessarily be guaranteed. This is the old problem that people don't normally want to change the system that got them appointed to a position once they are in that position.

Even if the wall has few downsides, it does have the price tag which is in itself a downside. Giving such a large sum to building a wall which may or may not be effective is diverting the funds from other projects that, in the view of Democrats, are far more beneficial.

I think going through the various options that $5 bn could afford the tax payer is out of scope for this question, so I'm not going go over them and point out why they may be preferable to the wall.

A further barrier is that congress do not want to simply give money to whatever president (in this case Trump) to do whatever he/she likes just because they're the president and will otherwise refuse to pass the budget.

¹ Even rules that a 'fair' may be seen as benefiting the democrats if they are currently thought to be disadvantaged