Aid to Ukraine

by Gerard Emershaw

Congress has recently voted overwhelmingly to provide Ukraine with $1 billion in loan guarantees and $150 million in direct assistance. Only two Senators— Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—voted against the bill. Only 19 House members voted against the bill:

Republican “no” votes came from Reps.  Justin Amash (Mich.), Kerry Bentivolio (Mich.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Michael Burgess (Tex.), Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), John Duncan (Tenn.), Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Raul Labrador (Utah), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Mick Mulvaney (S.C.), Bill Posey (Fla.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Todd Rokita (Ind.), Steve Stockman (Tex.), Ted Yoho (Fla.) and Don Young (Alaska). The two Democratic “no” votes came from Reps. Alan Grayson (Fla.) and Beto O'Rourke (Tex.).

The question is not so much why did these members of Congress vote against the Ukrainian aid bill, but why did so many members vote in favor of it?

The United States has a national debt of over $17 trillion. The national and its taxpayers can hardly afford to spend money on foreign aid at this point. However, even if the United States were still a creditor nation instead of a debtor, foreign aid to Ukraine would still be a dubious use of resources. Ukraine is not a free nation. According to Freedom House, Ukraine is only considered “partly free.” Ukraine is also anything but economically free. In many ways, it is still as economically totalitarian as it was while under the control of the Soviet Union. According to Heritage, economically Ukraine is a “repressed” nation, ranking 155^th in the world in economic freedom. The junta which is now in control of Ukraine is anything but a follower of Jeffersonian Republican principles. The question is not whether Ukraine is going to be a free nation, it is whether the form of totalitarianism which it embraces next will be communism or fascism. Even worse, the leader of the junta which now controls Ukraine following the recent coup is a former central bankster who is on the verge of allowing the IMF to loot the Ukrainian people. Furthermore, Ukraine is not really a strong ally or an indispensable trade partner. In fact, the United States engaged in immensely more trade with Russia than with Ukraine.

Other than as a misguided way of rattling a saber against Putin and the Russians, financial aid to Ukraine makes no sense. It will likely produce blowback against the United States one way or another. If the United States is so insecure that it must strike back against Russia even if it ultimately means cutting off its nose to spite its face, then the Republic is in worse shape than anyone believes.