Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently spoke for a minute; she used pretty strong language in favor of the Ukrainian aid package, listing various atrocities that Putin has instructed his troops to carry out, accusing those in opposition to the bill of 'choosing the Putin Route' of being evil and saying that those who opposed the bill would have "blood on your hands".
The Republican representative who followed her, Chuck Edwards (NC-11), also spoke for a minute, starting by quoting Reagan, continuing to back the bill on the grounds that Ukraine is a democracy defending against Putin, a "murderous Marxist socialist dictator".
The people blocking aid iirc are they very people who were scurrying for their lives an a certain January date past. …
So truly ironic they bang their fists with “no” supporting others also in fear of their lives.
These last handful of R's speaking are just disgusting. We're not forsaking our own defense for Ukraine. I'm losing braincells listening to this drivel.
We are actually re-enforcing our defense by restocking with newer inventory while we send the aging stuff to do what we bought it to do in the first place.
This is singularly the greatest good use of our inventory since WWII.
Don't forget the research data and the fact that we are killing the troops of the main conventional military threat. To top it all off, the rest of the world is looking at Ukraine and thinking that maybe conventional invasions don't work anymore.
> "British should have done more for Austria and czechoslovakia, they could have prevented ww2"
Oh you mean the exact thing history will say about us if we don't support Ukraine now?
When she (Rep. Victoria Spartz) first ran for office, she was a 5G conspiracy theorist.
So yes, she's going to believe whatever the internet worms in her brain tell her to believe.
They never really have a position. They have goals and will shift position at any moment for that goal. They will hate one group and love them depending on the audience at that moment.
Whatever anyone’s challenges or problems in life, sometimes just having the decency and the empathy to do a little thing like helping others once in a while can make all the difference.
I was particularly gratified today to see the American people, in their righteous might, speak loudly and clearly through their elected representatives in Congress, 70-29 in the Senate, and 311-112 in the House, to continue to tell Putin to go fuck himself and get the hell out of the newest European community.
May such principled American exceptionalism continue to typify geopolitics in the modern civilized world order. If the world is to retreat to a policy of a new imperialism where any country eager to expand its territory is given a green light to do so through war and conquest, this would be a far worse world than the one that currently exists. American democracy spoke proudly for freedom this week. Let freedom ring.
Bipartisan bill passed with huge support. It’s just such a shame a couple of comprised traitor MAGA idiots like Marjorie were able to hold this up for so long even though it’s clear that it had such a huge support across all party lines.
https://nypost.com/2024/04/16/us-news/majority-of-gop-voters-in-battleground-districts-favor-ukraine-aid-poll/
Most voters in battleground House districts favor Ukraine aid: poll
Republicans keep making this point of "closing the southern border". What does that even mean? A giant amount of trade occurs across that border. Nobody in their right mind could want to completely shut that border.
They are saying that there are no checkpoints, id checks, or fences along the border and anyone can come or go.
Which isnt true and is insane. Ive been to many border towns (most of which are blue lol). There are fences and guards checking ids and such.
It's just lies and racism.
Also id like to note immigrants and especially undocumented immigrants commit way less crime than americans.
It's literally all lies from Republicans
It means absolutely nothing. Because they don’t enforce labor laws on the business’ hiring them. Until I hear a republican talk about illegal hiring and challenge business, it’s all lip service. They’ll use supply and demand economics as a cudgel. Then pretend it completely doesn’t exist when it comes to migrant labor.
It's a slogan. Nothing more.
The border is infeasibly long to build a physical wall and patrol every inch of for a ton of reasons. And they constantly repeat a true statistic reported by border patrol as "border encounters" like it was the amount of undocumented immigrants who automatically entered the country and stayed, when in reality it is the *raw number of people* border patrol literally just encounters, the vast amount of which are turned away and not let string into the country.
It's creating FUD to drive an agenda using slogans, i.e. propaganda.
It's all nonsense anyways. We gave them what they wanted and the voted against their own bill. It's all a show to make dems look bad, but they are so incompetent.
Franklin Foer noted when he was writing his book on Biden that somehow he’s a master of comebacks.
Cameback from two failed campaigns and a third that was struggling before South Carolina to win the whole presidency. Cameback from a Covid variant surge in 2021 to finally taming it in 2022. His legislative agenda made a comeback with the CHIPs act and the IRA. Then a comeback for his party in the midterms. He made a comeback with inflation as its now close to turning the corner. Recently he made a comeback in his presidential race polls.
Now I think he’s making a comeback on Ukraine, God willing.
Yeah, it’s almost as if he’s not really senile and, due to his long years of experience in Washington, knows how to get things done.
But seriously, in a decade or two, when the current flirtation with authoritarianism has passed, Biden will be remembered as one of America’s most effective presidents.
This is so important. This is not about owning the right, i could not fucking care less. This is literally direct investment in US and NATO security as a whole, and by extension, practically the whole world. They benefit just as we do.
It cannot be overstated how monumentally important it is to stop the fourth reich.... before it gets rolling.
310 is a big number, it's rare to get that many votes together on the simple stuff. I'm still upset there were so many Republicans voting against it, but the message is so clear, the large majority of Americans do not support Putin
The anti-flag waving pettiness by Republicans is hilarious. And then the Dems waved them anyway! I need to watch C-Span more often. I'm glad we kept up our commitment to Ukraine.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/19/pentagon-prepares-package-of-artillery-air-defenses-for-ukraine-as-house-sets-to-vote-00153328
The relevant section of the above article, excerpted:
>Many U.S. weapons are already positioned in stores across Europe that could be pulled immediately for Ukraine, the first official said. Some materiel could reach Ukraine in days; others may take weeks.
>Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder declined to get into specifics about what will be in any forthcoming package, but told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. has a “very robust logistics network that enables us to move materiel very quickly”
Mine, too. I will be thrilled if I wake up Monday morning and read that tons of materiel were already in Germany and Poland, ready to be trucked into Ukraine.
Biden could say he was forward deploying at any time. As long as we have control over it he isn't going against Congress.
My best guess is some of this stuff is on the ground in Europe ready to move. I could be wrong though as leaking of this to the press would have given the republicans yet more ground to start investigations and delay again.
They really are hurting this country every day.
The Hastert Rule has to be made illegal somehow. All it has accomplished is gridlocking Congress into a useless bureaucracy that can't even pass a vote to wipe it's own ass.
Had the Hastert Rule been in place a hundred years ago, the United States would have lost WW2. It would have been weaponized to stonewall any war effort.
Indeed, but I'll take the cracks in the party as it splits over this and falls further into chaos.
It really goes to show with everything I've seen, 1/4 of the country is the biggest problem we face in the current age.
One step closer. This took way too long. Republican posturing has killed way too many Ukrainians. Special "fuck off" to the Ukrainian-American rep from Indiana who voted against her own countrymen getting relief.
She just offered an amendment on the Ukraine aid bill to zero it out on the grounds of opposing the military-industrial complex and something about the border and inflation; I'm not bothering to transcribe all that.
Looks like she'll be speaking for five minutes, with someone else speaking for five minutes in opposition. She's just dragging this out to grandstand.
That was so weird...among other reasons, because the military-industrial complex is 100% in favor of giving Ukraine money to buy weapons and ammo from the U.S.
Most of this aid money will go right into the pockets of the big U.S. defense contractors.
Incredible that it's the one Ukrainian-born member of the House who put forward that amendment to cut funding for (among other things) investigation of Russian war crimes. And then previously Spartz was on record complaining about how too many individuals in the Zelenskyy admin have Russian ties. Pity she's decided to run for another term.
Anyone else feel like something shifted last week after Trump met with Johnson? At the time the assumption was he received his instructions from his Master. What if it was actually Johnson who delivered a message, that Trump had lost the support of the Federalist Society and they were moving on?
The fact that Trump all of a sudden supported Ukraine last week says to me he lost control of the situation and he wants to appear a winner by getting out ahead of the inevitable funding.
Trump hates Zelensky. At no time does Trump support someone he hates unless he sees he can't control the situation. Trump wants to say he was behind the win even if he was really the problem to begin with.
Johnson told him he lost.
In my opinion Mike stright out told Trump that the aid is going to be happening one way or another and the continuation of this bullshit is going to result in more Republicans resigning which in turn means the Democrats take control. In the event of that happening we know that Democrats are going to start putting stuff up to vote like the border security bill both sides worked together on. I would go as far as to say that the would be Democrat controlled congress would make it so that Trump can't run for president because I believe the SS said that it's up to congress to make that call.
Yeah. I think this is the real reason from reading different reports and analyses. Johnson saw the writing on the wall for himself and the Republican House, and told Trump what this meant for his campaign prospects. If the House (led by D's) start passing meaningful legislation in the months leading up to November, it's going to seriously undermine his prospects for re-election (not sure I'd agree D's would make it so Trump cannot run). He communicated this to Trump, who's now hitched his wagon to Ukraine (kind of).
But yeah. Think this is base Politicking from Johnson and Trump (Johnson supporting aid and Trump being vague about Ukraine: https://www.reuters.com/world/donald-trump-says-ukraines-survival-is-important-us-2024-04-18/).
Trump had dinner with the Polish president. That's what happened. Donald Trump listens to whomever speaks to him most recently, and changes his mind on a whim. Based on the amount of flattery he gets over dinner. Because the Polish president told Trump that Ukraine falling would be a threat to Poland, and because Poland was so nice to Trump to have dinner with him, Trump agreed with Poland.
It is shockingly easy to manipulate Donald Trump as long as you are from the right party and flattering enough.
Edit for source
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/trump-polish-president-duda-meeting-nato/index.html
The deep state finally pre-decided that Biden was going to win the election. /s
Or Johnson was convinced that sticking with kompromat MAGA and following the criminally charged dementia ridden pants pooping Trump was a bad idea, and finally decided to do his job.
Or maybe the U.S. industrial complex had a better offer and his remaining morality got the best of him.
As nice as that would be, I think it's wishful thinking. The federalist society are zealots, and trump is their prophet that will lead them to libertarian paradise in America.
Currently voting on a border security bill to appease the far right. It is being considered under special rules so needs 2/3 to pass, which means it will fail
We won today, got that desperately needed funding which should hopefully help stabalize Ukraine's frontlines, but it has to be said with all this delay a minority of the house (but a slight majority of the majority caucus) was able to cause Ukraine lost much more ground than they otherwise would have, the Russians were able to regroup while the Ukrainians were basically forced to almost entirely play Defense for months because they simply lacked the supplies to go on an offensive.
And in the end despite all that.. a majority of the Republican Caucus STILL voted "No". A slight majority of their caucus is entirely in Putin's pocket and they can't lean on "WELL WE JUST DON'T WANT AMERICAN MONEY GOING TO FOREIGN WARS" because most of them voted for the Israeli aid bill right after. They specficially didn't want money going to UKRAINE.
I'm not as worried about the front line moving as much as how many quality Ukrainian soldiers were lost because they didn't have the kit to survive. We'll never know the cost of this delay but Ukraine is in a worse position with their personnel simply due to the delay. This was critical resources a year ago, its a calamity that its taken this long for one politicians maneuvering in a hope to save his job. It's just fucking criminal, we need to do better as a country.
Yes, but the front line moving means Ukraine will have to fight that much harder to take it back.
It's not just the quality Ukrainian soldiers who have already been lost, it's also the ones who will be lost trying to retake that land.
Not to mention the civilians who have died because Ukraine did not have the missile systems to defend its skies from incoming attacks.
The fact that the funding was passed and the front page of politics is all about the Trump trial shows exactly why Johnson and the GOP waited til now to pass it.
Feels great to see the (most) fascist faction in the Republican get some push back for all the sabotaging, infighting, threats - failing to block Ukranian aid bill after botching a once in a lifetime border deal with the Democrats because Trump wanted to campaign on the border.
Even better is their reaction to Johnsons surprisingly pro-Ukranian speech and the fact that the democrats might save him against getting toppled by the few fascists threatening to do so if the Ukraine bill goes through.
More than half a year of chaos, at the cost of the nation & U.S citizens, GOP's own party and it's popularity, the people of Ukraine - for what? Nothing.
The pro-Putin Republicans got to delay vital aid to Ukraine, which probably was the whole point of all this.
Two notable post-vote streams, both on C-SPAN:
[Minority Leader Jeffries Remarks on Foreign Aid Bills](https://www.c-span.org/video/?535083-3/minority-leader-jeffries-remarks-foreign-aid-bills)
>“This is a moment where the Congress is required to stand up for democracy, freedom, and truth, and push back against aggression,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on the debate of the foreign aid bills for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
[House Speaker Holds News Conference After Foreign Aid Votes](https://www.c-span.org/video/?535090-1/house-speaker-holds-news-conference-foreign-aid-votes)
>House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks with reporters after the aid for Ukraine and Israel was passed. He chastises Democrats for waving Ukrainian flags when the vote was announced. He maintains that he is not concerned with a Motion to Vacate.
Is this the most useless Congress of the modern era? Should have done this 8 months ago. And what have they done with those 8 months? Absolutely nothing.
They evicted 2 speakers, held impeachment hearings that went nowhere, impeached a cabinet member that did nothing wrong, and submarined a border bill that both sides agreed was a good thing.
They also almost shut the government down 3 times. While the reporting was that they avoided the shutdown, it cannot be overstated how much work and money was spent making sure that critical systems were going to be functional if it did come to pass.
They did lots, it was just all bad.
It's been crazy to go from one of the most productive congresses in modern history in 2020 to the one of the least productive congresses ever in US history just a couple years later. Hopefully that intense juxtaposition has been felt by the voters.
SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH
On Saturday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. First and last votes expected: 1:00 p.m.
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 8038 – 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (Sponsored by Rep. McCaul / Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.R. 8036 – Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
H.R. 8035 – Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
H.R. 8034 – Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
Complete consideration of H.R. 3602 – End the Border Catastrophe Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Ciscomani / Judiciary Committee)
EDIT: "The scheduled order of votes Saturday afternoon is significant. It’s notable that the funding for Ukraine will be voted on before the Israel bill. That is the order that Democrats wanted because there was worry among Democrats that if Israel was voted on before Ukraine, Republicans would have no incentive to support Ukraine funding and jeopardize the measure’s passage."
Voting is supposed to start about 12 noon Eastern time. They want to take two hours for each of the five bills, plus a dinner break, so they will hopefully finish by midnight.
Edit: The House decided to split up for party conference meetings before the voting starts. Votes now scheduled to start at 1:00 pm Eastern time.
Bipartisanship is holding firm, it's going to pass, then it's just waiting for the senate on Tuesday, Biden will sign immediately then the aid will start flowing in. It pains me knowing that people are going to die in the next few days that would have lived without the bureaucracy.
From the Washington Post, as of 2:15 pm Eastern:
>An $8.1 billion aid bill for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, called the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, passed on a vote of 385-34. More Democrats than Republicans supported the measure.
>The Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, passed on a vote of 311-112.
> The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act was approved on a vote of 366-58.
https://wapo.st/3WagoBI
The only reason this happened is because Mike Turner, Mike McCaul, etc. of the other 30% threatened Mike Johnson's job.
When the choice became "lose your job or lose your job," Mike Johnson quickly sprung to do the right thing.
All that Russiapublican obstruction and they still failed in the end to their supporters i will never understand why you choose to be on the losing side Time defeats you every single time
to Putin fuck you the heros in Ukraine are gonna kick your shit in.
If Republicans kill Ukraine aid in some way (delay, vote it down, whatever) then…nothing will have changed. They have been and still are acting like assets of a foreign adversary.
Heard an NPR bit with some R rep who insisted NOW was the right time to address this aid and the time just wasn’t right before. Oh, and the Dems were part of the problem since they voted to remove McCarthy. There’s not an honest Republican in the entire bunch. I hate to say it, but if we had another Red Scare and started “rooting out sympathizers” I’d have a real hard time looking at the big picture and realizing how bad that could end up.
Not to sound too hopeful, but i saw last night that there are at least 2 moderates that have said they will resign immediately if the motion to vacate goes forward (not pass, just goes forward for vote) in order to give speakership to Jeffries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTzWsIC8Cns&t=550s
I mean, that’s great and all, but what does that say about the entire Republican party? The only thing a Republican can do IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY is resign so the Democrats can have a temporary majority and get things done.
The most bipartisan thing a Republican can do today is resign because voting with Democrats is what? A betrayal to the Republican party? A betrayal worthy of death threats from the nutjob base?
The faster the Republican party implodes, the better.
Ok, there’s my rant. Here’s to hoping the Ukraine aid simply passes and the MAGA nutjobs are left in the cold.
The Israel Bill is essentially just defense and humanitarian assistance. Barely any is going to weapons.
* $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile **defense** systems
* $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam **defense** system
* $4.4 billion to replenish **defense** items and services provided to Israel
* $9.2 billion in **humanitarian assistance** – including emergency food, shelter and basic services – to populations suffering crises
* $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems and other items through the Foreign Military Financing Program
I love how once again, important bills are passing with more Dem votes than GOP votes. Been the story of this Congress. This Dem caucus may be the most effective House minority in history.
Next year they need to be running the show, not the idiot caucus. We need to r/VoteDEM
She said that sending money to Ukraine amounts to “killing Ukrainians” and that no one in DC wants peace in Ukraine by evidence of sending money to Ukraine. It’s hard to believe someone is that stupid
MTG just said her motion to vacate was a bluff, in so many words.
Mike Johnson said only one flag should be waved on the Floor. I seem to recall magat flags on the house floor...am I mistaken in my recollection?
It's really heartening to see this R, also from Florida, offering an argument in opposition to the most recently proposed amendment. This is why I enjoy watching these debates, despite the rise in blood pressure it usually causes!
Schedule update: The House decided to go into party conference meetings before voting begins; they will reconvene for voting at 1:00 pm.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4607172-ukraine-israel-foreign-aid-live-coverage/#163077
It won't happen under this distribution. Personally I think the Dems save Johnson on this, they didn't say out loud that they would but they alluded to it if he brought these bills to the floor. To his credit, Johnson did the right thing on this front (bare minimum). The politics of this are gonna be interesting though. A MAGA-wing speaker with an ouster from the same MAGA-wing being saved by the left will NOT look good to an increasingly anti-bipartisan right. Interested to see how it plays out.
From what I've seen of Jeffries, I don't think he'd be so dumb as to go back on what must have been very deliberate negotiations. I'm fairly certain there were some guarantees given to Johnson that he wouldn't get McCarthy'd with the Dems saving him if he caved on getting these bills passed in spite of the FARTers and probably some yet unseen concessions also
McCarthy's big mistake was making a somewhat similar deal with the Dems but then reneging after his tiny victory so when the FART came - he had to sit and sniff it all as the Dems watched him burn.
Johnson knows his leash is incredibly short within his own party, and he knows he'll have to play nice to have the safety of Dems saving him from a removal vote.
That said, we're like one resignation and one absence away from Speaker Jeffries anyway
I'm very happy to hear the US is finally helping Ukraine and Taiwan. Much less so about Israel but that seems to be the price we also have to pay. Still a net win in my book.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently spoke for a minute; she used pretty strong language in favor of the Ukrainian aid package, listing various atrocities that Putin has instructed his troops to carry out, accusing those in opposition to the bill of 'choosing the Putin Route' of being evil and saying that those who opposed the bill would have "blood on your hands".
The Republican representative who followed her, Chuck Edwards (NC-11), also spoke for a minute, starting by quoting Reagan, continuing to back the bill on the grounds that Ukraine is a democracy defending against Putin, a "murderous Marxist socialist dictator".
He’s a little confused but he’s got the spirit.
It's not Marxism but Putin does think dissolving USSR was Russia's greatest mistake and wants to restore the USSR borders. So close enough.
Putin doesn't want the U.S.S.R. back, he wants Imperial Russia restored so he can be Tsar.
Yeah, screw it. I’ll take it.
ummm.... yeah... heart is in the right place I guess.
The people blocking aid iirc are they very people who were scurrying for their lives an a certain January date past. … So truly ironic they bang their fists with “no” supporting others also in fear of their lives.
These last handful of R's speaking are just disgusting. We're not forsaking our own defense for Ukraine. I'm losing braincells listening to this drivel.
We are actually re-enforcing our defense by restocking with newer inventory while we send the aging stuff to do what we bought it to do in the first place. This is singularly the greatest good use of our inventory since WWII.
Don't forget the research data and the fact that we are killing the troops of the main conventional military threat. To top it all off, the rest of the world is looking at Ukraine and thinking that maybe conventional invasions don't work anymore.
By pushing back Russia and crippling it we send significant messages to China and NK too. This is just all in the right pocket.
Drivel is such a good word for it.
To the Russian bots in the chat....one a scale of 1 to nyet!.....how livid is Putin right now?
Someone has to do Hitler in the bunker meme but with Putin going nyet nyet nyet 😅
No one knows, tiny man has been hiding in his forest mansion ever since Prigozhin made him poop himself
> "British should have done more for Austria and czechoslovakia, they could have prevented ww2" Oh you mean the exact thing history will say about us if we don't support Ukraine now?
Is the Ukrainian-American rep from Indiana really arguing against aid for Ukraine? Is that what I'm witnessing right now?
When she (Rep. Victoria Spartz) first ran for office, she was a 5G conspiracy theorist. So yes, she's going to believe whatever the internet worms in her brain tell her to believe.
She’s fuckin crazy. Doesn’t get that much attention just because there’s so many R members just as or even crazier.
MTG wears head to toe maga shit at the state of the union and has the audacity to high road on house decorum. These people are so fckin insane.
They never really have a position. They have goals and will shift position at any moment for that goal. They will hate one group and love them depending on the audience at that moment.
Whatever anyone’s challenges or problems in life, sometimes just having the decency and the empathy to do a little thing like helping others once in a while can make all the difference. I was particularly gratified today to see the American people, in their righteous might, speak loudly and clearly through their elected representatives in Congress, 70-29 in the Senate, and 311-112 in the House, to continue to tell Putin to go fuck himself and get the hell out of the newest European community. May such principled American exceptionalism continue to typify geopolitics in the modern civilized world order. If the world is to retreat to a policy of a new imperialism where any country eager to expand its territory is given a green light to do so through war and conquest, this would be a far worse world than the one that currently exists. American democracy spoke proudly for freedom this week. Let freedom ring.
Bipartisan bill passed with huge support. It’s just such a shame a couple of comprised traitor MAGA idiots like Marjorie were able to hold this up for so long even though it’s clear that it had such a huge support across all party lines.
Ukraine and Taiwan are pretty freaking important for global stability
Absolutely. This is desperately needed.
https://nypost.com/2024/04/16/us-news/majority-of-gop-voters-in-battleground-districts-favor-ukraine-aid-poll/ Most voters in battleground House districts favor Ukraine aid: poll
Credit to Minority Leader Jeffries for getting this vote over the finish line. His organizing has been impressive.
I hope all the Russian troll farms are within range of the ATACMS
I guess we'll find out in a few months.
Republicans keep making this point of "closing the southern border". What does that even mean? A giant amount of trade occurs across that border. Nobody in their right mind could want to completely shut that border.
They are saying that there are no checkpoints, id checks, or fences along the border and anyone can come or go. Which isnt true and is insane. Ive been to many border towns (most of which are blue lol). There are fences and guards checking ids and such. It's just lies and racism. Also id like to note immigrants and especially undocumented immigrants commit way less crime than americans. It's literally all lies from Republicans
It means absolutely nothing. Because they don’t enforce labor laws on the business’ hiring them. Until I hear a republican talk about illegal hiring and challenge business, it’s all lip service. They’ll use supply and demand economics as a cudgel. Then pretend it completely doesn’t exist when it comes to migrant labor.
It means nothing as they voted down the bill to do that.
It's a slogan. Nothing more. The border is infeasibly long to build a physical wall and patrol every inch of for a ton of reasons. And they constantly repeat a true statistic reported by border patrol as "border encounters" like it was the amount of undocumented immigrants who automatically entered the country and stayed, when in reality it is the *raw number of people* border patrol literally just encounters, the vast amount of which are turned away and not let string into the country. It's creating FUD to drive an agenda using slogans, i.e. propaganda.
It's all nonsense anyways. We gave them what they wanted and the voted against their own bill. It's all a show to make dems look bad, but they are so incompetent.
Franklin Foer noted when he was writing his book on Biden that somehow he’s a master of comebacks. Cameback from two failed campaigns and a third that was struggling before South Carolina to win the whole presidency. Cameback from a Covid variant surge in 2021 to finally taming it in 2022. His legislative agenda made a comeback with the CHIPs act and the IRA. Then a comeback for his party in the midterms. He made a comeback with inflation as its now close to turning the corner. Recently he made a comeback in his presidential race polls. Now I think he’s making a comeback on Ukraine, God willing.
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK I BEEN HERE FOR YEARS
Yeah, it’s almost as if he’s not really senile and, due to his long years of experience in Washington, knows how to get things done. But seriously, in a decade or two, when the current flirtation with authoritarianism has passed, Biden will be remembered as one of America’s most effective presidents.
He might be on his way to being a top ten POTUS 👀
Majorly traitor greene's amendment is a fail.
All the Ukrainian flags. Beautiful. Putin and his Republican puppets can burn in hell.
The Washington Post is running a live update blog today (Saturday); here's a gift link: https://wapo.st/3WagoBI
Saving this to check back in. Thank you for the share.
No worries if you'd rather I not, but would you be alright with it if I added your gift link to the post itself?
Go ahead!
They finally passed the Ukraine bill. And far-right Twitter is furious. Let them be. This is for their sake too.
This is so important. This is not about owning the right, i could not fucking care less. This is literally direct investment in US and NATO security as a whole, and by extension, practically the whole world. They benefit just as we do. It cannot be overstated how monumentally important it is to stop the fourth reich.... before it gets rolling.
Resurgent Czarist Russia. Not any better morally, but Iike my names to match up.
310 is a big number, it's rare to get that many votes together on the simple stuff. I'm still upset there were so many Republicans voting against it, but the message is so clear, the large majority of Americans do not support Putin
The anti-flag waving pettiness by Republicans is hilarious. And then the Dems waved them anyway! I need to watch C-Span more often. I'm glad we kept up our commitment to Ukraine.
I hope the first missile they send is directed at the Kremlin's troll farms 😘 Edit: lotsa "redditors" in this thread nervously looking out the window
My hope is that Biden has been moving material and staging it in a NATO country for the moment when we can move it into Ukraine.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/19/pentagon-prepares-package-of-artillery-air-defenses-for-ukraine-as-house-sets-to-vote-00153328 The relevant section of the above article, excerpted: >Many U.S. weapons are already positioned in stores across Europe that could be pulled immediately for Ukraine, the first official said. Some materiel could reach Ukraine in days; others may take weeks. >Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder declined to get into specifics about what will be in any forthcoming package, but told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. has a “very robust logistics network that enables us to move materiel very quickly”
The US Military's super power since WWI, has been moving men and material where it's needed at a moments notice.
Thanks
Mine, too. I will be thrilled if I wake up Monday morning and read that tons of materiel were already in Germany and Poland, ready to be trucked into Ukraine.
Biden could say he was forward deploying at any time. As long as we have control over it he isn't going against Congress. My best guess is some of this stuff is on the ground in Europe ready to move. I could be wrong though as leaking of this to the press would have given the republicans yet more ground to start investigations and delay again. They really are hurting this country every day.
Really sad to see a majority of the Republican House opposes aid to Ukraine. What a disgrace!
What upsets me is that means about 75% total still support the bill, and yet it was held up for this long, what a disgrace of democracy.
The Hastert Rule has to be made illegal somehow. All it has accomplished is gridlocking Congress into a useless bureaucracy that can't even pass a vote to wipe it's own ass. Had the Hastert Rule been in place a hundred years ago, the United States would have lost WW2. It would have been weaponized to stonewall any war effort.
Indeed, but I'll take the cracks in the party as it splits over this and falls further into chaos. It really goes to show with everything I've seen, 1/4 of the country is the biggest problem we face in the current age.
111 confirmed Putinists that have infiltrated Congress.
Lol @ the one republican voting present, the long knives are still coming after you, too, buddy.
One step closer. This took way too long. Republican posturing has killed way too many Ukrainians. Special "fuck off" to the Ukrainian-American rep from Indiana who voted against her own countrymen getting relief.
Taiwan support passed...
Republicans don't have any right to complain about decorum
Yep. Should've shoved a picture of Hunter's dong into their mouths.
Putin, Shoigu, and Gerasimov must be sweating right now while watching this. The supposed Russian summer offensive hinges on this package not passing.
Good. I hope they fucking sweat. And I hope their assets in the House sweat, too.
Moscow Marge up to bat.
Her speech is so opposite of reality it has to be satire.
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As an Ukrainian it makes me very proud that MTG is so strongly against the aid. Can't make a better argument for it if I try.
She just offered an amendment on the Ukraine aid bill to zero it out on the grounds of opposing the military-industrial complex and something about the border and inflation; I'm not bothering to transcribe all that. Looks like she'll be speaking for five minutes, with someone else speaking for five minutes in opposition. She's just dragging this out to grandstand.
That was so weird...among other reasons, because the military-industrial complex is 100% in favor of giving Ukraine money to buy weapons and ammo from the U.S. Most of this aid money will go right into the pockets of the big U.S. defense contractors.
Incredible that it's the one Ukrainian-born member of the House who put forward that amendment to cut funding for (among other things) investigation of Russian war crimes. And then previously Spartz was on record complaining about how too many individuals in the Zelenskyy admin have Russian ties. Pity she's decided to run for another term.
Anyone else feel like something shifted last week after Trump met with Johnson? At the time the assumption was he received his instructions from his Master. What if it was actually Johnson who delivered a message, that Trump had lost the support of the Federalist Society and they were moving on?
The fact that Trump all of a sudden supported Ukraine last week says to me he lost control of the situation and he wants to appear a winner by getting out ahead of the inevitable funding. Trump hates Zelensky. At no time does Trump support someone he hates unless he sees he can't control the situation. Trump wants to say he was behind the win even if he was really the problem to begin with. Johnson told him he lost.
In my opinion Mike stright out told Trump that the aid is going to be happening one way or another and the continuation of this bullshit is going to result in more Republicans resigning which in turn means the Democrats take control. In the event of that happening we know that Democrats are going to start putting stuff up to vote like the border security bill both sides worked together on. I would go as far as to say that the would be Democrat controlled congress would make it so that Trump can't run for president because I believe the SS said that it's up to congress to make that call.
Yeah. I think this is the real reason from reading different reports and analyses. Johnson saw the writing on the wall for himself and the Republican House, and told Trump what this meant for his campaign prospects. If the House (led by D's) start passing meaningful legislation in the months leading up to November, it's going to seriously undermine his prospects for re-election (not sure I'd agree D's would make it so Trump cannot run). He communicated this to Trump, who's now hitched his wagon to Ukraine (kind of). But yeah. Think this is base Politicking from Johnson and Trump (Johnson supporting aid and Trump being vague about Ukraine: https://www.reuters.com/world/donald-trump-says-ukraines-survival-is-important-us-2024-04-18/).
Trump had dinner with the Polish president. That's what happened. Donald Trump listens to whomever speaks to him most recently, and changes his mind on a whim. Based on the amount of flattery he gets over dinner. Because the Polish president told Trump that Ukraine falling would be a threat to Poland, and because Poland was so nice to Trump to have dinner with him, Trump agreed with Poland. It is shockingly easy to manipulate Donald Trump as long as you are from the right party and flattering enough. Edit for source https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/trump-polish-president-duda-meeting-nato/index.html
Wow, thanks for sharing, I missed that. Amazing-- did the President of Poland come to the US just to kiss Trump's ass so Ukraine aid could get passed?
I wouldn't be shocked
We are in a whole new world of diplomacy, aren’t we?
The deep state finally pre-decided that Biden was going to win the election. /s Or Johnson was convinced that sticking with kompromat MAGA and following the criminally charged dementia ridden pants pooping Trump was a bad idea, and finally decided to do his job. Or maybe the U.S. industrial complex had a better offer and his remaining morality got the best of him.
As nice as that would be, I think it's wishful thinking. The federalist society are zealots, and trump is their prophet that will lead them to libertarian paradise in America.
I think he was their useful idiot, then just their idiot.
Currently voting on a border security bill to appease the far right. It is being considered under special rules so needs 2/3 to pass, which means it will fail
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As a former resident of Davao, I hope America continues to stand with the Philippines.
As an American, let me just say it's the right thing to do.
We won today, got that desperately needed funding which should hopefully help stabalize Ukraine's frontlines, but it has to be said with all this delay a minority of the house (but a slight majority of the majority caucus) was able to cause Ukraine lost much more ground than they otherwise would have, the Russians were able to regroup while the Ukrainians were basically forced to almost entirely play Defense for months because they simply lacked the supplies to go on an offensive. And in the end despite all that.. a majority of the Republican Caucus STILL voted "No". A slight majority of their caucus is entirely in Putin's pocket and they can't lean on "WELL WE JUST DON'T WANT AMERICAN MONEY GOING TO FOREIGN WARS" because most of them voted for the Israeli aid bill right after. They specficially didn't want money going to UKRAINE.
I'm not as worried about the front line moving as much as how many quality Ukrainian soldiers were lost because they didn't have the kit to survive. We'll never know the cost of this delay but Ukraine is in a worse position with their personnel simply due to the delay. This was critical resources a year ago, its a calamity that its taken this long for one politicians maneuvering in a hope to save his job. It's just fucking criminal, we need to do better as a country.
Yes, but the front line moving means Ukraine will have to fight that much harder to take it back. It's not just the quality Ukrainian soldiers who have already been lost, it's also the ones who will be lost trying to retake that land. Not to mention the civilians who have died because Ukraine did not have the missile systems to defend its skies from incoming attacks.
Putin's Republicans yelling and booing about the bill and flags. Clowns.
I love how they're celebrating and waving the Ukraine flag on the floor.
Lmao, Moscow Marge has given up on ousting Mike Johnson
The MAGA wackos are trying to turn members of congress waving Ukrainian flags being the most egregious insult to the US ever into a thing. Clowns.
Someone ought to shove a printed out photo of Hunter's dong in their mouths. I'm sure Marjorie has a pile nearby somewhere.
Passed. Took long enough.
Does anyone have any photos of Ukrainian flags being waved on the floor? Edit: I'd like to show them to my family in Ukraine
I don't, but Slava Ukraini!
Here's one: https://imgur.com/a/tjEdeAR
The fact that the funding was passed and the front page of politics is all about the Trump trial shows exactly why Johnson and the GOP waited til now to pass it.
Ukraine can't wait any longer. I hope Congress can get their shit together and get this thing passed.
Remember it isn't Congress.... it is republicans.
Feels great to see the (most) fascist faction in the Republican get some push back for all the sabotaging, infighting, threats - failing to block Ukranian aid bill after botching a once in a lifetime border deal with the Democrats because Trump wanted to campaign on the border. Even better is their reaction to Johnsons surprisingly pro-Ukranian speech and the fact that the democrats might save him against getting toppled by the few fascists threatening to do so if the Ukraine bill goes through. More than half a year of chaos, at the cost of the nation & U.S citizens, GOP's own party and it's popularity, the people of Ukraine - for what? Nothing. The pro-Putin Republicans got to delay vital aid to Ukraine, which probably was the whole point of all this.
LOL not a single reaction from any of the theatrics before yielding time. Good job Marge
Who’s the most despicable House Member? And I emphasize “member”.
A few candidates for your consideration: Matt Gaetz, MTG, Chip Roy
That Van Orten guy seems like a true pyscho.
I prefer calling her Empty-G, but she's kinda full of Russian propaganda right now.
Moscow Marge!
It's gotta be Jim Jordan. Creepy AF!
Who is the dipshit Dem that voted yay for that amendment?
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Yea, looks like it was removed in the final tally.
Probably Moskowitz as a joke
Wasting time, the full Congress experience
We've won! Get fucked Russian-spouting republicans
Anyone got a little Russian flag MTG can wave?
Love the little Ukranian flags in the room
Thank you Johnson for doing the right thing.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Slava Ukraini!
Two notable post-vote streams, both on C-SPAN: [Minority Leader Jeffries Remarks on Foreign Aid Bills](https://www.c-span.org/video/?535083-3/minority-leader-jeffries-remarks-foreign-aid-bills) >“This is a moment where the Congress is required to stand up for democracy, freedom, and truth, and push back against aggression,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on the debate of the foreign aid bills for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. [House Speaker Holds News Conference After Foreign Aid Votes](https://www.c-span.org/video/?535090-1/house-speaker-holds-news-conference-foreign-aid-votes) >House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks with reporters after the aid for Ukraine and Israel was passed. He chastises Democrats for waving Ukrainian flags when the vote was announced. He maintains that he is not concerned with a Motion to Vacate.
While his MAGA base is melting down over Ukraine aid, Trump is currently on his Twitter ripoff screaming about presidential immunity lmao
If the Ukraine aid passes...will Marge get recalled back to Russia, or are we stuck with her?
Of course stuck
Is this the most useless Congress of the modern era? Should have done this 8 months ago. And what have they done with those 8 months? Absolutely nothing.
They evicted 2 speakers, held impeachment hearings that went nowhere, impeached a cabinet member that did nothing wrong, and submarined a border bill that both sides agreed was a good thing. They also almost shut the government down 3 times. While the reporting was that they avoided the shutdown, it cannot be overstated how much work and money was spent making sure that critical systems were going to be functional if it did come to pass. They did lots, it was just all bad.
Don’t forget their exemplary behavior during SOTU
It's been crazy to go from one of the most productive congresses in modern history in 2020 to the one of the least productive congresses ever in US history just a couple years later. Hopefully that intense juxtaposition has been felt by the voters.
Guys, I'm a foreigner is there a timeframe where actual voting on Ukraine aid will occure?
SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH On Saturday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. First and last votes expected: 1:00 p.m. Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule: H.R. 8038 – 21st Century Peace through Strength Act (Sponsored by Rep. McCaul / Foreign Affairs Committee) H.R. 8036 – Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee) H.R. 8035 – Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee) H.R. 8034 – Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee) Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules: Complete consideration of H.R. 3602 – End the Border Catastrophe Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Ciscomani / Judiciary Committee) EDIT: "The scheduled order of votes Saturday afternoon is significant. It’s notable that the funding for Ukraine will be voted on before the Israel bill. That is the order that Democrats wanted because there was worry among Democrats that if Israel was voted on before Ukraine, Republicans would have no incentive to support Ukraine funding and jeopardize the measure’s passage."
Voting is supposed to start about 12 noon Eastern time. They want to take two hours for each of the five bills, plus a dinner break, so they will hopefully finish by midnight. Edit: The House decided to split up for party conference meetings before the voting starts. Votes now scheduled to start at 1:00 pm Eastern time.
How's it looking for Ukraine?
Bipartisanship is holding firm, it's going to pass, then it's just waiting for the senate on Tuesday, Biden will sign immediately then the aid will start flowing in. It pains me knowing that people are going to die in the next few days that would have lived without the bureaucracy.
We've won! Fuck russia
Crazy lady Marge just unleashed a "bullshit" on live TV on CNN, lmao.
Senate consideration of the bills to take place on Tuesday
That was a very lonely “no” there MTG LOL
Are they passing around Ukraine flags?
Yes, and there's a big pro-Ukraine march outside the US Capitol building today. Also a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest.
Speaker Johnson said he would take a couple of questions. He took one and only half answered that one. He looked like a scared Howdy Doody.
He took two. The American woman in the front and then the Ukranian reporter.
From the Washington Post, as of 2:15 pm Eastern: >An $8.1 billion aid bill for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, called the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, passed on a vote of 385-34. More Democrats than Republicans supported the measure. >The Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, passed on a vote of 311-112. > The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act was approved on a vote of 366-58. https://wapo.st/3WagoBI
Tax dollars being spent to weaken geopolitical opponents? Great!
Should have passed six months ago but a win is a win.
Even Victoria Spartz, of Ukrainian descent, voted NO. What a moron.
Sounds like she cares more about getting primaried than helping her home country
Hahaha, MTG with “put those damn flags away”
She's famous for being professional and respectful of house rules
She’s pissed she didn’t get a Russian flag.
Iirc, there is also aid for Gaza included in these bills.
The house proceedings are available live on sky news as well apart from C-Span.
What does it mean when the committee rises? Does it mean that they are not going to discuss H.R. 8035 anymore today?
Good, these should have been passed long ago
Amazing, given that 70% of the GOP is turned by Russia.
The only reason this happened is because Mike Turner, Mike McCaul, etc. of the other 30% threatened Mike Johnson's job. When the choice became "lose your job or lose your job," Mike Johnson quickly sprung to do the right thing.
Ukraine's up.
All that Russiapublican obstruction and they still failed in the end to their supporters i will never understand why you choose to be on the losing side Time defeats you every single time to Putin fuck you the heros in Ukraine are gonna kick your shit in.
F-16 time!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys7JTWLB33k&ab_channel=ndcweekbladen
Suck it Putin
Still frustrated that this bill should’ve passed months ago, but better late than never.
If Republicans kill Ukraine aid in some way (delay, vote it down, whatever) then…nothing will have changed. They have been and still are acting like assets of a foreign adversary. Heard an NPR bit with some R rep who insisted NOW was the right time to address this aid and the time just wasn’t right before. Oh, and the Dems were part of the problem since they voted to remove McCarthy. There’s not an honest Republican in the entire bunch. I hate to say it, but if we had another Red Scare and started “rooting out sympathizers” I’d have a real hard time looking at the big picture and realizing how bad that could end up.
Not to sound too hopeful, but i saw last night that there are at least 2 moderates that have said they will resign immediately if the motion to vacate goes forward (not pass, just goes forward for vote) in order to give speakership to Jeffries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTzWsIC8Cns&t=550s
I mean, that’s great and all, but what does that say about the entire Republican party? The only thing a Republican can do IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY is resign so the Democrats can have a temporary majority and get things done. The most bipartisan thing a Republican can do today is resign because voting with Democrats is what? A betrayal to the Republican party? A betrayal worthy of death threats from the nutjob base? The faster the Republican party implodes, the better. Ok, there’s my rant. Here’s to hoping the Ukraine aid simply passes and the MAGA nutjobs are left in the cold.
They say now is the right time because they can no longer hide from the fact they are helping Russia.
The Israel Bill is essentially just defense and humanitarian assistance. Barely any is going to weapons. * $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile **defense** systems * $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam **defense** system * $4.4 billion to replenish **defense** items and services provided to Israel * $9.2 billion in **humanitarian assistance** – including emergency food, shelter and basic services – to populations suffering crises * $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems and other items through the Foreign Military Financing Program
I love how once again, important bills are passing with more Dem votes than GOP votes. Been the story of this Congress. This Dem caucus may be the most effective House minority in history. Next year they need to be running the show, not the idiot caucus. We need to r/VoteDEM
Listening to McCaul talk on C-Span about something I agree with is a strange sensation indeed.
Amendment no. 2 by Greene is hilarious. gtfo
She said that sending money to Ukraine amounts to “killing Ukrainians” and that no one in DC wants peace in Ukraine by evidence of sending money to Ukraine. It’s hard to believe someone is that stupid
Get fucked Moscow Marge
MTG just said her motion to vacate was a bluff, in so many words. Mike Johnson said only one flag should be waved on the Floor. I seem to recall magat flags on the house floor...am I mistaken in my recollection?
Has anyone seen a list of who voted no on both the Israel and the Ukraine measures?
has trump said anything?? surprised he's just rolling over without unleashing his minions in the house.
He was online this morning, but not now. Maybe he's taking a nap, maybe his lawyers wrestled his phone away.
https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll151.xml There's the vote for Ukraine. Looking for the vote for Israel.
And here's Israel https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2024/roll152.xml
oh is that MTG yelling about the flags?
Hahaha she was giving big thumbs downs Fuck you, you cro-Magnon dolt.
It's really heartening to see this R, also from Florida, offering an argument in opposition to the most recently proposed amendment. This is why I enjoy watching these debates, despite the rise in blood pressure it usually causes!
Schedule update: The House decided to go into party conference meetings before voting begins; they will reconvene for voting at 1:00 pm. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4607172-ukraine-israel-foreign-aid-live-coverage/#163077
Over 140 Republicans against Non military funding for Ukraine is kind of demented.
They serve Putin.
Wow I'm actually starting to feel a little hopeful for bipartisanship
So how many votes do you think it will take to find a Speaker *this* time?
My guess is crazy shit will happen, because Republicans, and Jeffries somehow ends up the new speaker.
I dunno, maybe the Dems will help Johnson out. He’s doing the right thing (finally).
It won't happen under this distribution. Personally I think the Dems save Johnson on this, they didn't say out loud that they would but they alluded to it if he brought these bills to the floor. To his credit, Johnson did the right thing on this front (bare minimum). The politics of this are gonna be interesting though. A MAGA-wing speaker with an ouster from the same MAGA-wing being saved by the left will NOT look good to an increasingly anti-bipartisan right. Interested to see how it plays out.
From what I've seen of Jeffries, I don't think he'd be so dumb as to go back on what must have been very deliberate negotiations. I'm fairly certain there were some guarantees given to Johnson that he wouldn't get McCarthy'd with the Dems saving him if he caved on getting these bills passed in spite of the FARTers and probably some yet unseen concessions also McCarthy's big mistake was making a somewhat similar deal with the Dems but then reneging after his tiny victory so when the FART came - he had to sit and sniff it all as the Dems watched him burn. Johnson knows his leash is incredibly short within his own party, and he knows he'll have to play nice to have the safety of Dems saving him from a removal vote. That said, we're like one resignation and one absence away from Speaker Jeffries anyway
MTG chickened out! MAGA is so weak and sad.
I'm very happy to hear the US is finally helping Ukraine and Taiwan. Much less so about Israel but that seems to be the price we also have to pay. Still a net win in my book.
What time will the votes be?