Watching and listening to the rants at rallies during August and during the September 12th circus in D.C., I confess to getting a kick out of all the ways the right wing wants to be left alone by their government. If only their elected representatives would take the rally ranters at their word and let us all off the hook from so many years of right wing control that leaves the country burdened with their obligations. I would start with the fence along the border.

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This is what they’re proposing to fence, approaching Del Rio, Texas, from the east – a long, bleak route paralleling the border with Mexico. Del Rio is 155.7 miles due west of San Antonio. That’s Mexico you see in the far distance.

The ludicrous attempt to put a fence up that would keep desperate unemployed workers looking for a way to feed their families from getting over, under, or through it is costing us.

It will cost taxpayers $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the fence along the U.S-Mexico border, according to a government audit.

But as the Obama administration realizes the long-term costs of the border fence, it does not have a way to evaluate whether this investment has helped control illegal entries into the country, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.

The $6.5 billion price tag is in addition to the $2.4 billion that’s been spent to build more than 600 miles of fence segments along the southwest border. As of May 14, there have been 3,363 breaches in the fence, which cost about $1,300 each to repair, GAO found.

The fence is a Bush administration initiative that has faced several delays and cost increases.

The technology portion of the government’s plan to secure the border continues to be delayed, GAO said…Depending on funding, there would be fencing or technology along the whole southwestern border except for about 200 miles around Big Bend National Park by 2014, Homeland Security officials have said. But the GAO said it’s more likely to be completed in 2016.

Government control that the right wing has demonized, right here along the border. Now there’s something that we could cut for big savings!

Looking back at some of the wingnut commentary shows quite a different take on the subject:

…the roll for who voted for and against this bill with the 19 sick and twisted traitors of this country who would sell out the American people in order to appease Mexico and South America, pander to the Hispanic vote and who wished that an amnesty was pushed through so that even more taxpayer dollars could be distributed to foreigners who shouldn’t have been here in the first place.

This sort sounds like they studied under certain talk show hosts.

The right wing element in this country that thinks they can build a fence to control the flow of immigration is that same element that wants those controls out of their medicare. If it made good sense, I suspect a real idea would scare them. Funny, I didn’t see one sign that read "Get Government Control Out Of the Border."

Maybe we could get on with cutting out government control of traffic, too.