America has already sent tens of billions of dollars in economic, humanitarian, and military aid to the Ukrainians, with much of that aid in the form of cash and lots of supplies, particularly military equipment, being sent as well. Republicans are increasingly wary of throwing ever more money and supplies at the situation, and Republican Senator Rand Paul is taking up the torch of resistance and vowing to do everything in his power to stop sending military aid to the Ukraine.
That came when Senator Paul appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle” to discuss why he is against the provision of military aid to the embattled country, particularly in light of the likelihood of a government shutdown and what that means for Americans.
Speaking to FMC’s Ingraham, Sen. Paul noted that US government workers will not be paid during the shutdown but, under the current provisions, America would continue making payments to Ukrainian government officials. He questioned why foreign civil servants should take precedence over Americans, along with the general expense of the Ukraine programs.
Beginning, Senator Paul commented on the civil servant issue, noting that not only is it bizarre that we are funding the Ukrainian government’s staff payroll, but are putting payments to bureaucrats in a foreign country ahead of taking care of Americans.
He said, “A significant chunk is non-military — a bunch of it is going to government salaries. I’ve also read that it’s going to government pensions, and you’re right to add insult to injury. If there’s a shutdown, U.S. government workers will not be paid, but Ukrainian workers will be paid by the U.S. taxpayer. There’s nothing in the Constitution that allows for spending like this to another country.”
Further noting the absurdity of the general situation, Senator Paul noted that the American government cannot just send dollars to individual states within the United States, so it makes no sense that vast amounts of aid are flowing to foreign nations such as Ukraine.
He said, “The spending clause in our Constitution says that Congress can spend according to its enumerated powers, the powers given to it by the Constitution, and also for the general welfare. So it’s illegal for the U.S. government if they wanted to give $100 billion to my state of Kentucky. They can’t do it that would violate the general welfare clause. What do you think it violates to send it to another country?”
Finally, emphasizing how un-American such policies are in that they don’t at all fit with the Founders’ vision for the country, Sen. Paul then added, “Our framers never imagined in their worst nightmare that we would send that much money overseas, but it violates every precept of the Constitution, and I’m going to do everything I can to stop them from sending any more.”
Unfortunately for those who want to see aid to the Ukrainians cut, Democrats are all on board with it and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has reinserted the next batch of Ukraine aid into the House version of the budget, so it seems unlikely that Sen. Paul could effectively fight back against such aid.
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