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I was just thinking: wasn't FDR's Lend/Lease program to help the Brits a thing he did on his own, by Executive action? Hasn't Joe been doing that? Why wrestle with an extremely nutso GOP bunch in the House--- OR the Senate? Ukraine is going through worse than the London blitz these days, I think. It's dire.
Ukraine needs the support from the West continuously as during WWII. There is an increased pro-Putin fraction among the GOP and the rest are afraid to speak up. Hopefully the Ukraine bill will get signed by Biden this weekend.
I doubt that it will be this weekend- the house bill needs to return to the Senate and be reconciled with the original Senate version- sometime next week at best, I think.
On this subject, I want to recognize the leadership of GOP Speaker Johnson. When he succeeded Kevin "Twoface" McCarthy I evaluated Johnson as a weak wimp who was elected as a placeholder errand boy for the GOP ultra-right gang.
His stratagem of splitting the Senate bill into four separate sections allowed everyone from the hard left socialists to the hard-right bomb-throwers to vote their conscience on each section independently, resulting in a majority vote for all sections. I think that this was a rather remarkable piece of skillful leadership, especially in the context of the extraordinary political division in this congress. Additionally, I rather suspect that some behind-the-scenes cooperation from the Democratic leadership was also helpful.
One of the more amusing details of the operation was an amendment to the Ukrainian funding bill proposed by Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic representative from Florida, who suggested an amendment to the Ukraine bill calling for Taylor Greene’s office in the Cannon building to be renamed The Neville Chamberlain Room – in homage to the pre-World War II British prime minister notorious for appeasing Hitler – and asking she be appointed “Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the US”.
No doubt MTG got something going on the wrong side of the aisle. Quote from Professor Heather Cox Richardson on April 19, 2024
Greene was especially active in opposition to aid to Ukraine. She tried to amend the bill to direct the president to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and demanded that any members of Congress voting for aid to Ukraine be conscripted into the Ukraine army as well as have their salaries taken to offset funding. She wanted to stop funding until Ukraine “turns over all information related to Hunter Biden and Burisma,” and to require Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to resign. More curiously, she suggested amending the Ukraine bill so that funding would require “restrictions on ethnic minorities’, including Hungarians in Transcarpathia, right to use their native languages in schools are lifted.” This language echoes a very specific piece of Russian propaganda.
Finally, Moskowitz proposed “that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene…should be appointed as Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress.”
I doubt that it will be this weekend- the house bill needs to return to the Senate and be reconciled with the original Senate version- sometime next week at best, I think.
On this subject, I want to recognize the leadership of GOP Speaker Johnson. When he succeeded Kevin "Twoface" McCarthy I evaluated Johnson as a weak wimp who was elected as a placeholder errand boy for the GOP ultra-right gang.
His stratagem of splitting the Senate bill into four separate sections allowed everyone from the hard left socialists to the hard-right bomb-throwers to vote their conscience on each section independently, resulting in a majority vote for all sections. I think that this was a rather remarkable piece of skillful leadership, especially in the context of the extraordinary political division in this congress. Additionally, I rather suspect that some behind-the-scenes cooperation from the Democratic leadership was also helpful. [snip]
Old_Joe,
This is a fine analysis of the situation! I've read that this bill may be signed on Tuesday.
Amen. Let it be. I can't bring myself to believe at this point that Israel should get more money. But it's headed for the Senate in ONE piece, so I read or heard on PBS news yesterday. Alright. Let's finally get some more help for Ukraine. And the Pacific countries. Taiwan. Philippines. Keep the Taiwan Strait free and open!
According to the linked article, I was wrong in my initial assumption, above: "....Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act..." It was not carried out by Exec. Order. But yes, we could do such a thing again. it would be more substantial and robust. Methinks we are already in another cold war. Russia and China re-emerging and flexing their muscles. Russia is Soviet no longer, but the entire "governmental" apparatus is nothing but a Mafia-style gang-ocracy. "Goodfellas" on a national scale.
Comments
On this subject, I want to recognize the leadership of GOP Speaker Johnson. When he succeeded Kevin "Twoface" McCarthy I evaluated Johnson as a weak wimp who was elected as a placeholder errand boy for the GOP ultra-right gang.
His stratagem of splitting the Senate bill into four separate sections allowed everyone from the hard left socialists to the hard-right bomb-throwers to vote their conscience on each section independently, resulting in a majority vote for all sections. I think that this was a rather remarkable piece of skillful leadership, especially in the context of the extraordinary political division in this congress. Additionally, I rather suspect that some behind-the-scenes cooperation from the Democratic leadership was also helpful.
One of the more amusing details of the operation was an amendment to the Ukrainian funding bill proposed by Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic representative from Florida, who suggested an amendment to the Ukraine bill calling for Taylor Greene’s office in the Cannon building to be renamed The Neville Chamberlain Room – in homage to the pre-World War II British prime minister notorious for appeasing Hitler – and asking she be appointed “Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the US”.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/ukraine-russia-congress-johnson-republicans-marjorie-greene-putin-propaganda.html
This is a fine analysis of the situation!
I've read that this bill may be signed on Tuesday.
And give the Ukrainians enough to actually WIN!
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4604639-change-the-approach-from-just-helping-ukraine-fight-to-letting-them-win-the-war/
dhttps://archives.gov/milestone-documents/lend-lease-act#:~:text=Passed%20on%20March%2011%2C%201941,defense%20of%20the%20United%20States.%22
"....Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act..." It was not carried out by Exec. Order. But yes, we could do such a thing again. it would be more substantial and robust. Methinks we are already in another cold war. Russia and China re-emerging and flexing their muscles. Russia is Soviet no longer, but the entire "governmental" apparatus is nothing but a Mafia-style gang-ocracy. "Goodfellas" on a national scale.
My perception of Xi in China is that he is a thug, too. But stuff gets done more explicitly with an official Party stamp of approval, which he can hide behind.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-kidnap-of-a-journalist-and-russias-descent-into-thugocracy/
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/03/24/471600636/a-journalist-delves-deep-inside-putin-country