Posted on 04/15/2024 4:50:02 PM PDT by McGruff
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday unveiled a proposal for sending wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine as he seeks to fend off a right-wing revolt that could put his leadership in peril.
The Louisiana Republican said he plans to put four separate bills on the floor, separating aid for Israel with assistance for Ukraine, which has faced fierce pushback among some members of his conference. A third measure includes aid for Taiwan and the final bill addresses other Republican foreign policy demands.
"We won't be voting on the Senate supplemental in its current form, but we will vote on each of these measures separately in four different pieces," Johnson told reporters after meeting with House Republicans.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“Me, too,” whines Zelensky.
Biden set to sell up to 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel for $18 billion
Biggest arms handout to Tel Aviv since start of war against Hamas’ Oct 7 attack
Daily Mail ^ | April 1, 2024 | Nick Allen
Posted on 4/2/2024, 9:49:12 AM by Angelino97
The White House is set to approve an $18 billion arms sale to Israel including several dozen F-15 fighter planes. It would be the biggest arms sale by Washington to Tel Aviv since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas on October 7. The sale has been under consideration since the United States received a formal request in January 2023.
Speeding up the delivery was among the main requests from Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he visited Washington last week. Gallant held talks with U.S. officials including Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The F-15s need to be built and would not arrive in Israel for several years. Israel wants to increase its air power not just to fight Hamas but to deter the threat from Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah.
The military package includes a large number of F-15 aircraft, aircraft munitions and support services, training, maintenance, and many years of contractor support during the lifecycle of the aircraft, which could be up to two decades. CNN reported that the agreement may include up to 50 F-15s.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Zelensky’s a pro at manipulating public opinion to get his greedy hands on our tax dollars.
CASE IN POINT
President Trump mentioned the possibility of turning tax dollar billions for Ukraine into a “loan. “
Rotflol......Zelensky knows that routine. Its already been tried.
Few years back, billions more of our tax dollars to Israel were handed out———designated a “loan.”
But Israel got its lobbies to manhandle Congress.
The battered, bruised Congress sap-happily passed a law turning the “loan” into a “gift.”
politico.com
Dems press Blinken on ‘highly unusual’ Israel weapons moves
Nineteen lawmakers want to know why the State Department approved two arms sales to Israel without congressional approval.
CONNOR O’BRIEN, 01/29/2024
Democratic lawmakers are seeking answers from the Biden administration over its decision to greenlight a pair of recent arms sales to Israel without congressional approval.
Nineteen Democrats called the State Department’s decision to unilaterally approve two emergency sales to Israel move “highly unusual” in a letter sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday and obtained by POLITICO. It highlights a growing divide among Democrats, as progressives especially criticize how President Joe Biden has responded to Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
The lawmakers pressed for details about why the emergency sales were needed, which sidestepped the typical process that requires congressional approval, and any steps taken to mitigate civilian harm.
“It is essential for Congress to be able to conduct oversight of these arms transfers and determine whether they are consistent with humanitarian principles and U.S. law, and whether they advance or harm U.S. national security,” the lawmakers wrote, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
“We appreciate that your administration has repeatedly urged the Israeli government to take additional steps to reduce civilian casualties,” the group said to Blinken. “However, we are concerned that these transfers and the administration’s evasion of congressional oversight may be inconsistent with broader U.S. foreign policy goals.”
It’s not the first time the Biden administration has faced open intraparty pushback over how it has handled Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and mounting Palestinian civilian deaths. Biden immediately faced criticism from Democrats for leaving Congress out of the loop on the two arms sales to Israel. The chairs and ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees typically must sign off on foreign weapons sales.
The State Department in December used an emergency designation to approve the sale of 14,000 tank shells to Israel valued at $106 million. That same month, it used the same process to approve a sale of primers, fuzes and charges for Israel’s 155mm artillery shells previously sold by the U.S. The sale of the shells and added equipment totaled $147 million.
State Department officials have defended the move to expedite the sales, noting they have also used the mechanism to speed up weapons transfers for Ukraine, an argument that clearly didn’t sway certain members of Congress.
The Democratic lawmakers also pressed Blinken on whether the U.S. has conducted any vetting of Israel under the Leahy Law, which bars U.S. assistance to foreign militaries that commit gross human rights violations.
“Use of a national emergency waiver does not exempt the U.S. government from assessing whether arms sales are consistent with these policies,” they argued.
In addition to Warren, the letter was signed by Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Fifteen House Democrats also signed on, including Reps. Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Barbara Lee of California, the top Democrats on the House panels that control appropriations to the State Department and the Pentagon.
Oversight of arms transfers will likely be a topic of debate when senators consider a $111 billion emergency aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Democrats, led by Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, are pushing to reverse a proposal by the Biden administration that would allow officials to waive congressional notification requirements for some U.S. military aid to Israel.
It will be rather difficult for any govt to pressure Israel into “negotiating,”
since Israel has munitions and weaponry to destroy Hamas entirely on their own.
There’s Biden’s 2023 arms handout to Israel few months ago, after Oct 7:
<><>57,000 155mm artillery shells
<><>more than 5,000 Mk82 unguided or “dumb” bombs,
<><>more than 5,400 Mk84 2,000 pound warhead bombs,
<><>around 1,000 GBU-39 small diameter bombs,
<><>approximately 3,000 JDAMs, which turn unguided bombs into guided “smart” bombs,
<><>BLU-109 bunker busters w/ 2,000 pound warheads designed to penetrate concrete shelters.
The (a) weaponry build-up from Obama 2018 into 2028, (b) follows the $30 billion weaponry deal Israel signed in 2007, which expires at the end of fiscal 2018, and (c) a systematic buildup of Israeli arms, like this one in 2015.
ISRAEL – JOINT DIRECT ATTACK MUNITION TAIL KITS AND MUNITIONS
Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Media/Public Contact
pm-cpa@state.gov
Transmittal No 15-36
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2015
As required by US law, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale to Israel on May 18, 2015: Joint Direct Attack Munition Tail Kits, munitions, and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $1.879 billion.
The Government of Israel has requested:
<><>14,500 KMU-556C/B Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits
<><>consisting of 10,000 for Mk-84;
<><>500 for Mk-83;
<><>and,4,000 for Mk-82;
<><>3,500 Mk-82 bombs; 4,500 Mk-83 bombs;
<><>50 BLU-113 bombs;
<><>4,100 GBU-39 Small Diameter bombs;
<><>1,500 Mk-83 Paveway kits;
<><>700 BLU-109 Paveway kits;
<><>3,000 AGM-114K/R Hellfire Missiles,
<><>250 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles;
<><>and 500 DSU-38A/B Detector Laser Illuminated Target kits for JDAMs.
The proposed sale of this equipment will provide Israel
<><>the ability to support its self-defense needs
<><>enable Israel to maintain operational capability of its existing systems
<><>and will enhance Israel’s interoperability with the United States.
Israel already has these munitions in its inventory, and will have no difficulty absorbing the additional munitions into its armed forces.
All questions regarding proposed Foreign Military should be directed to the State Department’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, pm-cpa@state.gov.
Are you claiming that Ukraine funding is an investment in American industry and good for the economy?
What I’m claiming is the Ukraine funding bill contains the money to ramp up production to cover the shells, missiles and other items we’ve shipped or will ship. Without it the US is not only NOT building material our military needs, but we run the risk of funding for present contracts to American manufacturers running out. This will lead to layoffs when our inventory is low. It will be difficult to recover from layoffs in an industry where it is difficult to replace specialized skills. The level of misplaced disgust and lack of understanding of this situation is mind-bending.
FR thread—— Biden Admits Massively Undercounting Ukraine Aid
When conservatives in Congress pressed the Biden admin to provide the real cost of the Ukraine war in Jan 2023, the lawmakers estimated the U.S. had spent “a minimum of $114 billion.”
<><>Now, with added OMB information, Cong Vance and company estimate the current total to Ukraine amounts to at least $125 billion—$14 billion over what the OMB had previously claimed.
<><>That’s not all.....Biden could give Ukraine another $4B billion via weapons transfers from US stockpiles under Presidential Drawdown Authority.
<><>This would bring the total amount to Ukraine to $129 billion.
When Biden’s OMB got around to responding almost eight months later, the OMB claimed, through an opaque and admittedly incomplete data sheet, that Ukraine aid totaled $111 billion.
<><>“The deficiencies in OMB’s response were numerous,” said of the OMB’s Sept 2023 response.
<><>“did not account for 100’s of millions of dollars in base appropriations for Ukraine’s Security Assistance Initiative.
<><>It omitted the administration’s ‘$6.2 billion in ‘freed-up’ authority’ to send weapons to Ukraine,
<><>which meant that ‘certain numbers in OMB’s spreadsheet, as well as dollar figures the administration provided for at least some previous Ukraine-related drawdowns, are outdated.’
<><>It did not allow us to determine ‘what obligations, apportionments, and outlays the administration has undertaken for other countries in response to the Ukraine conflict.’”
Cong Vance and company concluded Biden OMB’s Sept 2023 response was “nonresponsive.” In a follow-up letter sent September 28, 2023, they added that
<><>“If OMB’s spreadsheet is to be relied on to produce such a figure—and we believe it cannot be—it is around $111 billion.
<><>It would appear likely that the data you have yet to provide would raise this figure by an indeterminate magnitude.
“Every one of these assertions has been validated,” the Tuesday letter claims. On March 8, 2024, “nearly six months after we again requested a full accounting of Ukraine spending, more than a year after our original request, and one business day before the OMB director was scheduled to testify before the Senate Budget Committee,” the letter notes, OMB finally decided to hand over “another tranche of information.” What it included was shocking.
<><>The latest OMB data to Congress revealed, according to the lawmakers’ letter,
<><>Biden failed to report at least another $684 million in appropriated Ukraine spending,
<><>left out another $900 million in DOD assistance connected to the Ukraine war,
<><>and a number of other pitfalls that has undercounted the total amount of Ukraine aid by a magnitude of billions.
There could be more, too, as lawmakers included a list of 14 probing questions and information requests in their latest correspondence with the OMB director.
No surprise—it’s not Joe Biden’s money at stake........ just the American people’s tax dollars.
Bradley Devlin is the political editor for The American Conservative. Previously, he was an Analysis Reporter for the Daily Caller, and has been published in the Daily Wire and the Daily Signal, among other publications that don’t include the word “Daily.” He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Political Economy. You can follow Bradley on Twitter @bradleydevlin.
Border? Ha ha. You don’t need a stinking border. The Uniparty wants the invaders here to displace you and it’s almost over.
Fake Christian Johnson is not interested in you or other Americans.
Interesting. I thought Ukraine funds were supplemental. That is…they’re in addition to normal. So, If normal annual budget expenditures on ammunition are maintained then production lines would also maintain their normal staffing, shifts, and output. Where are the layoffs if the supplemental is not approved? Unless Biden has depleted our military stores to such an extent that we don’t have enough to protect our own land. Then I can see ramping up production for a short period to restock. But then after you’d have layoffs.
Let's say only one or two of these bills pass in the House. Let's say all of the components of these four bills are in one bill in the Senate and that passes. Then there is a conference committee which only involves the RINO leaders and everything is OKed.
https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/the-legislative-process
The Legislative Process
How Are Laws Made?Laws begin as ideas. First, a representative sponsors a bill. The bill is then assigned to a committee for study. If released by the committee, the bill is put on a calendar to be voted on, debated or amended. If the bill passes by simple majority (218 of 435), the bill moves to the Senate. In the Senate, the bill is assigned to another committee and, if released, debated and voted on. Again, a simple majority (51 of 100) passes the bill. Finally, a conference committee made of House and Senate members works out any differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The resulting bill returns to the House and Senate for final approval. The Government Printing Office prints the revised bill in a process called enrolling. The President has 10 days to sign or veto the enrolled bill.
Note that a Senate amendment may replace the title and the entire text of the bill.
They kept the bill, but gutted it, and it basically changed nothing. Even the Cali Dems weren't that stupid to try to pass a confiscatory bill of that sort.
RISK?????
I spent over thirty years in the military industrial complex. How the funding works is complicated but I’ll try to cover just the question of where do the layoffs come in. Bill Clinton used up almost all of the bullets and bombs because he spent the budget on diapering aids babies in Africa while also bombing the hell out of the third world. When GWB was elected he personally called the CEO’s of the bullets and bomb companies and asked them to go to three shifts and, “We’ll talk price when I take office.” Our CEO send around an all-hands email saying that had happened and to go full speed ahead. We did and GWB did. I think GWB had to do this personally because there is a law that contractors can not spend any money or build anything of a military nature without being under contract. The situation in Congress was a lot less…stupid?...than it is now and it was just a risk from November to January of that year.
Some time after the last standard budget the military went to industry and said, basically, the peace dividend is over. We’re facing a major conflict we want you to double, triple, quadruple, your output. Oh, and by the way, we need you to build additional capacity ASAP. There may have been a few supplementals attached to other bills, I don’t know. But the budget is being burned through at a faster rate. Having burned the budget at both ends it is unlikely that it will last as originally intended. The idea was they’d put extra funding in the next Ukraine aid bill as that would have no problems passing. It hasn’t passed.
So, what happens when the money in the other budgets run out? Industry can’t afford to pick the slack even if doing so was legal, which it isn’t. Hence, layoffs.
The Ukraine aid bill is not all for Ukraine. It’s to make up for all the capacity we lost when the “Peace Dividend” was declared. Recall, there were not going to be anymore major wars. Now we’re facing the Wolf Warriors in the Pacific and Russia who has declared that they want to reoccupy (set the defense policy) of all the former Soviet states, many of which border NATO. It’s Cold War 2.0 but without the stabilizing influence of The Supreme Soviet which exercised policy control over the Soviet leader. We’ll have New Soviet Leader, with no internal bounds and totally isolated from reality. What could go wrong? The Ukraine war is intended to short circuit that eventuality. If Ukraine loses the world will be a LOT less stable.
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