Days after gaveling the House to order as the new Speaker last October, Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program to introduce himself for a full hour to the American voter. It was a superb move. Most Americans knew little about Johnson as he had avoided the spotlight for the seven years he had served in Congress, staying in the shadows of his more powerful colleague, Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip.
At the time, Johnson seemed remarkably ill-informed about Ukraine. He repeated the moderate GOP positions of Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Chris Christie by asserting that “President Putin should not be allowed to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t believe it would stop there—and it would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan.”
The idea that Putin will continue his aggression beyond Ukraine is nonsense. We dedicated an entire editorial to the topic and showed that the claim is nothing more than military-industrial-complex-speak to aid more forever wars. We have repeatedly argued in these pages that it is not dignified for Washington to let a much-weaker Ukraine sacrifice its citizens’ lives and become fodder to the Russian onslaught simply so that America can modernize its weapons inventories and weaken Russia’s military might. Providing more weapons to Ukraine now (not to mention funds to pay Ukrainian government salaries and pensions) will only extend the carnage and killing.
But while Johnson stalled pressure for six months from Biden and the Uni party forces from around the world bent on funding Ukraine, the Speaker finally caved on Friday. According to the New York Times, Johnson vowed, “We’re going to get this done,” after he joined congressional leaders in meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister in the Capitol on Thursday morning. The Japanese leader also ardently supports America sending aid to Ukraine.
The Speaker has tried to have it both ways to appease conservative members of his caucus, which enjoys only a one-vote majority today. Rather than sending a free check to Ukraine, Johnson said he would draft the aid as an interest-free loan, an idea even President Trump has disappointingly suggested. We are astounded that the titular heads of the GOP—Trump and Johnson—who met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday would even propose something so unrealistic. Do Americans believe that Ukraine will ever repay the loan?
Another controversial idea Johnson floated was to confiscate Russian assets to fund Ukraine. We see several problems with this proposal, some so severe that America’s global standing could be directly affected.
- Confiscating assets without legal justification would be a violation of international law and could provoke a strong response from Russia.
- Many Russian assets are held in third-party countries, and it would be difficult to determine which can be confiscated. Such action could harm the interests of these third-party countries with Russia and other countries and provoke a diplomatic backlash.
- Russia is an export powerhouse and could retaliate by stopping its grain, oil, fertilizer, and chemicals exports to countries that participate in the asset confiscation initiative. This would create havoc in the world’s supply chain and destabilize the international financial system.
- There is also the risk that confiscation could provoke military action from Russia beyond Ukraine’s borders, escalating the conflict and undermining efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
- Confiscating a sovereign state’s assets involves moral and ethical issues. Global South countries could see the action as aggression, and the reputational harm to perpetrator countries could be sizable.
- The U.S. dollar could continue to lose its shine as the world’s international reserve currency if U.S. foreign policy is seen to weaponize the dollar even more through the sanctions regime.
Besides, the funding mechanism is not the issue here. The larger question is whether America should fund Ukraine at all and do anything that would help prolong the war. Our latest TIPP poll shows that most Americans want the war to end.
We fail to understand why our leaders do not appreciate that the Russia-Ukraine war has created havoc worldwide and must stop. Over 500,000 people have died, over 12 million Ukrainians have been displaced, large parts of Europe have been impoverished, the Russia-China-Iran-North Korea axis has strengthened, and America’s global reputation has significantly fallen, even more now, given the way war in the Middle East is escalating.
For Americans who oppose funding Ukraine, there are still a few procedural minefields ahead that could sink Johnson’s proposal. The language in the Senate and the House should be identical for any legislation to become law that the President can sign.
If Johnson puts forward House legislation to provide aid to Ukraine with policy riders attached, such as confiscating Russian assets or disbursing the funds as loans, ideas that are anathema to Democrats who want a “clean” funding bill, the Democratic party could defeat the bill by teaming up with House conservatives who oppose Ukraine funding. Even if it passed the House, such a bill would die on arrival in the Schumer-controlled Senate.
Fearing such a loss, another option that Johnson has floated is to take up the already-passed Senate behemoth of a bill that includes $95.3 billion of deficit spending. It provides $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion in security assistance for Israel, $9.2 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza, and $4.8 billion to support regional partners in the Indo-Pacific region. But many Democrats in the House who support funding Ukraine are repelled by the idea of sending military aid to Israel six months into a war that Tel Aviv has prosecuted in Gaza. If House conservatives team up with sufficient members of the Democratic Left, they could defeat the Senate measure in the House.
It is astonishing how much of our tax dollars are consuming our legislators’ time and energy to support a foreign nation when America is facing a $34.5 trillion debt bill. America would be far better off if our leaders instead took time to address serious problems our country faces – such as an economy teetering on stagflation, rampant illegal immigration, and unlivable conditions in our big cities.
Sadly, Speaker Johnson, too, has caved and joined the Beltway crowd to promote forever wars in foreign nations.
ICYMI
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Media Steps Up Americans’ Guilt Trip About Ukraine
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. Gaza Refugees Traveling Home ‘Turned Back’ – UPI
Thousands of Palestinians, including men, women, children, and elderly people, reportedly came under fire while returning to their homes in northern Gaza, many of them displaced since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7th, 2023.
This is the first time war refugees have begun heading back to Gaza in such large numbers. Some of the travelers said they heard the Israeli military was allowing women and children to return, and others said their relatives were allowed to cross over. The Israeli Defense Force said the reports were false.
2. Iran’s Attack On Israel: UN Warns Region ‘On The Brink’ – D.W.
The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting after Iran’s aerial attack on Israel.
“The Middle East is on the brink. The region’s people are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on the 15-member council to condemn Iran, reimpose sanctions, and designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terror organization. Iran’s ambassador repeated Tehran’s claim that it was responding in “self-defense” after the April 1 explosion at its Damascus consulate in Syria.
3. Biden Tells Israel’s Netanyahu U.S. Would Not Take Part In Attack Against Iran – Reuters
In a statement issued late on Saturday following the attacks, Biden said he told Netanyahu that Israel had “demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks.”
John Kirby, the White House’s top national security spokesperson, told ABC’s “This Week” program that the United States will continue to help Israel defend itself but does not want war with Iran.
4. U.S. Denies Iran Gave 72 Hours’ Notice Of Attack On Israel – Reuters
Turkish, Jordanian, and Iraqi officials said that Iran gave wide notice days before its drone and missile attack on Israel. Still, U.S. officials said Tehran did not warn Washington and that it was aiming to cause significant damage.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that Iran gave neighboring countries and Israeli allies, the United States, 72 hours’ notice it would launch the strikes.
“Iran said the reaction would be a response to Israel’s attack on its embassy in Damascus and that it would not go beyond this. We were aware of the possibilities. The developments were not a surprise,” said a Turkish diplomatic source.
5. Ukraine: Iran, Russia ‘Spreading Terror,’ Kyiv Says – D.W.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned Iran’s wave of drone and missile launches against Israel, drawing comparisons with Russia’s continued strikes on Ukraine.
He called for the international community to tackle the “obvious collaboration” between Moscow and Tehran.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine accused Russia of planning an imminent false flag operation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by making Ukraine look responsible for whatever happened at the plant.
6. U.S., Beijing Aim To Boost Number Of American Students In China – A.P.
Officials from both countries agree that more should be done to encourage student exchanges at a time when Beijing and Washington can hardly agree on anything else.
For its part, Beijing is rebuilding programs for international students that were shuttered during the pandemic, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited tens of thousands of U.S. high school students to visit.
7. Solomon Islands Polls To Test China’s Influence – AFP
Solomon Islanders will head to the polls this week, voting in an election that promises to bolster or blunt China’s regional ambitions, with security consequences that will ripple far beyond the Pacific nation’s palm-fringed shores.
The archipelago, one of the world’s least-developed countries, is the unlikely focal point of a diplomatic scramble pitting a rising China against Western rivals. The Solomon Islands has veered into China’s orbit under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who inked a secret security pact with Beijing in 2022.
8. China Responsible For 95% Of New Coal Power Construction In 2023, Report Says – Carbon Brief
While global coal power capacity – both overall and outside China – grew in 2023, Global Energy Monitor (GEM) says this will likely be a “blip” offset by accelerating coal retirements in the next few years in the U.S. and Europe.
Other key findings of the annual report include that construction of coal-fired power plants globally – excluding China – declined for the second year. However, coal power plant retirements were also at the lowest level since 2011.
9. North Korea Has Likely Finished Spy Satellite Launch Preparations: Report – Kyodo News
North Korea seems to have finished preparations for the launch of its second reconnaissance satellite, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency has reported.
A joint assessment by South Korea and the United States shows “it is possible the launch will take place this week given the ongoing maintenance of facilities” at a new launch site, the source was quoted as saying. The source added that the launch is likely to coincide with a major North Korean political event scheduled for this month.
10. Paris Hosts Sudan Aid Conference One Year After The Start Of Brutal Civil War – RFI
France and Germany are hosting a conference in Paris to raise funds for victims of the civil war in Sudan that began on 15 April 2023.
The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has sparked widespread hunger in the country after destroying infrastructure and markets and displacing more than eight million people.
11. Income Inequality Up In 60% Of Nations With IMF, World Bank Loans: Report – NDTV
An analysis by Oxfam International has revealed that a massive 60 percent of all countries receiving grants or loans from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are witnessing high or increasing income inequality.
The non-profit said that of 106 such countries, income inequality is either high or rising in 64. Income inequality is high in 42 countries, including Ghana, Honduras, and Mozambique, and has risen in 37 countries over the past decade, including Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Zambia.
12. Apple Loses Top Phonemaker Spot To Samsung As iPhone Shipments Drop – Reuters
The iPhone maker’s steep sales decline follows its strong December quarter performance when it overtook Samsung as the world’s No.1 phone maker.
Samsung, with a 20.8% market share, clinched the top phone maker spot from Apple. Apple, in the second spot, has a 17.3% market share, while Xiaomi, one of China’s top smartphone makers, occupies the third position with a 14.1% market share.
13. Exercise At Night For Biggest Benefit — If You Fall Into This Group – New York Post
Researchers in Australia, who published their work in the journal Diabetes Care, examined data from nearly 30,000 people over eight years and found that for those living with obesity, nighttime movement between 6 p.m. and midnight tended to be the most beneficial.
“We didn’t discriminate on the kind of activity we tracked; it could be anything from power walking to climbing the stairs, but could also include structured exercise such as running, occupational labor or even vigorously cleaning the house,” Dr. Matthew Ahmadi, National Heart Foundation postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney,
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
