This story first appeared at ProPublica and the Texas Tribune. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Clearly the work of a brilliant business mind.
I sure could use a TLDR summary of this. Anybody?
OF course they do… because when the suit for breach of contract is filed Biden will be president.
Cockholster will do anything — anything! — to cost our country additional billions for this fiasco. Meanwhile, formerly pristine swathes of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas continue to be turned into massive industrial waste sites.
The article is covering a lot of bases, but mainly focusing on one specific case as an example of several larger problems.
The problem is the government is awarding contracts for projects that can’t be started, because the government doesn’t own the land on which the project will be built. And in typical Trump administration bad faith, instead of starting the process to purchase the land via eminent domain, they are arguing to the courts that they have to seize the land because they already have signed contracts to build on it.
Some other individuals are listed as selling property, essentially under duress as they were told by the government they had to sell or the government was going to just seize it anyway.
All of this against the backdrop that Biden will cease all such building projects immediately. Yet Congress still approved money for it anyway.
It’s the usual “cart before the horse” trumpian method of “planning” which is: award the contract and do nothing else. Ignore the land ownership details, surveys, attached deeds or other legalities. They do not plan or do the necessary “work” assuming it’ll appear “like a miracle”. Land to agricultural folk is precious and when the government shows up to seize it… well that sets up a fight. And wastes time and money
The trump folk have approached this wall exactly as they have the pandemic… do not under any circumstances do the required work and for god’s sake do not lead.
Here in Arizona trump has contractors bulldozing, using explosives and all manner of destruction on very sensitive Native American sacred places without even asking. The Tohono O’Odham, a federally recognized tribe considers this place sacred. It’s also a world Heritage site and National Monument called Organ Pipe National Monument". The blasting not only ruined sacred sites, but it killed Saguaro cacti that are federally protected plants that require a serious permit to even move. The crews didn’t even ask. This occurred some months ago and many, especially the Tohono O’Odham are still steamed about it. Rightfully so I might add. I wonder how the members of that crew would feel if their family graves were torn up and cast aside as trash.
The cost of this useless hate marker needs to be brought up every time Republicans complain about wasteful Democratic spending. EVERY TIME.