The Biden administration wants to send over $14 billion in aid to Israel. Most Republicans and Democrats support this.
But some Republicans and at least one Democrat support the spending only if it comes out of funds allocated for the Internal Revenue Service from the Inflation Reduction Act. Many Republicans want Israel spending decoupled from Ukraine spending. Some Democrats oppose sending Israel aid because they disagree with their government’’s current policies toward Palestine.
But one Republican’s lone opposition is based on the most obvious reason on the table: America doesn’t have the money.
With a national debt of $33 trillion, this is just basic math. And the economic reality facing Americans if we don’t get our spending under control has led Republican Congressman Thomas Massie to not only oppose sending the aid, but to even vote against a non-binding resolution in US “support” of Israel, in order to highlight his glaring reason for taking his stance.
Massie also voted against every bit of Ukraine funding – and for the same obvious reason.
So of course he was attacked for this by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who tried to accuse him of racist intent.
The lobbying group implied Massie was anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist – a truly heinous bit of slander.
But Massie refused to take the smear and called AIPAC out on its misdirection regarding his true intention.
Then AIPAC attempted to attack the Kentucky Republican by noting he voted the same way on the support resolution as the far-left Democratic group of House members, ‘The Squad.’
Here is the real question: Why is Massie the only member of Congress taking this stance based on purely fiscal conservative reasons? The US didn’t have billions for Ukraine and many Republicans understood this, but the same is true of Israel and the current tragedy in that region.
And as BASED’s Brad Polumbo recently observed, Israel doesn’t even need our money.
“Israel has every right to target and destroy Hamas, after the group carried out a vicious attack on Israeli civilians that left 1,400 dead and thousands more injured,” Brad noted last week. “Yet they don’t need another $14 billion from us to do it.”
“Israel already has one of the most advanced and sophisticated militaries in the world. As reported by Al Jazeera, the nation boasts 169,500 active military personnel, 465,000 reserves, 2,200 tanks, 530 artillery, 339 combat aircraft, 142 helicopters, and 5 submarines,” he added. “Suffice it to say that’s… a lot more than Hamas.”
Brad wrote, “Relative to population, Israel has the second-highest military spending in the world. It should be more than capable of taking on Hamas without additional support from US taxpayers.”
Are Republicans truly the party of America First or not? When this spending vote finally happens, it will be curious to see how many, if anyone, will change their mind and take Massie’s position. Republican Congressman Chip Roy has signaled that he will only support the Israel aid if it comes from prior IRS or other allocations.
Republicans should at least ponder what Thomas Massie is saying here. Because it’s not a small thing.
In fact, if you’re an American who cares about the long term health of your country, it’s everything.
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