Opinion
Congress is embroiled in back-and-forth negotiations on aid to Ukraine, with Democrats arguing assistance is necessary to ensure democracy in the West as we know it and Republicans agreeing, but play-acting at insisting on more resources to secure our own border as part of a deal. Adding insult to injury, all signs point to an inevitable loss at worst, negotiated peace at best for Ukraine, leaving many wondering if any of this aid was worth it.
The Defenders of Democracy camp like to point out the little cost to Americans who are funding this war have to pay. After all, it’s not American troops on the front lines of this war dying…yet.
But that argument is far too simplistic, as a member of the Heritage Foundation explained in perfect detail on X this week. As Americans across the country gear up for the holidays, spending more money they don’t have to provide a memorable holiday season, let’s look at the actual price tag for the everyday American to support the failed proxy war between Russia and Ukraine.
A masterclass
The Heritage Foundation’s Richard Stern explained what the latest aid package to Ukraine will cost the American citizens if passed. The aid, which will rise to a total of $173 billion, is the equivalent of $1,300 per American household or $11,500 per Ukrainian household.
Consider what an extra $1,300 would cover for an average American family. That’s at least a week’s worth of groceries in the Biden economy.
Broken down further, Mr. Stern explains that:
“If this new bill is implemented, our total aid to Ukraine will be more than the annual wages paid out to every American worker in all agriculture, mining, and oil and gas extraction industries.”
In an economy that has continually shown wage increases struggling to keep pace with inflation this year, that extra money could’ve been better served, bolstering the wages of the workers who provide food for American tables. The point behind Mr. Stern’s examples is simply put in this next post:
“Every time the federal government spends money, it forcefully takes that money from hard-working Americans.”
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Let that sink in for a spell. The decisions the elected members of this country make to fund foreign wars essentially take money from the pockets of those who put them into power.
Not only is this a great one-sentence explanation of how government operates, but it also illustrates the concept of elections mattering.
Gimme shelter
Mr. Stern described how this unfettered aid to Ukraine has cost Americans hopes of owning their own home.
“New federal spending is driving prices and interest rates, especially mortgage rates, sky-high.”
Keeping a home, let alone buying one has become almost, if not downright, impossible in the land of the free. Mr. Stern explains:
“Interest payments on a new median mortgage have gone from 16.4% of a median worker’s pay to a staggering 41.9% – boxing tens of millions of Americans out of homeownership.”
It’s no wonder more young American adults are opting to live with their parents instead of leaving the nest. Since the pandemic, the cost of shelter overall, including rent, has increased by 20%, contributing to the highest rate of homelessness since the Department of Housing and Urban Development began measuring homelessness in 2007.
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Homelessness in America has surged 12%, with 70,000 new homeless on the streets of the United States. Of note, homeless families with children have increased by 16% this year.
Remember the point: the more Congress spends money, the more it takes from the average American. As the uniparty takes our money for foreign wars, many Americans find themselves cold and on the streets.
Might as well light it on fire
The worst part of all this spending is that it appears to be like most spending related to American foreign policy. The idea sold to Americans was that sending aid to Ukraine would help them push back the Russian aggressor and defeat the evil Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Alas, President Putin is still in his seat, and all signs point to him remaining the leader of Russia. Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive has shown that no matter the amount of aid provided, the Ukrainian military will be unable to retake the Russian-conquered areas.
Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute explained on CNBC that a ceasefire or peace settlement in Ukraine seems unavoidable at this point. Mr. Lieven claims that the White House hopes to delay these inevitable negotiations until after the election.
The Biden administration essentially is willing to blow American taxpayer dollars on a war they know can’t be won to kick an inevitable can down the road in hopes nobody notices. But Americans do notice; they notice every time they go grocery shopping, every time they go to pay their household bills, and every time they look at their stagnant and often dwindling savings accounts and rising credit card balances.
A whopping 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, with over half of those earning over $100,000 annually also living paycheck to paycheck. For what exactly?
To help keep another failed war alive for the political elite to manipulate to their election advantage.
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