Ukraine Aid Bill Passes No Thanks To Republicans

It’s a good thing Democrats are united on national security and the military threats to our allies from the likes of Russia, Iran, and China because Republicans certainly aren’t. This past Saturday, April 20th, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) brought H.R. 8035 the Ukraine Aid bill up for a vote. 210 Democrats voted for it including all Texas Democrats. Most Republicans, 112 out of 218, voted against it including Monica de la Cruz (CD-15) who represents most of Guadalupe County and southward and Chip Roy (CD- 21) representing Comal County and westward.

Republicans like Roy and de la Cruz argue that Ukraine should seek peace with Russia which will only happen if they give up the 18% of their territory currently under Russian occupation. That would be like the United States giving up Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Louisiana to end a war with Mexico. I don’t see any American accepting that so why would anyone expect Ukraine to accept it. Texans certainly wouldn’t find that acceptable.

Speaker Johnson spoke out on the bill saying “I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten, I think that Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed. I think he might go to the Balkans next. I think he might have a showdown with Poland, or one of our NATO allies.” Johnson added “If so, we might find ourselves sending troops to defend allies from Putin later.”

The tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and much of the other hardware we’ve previously sent to Ukraine are previous generation gear that has been sitting in storage for years. The same applies to some of the artillery shells and other munitions. Republicans as to be expected also argue about the cost of supporting a country that isn’t even a NATO member. Of course, that argument fails when you consider the cost of Ukraine’s defense collapsing and Russia’s Putin being emboldened to continue its conquest into the rest of Europe. Putin has made it very clear that he wants to restore Russia to the borders it had prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. What message would it send to China’s leadership with regard to their desire to annex Taiwan, or Iran’s leaders or Donald Trump’s buddy Kim Jong Un in North Korea?

Aggressors cannot be allowed to win wars of conquest or others with similar ambitions will most assuredly feel freed to do the same. As it stands now Ukraine is providing the manpower and much of the materiel while the U.S. and other democracies provide tanks, artillery, planes, missiles, ammunition, and training as well as cash to pay for personnel and other needs. The Republican controlled Congress has withheld support for more than 5 months simply by denying an opportunity to vote on the bill. During that time the Biden administration used every bit of its authority to continue supplying vital materiel.

There was once a time when the Republican Party claimed to be the defenders of democracy and the world order. I would argue they weren’t alone as Democrats certainly have done their part; but in recent years, since Trump, Republicans have shown themselves to be fans of autocrats and tyrants.

Republicans must be held accountable in November and defeated in detail. Your vote, the votes of your family members, neighbors, and co-workers are important to defeating them. It isn’t too early to start talking to the people closest to you about voting for Democrats in November, the election is less than 7 months away.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - April 24, 2024

False Patriots

When the vote to pass the continuing resolution to prevent a government shutdown was held in the House 90 Republicans voted no, 16 of them were from Texas including Chip Roy who represents Comal County. In the Senate, Ted Cruz is one of 9 Republicans who voted no. Cruz and his fellow cranks were perfectly willing to put well over 6 million Americans out of work. 4 million of who would lose out on their pay entirely as they are contract workers such as office cleaning staff, groundskeepers, and others who don’t work directly for federal agencies.

Then there are all the businesses that depend on those employees to spend their money, like the food truck or sandwich shop nearby which then furloughs employees or cuts their hours. In addition, when national parks are closed it isn’t just the park rangers who suffer, there are all the folks who made plans months in advance that would not be allowed visit the park or would be forced to leave early, the hotels they’d have stayed in, the restaurants they’d have eaten in, the gift shop in the park that is also closed so their staff is laid off. The overall economic impact on small businesses is staggering. Most estimates suggest a shutdown costs the economy over $310 million per day in direct costs.

There is also the affect a shutdown has on citizens who have business with federal agencies, often with appointments that were set weeks or months in advance. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would stop insuring some new mortgages. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) would stop new loan and loan guarantee activity.

All the turmoil and damage to peoples’ lives and a lot of Republicans don’t seem to care at all. Here’s one example, in an interview on C-SPAN Republican Rep. Brandon Williamson of New York said “I don't think you're going to find a huge amount of sympathy, you know, for people that have been furloughed, or early retirement, or laid off, or their pension going bankrupt.”

The big concession that was made to pass the bill to keep the federal government open for 45 more days was eliminating funding for aid to Ukraine in it’s war to eject the Russian occupiers from its territory and protect its people from the murders, rapes, and kidnapping that have been perpetrated by Russian troops. Republicans talk a good game about defending freedom and were big on “fighting communism” but they’re just fine with autocrats invading democracies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine orchestrated by Vladimir Putin was unprovoked and illegal under international law, but Donald Trump and his MAGA crowd including members of the House like Paul Gosar (AZ) and Matt Gaetz (FL), was well as J.D. Vance (OH) among others in the Senate are willing to turn their backs on the desperate people of Ukraine. They are unwilling to stand up to the bully even though no American troops are involved and most European countries are handing over equipment, ammunition, and supplies in addition to providing training for troops and repairs to damaged equipment.

Anyone who thinks that if Putin succeeds in Ukraine he’ll stop hasn’t studied history at all. They should go back and review Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement when Hitler violated the terms of the treaty that ended World War 1. Hint, Hitler invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece in just 2 years.

Republicans are willing to wreck American lives and the economy as well as world peace. Remember that when they claim to be patriots.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - October 4, 2023