White House asks Congress for $106 billion for Ukraine and Israel wars
The White House on Friday asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. border security, but offered no strategy for securing the money from a broken Congress.
Healthcare pls
Why provide healthcare when we can provide death and destruction instead!
You can have 3 free COVID vaccines, as a treat.
Wouldn’t make enough rich people any richer. So we can’t have that.
Can’t forgive student debt can’t pay for healthcare yet we can have war, ffs
The government actually has infinite money
Not that I'm saying we should throw money into these wars, but rather that we should have no issue taking care of healthcare and student debt.
Sort of. The US government has created the extraordinary privilege of dollar hegemony, which lets them issue money ad nauseum at the expense of the rest of the world. This privilege ends when the rest of the world stops underwriting this debt, as is slowly happening under the broad name of dedollarization.
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The government actually has infinite money
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"defense" industry lapdogs absolutely drooling at the steak Genocide Joe's dangling over their heads
How about helping your own fucking citizens first?
Sorry, sweaty, they need to fund a genocide in the middle east
This helps the citizens which Congress is there to help.
US citizens have already enough weapons
Great, let's ask them for 200 and help fight homelessness and help student loan debt
While I'm openly in favor of supporting Ukraine, it's important to note that the vast majority of this type of military aid is provided in kind.
So really, it's a proposal to give US Defense contractors $100b+ to replenish and restock the DOD with new kit and munitions for the old kit and munitions that we're providing to Ukraine. Which then get into the use accounting tricks e.g. depreciation values, etc.
The annual military aid to Israel is a little different, it's more like a loss leader coupon: give Israel money that they have to spend with US Defense contractors, which then also incentivizes them spending their own budget on complementary systems that can be integrated with those systems, munitions, support contracts, etc.
Although in this case, I believe it's primarily munitions and other kit that the DOD already has in warehouses.
This is oversimplified, but I just see these headline figures always being confused for pallets of cash.
I don’t live in Ukraine. I need healthcare now. Let Blackrock and Vanguard fund Ukraine.
Did you have healthcare before Russia invaded Ukraine and started murdering babies? Was it even on the cards?
It's not an economic factor either. US health costs are much higher than other developed nations. It spends 17% of GDP, almost double of Germany (next highest).
Spending is without the positive outcomes. Infant mortality of 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births (17,000 extra dead babies a year Vs an average.rate), for context you are worse than Russia with 4.9 but better tha Chile 5.9). 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 births being 3 times higher than most wealthy nations.
The economic considerations are that you have a lot of heath businesses. If you socialised medicine and reduced spend, you may improve health outcomes but how would they pay for the very nice buildings they have loans for?
Finally, US doesn't want universal healthcare as a society. Whilst they may be financially wrecked by costs and live shorter more painful lives, that is far preferential than seeing the low income family get the same free cancer treatment for their child.
Yes, the correct nuanced take is pallets of cash to arms dealers and pallets of weapons to allies and puppets.
While I'm openly in favor of supporting Ukraine
How about Palestine?
If the Palestinians had received a quarter of what Ukraine has received in the last three years Israel would be no more. I certainly don't have a problem with that.
Sweet! So it'll help the rich get richer and won't help any of us who don't work on the defense industry. Love it!
I'd try to explain the geostrategic and humanitarian benefits to helping one of the world's largest bread baskets defend against imperial conquest by an mafia run gas station, or do a deeper dive into Putin's desire to reconquer the old USSR satellite states, or the associated risks if he was successful, but I don't think you really care to have you opinion shaped by analysis and the realities of great power poltics, so I'ma leave you be.
Reading half of the comments in this thread, I officially hate America.
Welcome to the right side of history.
Remember when we used to make fun of parliamentary governments when they became “without a government.”
Well joke’s on us right now with a Speakerless House.
I can understand the funds for Ukraine 100%. They are fighting a giant aggressor that has superior numbers.
But doesn't Israel have a pretty huge and well equipped army considering their population? Especially compared to Hamas that is a guerrilla force.
Also the fighting is limited to a area that is fenced in by them, Egypt and the Mediterranean. What kind of new military equipment worth 14 billion would be needed?
It's also ironic to support a conflict with 14 billion and on the other side plan 9 billion for humanitarian aid to combat the misery needed because of it.
Maintaining a settler-colonialist state in the face of people who aren't just armed with spears takes a lot of money, I guess.
it’s possible that $14bn is just what’s needed to get republicans to the table to send the rest to ukraine
I broadly agree with you, but would point out that the conflict isn't necessarily limited to Gaza. There've been rockets flying back and forth across the Lebanese border, sporadic violence in the West Bank, and there's always tension over the Golan Heights. Israel could find itself fighting a multi-front war against Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon/Hezbollah in the north west, Syria in the north east and Jordan in the east.
Not to mention Egypt aren't exactly their best buds either, and a US warship recently intercepted missiles coming towards Israel from Houthi rebels in Yemen.
I wonder what a poll in the US would look like if they let the people vote on this. But its an all or nothing vote. Like we vote to give both countries aid or neither.
What happens when we can no longer move balances around and dish out money to maintain the global status quo
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Some Republican lawmakers have grown skeptical of the need to fund Ukraine's war with Russia, and have threatened to halt government altogether to put an end to chronic U.S. budget deficits and fiscal spending fueled by $31.4 trillion in debt.
"The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities," said Biden's budget director, Shalanda Young, in a letter to acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry.
She also told Congress of plans to submit another request for funding to deal with natural disasters, high-speed internet, child care and wild-land firefighter pay "in coming days."
Some $14.3 billion of Friday's funding request for the 2024 fiscal year would be dedicated to Israel, much of it to support the country's air and missile defense systems and other weapons purchases.
The request includes billions to replenish the country's military equipment, and would provide economic and security aid and support for refugees in the United States.
"The unwavering bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States is incredibly encouraging for all of our warriors and for our entire nation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Friday on social media.
The original article contains 735 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Bro I'm for foreign aid but this is getting insane.
Give me .01 percent of that and I'd be set for life. Where's the aid for Americans?