Posted on 08/02/2017 8:48:18 AM PDT by Jane Long
President Trump on Wednesday signed a bill imposing sanctions on Russia, after the legislation overwhelmingly passed the House and Senate.
The stiff financial sanctions were championed by lawmakers in both parties, and Trump's signature could escalate tensions with Moscow -- which already has ordered a reduction in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia.
The bill itself targets Iran and North Korea as well as Russia.
But a cornerstone of the legislation was a provision barring Trump from easing or waiving the additional penalties on Russia unless Congress agrees. The provisions were included to assuage concerns among lawmakers that the president's push for better relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin might lead him to relax the penalties without first securing concessions from the Kremlin.
Trump made clear his concerns about such provisions in a written statement released by the White House on Wednesday. He said while he favors “tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilizing behavior” in all three countries, “this legislation is significantly flawed.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I think that’s already been happening. Last I heard.
You know who really looks weak? House Republicans look like a bunch of pansies.
And the press would’ve totally misrepresented that.
Both parties got political cover by tying Iran, North Korea and Russia sanctions together. Everybody’s base of support gets covered. That’s how the votes could be 419-3 and 98-2. What the Democrats really wanted was a way to force the president to acknowledge Russian interference in the election. They got that with President Trump’s signature on the bill.
It was wrong to sign it.
Exactly. He should have just let it become law without his signature.
A good start, hit these drunken barbarian invaders hard!
“Ironic that our Congressional oligarchs are ‘hitting Putin’ for the exact same things they seem to be guilty of.”
But that’s different.;-) The hypocrisy and double standards while an obvious characteristic of the left doesn’t stop with them.
Any country that exposes USA political corruption and gamesmanship deserves a big medal, not sanctions.
Good thing America would never interfere with the election in a foreign nation
“And the press would’ve totally misrepresented that”
So the media can control our actions by threatening to lie about us?
Now just a cotton pickin’ minit here. Let’s be fair. Corruption, check. Sale of weapons, check. Human rights abuses? You mean yelling at Congressional interns for getting their lunch orders wrong? Or transferring ex-sex-toys to work at the Pentagon? I don’t think it equates to jailing dissenters. But anyway, close enough.
When it comes to repealing Obamacare they can't get their act together, but as soon as they find an issue they can march lockstep with Democrats on, they suddenly find their courage.
The Democrats were Pro-Putin when Republicans were Anti-Putin, and became anti-Putin as soon as a Republican President started talking about improving relations with Russia. As usual, the official political position of liberal Democrats is not based on any firm principles, just on empty posturing and subject to change on moment's notice.
Equally telling is the fact that Congressional Republicans can't get their act together as a majority to repeal Obamacare, but suddenly manage to work well together as soon as there's a chance to agree with Democrats. Congress is run by a bad mix of sleaze and spinelessness.
In my own view, the possible fallout from this bill ranges from bad to catastrophic and it is all but inconceivable to me that a Republican Senator or Congressman could have voted for the bill. Aside from every other kind of evil which could arise from this bill, there is the question of how it's near unanimous passage will be viewed by the American people. In particular, the tens of millions of voters who supported Trump could easily believe that bribery or blackmail are in play with major damage to the Republican Party; there would be no corresponding backlash amongst Democrat voting blocks for obvious reasons.
The main intent of this bill is to force Europeans to purchase expensive US LNG shipped across the ocean rather than inexpensiv Russian NG from a pipeline. There is also the possibility that they are trying to prevent some sort of an oil/gas derivatives blowout which could take the Western financial system down...
Yes that WAS really slimy lumping together.
No kidding and wouldn’t expect any more from Democrats, but their voters can’t be that obtuse, can they?
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