Buy CryptoMarketsSpotFuturesGOLDEarnEvent Center
More
Gold vs Crypto
In the past, Arizona had a reputation for being reliably conservative. Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona), despite his vehement disdain for the Religious Right, wasIn the past, Arizona had a reputation for being reliably conservative. Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona), despite his vehement disdain for the Religious Right, was

National park land literally blown up by Trump's obsession in key swing state

Author: Alternet
Source: Alternet
2026/03/18 18:47
3 min read
OFFICIAL TRUMP
TRUMP$3.493-5.13%
Notcoin
NOT$0.0003941-4.53%
Areon Network
AREA$0.01678-5.51%
For feedback or concerns regarding this content, please contact us at [email protected]

In the past, Arizona had a reputation for being reliably conservative. Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona), despite his vehement disdain for the Religious Right, was a highly influential figure in the Republican Party — and his successor, GOP Sen. John McCain, identified as a "Goldwater Republican."

But Arizona has evolved into a volatile swing state. Arizona has a Democratic governor (Katie Hobbs) and two Democratic U.S. senators (Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego), yet Donald Trump carried Arizona by roughly 5.5 percent in 2024. And Republicans have majorities in both houses of the Arizona State Legislature.

Arizona is having plenty of heated political debates in 2026, and one of them involves the border wall project that got underway during Trump's first presidency. MAGA Republicans in Arizona want to see the construction of a U.S./Mexico border wall continue to move forward, but other Arizona residents are saying that while they want border security, they also have environmental concerns.

The Atlantic's Nick Miroff addresses those concerns in an article published on March 17, describing the effect of national park lands in the key swing state.

"At Coronado National Memorial in Arizona," Miroff explains, "the demolition crews blowing up national-park land tend to announce explosions at least a day in advance, as a warning for hikers to stay away. The crews have been working their way up the western slope of the park for the past couple of months, right along the international boundary with Mexico. President Trump's border wall needs a smooth, straight path, and there are mountains in the way. Trump didn't build along this stretch of the border during his first term, but his crews are now working at a furious pace."

Miroff adds, "They have already completed about five miles of 30-foot-tall barrier, painted jet black at the president's insistence because he thought it looked more intimidating and would be hotter to the touch."

One of the longtime Arizona residents who is openly critical of border wall construction in the San Raphael Valley area is Kate Scott, who said that seeing the wall makes her feel "physically sick."

Scott told The Atlantic, "I refuse to allow people to take our land, annihilate our animals, our plants, our water. I do not accept that as my reality. And if more people started to understand that it's not our reality to accept, they will come up with ways to push back."

Zay Hartigan, a local fire chief in that area of Arizona, told The Atlantic he considers the border wall "just a waste of money" and that surveillance towers deter smugglers.

"The valley had been shaped across tens of millions of years, by volcanoes, floods, earthquakes," Miroff notes. "Native peoples, Spanish explorers, Mexican settlers, Apache warriors, cowboys, and mountain bikers all passed through. None of them has left anything as immense and lasting as what Trump is building."

  • george conway
  • noam chomsky
  • civil war
  • Kayleigh mcenany
  • Melania trump
  • drudge report
  • paul krugman
  • Lindsey graham
  • Lincoln project
  • al franken bill maher
  • People of praise
  • Ivanka trump
  • eric trump
Market Opportunity
OFFICIAL TRUMP Logo
OFFICIAL TRUMP Price(TRUMP)
$3.493
$3.493$3.493
+1.57%
USD
OFFICIAL TRUMP (TRUMP) Live Price Chart
Disclaimer: The articles reposted on this site are sourced from public platforms and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily reflect the views of MEXC. All rights remain with the original authors. If you believe any content infringes on third-party rights, please contact [email protected] for removal. MEXC makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content and is not responsible for any actions taken based on the information provided. The content does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice, nor should it be considered a recommendation or endorsement by MEXC.

You May Also Like

Franklin Templeton CEO Dismisses 50bps Rate Cut Ahead FOMC

Franklin Templeton CEO Dismisses 50bps Rate Cut Ahead FOMC

The post Franklin Templeton CEO Dismisses 50bps Rate Cut Ahead FOMC appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson has weighed in on whether the Federal Reserve should make a 25 basis points (bps) Fed rate cut or 50 bps cut. This comes ahead of the Fed decision today at today’s FOMC meeting, with the market pricing in a 25 bps cut. Bitcoin and the broader crypto market are currently trading flat ahead of the rate cut decision. Franklin Templeton CEO Weighs In On Potential FOMC Decision In a CNBC interview, Jenny Johnson said that she expects the Fed to make a 25 bps cut today instead of a 50 bps cut. She acknowledged the jobs data, which suggested that the labor market is weakening. However, she noted that this data is backward-looking, indicating that it doesn’t show the current state of the economy. She alluded to the wage growth, which she remarked is an indication of a robust labor market. She added that retail sales are up and that consumers are still spending, despite inflation being sticky at 3%, which makes a case for why the FOMC should opt against a 50-basis-point Fed rate cut. In line with this, the Franklin Templeton CEO said that she would go with a 25 bps rate cut if she were Jerome Powell. She remarked that the Fed still has the October and December FOMC meetings to make further cuts if the incoming data warrants it. Johnson also asserted that the data show a robust economy. However, she noted that there can’t be an argument for no Fed rate cut since Powell already signaled at Jackson Hole that they were likely to lower interest rates at this meeting due to concerns over a weakening labor market. Notably, her comment comes as experts argue for both sides on why the Fed should make a 25 bps cut or…
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/18 00:36
Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future

Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future

The post Cashing In On University Patents Means Giving Up On Our Innovation Future appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. “It’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress,” writes Pipes. Getty Images Washington is addicted to taxing success. Now, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is floating a plan to skim half the patent earnings from inventions developed at universities with federal funding. It’s being sold as a way to shore up programs like Social Security. In reality, it’s a raid on American innovation that would deliver pennies to the Treasury while kneecapping the very engine of our economic and medical progress. Yes, taxpayer dollars support early-stage research. But the real payoff comes later—in the jobs created, cures discovered, and industries launched when universities and private industry turn those discoveries into real products. By comparison, the sums at stake in patent licensing are trivial. Universities collectively earn only about $3.6 billion annually in patent income—less than the federal government spends on Social Security in a single day. Even confiscating half would barely register against a $6 trillion federal budget. And yet the damage from such a policy would be anything but trivial. The true return on taxpayer investment isn’t in licensing checks sent to Washington, but in the downstream economic activity that federally supported research unleashes. Thanks to the bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, universities and private industry have powerful incentives to translate early-stage discoveries into real-world products. Before Bayh-Dole, the government hoarded patents from federally funded research, and fewer than 5% were ever licensed. Once universities could own and license their own inventions, innovation exploded. The result has been one of the best returns on investment in government history. Since 1996, university research has added nearly $2 trillion to U.S. industrial output, supported 6.5 million jobs, and launched more than 19,000 startups. Those companies pay…
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/18 03:26
Fed Makes First Rate Cut of the Year, Lowers Rates by 25 Bps

Fed Makes First Rate Cut of the Year, Lowers Rates by 25 Bps

The post Fed Makes First Rate Cut of the Year, Lowers Rates by 25 Bps appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The Federal Reserve has made its first Fed rate cut this year following today’s FOMC meeting, lowering interest rates by 25 basis points (bps). This comes in line with expectations, while the crypto market awaits Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech for guidance on the committee’s stance moving forward. FOMC Makes First Fed Rate Cut This Year With 25 Bps Cut In a press release, the committee announced that it has decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 bps from between 4.25% and 4.5% to 4% and 4.25%. This comes in line with expectations as market participants were pricing in a 25 bps cut, as against a 50 bps cut. This marks the first Fed rate cut this year, with the last cut before this coming last year in December. Notably, the Fed also made the first cut last year in September, although it was a 50 bps cut back then. All Fed officials voted in favor of a 25 bps cut except Stephen Miran, who dissented in favor of a 50 bps cut. This rate cut decision comes amid concerns that the labor market may be softening, with recent U.S. jobs data pointing to a weak labor market. The committee noted in the release that job gains have slowed, and that the unemployment rate has edged up but remains low. They added that inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had also already signaled at the Jackson Hole Conference that they were likely to lower interest rates with the downside risk in the labor market rising. The committee reiterated this in the release that downside risks to employment have risen. Before the Fed rate cut decision, experts weighed in on whether the FOMC should make a 25 bps cut or…
Share
BitcoinEthereumNews2025/09/18 04:36