Okay, so it’s not actually 40 billion. It’s just shy of 38 billion. But why quibble over the decimal points, right? After all, as the old saying goes, ‘a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.’ But the reality is that the total amount of money, either in cash or in military equipment and other supplies has now passed ludicrous levels. And since these are all American taxpayer dollars that we’re talking about, it’s not unfair to demand a bit of accountability and let everyone know where it’s all going. That’s how things are supposed to work in a democracy, isn’t it? You tell the voters what you want to spend their money on and they then have the opportunity to inform their elected representatives if they agree when they next go to the ballot box. So let’s first take a look at where the White House is saying the money is going, and then examine some examples of other places the cash might be winding up. (The Hill)
The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to approve $37.7 billion in additional aid for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, a request that comes ahead of both a government funding deadline and the expected flipping of the House to Republican control.
The Biden administration is requesting that Congress authorize $21.7 billion in defense aid to continue providing equipment to Ukraine and to replenish Department of Defense stocks. It is also asking for $14.5 billion for direct budget support to Ukraine, critical wartime investments and security assistance as well as to strengthen global food security and provide humanitarian assistance.
Additionally, $626 million would go to providing nuclear security support for Ukraine and to modernizing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to reduce domestic energy costs and ensure sustainable access to energy resources. And $900 million would go to help with health care and support services to Ukrainians.
That figure of $21.7 billion for “defense aid” is an eye-popping number. That would be all of the military equipment, supporting gear, and supplies that I mentioned above. But in case you missed it, there is also a brief mention of a need to “replenish Department of Defense stocks.” Surely the public must realize that we’ve sent so much of our own hardware to Zelensky already that we’re going to run out unless we can refill our own lockers. We have already had to commit more than $14 billion above the existing Pentagon budget for 2022-2023 to those “replenishment” goals. And Taiwan is already banging on the door demanding more for themselves above and beyond what we’re already giving to Ukraine.
Sure, Ukraine’s military is obviously burning through a lot of military supplies fending off Russian shelling and chasing them out of some eastern portions of the country. (At least when their own rockets aren’t falling in Poland.) But we have been hearing too many disturbing reports of weapons and equipment donated to Ukraine by America and our NATO allies winding up on the black market, with Ukrainian oligarchs pocketing the cash. Some of those reports have been largely debunked, but some of the claims have come from European government officials, including ones in France. At a minimum, they should be fully investigated once the GOP takes control of the House since the Biden administration clearly isn’t interested in asking any questions.
Then there are all of those figurative pallets of cash that have been going to Ukraine in the name of “budget support” and “humanitarian assistance.” We should have learned our lessons long ago in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan (among many other places) that when literal pallets of American cash show up, there will be eager hands waiting to grab some of it. And we’ve seen similar reports coming out of Ukraine, with some reported sightings of Ukrainian oligarchs hitting the beaches in other nations with conspicuous amounts of cash. Perhaps this is all on the up and up, but shouldn’t we know for sure?
Zelenski has admitted that his country is facing three to five billion dollar shortfalls every month. (And he would like us to cover the tab.) In terms of managing its own economy, Ukraine isn’t even a functional country at the moment. And keep in mind that before the entire invasion mess began, Ukraine was almost universally viewed as a highly corrupt nation where all manner of shady deals took place. That’s why NATO wasn’t very interested in letting them join before Putin lost his mind. (It might also be why Hunter Biden found the business climate there so attractive, but that’s a story for another day.)
There are too many question marks piling up around all of this aid to Ukraine. The numbers are not trivial. And that money is flowing out of the United States in a massively disproportionate fashion when compared to any of our allies. This is all taking place while Americans are struggling to pay for food and energy and inflation continues to roar. Where are our priorities? I’m not saying we abandon the Ukrainians overnight with no notice, but don’t we at least deserve a full and open accounting of where all of this money is going? It’s the least we all should expect from our government before they keep shoveling ever-larger amounts out the door to go God only knows where.
