Title: The Real National Emergency (Trump)
Subject: Government Shutdown
Created: 2019
Medium: Graphic Design
Software: Adobe Illustrator CC
Dimensions: 36″x48″
National Emergency
“Trump’s declaration does not reflect any sort of Reichstag fire moment. He is not suspending the Constitution or the rule of law. But it’s certainly an unprecedented move. Past presidents have typically invoked emergency powers in good faith, and in ways that Congress intended—in response to terrorism or overseas conflicts, for instance. Trump is doing so purely for political gain, to show his flagging base of supporters that he’s serious about fulfilling his signature campaign promise—even as polls show that a majority of Americans oppose the wall and the idea of declaring a national emergency to build it.
Trump insists that the situation at the southern border constitutes a “national security crisis,” but the facts don’t support his justification for declaring a state of emergency. Border crossings have been in steady decline for more than a decade, undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than American-born citizens, most drugs are smuggled into the U.S. through or near legal ports of entry. If Trump really cared about stopping the illegal drug trade, he wouldn’t reportedly be plundering $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug interdiction program as part of his executive gambit to secure more wall funding.
Trump has now set the stage for yet another grueling slugfest in the courts. He’s thrown Senate Republicans in politically treacherous waters by forcing them to choose between the public’s antipathy towards the wall and the GOP base’s enthusiastic support for it. And he’s set a precedent that may allow Democrats to achieve key policy goals without the Senate’s consent the next time they take the White House.”
– The New Republic, Trump Is the Real National Emergency.
“In a speech delivered in the White House Rose Garden on February 15, President Donald Trump followed through on a threat to use national emergency powers to obtain funding for construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
“We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border and we’re going to do it one way or the other,” Trump said.
According to The New York Times, White House officials said the declaration will allow Trump access to $3.6 billion designated for military-construction projects. Added to that will be funding from more traditional presidential coffers: $2.5 billion from counternarcotics programs and $600 million from a Treasury Department fund. This new funding, combined with a reported $1.375 billion allocated for barrier projects in the bill that Congress passed to avert another government shutdown, now totals roughly $8 billion for a border wall, a sum even greater than the $5.7 billion Trump originally soughtin January.”
– Teen Vogue, The Real National Emergency Isn’t the Border, It’s Donald Trump’s Exploitation of the Power of the Presidency.
Poster
Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Print – The Real National Emergency (Trump).
Close-ups
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
