The White House on Friday asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. border security, but offered no strategy for securing the money from a broken Congress.
While I'm openly in favor of supporting Ukraine, it's important to note that the vast majority of this type of military aid is provided in kind.
So really, it's a proposal to give US Defense contractors $100b+ to replenish and restock the DOD with new kit and munitions for the old kit and munitions that we're providing to Ukraine. Which then get into the use accounting tricks e.g. depreciation values, etc.
The annual military aid to Israel is a little different, it's more like a loss leader coupon: give Israel money that they have to spend with US Defense contractors, which then also incentivizes them spending their own budget on complementary systems that can be integrated with those systems, munitions, support contracts, etc.
Although in this case, I believe it's primarily munitions and other kit that the DOD already has in warehouses.
This is oversimplified, but I just see these headline figures always being confused for pallets of cash.
Did you have healthcare before Russia invaded Ukraine and started murdering babies? Was it even on the cards?
It's not an economic factor either. US health costs are much higher than other developed nations. It spends 17% of GDP, almost double of Germany (next highest).
Spending is without the positive outcomes. Infant mortality of 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births (17,000 extra dead babies a year Vs an average.rate), for context you are worse than Russia with 4.9 but better tha Chile 5.9). 23.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 births being 3 times higher than most wealthy nations.
The economic considerations are that you have a lot of heath businesses. If you socialised medicine and reduced spend, you may improve health outcomes but how would they pay for the very nice buildings they have loans for?
Finally, US doesn't want universal healthcare as a society. Whilst they may be financially wrecked by costs and live shorter more painful lives, that is far preferential than seeing the low income family get the same free cancer treatment for their child.
We aren't getting it eitherway, so in the meantime, at least some of our weapons are being used to defend against an imperial power, instead of to advance one.
I'd try to explain the geostrategic and humanitarian benefits to helping one of the world's largest bread baskets defend against imperial conquest by an mafia run gas station, or do a deeper dive into Putin's desire to reconquer the old USSR satellite states, or the associated risks if he was successful, but I don't think you really care to have you opinion shaped by analysis and the realities of great power poltics, so I'ma leave you be.
I can hardly defend war in general, and especially can't condone our assistance to Israel, but the DoD's spending has an enormous blast radius (heh).
I live in a military town, and have zero personal connection to military spending. But if the Navy straight bailed out of here? This place would be a hellish crater.
We've got to spend a generation or three dialing down the war machine, and it ain't gonna be easy.
It's a problem for all of us. One of their main goals is making the government look useless, which is what it looks like to a lot of citizens. It may put a minor black mark on Republicans as a whole while they parade their clownshow around, but it puts a much longer lasting stain on the concept of government as a whole for a lot of people. Which is exactly what Republicans want.
I wonder what a poll in the US would look like if they let the people vote on this. But its an all or nothing vote. Like we vote to give both countries aid or neither.
Some Republican lawmakers have grown skeptical of the need to fund Ukraine's war with Russia, and have threatened to halt government altogether to put an end to chronic U.S. budget deficits and fiscal spending fueled by $31.4 trillion in debt.
"The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities," said Biden's budget director, Shalanda Young, in a letter to acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry.
She also told Congress of plans to submit another request for funding to deal with natural disasters, high-speed internet, child care and wild-land firefighter pay "in coming days."
Some $14.3 billion of Friday's funding request for the 2024 fiscal year would be dedicated to Israel, much of it to support the country's air and missile defense systems and other weapons purchases.
The request includes billions to replenish the country's military equipment, and would provide economic and security aid and support for refugees in the United States.
"The unwavering bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States is incredibly encouraging for all of our warriors and for our entire nation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Friday on social media.
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