The backlash was fierce. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the outspoken Georgia congresswoman, immediately filed a resolution demanding Johnson’s removal, called the bill a “sham”.
“I don’t care if the speaker’s office becomes a revolving door,” Taylor Greene told Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, on his War Room channel. “The days are over of the old Republican party that wants to fund foreign wars and murder people in foreign lands while they stab the American people in their face and refuse to protect Americans and fix our problems.”
Not defending MTG here, because she’s a piece of garbage, but being anti-war does not mean one supports the enemy. I oppose the war and couldn’t care less about Russia.
People said this same shit about us when we opposed the Iraq War, at the time calling us ‘terrorists’ or ‘terrorist sympathizers’ or ‘traitors’.
But our position was the correct one, and if Republicans and Democrats all weren’t electing and reelecting the people that rope us into nine wars at once, there would be more than enough money for war (at least, wars that are actually necessary) without going further into astronomical debt.
I understand the frustration that the money is not being spent on Americans, but this is a situation where if this aid is not sent then America and its allies will end up paying the price later, both to our economies and to our credibility.
These funds are going to wars not started by the US and don’t involve US ground troops. It’s also important to realize that the total US budget is 6.5 trillion dollars, and foreign aide is generally already built into that. This 94 billion dollar foreign aid package is 1.4% of that budget and is not the cause of the ballooning national debt. The real cause of the national debt is the repeated cutting of taxes without adjusting expenditures - the vast majority of which is not related to the military or foreign aide.
The vast majority of this package (60 billion) is going to Ukraine which desperately needs it. They are being invaded and slaughtered by Russia, and Putin has explicitly stated that he wants to recapture the territories of the Soviet Union/Russian Empire. Without US aide, Putin will probably win and he won’t stop with Ukraine - there is credible intel that he is also planning to target Moldova. It’s also important to note that Ukraine is a massive breadbasket for Europe, and in Russia’s hands it puts them in a terrible position.
Aid is also going to Taiwan, and China’s Xi Jinping has made extremely clear that its “reunification” with mainland China is a major priority for him. Taiwan also makes the most advanced computer chips in the world, and should they fall in the CCP’s hands it will have disastrous global economic consequences.
Israel vs Hamas (14 billion) is not as clear cut and dry and I am not sure if I would have given them additional aid myself. I sympathize with Israel’s situation as they are still looking for hostages, but their blatant disregard for civilians in their war against Hamas is shameful, and they need to cease their colonization efforts. Regardless, their aid was included with the others which are very important.
Lastly, Marjorie Taylor Greene has espoused opinions and policy goals that only benefit US adversaries; her absolute opposition to any foreign aid to Ukraine only supports Russian interests. If Russia wins, it will be a modern “Suez Crisis” for the West, and effectively be giving the green light for countries to initiate wars of conquest.
Furthermore, she also put forth a motion to oust Speaker Johnson and throw the house into chaos - I don’t like republicans having control of House as much as the next person, but the House having no speaker renders the entire legislative branch useless and makes policy initiatives, budgetary goals, and anything involving them impossible to implement. That type of paralysis only benefits US enemies.
The stakes are just too high to do nothing. There is a reason this has so much bipartisan support and why so many of the US’s European allies have been pouring money to save Ukraine; it’s important.
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