Greetings! It feels like forever since I’ve been able to dedicate some time to sitting down and writing, and it feels good! I was going to write an article about congress approving (another) Ukrainian aid package — this one for $40 billion — but Glenn Greenwald already knocked that one out of the park.
So instead, today I’ll be focusing on the blatant contrast between the frantic passage of the $40 billion aid package (some of which doesn’t actually go to Ukraine, but replenishes our weapons at home - making this both a direct AND indirect gift to the military industrial complex) and the failure of a $48 billion domestic spending bill that would ostensibly go to help small businesses.
(Don’t get me wrong, I seriously doubt the domestic bill would do anything meaningful to help normal people, it simply provides a window into the priorities of your ‘representatives’.)
As American families continue to be smashed by inflation caused by idiotic covid policies, idiotic monetary policy, and idiotic energy policy, Congress is laser-focused on throwing piles and piles of cash to Ukraine, seemingly without any meaningful oversight.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul defied leaders of both parties Thursday and delayed until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia's three-month old invasion.
Three-month-old invasion? Surely that can’t be right, in February the Russians were just days away from running out of fuel and being sent home to Moscow! Or was that March? No matter, any day now the Russians will be driven out of Ukraine through willpower and billions of dollars of sophisticated American weaponry. Our spending on a three-month war we’re not even involved in is rivaling what Russia spends on their military in an entire year. And we’re still going strong.
The United States also continues to work with its Allies and partners to identify and provide Ukraine with additional capabilities to defend itself.
Aren’t Americans generous?
Predictably, Paul (like his father) was only a minor roadblock standing in the way of the desires of the warmongers. The money will be spent, the weapons will be sold, the payoffs will be made, and the circle will continue as it has for decades. Like the verdict of the Sussman trial, this isn’t a surprise if you’ve been paying attention.
But a lot of Americans who weren’t paying attention are sitting up and questioning why we should be shoveling money hand-over-fist for a war we’re not involved in while mothers in America can’t find baby formula. Politically apathetic Americans are being forced to pay attention because the politicians (mostly Biden & Handlers) have so severely screwed up the American way of life. (Being so resource-rich we forget the world is a harsh and cruel place)
Since the ‘Vote for $2,000’ campaign (which mysteriously turned into $1,400), the federal government has been strangely silent on direct payments to Americans who are still struggling under stupid covid restrictions and who are paying the price for the trillions in new spending rained down upon the politically connected. (My guess is Democrats push a functionally useless vote-buying ‘stimulus’ bill once we get closer to midterms)
Gas is up. Groceries are up (when you can find them). Rent is up. Every single time Americans make a purchase, they are reminded that their dollars aren’t going as far as they did just a couple years ago. And those constant economic reminders are sending Joe Biden’s approval ratings even further into the gutter as people figure out the federal government does not care about them.
It’s important to note that the price of energy drives all prices. When energy (namely gas) is cheap and abundant, it costs less to produce goods, run your equipment, get your goods to market, and tons of other inputs.
But when the price of energy rises, all those inputs increase — meaning the end product price increase is even higher than the energy price increase.
How much does energy affect food prices? Urbanchuk did a study comparing a price hike for oil against the same price hike for corn, which in some form or another shows up in a lot of food. Oil had twice the effect on prices, he says. And that's not counting natural gas prices. Natural gas is used a lot in processing food.
The reason it’s important to remember that the price of energy drives all prices is because these price increases are exactly what Joe Biden & The Incompetent Henchmen promised. And oh wow have they done it. And Biden still seems pretty proud of it, even as Americans have to make hard choices about what to cut out of the household budget:
We can’t even get these idiots to answer the basic climate questions, like: what’s going to happen to the price of electricity if everybody’s using it to charge their cars ON TOP of normal usage? How are people who are already struggling to fill the tank going to buy new electric vehicles? And the most important climate question of all: Why aren’t we developing new nuclear plants as we make this ‘incredible transition’? (at gunpoint)
Instead of providing answers, Biden continues to blame greedy oil companies for the increase in prices, and is now contemplating a ‘windfall profits’ tax in order to buy some goodwill with Americans. (Note how Biden & the other economic ignorants always talk about total profit in dollars, neglecting to mention that companies are impacted by inflation just like we are, and that high profit number might actually be less profit overall)
Biden professes to be doing everything possible to bring prices down — everything but the obvious: increase supply. He’s willing to inflict real pain on Americans to score political points with people who wouldn’t vote Republican if their lives depended on it. (*cough* Jay Inslee *cough*)
But don’t you worry, as Americans are slowly slipping underwater at home, Biden and Congress will be ready to help — Ukrainians. After all, that $40 billion aid package will only last about five months, and our goal is to draw Russia into a Ukrainian quagmire of Afghan proportions. How long were we fighting over there, again?
Excellent article! Whether it's incompetence or intentional, the results are still the same. I think most of us can agree that it's intentional, and has been from the get go. Covid was planned and is being used to usher in "The Great Reset" "Build Back Better", whatever ridiculous bullshit phrase you wish to label it.
I love your Substack. Just your writing makes me smile, even if the subject is frustrating.
The one thing people forget about is that if fossil fuels go, natural gas goes. So with the electrical grid we have now, we are supposed to *deep breath* run our appliances, run our computerized everything, charge our electronics, cook our food, heat our homes, heat our water, cook our food in restaurants (which *all* use large gas grills for cooking), heat our businesses, aaaannd charge our batteries for our cars aaannnd our mass transit for when we can't afford to buy and/or charge those cars.
Call me crazy, but I don't see this ending well.