Speaker Mike Johnson is about to fold like a deck of cards.
After spending months holding out for a Ukraine/Israel/Tawain foreign aid deal that attached itself to H.R. 2, he’s willing to give up on everything at the advice of four of his close advisors. Sources have told me that members of his team, including Josh Hodges, Dan Ziegler, Jay Fields, and Brittan Specht, have pushed him to believe that without giving more money to Ukraine, Russia is prepared to invade Europe.
This is utterly ludicrous and totally backtracking on everything he’s spent the last few months fighting for. Even more moderate members of the party, including Rep. Nicole Maliotakis (R-N.Y.), tweeted that they couldn’t support a foreign giveaway bill that didn’t include a solution to the migrant problem on OUR border.
Neocons and allies of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have pushed back at any Republicans scratching their heads that really they’re the ones out of touch.
They insist that Republicans really do support funding for Ukraine and that another $100 billion in spending won’t affect the deficit and debt anyway because it’s so large. It’s like telling a drunk to take one more shot because, what the hell, he’s already blackout.
I could debate that point about spending all day and how our foreign policy since Bush’s presidency has blown the budget. Still, the bigger question at the moment is, do Republicans really support more money for Ukraine? McConnell said Ukraine was the most important issue for America, but where does it rank? Well, here’s what the polls say…