Building the Wall Back Better

Gov. Greg Abbott holds a security briefing with sheriffs from border communities at the Capitol in July. An ad criticizing his spending on the border wall amid the coronavirus pandemic was pulled from the lineup for the telecast of the University of Texas’s; football game against Rice University on Saturday. Aaron E. Martinez/American-State

Commentary

During a debate with George H.W. Bush in New Hampshire in 1980, the moderator asked that Ronald Reagan’s microphone be “turned off for the moment.” Reagan was angry and said something that might be applied to the failure of the Biden administration to use materials lying unused in Texas paid for during the Trump administration for the purpose of constructing the border wall. Said Reagan, “I paid for this microphone.” The clear implication was that since he paid for it, he ought to be able to use it.