-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Russia/Ukraine conflict
- Thread starter amolina
- Start date
Tiger
Active Member
Does any country hold Rubles outside Russia?
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
The new French Prime Minister reiterated increased French support for UKR during his recent meeting with Scholz in Berlin.
...] [The new French Prime Minister] added that France is ready to supply Ukraine with the newest generation of weapons, such as Scalp missiles and new generation bombs, and "this commitment will obviously increase, but not only in terms of allocated finances, but also in terms of character weapons, which obviously must be of the highest standard necessary for Ukrainians to be able to defend themselves" [...
www.ukrinform.net
...] [The new French Prime Minister] added that France is ready to supply Ukraine with the newest generation of weapons, such as Scalp missiles and new generation bombs, and "this commitment will obviously increase, but not only in terms of allocated finances, but also in terms of character weapons, which obviously must be of the highest standard necessary for Ukrainians to be able to defend themselves" [...
We will help Kyiv stand and prevail - French Prime Minister in Germany
France and Germany share absolutely the same views in assessing developments Ukraine, and the meaning behind all the decisions made since war-start is to send a clear signal to Russia: Europe will not leave Ukraine and will help Kyiv to resist and win. â Ukrinform.
www.ukrinform.net
Senate's border deal teeters on brink of collapse
During a private meeting on Monday night, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell did not forcefully whip for or against the bill, according to two attendees.www.politico.com
Well this is extremely depressing. I don't think we're going to be of much help this year.
Hang in there, Ukraine. Maybe next year we'll have a government that isn't so nihilistic.
The votes are there in the Senate. Due to an arcane rule (cloture), to bring a bill to the floor for debate it requires 60 votes, which gives the minority party a fair bit of power. There has been a lot of talk of scrapping that rule, but it hasn't happened yet. There may be enough votes to get to 60. There are a number of pro-defense Republicans in the Senate and this election year the Republicans are only defending 10 or 11 seats. Most Republicans in the Senate aren't running this year.
The House is a different issue. It would probably pass easily in the House if got to the floor for a vote, but the Speaker is a gate keeper on which bills get to the floor. If the Speaker doesn't want a vote on something, it's very difficult to get around the Speaker and get a vote on a bill.
I really do wish that some Republicans would break from their party and vote for this. It would only take a handful. For those running in races that might be tight, it would be something they can champion in the general election, though they might get turfed out in the primary if they vote for it.
A little here and there, but nothing significant. The primary currencies for world trade as US dollars, UK pounds, and Euros. A few others like the Japanese yen are also used.
Russia has a lot of money tied up in Indian banks. The Indians insisted on buying Russian oil with repees and there have been a lot of hang ups converting that money into rubles.
navguy12
Active Member
Not going to happen. Regardless of the Ukraine funding (which I totally support) it was insane to have it lumped into another stupid omnibus type bill involving the border when the border is in total crisis. Even more insane to cobble this bill together in secret and try to force it through the Senate with little time to review or add amendments this week. Even the moderate Republicans who were openly supporting the bill a few days ago are running in horror after getting a chance to read some of the particulars last night.
As you already pointed out, the Speaker of the House already said the bill is dead on arrival.
navguy12
Active Member
I agree, insane to have such a large omnibus with unrelated items. I'm no expert in American politics, but that was the only chance for it to be passed, something for everyone. Until Johnson decided he wanted only stalemate. Hopefully he would now be open to direct funding for Ukraine, but I have my doubts.
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, maybe here, that Iran and China demand payment in real currency or in resources like oil. They may be psycho murderers but I doubt they're that stupid.
The House is trying to pass a stand alone military aid package to Israel right now. These things can be done in a more transparent way if our politicians wanted to do so.
Even if Trump is elected this year, I think (hope) he will increase spending on Ukraine in his first year and not pull the rug out. Trump's ego is too big to go down as the guy that lost Ukraine to the Russians. Trump did a similar reversal by doubling down against ISIS and Iran when he campaigned against it in 2016.
I wiukdvthi
I would think this is a pretty good indicator of how things will go when trump is president. Carlson and trump are pretty tight and I can see this being a prep for a US Russian alliance against Ukraine. I can see the US sending considerable arms supplies to Russia to end the war quick. NATO is going to have to redefine itself without the US.
It’s going to be an interesting decade.
Military aid to Israel failed. For some reason Johnson used a procedure that required 2/3 of the house.
Claiming that there is some particular in the bill that is unacceptable is an excuse. The border deal is pretty much everything that was in Trump's request back in 2018 that died in Congress (when the Republicans controlled both houses). Senator Lankford (R-OK) said as much the other day on Fox News. The reason they are running from the bill is fear of retribution from one particular presidential candidate who wants to see the bill fail.
The border situation is a mess, but it's been a mess for decades, there is nothing all that new. This bill addresses the main problems. Among them are the courts that determine the asylum requests have been underfunded and understaffed which leads to delays of years before asylum cases are heard. This bill authorizes hiring enough judges to reduce the backlog and eventually get the hearing delay down to a few weeks.
The convoy that went down to the border to confront the horrors got there a few days ago and found it really wasn't anywhere near as bad as certain media was making it out to be.
Goofy 'God's Army' convoy on Texas border shows Trump's MAGA movement is just one long con
The primary problem at the border is a refugee crisis. Europe is facing the same sort of problem as people displaced by wars and bad situations in the developing world are trying to get into countries the developed world to escape their troubles at home. Getting to Europe is more difficult because there isn't a decent land route from the developing world into Europe that doesn't involve crossing Russia. The US has a land border that connects to the developing world.
Coyotes are making good money exploiting the asylum situation from desperate refugees. They have flooded the system in the US with too many refugees for the US system to handle as it's currently running.
The claims that the current administration is just letting everyone in is false. The Biden administration has deported more people in 3 years than Trump did in 4. But the laws as they are now require anyone who gets into the US and asks for asylum to get a hearing before being forced to leave. Because of the backlog in the courts, people can end up living in the US for 10 years before getting a hearing.
These games are driven more by politics than by policy. The Democrats are fine to make it policy, but the Republicans are just playing political games with it. It's Lucy and the football over and over again
Football gag
Separating the bill into support for Ukraine and Israel from the border is a non-starter, because the House Republicans will just refuse to pass funding for Ukraine. Last fall funding the government was linked with Ukraine funding. McCarthy promised to pass both if they were split. When they were split, the government was funded and the Ukraine bill died without reaching the floor for a vote.
There are lots of things that "should be" that are non-starters because of the obstructionism going on by the extremists in Congress and others who have their agenda to promote who have influence over Congress.
There are probably enough votes in Congress to get this passed if it was just put up for a vote, but the sway of one man who is not in government and his followers has the rest scared to take action.
This aligns with virtually all of the commentary I have read on the subject. The only way out is for Biden to use other means to provide weapons and support, which the move through Greece was an example of. I maintain that the Executive Branch has the ability to do more than it has even w/o official congressional action.
Using the work around like Biden has with Greece helps, but it has it's limits. Getting resources allocated by Congress is the most flexible route. But when the politics are screwed up, Biden has to do what he can within the limits imposed on him.
Artful Dodger
"Neko no me"
This thread has become the "Unmoderated US Border & Politics" channel so I now Unwatch
...so long, and thanks for all the риба.
...so long, and thanks for all the риба.
At the time, the GOP was stating in both Senate and House, no Ukraine funding without border deal. They got that.
But now that a certain Presidential Candidate stated he wants to campaign on the border, Congress GOP now decides to become an extension to that campaign vs actually governing. It's turning into 2016 all over again and instead of the Supreme Court, the border is being held hostage for politics. And of course to stay on topic, Ukraine funding is held hostage.
Congress should be governing, not act like an extension to the Presidential Campaign.
navguy12
Active Member
Some points from todays Guardian Ukraine news feed (link at bottom):
www.theguardian.com
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 714
Special forces blow up Russian Black Sea drone booster station; ‘show some spine’, Biden tells Republicans blocking Ukraine funding
www.theguardian.com
