Reuters is reporting:
Billions of dollars in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan should easily win approval in the U.S. Senate this week, after the House of Representatives abruptly ended a months-long stalemate and approved the assistance in a rare Saturday session.
The Senate on Tuesday will take up the package of four bills passed by the House, one providing $61 billion for Ukraine, a second with $26 billion for Israel, a third with $8.12 billion “to counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific and a fourth that includes a potential ban on the social media app TikTok, measures for the transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine and new sanctions on Iran.
The Bill still has to pass the Senate. Mike Lee of Utah is calling for 41 senators to join together and defeat the Bill by filibuster.
“Razor-thin Republican majority” = Democrats get everything they want.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 21, 2024
“Razor-thin Democrat majority” = Democrats get everything they want. https://t.co/DPnf6YzY5q
Here’s Grok on the topic:
Senator Mike Lee is actively rallying Senate Republicans to unite in opposition to a $95 billion foreign aid package intended for Ukraine and Israel. This package, which has already been passed by the House, is facing significant resistance from Lee and other Republicans who believe it to be a misguided allocation of funds, especially during a time when domestic issues like border security require urgent attention.
Lee’s opposition is rooted in several concerns. Firstly, he argues that the aid package lacks sufficient oversight and is an example of wasteful spending by the government. He and his supporters believe that the funds could be better utilized in addressing pressing domestic issues, such as border security. Additionally, Lee has expressed concerns about the lack of accountability and transparency in how the aid would be used in Ukraine and Israel.
The call for 41 senators to oppose the bill is strategic. In the U.S. Senate, a group of 41 senators can block legislation through a filibuster. By rallying 41 senators to oppose the bill, Lee and his supporters hope to prevent its passage, effectively killing the aid package.
What should we be doing? Not this.
Allocating $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan will have a huge impact on the U.S. economy, military readiness, and domestic issues.
Let’s face it, the funds allocated for foreign aid do not “really exist,” as we can see by the nation’s growing $35T debt and the strain servicing that debt places on the economy. We cannot afford to be generous overseas anymore, especially when domestic issues like poverty, homelessness, and border security require our urgent attention. Pax Americana will have to wait.
It’s short-sighted. This foreign aid package diverts resources away from our U.S. military, leaving it unable to meet its own needs for materiel and manpower. We are weakening our military position in a time of massive global uncertainty that stretches from the Middle East to China to Russia.
Furthermore, the aid package does not address pressing domestic issues like the drugs, trafficking and overwhelming influx of needy illegal immigrants at the southern border and the needs of the American people, particularly our veterans, our seniors, our poor, our working-poor and the homeless. We should prioritize these people before sending billions of dollars overseas to suit the aims of the international military complex and their obsession with perpetual war.