reversing (once again) McCarthy's flip-flop


[thehill.com]
House Republicans moved to strip $300 million in Ukraine aid from their defense spending bill Wednesday night and set up a separate vote on the funds, reversing course ahead of an expected final vote this week and amid uncertainty about whether the bill would pass.

The House Rules Committee convened a last-minute meeting to remove the funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — which is intended for training Ukrainian soldiers and purchasing weapons — from the Department of Defense appropriations bill. The panel approved it to move as a stand-alone bill.

The party-line vote to remove the funding from the bill was a transparent move to get enough support for the spending measure to pass in the slim House GOP majority amid opposition to funding Ukraine. Republicans can spare just a handful of votes, since all Democrats are expected to oppose the bill’s final passage.

“For many members and for their constituents, a vote on funding for Ukraine as part of the ongoing war is a matter of conscience. Shifting these funds out of the appropriations process will allow those for whom this is a question of conscience to vote to support our troops while also allowing all members to vote on providing funding for Ukraine,” House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in the emergency hearing.

“There are some people who can’t in good conscience take a vote for the [Defense Department] approps bill if it includes money for a war that they are morally opposed to,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said in the Rules Committee hearing, adding: “They want to be able to fund our soldiers without sending money to Ukraine.”

Removal of the funds represents a major flip-flop-flip for GOP leadership.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/2023 10:06PM by Steve G..

Amazing how much influence the Russians have over our legislature.

Does anyone actually believe that this is somehow really a fight over the security of our Southern border as they keep trying to characterize it?

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Yup, dong Putin's bidding.

Repugs are allowing me to get a lot of usage out of this image.

How can you "morally" affirm Russia's aggression?

Does McCarthy realize that he's pulling an October Surprise on his own party right before an off-year election...

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

You have to believe that removing the Ukraine support is at Trump's instigation, or at least that they checked with him. This defines the Republicans as the party of genocide.

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“They want to be able to fund our soldiers without sending money to Ukraine.”

These are the same people who told us that we were traitors for not supporting Bush's invasion of Iraq.

"You can't support the troops without supporting the war!"

All while Brandon has been MIA for 3 days, out on the campaign trail they say.

The US money floodgates have to stop, we need to stem the flow.

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"he is going to start WW3!!!!"

How much of the $300 million is spent with US military contractors for arms and munitions? Damn nearly all of it. So the house right wingers are against expanding full employment here in the US. Dems need to run ads in all their districts calling them out for the traitors they are.

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Comedy Central: Best news channel that isn't a news channel.

Fox News: Best comedy channel that isn't a comedy channel.

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Mr645
All while Brandon has been MIA for 3 days, out on the campaign trail they say.

Spending bills originate in the House.

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Mr645
All while Brandon ...

You know you have admitted a win by the current President in your response, don't you?!

Isn’t 300 million a drop of water in a barrel compared to the overall cuts being proposed? This feels like a distraction.

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Ukulele music I couldn't find anywhere else.
[colquhoun.info]

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davemchine
Isn’t 300 million a drop of water in a barrel compared to the overall cuts being proposed? This feels like a distraction.

Yah think?

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Lux Interior

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“They want to be able to fund our soldiers without sending money to Ukraine.”

These are the same people who told us that we were traitors for not supporting Bush's invasion of Iraq.

"You can't support the troops without supporting the war!"

...and want to invade Mexico to try to stop drugs (bought willingly by Americans including folks in Appalachia)!

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davemchine
Isn’t 300 million a drop of water in a barrel compared to the overall cuts being proposed? This feels like a distraction.

From what I understand large cuts would have to be made to Social Security and Medicare to get spending under control, and no one has the will to do that.

The Pentagon can't even account for all the money showered on it, unless you favor putting the burden on the poor, it seems that might be a place to start.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2023 12:31AM by RgrF.

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kj

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davemchine
Isn’t 300 million a drop of water in a barrel compared to the overall cuts being proposed? This feels like a distraction.

From what I understand large cuts would have to be made to Social Security and Medicare to get spending under control, and no one has the will to do that.

No. That's fiction.

Politicians like to attack "entitlements" with or without a factual basis. SS and Medicare won't be a problem for another decade or so and there are multiple options to quickly and easily fix that if our legislature chose to act before then.

[www.reuters.com]

Instead, republicans are conspiring to cut benefits. Because they think that will appeal to their constituents and to an extremist that's better than raising revenue. Seriously: A 1% tax on the fees charged by banks and investment firms on stock transactions over a million bucks could make up the difference. But a new tax is a non-starter.

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"Nearly two-thirds of annual federal spending is what’s known as mandatory spending, which means existing laws require the funds to be allocated. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, veterans benefits and retirement programs for federal civilian and military retirees all fall into this category. Congress does not specify funding levels for these programs annually.

Lawmakers, however, do have control over so-called discretionary spending, which they vote on annually. More than half of this funding goes toward national defense, while the rest supports a wide variety of federal agencies and programs, including education, transportation, housing, environmental protection and federal law enforcement."

[www.cnn.com]


That's where the money goes. Nothing proposed by anyone amounts to a hill of beans when compared to the total debt.

$300 million? Not even two days of financial support we send to Ukraine

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"he is going to start WW3!!!!"

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kj
"Nearly two-thirds of annual federal spending is what’s known as mandatory spending, which means existing laws require the funds to be allocated. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, veterans benefits and retirement programs for federal civilian and military retirees all fall into this category. Congress does not specify funding levels for these programs annually.

Lawmakers, however, do have control over so-called discretionary spending, which they vote on annually. More than half of this funding goes toward national defense, while the rest supports a wide variety of federal agencies and programs, including education, transportation, housing, environmental protection and federal law enforcement."

[www.cnn.com]


That's where the money goes. Nothing proposed by anyone amounts to a hill of beans when compared to the total debt.

How do you feel about increasing taxes that hit the wealthy the most to reduce the deficit? Are there particular items of discretionary spending that you think should have their budgets cut? With respect to tax revenue and spending, how would you go about reducing the deficit?

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e pluribus unum

It would be great if rich people could pay more, but I've been waiting my whole life, and I don't have that much left so I doubt I'll see that. I think everything needs to be more efficient, but I don't see that happening either. It will be a crisis and we will either be able to dig our way out, or we won't. But nothing will happen until it gets really bad.