News/Commentary

Rand Paul blocks $40B foreign spending package; ‘We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy’

May 13, 2022 | | Print Article

The rush to send $40 billion to Ukraine at a time when there are grave domestic problems that are receiving scant attention from elected leaders hit a roadblock when U.S. Senator Rand Paul singlehandedly blocked the package, citing his loyalty to the United States over a foreign country.

On Thursday, the Kentucky Republican stunned his colleagues by derailing the fast track process, insisting that an inspector general be appointed to oversee the spending of the funds included in the gargantuan financial gift to a country that has long been notorious for its political corruption.

Senator Paul’s resistance to a lightning-fast vote puts him at odds with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who claimed that the Ukraine giveaway is the “the most important thing in the world right now,” putting him in lockstep with President Joe Biden and the entirety of the Democratic Party.

According to Paul, “My oath of office is to the U.S. Constitution, not to any foreign nation and no matter how sympathetic the cause, my oath of office is to the national security of the United States of America.”

“We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy,” he added, citing record gas and diesel fuel prices, staggering food costs and the highest inflation rate that the nation has seen in over four decades.

Paul took to Twitter to explain the reasoning behind his actions.

“My oath of office is to the U.S. Constitution, not to any foreign nation. Congress is trying yet again to ram through a spending bill – one that I doubt anyone has actually read – and there’s no oversight included into how the money is being spent,” he wrote on Twitter.

“All I requested is an amendment to be included in the final bill that allows for the Inspector General to oversee how funds are spent. Anyone who is opposed to this is irresponsible,” he wrote.

He added, “While I sympathize with the people of Ukraine, and commend their fight against Putin, we cannot continue to spend money we don’t have. Passing this bill brings the total we’ve sent to Ukraine to nearly $54 billion over the course of two months.”

“It’s threatening our own national security, and it’s frankly a slap in the face to millions of taxpayers who are struggling to buy gas, groceries, and find baby formula,” Paul said, daring to suggest that the government is indifferent to the suffering of Americans, including mothers who are unable to find baby formula to nourish their newborns.

Video quickly resurfaced of deceased GOP Senator John McCain denouncing Paul, who has been consistent in his criticism of foreign wars as being in the service of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, strong words from a man whose warmongering was only exceeded by his zeal to put American troops into harm’s way in conflicts of dubious benefit to the nation.

Paul’s resistance drew a spirited response from Twitter users, both from those praising him and others who predictably smeared him as a Putin puppet among other things.

Paul’s insistence on accountability will only temporarily delay the transfer of the money to Ukraine, a matter that the entire political establishment is unified on regardless of the pain that is inflicted upon ordinary Americans.

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Chris Donaldson
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