LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, Democrats and the press blamed the GOP for scuttling his budget-busting $118 billion security defense appropriations bill, at least half of which goes to Ukraine. Biden refuses to acknowledge growing opposition to his Ukraine War that has tied U.S. foreign policy in knots, pitting the U.S. in Ukraine against the Kremlin. Never before has any U.S. president funded a proxy war using Ukrainian troops to fight a war with the Kremlin. Biden doesn’t get that his foreign policy is in shambles, firing Cruise missiles, drones and dropping smart bombs all over the Middle East. Biden acts like it all Republicans’ fault for not giving him $60 billion more to fight an unending war in Ukraine, but, more importantly, subsidizing the Ukraine government, including civil salaries and pensions, for the purpose of breaking the Russian Federation.
Biden said yesterday when realizing that his Democrat-backed appropriation bill was not getting through the U.S. Senate, certainly not the more conservative GOP House, it’s the GOP faul. Biden acts like his hands are tied at the Mexican border unless he gets the right amount of cash for Ukraine. Who’s being rigid and uncompromising, refusing, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) suggested to create separate appropriation bills for Ukraine, Israel, border security, etc. Democrats and the press act like it’s all Republicans fault that they didn’t acquiesce to another costly boondoggle, when the Biden could have been working on the border since taking office. No, Biden reversed many of former President Donald Trump’s border policies that reduced the numbers of illegal crossings. Now Biden says “he’ll shut down the border,” but only if he gets cash for Ukraine.
Suddenly Biden and Democrats figured out they had leverage with the GOP House and Senate to get Ukraine Funding in exchange for long-overdue border funding. Voting 49-50 along party lines, the $118 billion Senate bill failed, unable to get the 60 votes needed for passage. Democrats blame Trump, saying he didn’t want to hand Biden a political win before the 2024 election. But Trump’s opposition stems from the fact he wants the Ukraine War de-funded because Biden has no real plan to defeat the Russian Federation. Besides, why would the U.S. want to weaken the Russian Federation when for the past 80-years they’ve done their part to create global stability? Biden and Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky gaslight the public into thinking Putin wants to take over Europe. Biden and Zelensky talk out their hats as to what Putin wants.
Putin has tried to negotiate an end to the Ukraine War since March 2022, asking Zelensky to accept the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Zelensky told Putin no and went to war against the Kremlin. Biden, with some help for NATO, has supplied much of the cash-and-arms to battle the Kremlin. Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted that the purpose of the Ukraine war is to degrade the Russian military. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said at his last debate before dropping out of the 2024 GOP race that he agreed with Austin’s mission to degrade the Russian military. All the fake news coming from Washington and Kiev said the Russian army was near collapse. Conservatives in the House and Senate know that the U.S. and Kiev have done poorly against the Kremlin, leaving Putin more in control of Ukraine than ever.
Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) points all fingers at Republicans, not realizing that he’s only doing Biden’s bidding to get more war funding for Ukraine. “We need to secure American borders before sending another dime overseas,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Ut.) on X, formerly Twitter. “Will the Senate stand up to brutish thugs like Vladimir Putin and reassure our friends abroad that America will never abandon them in the hour of need?” asked Shumer, tipping his hand about the true intent of the appropriation bill: To fund the Ukraine War. Schumer makes incendiary comments about Putin while former Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson risks his life to interview Putin at the Kremlin. Schumer doesn’t get that cooperative, pragmatic relations with the Russia Federation have always been a top priority for past U.S. presidents until Biden.
All the bickering over the Senate’s appropriation bill could have been prevented by presenting stand-alone bills for Ukraine, Israel, border security and other matters. Whether admitted to or not, Biden and Senate Democrats want to continue funding the Ukraine War, whether or not it harms U.S. foreign policy or national security. If Biden thought border security were important to his job as commander-in-chief, why has he done next to nothing over the last three years? Suddenly, Democrats figured out that the border crisis has become a threat to Biden’s reelection, pushing Democrat strategists to take the issue away from Republicans. Biden wants to throw Republicans a bone but only if it gets Ukraine the $60 billion. Democrats can’t see how the unending Ukraine War drains the U.S. Treasury but, most importantly, harms U.S. foreign policy and national security.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
