Posted on 10/29/2023 9:14:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
One of the few specific requests I publicly posted for Mike Johnson as his vote to be the new Speaker was approaching was for him to commit to separating the three foreign aid requests that Joe Biden and many members of Congress had constructed to force them all together into a “must pass” bill. While I never saw him make that exact promise during the nomination process, it now appears that my wish will be granted. We haven’t seen a specific bill yet, but Johnson’s first move was to pass an endorsement of Israel and a denouncement of Hamas terrorism, which was a good sign. He will also need to get some sort of spending measures passed to keep the government open or we’ll be right back where we were without a Speaker. Hopefully, nobody will pull a fire alarm this time.
Looking at you, Congressman Bowman. (Associated Press)
By Nov. 17, the Congress must fund the government again or risk a federal shutdown. President Joe Biden wants an additional $105 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Israel and Ukraine. And Republicans are eager to resume their impeachment inquiry into Biden over his son’s business dealings.
“This has been a grueling process,” Johnson said Wednesday after he took the gavel. “The challenge before us is great but the time for action is now, and I will not let you down.”
While Johnson has spoken of the importance of helping fund Israel in the fight against Hamas, he has shown little interest in providing additional money for Ukraine as it battles Russia into the brutal winter months.
Most Republicans voted against the budget deal McCarthy struck with Biden earlier this year, demanding steeper spending cuts than the levels they agreed to. Johnson will need to navigate the far-right demands with the realities of keeping the government functioning.
It’s still very early to say how this will go, but I watched Hannity’s interview with Johnson (which I’ll embed below) and I will say that I was quite impressed. He seems to keep an even keel and doesn’t blow a fuse when he’s hit with criticism. And he’s been getting a ton of it from Democrats and most of the legacy media, beginning even before he swung the gavel for the first time. He’s been called everything from the usual “mega-MAGA” label to a radical antiabortionist.
Johnson addressed all of those things and more during his first interview. He definitely was (and remains) a supporter and ally of Trump and he questioned the handling and the outcome of the 2020 election. He has always been pro-life, but he said he approved of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Roe and feels that it is now appropriate for the states to deal with the question as each sees fit. When asked if he was considering any sort of federal abortion ban, he said he was not.
We should be seeing the aid package for Israel coming along soon enough. Based on his comments, I won’t be surprised if a Ukraine aid package shows up as well. And I really won’t be all that upset if it does. I simply feel that it’s more important for each of the aid packages – even potentially one for Gaza if it can somehow be kept out the pockets of Hamas (unlikely) – have their own vote with all members going on the record as to where they stand. If a majority want all of the packages to go through, then so be it. But any future aid to Ukraine should be lashed to requirements for an audit of where all the money has gone thus far and a full accounting of the ongoing corruption issues that country is plagued with, starting at the top.
Mike Johnson is taking the Speakership at one of the most chaotic moments in the country’s history. And I don’t feel like it’s any sort of exaggeration or hyperbole to say that. We’re teetering on the brink of multiple potential foreign wars while we face a literal invasion over our southern border and rampant inflation and crime issues at home. There may not be a way for anyone in the position of Speaker of the House to meaningfully address all of those problems while Democrats still control the Senate and the White House. But we at least need someone who can manage the task of stopping the situation from degrading further. From the little we’ve seen thus far, Mike Johnson may just be the right person to face that task. Let’s pray that he is.
Here’s the interview I mentioned in case you missed it. Definitely worth a look.
AIPAC-—American Israel Public Affairs Committee
U.S. Security Assistance to Israel-—Briefing Book
The United States has long defined Israel’s survival and security as important to its own national interests. Israel helps the United States meet its growing security challenges through close cooperation and a range of innovative technologies. Through executive commitment and legislative action, America provides Israel with annual security assistance that helps the Middle East’s only democracy defend itself—by itself—against mounting security threats.
History and Terms
The United States has supported Israel politically since its reestablishment in 1948. But it was not until the late 1960s that it began to regularly provide security assistance to the Jewish state. Since then, America has consistently provided Israel with security assistance to help it stay strong and deter its enemies.
U.S. security assistance to Israel promotes our national security and our economy, and helps our ally defend itself against growing threats.
Security Assistance: By means of its annual foreign aid, U.S. security assistance to Israel is the most tangible manifestation of American support for the Jewish state. Assistance primarily takes the form of funding for Israel to purchase the arms needed to defend itself from its adversaries.
QME: A core element of U.S. policy is to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME)—the ability to counter and defeat any credible conventional military threat while sustaining minimal damages and casualties. In 2008, Congress wrote America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s QME into law and required the president to continually assess whether it is being maintained.
Memoranda of Understanding: In 1998, the United States and Israel signed their first 10-year “Memorandum of Agreement on Security Cooperation” to increase security assistance to Israel while phasing out economic aid. Under the agreement, the United States committed to providing Israel $21.3 billion in security assistance. In 2016, America committed to provide $38 billion under a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Serving American Interests
U.S. provides security assistance to key allies around the world. Current law ensures this aid can only be used for “internal security, for legitimate self-defense.”
Anchor of Stability: In an increasingly uncertain Middle East, Israel is the one stable democratic ally upon which America can consistently depend. Cooperation between the two countries in intelligence, homeland security, missile defense and counterterrorism has helped the United States meet its growing security challenges. U.S. support for Israel helps deter regional conflict by making clear to potential foes that they cannot defeat the Jewish state.
Israeli Innovation: As a result of the strong friendship between Israel and the United States, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. military share technologies and techniques that greatly benefit both nations.
Israel has pioneered cutting-edge technologies in cyber defense, unmanned vehicles, sensors and electronic warfare systems, and advanced defenses for military vehicles. In addition, Israeli battlefield medical technologies have saved countless American lives. The innovative use of U.S. military equipment by the IDF, coupled with shared know-how, has helped the U.S. military improve its own equipment and tactics.
Stockpiles: Established in the 1980s, the War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel program consists of up to $3.4 billion of U.S.-owned and -managed weapons and equipment stored in Israel for use by the U.S. military. The IDF may access these reserves during emergencies, if authorized by the U.S. government.
Crucial to Israel’s Security
Mounting Threats: The ongoing instability gripping the region directly threatens the Jewish state. To its north, Israel faces Hezbollah in Lebanon and a growing Iranian presence in Syria; to its south, Israel faces Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza while ISIS-affiliated terrorists roam the Sinai Peninsula; to its west, militant terrorist groups are gaining strength in the West Bank. Israel’s greatest threat remains Iran, which is attempting to surround the Jewish state with terrorist proxies while developing the capability to produce nuclear weapons.
Increasing Costs: To deal with the region’s mounting threats, Israel—a tiny nation the geographic size of New Jersey—has been forced to spend more on defense as a percentage of its GDP than any other nation in the industrialized world. The rising costs of advanced weaponry only compound Israel’s challenges. For example, a single F-35I “Adir” Joint Strike Fighter will cost Israel more than twice that of an F-16I fighter jet purchased under the first U.S.-Israel aid agreement in 1998.
THE WAY FORWARD
As part of its strategic alliance with Israel, the United States has agreed to provide security assistance through 10-year MOUs. Beginning in 2019, the new MOU stipulates an annual sum of $3.3 billion in foreign military funding and $500 million for cooperative missile defense. Congress must now fulfill this commitment by legislating full funding as called for in the MOU. Congress must also work to expand joint innovation, ensure Israel’s QME and consider upgrades to the value of U.S. stockpiles in Israel.
Click here to view a downloadable PDF: https://aipacorg.box.com/s/uawwyq8z73mxoejdgm3ozy66jn7bvygk
Biden and the Democrats are OK with arming foreign countries but grabbing guns from Americans is an obsession w/ them. The same “Congress” that gleefully tramples 2A rights, is hell bent on supplying weapons to foreign countries.
Not content w/ the mega billions already in his pocket, Zelensky now says
he wants US tax dollars to Ukraine “according to the Israeli model”......here’s what he means:
Congressional Research Service
US Foreign aid to Israel
60 page detailed report
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL33222/44
The concerned Israeli lobby made sure Congress is required by law to ensure that U.S. military aid in the Middle East region doesn’t damage Israel’s military superiority over its neighbors. That requirement enjoys broad bipartisan support and has served as a benchmark for ensuring Israel receives robust U.S. support.
Biden keeps gaslighting Americans about the “need” for
American foreign aid tax dollars to Ukraine and Israel.
Here’s why they DONT need it:
About $113.1 billion in tax dollars were authorized in 2022 for Ukraine, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Most of it–about $67.1 billion–was defense-related. The other $46 billion included:
<><>$26.9 billion for economic support;
<><>$7.9 billion for international disaster assistance;
<><>$6.6 billion in assistance for refugees;
<><>$1.5 billion for assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia;
<><>plus $3.1 billion for other non-defense spending.
US tax dollars helped Ukraine
<><>pay the salaries of 618,000 educators, 517,000 health workers, and 56,500 first responders
<><>helped sustain critical healthcare services,
<><>helped meet pension responsibilities for 9.8 million people,
<><>assisted 1.3 million internally displaced persons,
<><>provided housing assistance to 4.1 million people,
<><>provided social assistance to 240,000 low-income families
<><>helped subsidize 480,000 persons with disabilities,
<><>bought supplies for farmers,
<><>financed finding markets for small business.
Backstory: Since 1973, Israel has received more than $120 billion US tax
dollars in MILITARY assistance alone, including “three special aid” packages.
<><>billions for signing the Israel-Egypt peace treaty
<><>billions for Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai.
<><>billions for redeployment of Israeli forces
<><>rebuilding Israeli air bases in the Negev cost $5 billion.
Besides weaponry, Israel also receives economic and humanitarian foreign aid, which supports broad economic development and sociopolitical stability and can include non-military support related to the country’s pressing security needs.
Bttt
Ukraine is another matter entirely. Nearly two years in, the objective is open-ended and far from attainable, if not impossible. Their military is rudimentary, ill-equipped and ill-trained, even now. The number of weapons systems are far more expensive, and have not proven consistently effective in use. Johnson is 100% correct to separate the funding.
Some were UPSET the House was shut down for a few days b/c we weren’t sending your tax dollars to foreign countries fast enough. The same “Congress” that gleefully tramples 2A rights, is hell bent on supplying weapons to foreign countries.
whitehouse.gov
MARCH 16, 2022
Briefing Room
Fact Sheet of MARCH 16, 2022-——U.S. Security Assistance for Ukraine
President Biden today, MARCH 16, 2022, announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine to $1 billion in just the past week, and a total of $2 billion since the start of the Biden Administration.
The assistance will take the form of direct transfers of equipment from the Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them defend their country against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion.
The MARCH 16, 2022 new $800 million assistance package includes:
800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;
2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons,
6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems;
100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;
100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns;
Over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds;
25,000 sets of body armor; and
25,000 helmets.
In addition to the MARCH 16, 2022 weapons listed above, previous US assistance committed to Ukraine includes:
Over 600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;
Approximately 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems;
Five Mi-17 helicopters;
Three patrol boats;
Four counter-artillery and counter-unmanned aerial system tracking radars;
Four counter-mortar radar systems;
200 grenade launchers and ammunition;
200 shotguns and 200 machine guns;
Nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition
Over 1 million grenade, mortar, and artillery rounds;
70 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and other vehicles;
Secure communications, electronic warfare detection systems,
Body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear;
Military medical equipment to support treatment and combat evacuation;
Explosive ordnance disposal and de-mining equipment; and
Satellite imagery and analysis capability.
In addition to the U.S.-produced short-range air defense systems the Ukrainians have been using to great effect, the United States has also identified and is helping the Ukrainians acquire additional, longer-range systems on which Ukraine’s forces are already trained, as well as additional munitions for those systems.
The United States continues to expedite the authorization and facilitation of additional assistance to Ukraine from our Allies. At least 30 countries have provided security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.
In 2022, the Department of State authorized third-party transfers of defensive equipment from more than 14 countries, a number that continues to grow as Allies and Partners increase support to Ukraine.
###
defense.gov
Immediate Release
Oct 26, 2023
Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for Ukraine
Today, Oct 26, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs.
This announcement is the Biden Administration’s forty-ninth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
This Oct 26, 2023 package includes additional air defense capabilities, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia’s ongoing war of aggression and fight for its independence and freedom.
This package utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine during prior fiscal years under Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) that remained after the PDA revaluation process concluded in June. This security assistance package is another visible signal of the United States’ continued commitment to supporting the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression.
The United States remains committed to working with Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs, and the Biden Administration calls on Congress to meet its commitment to the people of Ukraine by passing additional funding to ensure Ukraine continues to have what it needs to defend itself against Russia’s brutal war of choice.
Security assistance for Ukraine is a smart investment in our national security. It helps to prevent a larger conflict in the region and deter potential aggression elsewhere, while strengthening our defense industrial base and creating highly skilled jobs for the American people.
The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $150 million, include:
• Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
• AIM-9M missiles for air defense;
• Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
• Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
• Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
• Javelin anti-armor systems;
• More than 2 million rounds of small arms ammunition;
• Night vision devices;
• Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing;
• Cold weather gear; and
• Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.
We’ve had an annual ‘budget crisis’ for over 20 years, i.e. our govt. cannot do what most American families manage to do: match spending with income.
Well, a big part of the problem is because the US congress & executive is “Diamond Jim” Brady when it comes to giving away our treasure (and military material), sometimes to our enemies.
We are at the point now where America spends more in the national budget servicing the public debt than it does on our armed forces. This is outrageous. Can you imagine a household spending more to pay credit card interest than on the mortgage and groceries?
But yeah, in their next breath these brassbound, fierce defenders of the borders of every country in the world—save One—have the temerity to propose “buying back” our personal firearms ... with public tax dollars.
“And, uhh, let’s make it mandatory (gulp).”
Paging Thomas Paine.
Hamas got us involved in this when they killed and kidnapped Americans.
finance.yahoo.com
Reporting by Steven Scheer and Ari Rabinovitch
Editing by Bernadette Baum
Sun, October 29, 2023
Israel’s Leading Businessman urges Netanyahu be replaced immediately
Netanyahu causes uproar; says intel chiefs never warned him of attack plans
JERUSALEM, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The head of self-driving auto technologies firm Mobileye and one of Israel’s leading businessmen, Amnon Shashua, on Sunday urged the immediate ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
Shashua, in a high-profile public rebuke from Israel’s private sector, said Netanyahu’s government was guilty of “failures, dissonance and incompetence” since Hamas gunmen crossed from Gaza in a deadly rampage of southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7.
“We must cut our losses and do it quickly. The only solution to the current situation in Israel is to replace the government, and it needs to happen immediately,” Shashua wrote in an opinion piece in financial daily Calcalist.
Netanyahu caused his own uproar on Sunday by taking a jab at his intelligence chiefs, saying they never warned him Hamas was planning its attack, but later retracted his comments and issued an apology.
Netanyahu’s office, asked by Reuters, declined to comment on Shashua’s editorial.
The government, Shashua said, which seemed more concerned about its political survival than “the good of the country,” could be replaced without calling a new election, minimizing political turmoil, with the formation of a new coalition within the current parliament.
Netanyahu has not taken responsibility over intelligence and operational failures, saying only that there would be time to ask tough questions, including of himself, after the war.
Israeli officials have said events leading up to and including the handling of the Hamas attack would be investigated, but that the current focus was on the conflict.
Shashua co-founded Mobileye firm in 1999. It was bought by Intel in 2017 for $15.3 billion and last year again went public. He also founded One Zero digital bank and AI firm AI21 Labs.
If true, then this is the first encouraging sign that maybe we will have some oversight of that vast money laundering scheme that they call Ukraine funding.
The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money is being spent, and what is being done in their name.
Separating the spending bills and not allowing the money to be diverted by the America-hating elites in the swamp is the very first step this new Speaker should demand and commit to, no matter the dire threats of terrible consequences by the corrupt swamp.
If we can’t repeal the 17th amendment to the Constitution and return the US Senate to its proper role, then we can at least starve the lobbyists that have been stealing our tax money and bankrupting the country by demanding no more omnibus bills. That’s how they hide the corruption, by bundling everything together into one, massive bill that nobody has the time to read, while they run out the clock with last minute scare tactics.
Stand alone bills with strict oversight and forensic auditing will serve as a temporary substitute, but the 17th amendment MUST BE REPEALED or nothing will change, and the vultures will return.
$67.1 billion “defense related” support to Ukraine may have been authorized in 2022, but now 5/6th’s of the way through 2023,
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12040
a bit under $50 billion has actually been committed, with not all of that yet sent.
Don’t get me wrong, ~$50 billion is still a nice chunk of change, but, exaggerating does not help the argument when accurate numbers are not that hard to find.
$50 billion over 2 years is actually pretty weak support for a war this size... OTOH, Trump’s policy of not looking weak in the 1st place and thereby deterring Pooty would have been vastly preferable.
You know that’s all fine and daddy, but the first order of business should be closing the F@CKING boarder. If you don’t do something ,we are sooo screwed!
About 6 months ago, the House passed a bill under McCarthy called the "Secure the Border Act". It was introduced in the Senate by Cruz.
It's very comprehensive. It needs Senate approval and Biden's signature.
The entire bill is on line.
It could be used for leverage....not against Israel but definitely against Ukraine.
.........these fierce defenders of the borders of every country in the world—save One—
have the temerity to propose “buying back” our personal firearms ... with our own tax dollars.......
Don’t you get it?
The amount is secondary to what it was used for.
newsweek.com
Oct 28, 2023
By James Bickerton
US News Reporter
Joe Biden’s Impeachment is Looking More Likely
It is “very likely” that President Biden has committed impeachable offenses, according to Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson said that the evidence suggested impeachable offenses had been committed, but he added that he will follow due process. Johnson said: “The reason we shifted to the impeachment inquiry stage on the president himself was because if, in fact, all the evidence leads to where we believe it will, that’s very likely impeachable offenses.
“That’s listed as a cause for impeachment in the constitution; bribery and other crimes and misdemeanours. Bribery’s listed there, and it looks and smells a lot like that. We’re going to follow the truth wherever it leads. We’re going to engage in due process because, again, we’re the rule of law party,” he said. “I know people are getting anxious and they’re getting restless and they just want somebody to be impeached, but we don’t do that like the other team. We have to base it on the evidence,” added Johnson.
Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican representative who introduced the motion to vacate that saw McCarthy become the first speaker in U.S. history to be removed from office, had described the impeachment inquiry as a “failure theater.” Speaking to Politico, he said: “I don’t believe that the impeachment effort under Kevin McCarthy was intended to convict Joe Biden as much as it was to save Kevin McCarthy.” However, Gaetz added that he had greater confidence about the impeachment process under Johnson. He said that the new speaker will “approach this like a lawyer” rather than “a desperate person trying to cling to power.”
On October 20, Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer shared an image of a $200,000 check sent to Joe Biden by his brother James Biden in 2018. Comer said that James Biden had received “shady” loans totaling $600,000 from a hospital firm. They were based on claims that his family name could help secure a “large investment from the Middle East.”
Biden has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and White House spokesperson Ian Sams said: “House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. His own GOP members have said so.” However, on X, formerly Twitter, Sams posted that the money was clearly marked as a loan repayment. The White House oversight and investigations spokesperson wrote: “Comer is pretty desperate to try to distract from Republicans’ speaker mess. “It’s a loan repayment from when President Biden loaned his brother money. When he was out of office in 2018, no less. It’s right there on the check!” Sams added.
😁 .... Stand up and be counted one way or another, and be SEEN to do so.
FREEZE ALL MONEY SENT TO UKRAINE. OR TERRORIST NATIONS. WE ARE NOT THEIR PIGGYBANK.
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