War, taxes, inflation
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Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started in 2014. Since then, the U.S. has given Ukraine $47 billion in military assistance.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel. To figure out how many dollars in military assistance the U.S. has given is not quite so clear, as since their founding in 1948, Israel has been the leading recipient of U.S. foreign aid, including military support, to the tune of more than $300 billion in total.
Doing some quick math for a yearly average would amount to just under $4 billion per year they already get from us, with Biden asking for another $14.3 billion to send, while he also OK’d an $18 billion sale of 50 F-15 fighter jet aircraft to Israel.
With Ukraine it is clear cut, Russia was the aggressor; Ukraine was the defender; on paper, Russia should have won by now, but U.S. and world aid to Ukraine tipped the scales to where Ukraine could hold their own, as they attempt to bleed Russia into a quagmire of lost blood and treasure.
What is also clear cut is that the United States has no responsibility to defend Ukraine, and “We the People of these United States” would probably have preferred that the $47 billion spent defending Ukraine had instead been spent here in the U.S., or better yet, been given back to the taxpayers as they filed their federal taxes for this year.
With Israel it also appears, at least to me, clear cut, with Hamas as the aggressor. But, it has been alleged that Iran helped Hamas with their attack, and for that, Israel attacked the Iranian Embassy in Syria, killing two senior Iranian military officers. For that attack, Iran launched 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles toward Israel.
Thankfully, 99% of those weapons were neutralized by U.S., Israeli and other allied forces, with no injuries reported. Yet, for that attack, Israel has vowed vengeance, leaving many to speculate the expansion of the war into a more global conflict that may become a World War Three.
Meanwhile, President Biden has also sent $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza, which will most likely allow Hamas to reallocate their existing funds to continuing their war with Israel.
Don’t get me wrong, as I have empathy for the innocents lost on all sides, but to date our Congress has not declared war on anyone since World War Two and hasn’t even once lately met to consider doing their constitutional duty to at least argue the merits of either side of the issues before sending your tax dollars overseas to finance what are now U.S. proxy wars.
Let us not forget that in addition to Ukraine and Israel, the U.S. also still sends billions of dollars in support to Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, and many others.
How this affects you is how Congress pays for the money they send overseas; they simply tell the Federal Reserve to tell the U.S. Treasury to print the money. Voila, money that wasn’t there before is now there. And what happens when fiat currency is pumped into the economy; it devalues the worth of the existing money. And what happens if the dollars in your wallet, purse, or bank account become worth less? It takes more dollars to buy things than it did before, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is called inflation, something that I am sure every one of you has experienced lately.
If you’re not happy with inflation, or the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, or with the U.S. funding two separate proxy wars on your dime, it is up to you to contact your representatives in Congress and to let them know what you think. Take a look at their voting record, and if they voted for any of this, vote them out of office in November.
Don’t forget that you will have a third option come November. Vote for liberty and vote for freedom; vote Libertarian.