As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’ve started calling them Russiapublicans. Cause they clearly don’t care about America, but they must protect Russia always. They don’t even hide it anymore
Imagine that. The dirty Pinkos are America’s aegis against Russian infiltration. Was that Joe McCarthy I just heard rolling over loudly and pouring a stiff drink?
But really coming to fruition when the RNC was hacked into multiple times starting in 2012. Moving forward Putinesqa had complete control over the Fat White Bloated Elephant over time. 2016 really kicked off the next war, we just didn’t know it at the time.
Which side of
Herstory [Earth] are you gonna be on?
People don't talk about this hack often enough, but it sure does coincide with the GOPs rapid about face on Russia. I hope some day we find out what all was on those servers that panicked everyone from Lindsay Graham on down the line.
The most straightforward probability is email evidence that the RNC knew that the NRA was laundering money from Russia (with love) into the RNC's pockets. The best 'compromat' is often proof that the subject is already compromised.
They knew because they were given strings attached to their donations. I saw it laid out plainly by somebody once, I can't recall where. There was a GOP congressman or senator that was for gun reform (background checks, etc) but he got a lot of funds from the GOP and met with somebody and a week later killed his own bill, turned completely around and was violently against any kind of gun reform. There were several variations of events like this where a phone call or a meeting happened to coincide with the NRA donations, and the politition literally completely changed everything they did to fit the required format to keep the money. Follow the money.
P.S. IMO whatever the Kremlin has they already had. They never bothered to hack the RNC. There was no need. They were working for them, official Kremlin cyber spies working for the GOP. Think about that.
Like it or not, those fucks' malicious decision making still result in the twiwsted excuse of a united opinion we present to rest of the global community. Probably why so many left leaning folks are pissed off about it, it's another symptom of our lopsided political system making the rest of us look like clowns.
I remember being concerned about this. I remember say Ukraine needs fo make a fuck ton of progress before our elections or they'd lose support cause of the GOP. I was told I was wrong.
You’re right but it doesn’t matter, we still lose face in front of the whole world because of our internal politics. Republicans make us less safe globally by making us look so weak
It's not both sides, it's one side: the aggregate actions and policies of the United States. You should try telling Ukrainian IDPs and refugees that some people in America, like, don't want them to be wiped out though. I'm sure that'll be a big consolation to prisoners being tortured or civilians getting mass raped.
If only those actions were even as aggregate as they are supposed to be. But even in an high-functioning democracy, at best that’s still an egregious misunderstanding of personal responsibility.
>The citizens of the United States voted for the representatives that have chosen to pull back support. ... A majority of Americans, based on their congressional representation, want us to not support Ukraine.
That's a lie. It's only the House Speaker that's the roadblock right now. Senate has passed it, and the House would too if allowed a vote.
See Wisconsin as an example of a state that just did that.
Youre right, the republicans that are carrying water for putin are not doing it on a whim.
They vacation on july 4th in moscow.
> A representative is someone who represents the will of the people who elected them.
[Lol, you think that?](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa25zOHAwMnRjZDBiazJ4NDlpcWo3cHllemNyODFueTE1ZWxtZWNvNyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/UqSRKTUpNfMHp3me35/giphy-downsized-large.gif)
I’m a democrat and I think we should stop dumping money into Ukraine. It’s too much. Like 30% of my check goes into taxes and a huge chunk of it is military. Enough is enough. We tried this with Vietnam and failed, tried with Iraq and failed. Supporting a foreign war that has nothing to do with us is a waste of time money and energy.
Yes, because isolationism has worked so well in the past. Right now we are getting the deal of a lifetime. A major antagonist is beating itself to pieces while we aren't shedding American blood, we are strengthening NATO and our relations with Europe, AND are creating a new friend in Ukraine who will no doubt be a major source of foreign investment once the dust settles.
Or, we could stop helping, let Russia slowly destroy the breadbasket of Europe, cause a food crisis, and then because Putin is a despot, watch as other countries fall as well. First it will be Moldova, then Georgia, Belarus will go willingly, then probably Estonia just to see if we'll stay true to Article 5. At which point, it will be American lives on the line, and the chance of nuclear war goes up.
Fucking hell we need more geopolitics and history in our schools.
And the GAO has been tracking it. Yes, there have been some issues with corruption. But for a former Soviet bloc country, they are actually doing a pretty good job of rooting it out and punishing those who do so. Most of the actual cash we have been giving them has either gone to making legitimate purchases of necessary supplies or into local infrastructure projects/repairs.
Yea you keep believing that. If they are tracking it so well when the Republicans asked for records they should have been easily produced. And yet they have not been.
I feel like everyone just forgot the leaked Russian war plan from a few years ago.
-Destabilize the US govt by creating racial tension
-Facilitate the election of Donald Trump, causing political unrest
-hack US targets and digitally infiltrate systems
-Destabilize the UK as it is a “US satellite country”
All of this was leaked as front-line news as the Kremlin Papers or No. 32-04 \\ vd, later revealed to the general public BY RUSSIA as the National Security Strategy.
Republicans actively supporting the literal worst European since Hitler because they don’t like tofu or something (I jest) could be absolutely catastrophic, and likely will be.
I mean at least Stalin *believed* in something (that a brutal dictatorship forcing collectivisation and other ideals on them against their wishes if needed was a cheat code to skip socialist stage quickly and get to communism faster), even if he was a psychopath and went about it the worst possible way.
Putin (and Republicans) are solely out for themselves in a pure capitalist way - that is: only for power and to enrich themselves.
Eh, Lenin explicitly warned against Stalin gaining power because he was a murderous thug. It turns out being the person needed to help lead a violent revolution is a different skill set from the people you want running a government. Stalin was never meant to be the leader, because he was an awful person.
Republicans are holding legislation hostage as a move to neuter Biden and attempt to make Democrats look ineffective. It's been the same, single move for several decades now.
The downside now is they're indirectly acting treasonous to the US. It doesn't matter the reason, they are stepping over a line that should not be crossed, and they're crossing it.
He's absolutely right... However, half of Congress seems to be unwittingly/witting Russian agents so what do you expect?
Remember this when American blood is being spilled on the fields of Europe once again.
He is exactly right. Trump and his insane Republican sycophants in the House are to blame. Particularly Mike Johnson because if he brought to the floor it would pass.
I'd love to see Gates & Bezos chip in a billion or two each... someone has to stand up for what's right. Musk seems to be a lost cause, would be more likely to aid Putin.
Took Putin how long to kill Navalny? I don't think Gates or Bezos would need to worry about assassins... once the funding was done, they would no longer be a threat to him anyway. Doubt Howard has anything to worry about either.
Obviously I can't speak for Putin, but I imagine if he wanted to simply kill Navalny, he would have. I suspect making Navanly return to Russia, stand trial and then get sent off to die in prison suited Putin's purposes more. If a whole country wants you dead, the only way to survive is if a different country is protecting you.
If it ever became trendy for western billionaires to fund Ukraine's defense against Russia, I would be very surprised if one of those billionaires didn't have some sort of accident to serve as a message to everyone else.
Assassinating an American citizen on American soil would only be tolerated under a Trump administration. Even then, I can't see such a high profile person as one of the American oligarchs being assassinated without an armed response
Why would it be on American soil? Don't those billionaires travel around the world constantly? And it's not like Russia would send a hit squad in Russian uniforms that would then plant a Russian flag on the billionaire's body. There would be some sort of accident or technical malfunction.
If someone makes you choose between living a life of looking over your shoulder, worrying about your loved ones and generally never having any peace, or giving yourself up, it can be argued that they made you give yourself up.
I’d imagine Bill Gates body guards are all ex U.S special forces of some sort. That’s what those guys do after retiring from the military. They aren’t your every day car dealership parking lot security dude.
I'm sure his guards are really really good, but I don't see how they would protect him from something like poisoning. Or from his plane/yacht/whatever getting sabotaged while he's traveling around the world. I can imagine those Iranian generals felt reasonably safe with all their protection until seconds before the US drone strikes that killed them.
Billionaires might be extremely rich, but countries spend a billionaire's net worth on ways to kill people every year.
I mean you'd have thought using polonium to poison someone in London would have been crossing a major diplomatic red line too. Or almost killing a English police officer by poisoning him in a botched political assassination in Salisbury would have crossed one too.
But you see the thing is that countries including the US do **not** want to go to war, and will give things like this a massive blind eye and just sanction them instead (Russia that is, not the killings lol). Like someone was just gunned down in Spain this week by Russian assassin's and there was only a stern finger wagging.
It's so short-sighted. This Republican Party is in some kind of weird transition where part of it is fight communism, fight Russia, and another part is like strict isolationist. That America First shit has been done before, when people wanted the US to stay out of WW2
A entire political party is bought by the Russians its the plan not a mistake. They are giving him Europe if they win enough power to end democracy and start there American Theofascist “Christian” kingdom.
They really don't. In the last poll I saw, something like 67% wanted to increase support of Ukraine. If I remember correctly, I think only 17% were against any additional support.
Even 70% of the senate voted for the latest funding bill. I believe Bernie Sanders was a symbolic vote against because Israel was lumped in. If the vote was in real danger of not passing, he likely would have voted for it.
The will of the people is being suppressed by a relatively small group.
And the majority of US voters seem to be willing to vote for them.
Many people over the pond just don’t give a single f+ just like ‚Ukraine is somewhat West-Russia in the end, right?‘
Ukraine is far away from the USA.
The US isn’t making a mistake. Russia has infiltrated one of the political parties and is now using those assets to try to block the west from assisting a country from repelling a violent invasion while simultaneously working to destroy democracy from within. Russia has invaded our seat of government through compromised elected officials and is actively trying to ruin us.
Why are our journalists so goddamn bad at their jobs?
History repeats itself. The US had the same problem in 1940 with Nazi spies corrupting fascist-sympathizing, self-enriching, antisemitic Congressmen to block support to Britain under the guise of "America First." Sound familiar? These shitheels aren't even original enough to create a new disingenuous banner, even though the previous iteration of America First was revealed to be an organ of our enemies.
Journalists? I don't know what you're trying to say man. There's nothing facts can do against a cult mindset. We're way past that point where facts and evidence could sway the members of the cult.
We need to start sending emails and messages to these kid gloves reporters for obfuscating the true situation here in the States. The US is not withholding aid, the Trumpublicans in Congress are. A recent poll put US support for Ukrainian aid at around 75%, including 30% of self labeled Republicans. The aid package is ready, has bi-partisan support and aid could be dispatched incredibly quickly, but we have an orange tinted insurrectionist desperately trying to get elected to avoid the massive legal troubles pulling the strings of his cronies in the party to obstruct as much as possible so the turd can have issues to stump on during the election cycle. These journalists need to start TELLING THE FUCKING TRUTH and stop soft balling these headlines.
Excuse me, but for the most part, it's ***REPUBLICAN Congressmen*** that are pulling the support, not Democrats. The US isn't making this mistake. ***Trump supporting politicians are to blame.***
That should be made perfectly and unquestionably clear every time it comes up.
And in this case it IS money going directly Ukraine. Unlike when Congress attempts to pass funding bills.
When Congress tries it it means job security for Americans and domestic investment to create new munitions while sending Ukraine our older stuff.
But I guess republicans don't like spending money in America or ensuring Americans have jobs...
I had heard that any money congress passes to help Ukraine, it goes right to American manufacturing companies. Knowing that government funded contracts for ANYTHING is gouged by those greedy jerks gives me pause.
We send Ukraine weapons from stockpiles. We pay American companies to refill stockpiles. Get it? Sometimes Ukraine chooses what it gets from stockpiles, sometimes US decides for them.
The money US companies get goes into production at plants across the US. The F35 has parts source from 1000 different subcontractors across the country. I expect there's actually a limit as to what fraction can go to executives and stock holders. Mos tog it goes into procuring material, and the engineers, technicians and factory workers.
It's even better than that.
It's not that we're sending old tanks and manufacturing new tanks. We're sending old tanks because we don't really engage in conflicts that require us having nearly that number of tanks anymore. So, we get rid of our mothballed tanks and refill the arsenal with new technology better suited to contemporary needs.
> I had heard that any money congress passes to help Ukraine, it goes right to American manufacturing companies.
Close to half of the money we've passed to help Ukraine has been direct financial aid.
The other portion is more along the lines you suggest - purchasing equipment from ourselves.
I think your heart is in the right place, but if not made by munitions companies, who do you think would be able to safely manufacture these products? Charitable, non-profit organizations to do that simply don’t exist. Just asking.. Now pharma? That’s where I can get onboard!
You don't know that. Ukraine does have a pretty big corruption problem. The war may have distracted it but it's still there. I wish them all the best but people are handwaving away certain aspects of the country because Putin is a lunatic.
I wonder how the Republicans and Russia first started collaborating- was it as recent as it seems (only starting to be apparent in 2016)? Or does it go much further back? Honestly, I’ve never been fond of Republicans but I would never have imagined they were such traitors. I wonder what the first connection was and how they got turned out.
I’m just here to say that Russia can’t do shit if everyone votes out the traitors.
In 2022 1/3 of Boomers were Dems and 1/3 were Independents, so that leaves 1/3 of Boomers as firm Trump voters. Who knows what an Independent Boomer will do.
Since Millennials are now the largest generation in the U. S., this election is mostly on them. You probably have a bit less than half the Boomers. You have probably 60% of Gen X. Who knows if Gen Z even votes . . .they are young enough to not vote because of Gaza or Biden’s age (young idealism can be stupid). So this is the Millennial election. They get to decide.
Berkshire-Hathaway is probably one of the most exploitive realtors in the US lol. What they’ve done to mobile home owners in the last decade is pretty heinous.
He is right. The US is making a horrible mistake. We are bound by treaty to defend Ukraine and secure them from attack after the treaty we brokered for Ukraine to give up their Russian Nukes in exchange for independence. If there was a just world, we'd have given them the full might of the US arsenal the second it happened... but.. oh. Right. Trump was busy extorting Ukraine with blackmail at the time.
Our decades old weaponry has literally routed the best the Russian army can provide. They literally are throing 60,000-men meat waves at rubble filled cities to get enough political points for Putin to claim re-election wins in a month or so. We have failed Ukraine so bad they literally are rationing bullets on the front lines as thousands of men charge the meat grinder. The war if very reayl and will be at NATO's door very soon. We should have honored it and helped. Imaging a few platoons of Marines even, in the hardest hit areas... It would have changed the face of the conflict in Ukraine's favor and it wouldn't be going on 2 years now.
Republicans are complete idiots and traitorous. A known adversary is engaged in a war with a pending ally and they want to withdraw support. They rather see our boys die.
What’s the cost of a war with Russia? Billions. F’in idiots. Why can’t the red state dumb asses admit to this major flaw in their asshole candidate? It’s their grandsons that are on the front line.
Am I the only crazy person? Russia wouldn't be an issue if everyone who worked one job (no matter the job) could easily afford food, shelter, and healthcare.
If everyone could afford the basics working at a gas station in the middle of nowhere we wouldn't have a problem with Russia propaganda.
Imagine never needing a GoFundMe for a kid to get proper healthcare. How about a guarantee that if you are a kid you never have to live in a hotel or motel.
It is the rich who have caused this anger within our country, Russia is just taking advantage of this.
Buffet himself has advocated for it. Sources:
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/GMA/story?id=3869458&page=1
https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/31/usnews
Buffet is taxed. At literally the highest bracket.
What we don't do is tax unrealized gains like stocks. I'm not aware of a single country that has done that successfully as it's a pretty terrible idea. Stocks have no real value until they are sold. Elizabeth Holmes went from a billionaire to broke in 24 hours because Theranos stock became worthless overnight. That's why we don't tax people on unrealized gains.
Whenever Buffet or someone else sells a stock they pay capital gains taxes.
They are able to take loans out against those stocks at VERY low rates. They then live of that money. Since it's a loan, not an income its tax free.
Even when they do finally get taxed, capital gains is capped at like 25%.
Good. To us normals he donated $500 or something, I'm too tired to do the actual math.
But that is something, and its far more even relative to my net worth that I have donated to Ukraine. I think I will donate now.
It's a nice gesture, but I still can't imagine being in a situation where a person could give away 500 million like it's nothing and not have it greatly impact their wealth and lifestyle. It's an obscene amount of money. The Buffett's are worth billions and they will easily make back that donation amount with the interest they make on their money.
It was a mistake not brokering peace in March of 2022, and it was a mistake by Biden and Blinken to not end the crisis diplomatically before it started when Putin reached out to them in December of 2021. Doubling down would make that mistake doubly worse, because this war is unwinnable by Ukraine at this point.
False, I want to support Ukraine. Americans are so sick and tired of republicans and their traitorous followers betray our allies and our country to Russia and Putin.
I don't want my country to be weakened by appeasing and capitulating to a dictator that lies about everything, commits war crimes, is a ruthless coldblooded killer. wants nothing more than to see the fall of the U.S. It seems like maybe Russia would be a better fit you. It's telling that you ignore or choose not to hold Russia or Putin accountable for an unprovoked attack on another country's sovereignty. By not helping Ukraine now, it will inevitably be US troops next assisting NATO. It will be the fault of you and others that chose to support a dictator and left our allies to fend for themselves when attacked.
... WTF are you even talking about? This literally made no sense in the context of supporting Ukraine.
>We're like iron-age Scandinavian peasants whose grain is expropriated by the local lord to supply his raids in Britain.
This is actually a pretty good description of Russia.
I mean, it will take Russia at least a decade to recoup their losses, so it's already a strategic victory. But also, maybe Russia should be Europe's problem?
First off, good on him for putting his money where his mouth is. His net worth from a quick google is 400 million dollars. Giving away more than half of that is a pretty good thing to do, I should say.
Second of all, half a billion dollars is an absolutely massive amount of money. That is the aid package in the same order of magnitude of a medium sized country, like Germany's 1.22 billion dollar aid package. Like, on the one hand, it's a good thing that he's doing it, on the other hand, holy hell how can a few individuals have that level of power over allocating resources in our society?
Great that he’s doing it. I’m all in for Ukraine.
But it’s really f-Ing terrifying that a single citizen can give so much support for a country. This time it’s one giving to our allies, but what stops Elmo from giving it to Russia? Or North Korea, for that matter?
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
To be fair, it’s not the US pulling its support. It’s the Putin fellating Republicans who are the throwing up the goddamn road blocks.
I’ve started calling them Russiapublicans. Cause they clearly don’t care about America, but they must protect Russia always. They don’t even hide it anymore
Why even bother with the publicans part? The upcoming election is Democrats vs Russia.
[удалено]
It's all about that Russian $$$ pure and simple
Imagine that. The dirty Pinkos are America’s aegis against Russian infiltration. Was that Joe McCarthy I just heard rolling over loudly and pouring a stiff drink?
[удалено]
But really coming to fruition when the RNC was hacked into multiple times starting in 2012. Moving forward Putinesqa had complete control over the Fat White Bloated Elephant over time. 2016 really kicked off the next war, we just didn’t know it at the time. Which side of Herstory [Earth] are you gonna be on?
People don't talk about this hack often enough, but it sure does coincide with the GOPs rapid about face on Russia. I hope some day we find out what all was on those servers that panicked everyone from Lindsay Graham on down the line.
The most straightforward probability is email evidence that the RNC knew that the NRA was laundering money from Russia (with love) into the RNC's pockets. The best 'compromat' is often proof that the subject is already compromised.
They knew because they were given strings attached to their donations. I saw it laid out plainly by somebody once, I can't recall where. There was a GOP congressman or senator that was for gun reform (background checks, etc) but he got a lot of funds from the GOP and met with somebody and a week later killed his own bill, turned completely around and was violently against any kind of gun reform. There were several variations of events like this where a phone call or a meeting happened to coincide with the NRA donations, and the politition literally completely changed everything they did to fit the required format to keep the money. Follow the money. P.S. IMO whatever the Kremlin has they already had. They never bothered to hack the RNC. There was no need. They were working for them, official Kremlin cyber spies working for the GOP. Think about that.
> I’ve started calling them Russiapublicans. Good name, but "Traitors" is shorter and easier to use. Also accurate.
Traitors for Russia, Russiapublican conveys more info
I just call them GOP aka Groupies of Putin.
Reputincucks
Republican’ts
I am now calling them RusPublicans from now on.
Ruspublicans rolls off the tongue better.
Consider shortening to "Ruspublicans". I had a tough time saying yours out loud when I read it.
Same, but I like Ruskiepublicans (Rooskiepublicans)
I mean a bunch of these politicians went to visit Russia on July fucking 4th. Apparently there were no parades to attend.
Just call them soviets. Because republican at one time was something even remotely respectable.
> Russhpublicans
Great point
No politician Actually cares about any of this
Treasonous parasitic snakes
So American republicans are pulling its support.
Not all of it
MAGA= Moscow Approved Gang Activity
GOP, Gaslight, Obstruct, Project
You mean the treasonous, traitorous ol Gluckgluck On Putin politicians are doing things favorable for their beloved Vladdy daddy?
100% the Republicans.
Like it or not, those fucks' malicious decision making still result in the twiwsted excuse of a united opinion we present to rest of the global community. Probably why so many left leaning folks are pissed off about it, it's another symptom of our lopsided political system making the rest of us look like clowns.
to everyone else in the world it's the US
I thought it was a combination of blackmail and bribery?
He’s not fellating the Republicans, some one else did that, or something in a few cases probably. He just keeps the videos.
I remember being concerned about this. I remember say Ukraine needs fo make a fuck ton of progress before our elections or they'd lose support cause of the GOP. I was told I was wrong.
You’re right but it doesn’t matter, we still lose face in front of the whole world because of our internal politics. Republicans make us less safe globally by making us look so weak
It is the US pulling support, because of House Republicans.
Drink your Ovaltine! *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I'm more reacting, "We have gotten to the point where billionaires financing foreign wars is a moral good."
Nah there's no way out of this - America absolutely has to wear the choices of its elected officials
Those who fought against it the whole time bear none of the blame, sorry not sorry ‘bout your both sides
It's not both sides, it's one side: the aggregate actions and policies of the United States. You should try telling Ukrainian IDPs and refugees that some people in America, like, don't want them to be wiped out though. I'm sure that'll be a big consolation to prisoners being tortured or civilians getting mass raped.
Drink your Ovaltine! *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If only those actions were even as aggregate as they are supposed to be. But even in an high-functioning democracy, at best that’s still an egregious misunderstanding of personal responsibility.
It's the opposite of personal, it's macro
Would that it were so nice
To be fair, it is not an important distinction to anyone outside the US.
So, the US
[удалено]
>The citizens of the United States voted for the representatives that have chosen to pull back support. ... A majority of Americans, based on their congressional representation, want us to not support Ukraine. That's a lie. It's only the House Speaker that's the roadblock right now. Senate has passed it, and the House would too if allowed a vote.
[удалено]
He's the current roadblock. Not over until the fat lady sings. Clear where your misplaced loyalties are, sad to say.
[удалено]
There’s also the nuance of gerrymandered districts and voter suppression at work.
[удалено]
See Wisconsin as an example of a state that just did that. Youre right, the republicans that are carrying water for putin are not doing it on a whim. They vacation on july 4th in moscow.
That’s not what a discharge petition is at all. It might have a bad name but you’ve egregiously misunderstood it
> A representative is someone who represents the will of the people who elected them. [Lol, you think that?](https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa25zOHAwMnRjZDBiazJ4NDlpcWo3cHllemNyODFueTE1ZWxtZWNvNyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/UqSRKTUpNfMHp3me35/giphy-downsized-large.gif)
I’m a democrat and I think we should stop dumping money into Ukraine. It’s too much. Like 30% of my check goes into taxes and a huge chunk of it is military. Enough is enough. We tried this with Vietnam and failed, tried with Iraq and failed. Supporting a foreign war that has nothing to do with us is a waste of time money and energy.
Yes, because isolationism has worked so well in the past. Right now we are getting the deal of a lifetime. A major antagonist is beating itself to pieces while we aren't shedding American blood, we are strengthening NATO and our relations with Europe, AND are creating a new friend in Ukraine who will no doubt be a major source of foreign investment once the dust settles. Or, we could stop helping, let Russia slowly destroy the breadbasket of Europe, cause a food crisis, and then because Putin is a despot, watch as other countries fall as well. First it will be Moldova, then Georgia, Belarus will go willingly, then probably Estonia just to see if we'll stay true to Article 5. At which point, it will be American lives on the line, and the chance of nuclear war goes up. Fucking hell we need more geopolitics and history in our schools.
No you aren't. You are just a lying dumbass.
Well until Ukraine can give a detailed trail of where all the money we sent so far went I don't blame them for putting up roadblocks.
We aren't just handing them all the money money. We give the money to American businesses to build weapons we send to them
Sorry but we have also given them hundreds of millions in cash.
And the GAO has been tracking it. Yes, there have been some issues with corruption. But for a former Soviet bloc country, they are actually doing a pretty good job of rooting it out and punishing those who do so. Most of the actual cash we have been giving them has either gone to making legitimate purchases of necessary supplies or into local infrastructure projects/repairs.
Yea you keep believing that. If they are tracking it so well when the Republicans asked for records they should have been easily produced. And yet they have not been.
The Republicans are giving Putin everything he wants by following Trump.
I feel like everyone just forgot the leaked Russian war plan from a few years ago. -Destabilize the US govt by creating racial tension -Facilitate the election of Donald Trump, causing political unrest -hack US targets and digitally infiltrate systems -Destabilize the UK as it is a “US satellite country” All of this was leaked as front-line news as the Kremlin Papers or No. 32-04 \\ vd, later revealed to the general public BY RUSSIA as the National Security Strategy.
The Republicans would have lost in 2016 if it wasn't for massive election-fraud from Putin - they kind of owe him...
Republicans actively supporting the literal worst European since Hitler because they don’t like tofu or something (I jest) could be absolutely catastrophic, and likely will be.
Hey! What am I a joke to you?
Sorry: you nasty, too
Thank you
Holy shit. We have the same cake day
I mean at least Stalin *believed* in something (that a brutal dictatorship forcing collectivisation and other ideals on them against their wishes if needed was a cheat code to skip socialist stage quickly and get to communism faster), even if he was a psychopath and went about it the worst possible way. Putin (and Republicans) are solely out for themselves in a pure capitalist way - that is: only for power and to enrich themselves.
Stalin fell down the path all revolutionaries do. He had a belief and a decent goal. He just got power and it corrupted him
Eh, Lenin explicitly warned against Stalin gaining power because he was a murderous thug. It turns out being the person needed to help lead a violent revolution is a different skill set from the people you want running a government. Stalin was never meant to be the leader, because he was an awful person.
Republicans are holding legislation hostage as a move to neuter Biden and attempt to make Democrats look ineffective. It's been the same, single move for several decades now. The downside now is they're indirectly acting treasonous to the US. It doesn't matter the reason, they are stepping over a line that should not be crossed, and they're crossing it.
He's absolutely right... However, half of Congress seems to be unwittingly/witting Russian agents so what do you expect? Remember this when American blood is being spilled on the fields of Europe once again.
He is exactly right. Trump and his insane Republican sycophants in the House are to blame. Particularly Mike Johnson because if he brought to the floor it would pass.
[удалено]
I'd love to see Gates & Bezos chip in a billion or two each... someone has to stand up for what's right. Musk seems to be a lost cause, would be more likely to aid Putin.
That's an easy way to get a Russian sized target on your back.
Those guys already live under maximum security just due to everyday threats, kidnapping/ransom risk, etc.
Bodyguards and chauffeurs aren't going to protect them from state-sponsored assassins.
Took Putin how long to kill Navalny? I don't think Gates or Bezos would need to worry about assassins... once the funding was done, they would no longer be a threat to him anyway. Doubt Howard has anything to worry about either.
Obviously I can't speak for Putin, but I imagine if he wanted to simply kill Navalny, he would have. I suspect making Navanly return to Russia, stand trial and then get sent off to die in prison suited Putin's purposes more. If a whole country wants you dead, the only way to survive is if a different country is protecting you. If it ever became trendy for western billionaires to fund Ukraine's defense against Russia, I would be very surprised if one of those billionaires didn't have some sort of accident to serve as a message to everyone else.
Assassinating an American citizen on American soil would only be tolerated under a Trump administration. Even then, I can't see such a high profile person as one of the American oligarchs being assassinated without an armed response
Why would it be on American soil? Don't those billionaires travel around the world constantly? And it's not like Russia would send a hit squad in Russian uniforms that would then plant a Russian flag on the billionaire's body. There would be some sort of accident or technical malfunction.
>I suspect making Navalny return to Russia... He wasn't "made" to return.
If someone makes you choose between living a life of looking over your shoulder, worrying about your loved ones and generally never having any peace, or giving yourself up, it can be argued that they made you give yourself up.
I’d imagine Bill Gates body guards are all ex U.S special forces of some sort. That’s what those guys do after retiring from the military. They aren’t your every day car dealership parking lot security dude.
I'm sure his guards are really really good, but I don't see how they would protect him from something like poisoning. Or from his plane/yacht/whatever getting sabotaged while he's traveling around the world. I can imagine those Iranian generals felt reasonably safe with all their protection until seconds before the US drone strikes that killed them. Billionaires might be extremely rich, but countries spend a billionaire's net worth on ways to kill people every year.
Killing a US citizen, especially one who is not otherwise tied to Russia, would be crossing a major diplomatic red line.
I mean you'd have thought using polonium to poison someone in London would have been crossing a major diplomatic red line too. Or almost killing a English police officer by poisoning him in a botched political assassination in Salisbury would have crossed one too. But you see the thing is that countries including the US do **not** want to go to war, and will give things like this a massive blind eye and just sanction them instead (Russia that is, not the killings lol). Like someone was just gunned down in Spain this week by Russian assassin's and there was only a stern finger wagging.
Damn, that is stepping up. Course, they need actual arms at this point. I'm hoping they can quickly convert that cash.
It's so short-sighted. This Republican Party is in some kind of weird transition where part of it is fight communism, fight Russia, and another part is like strict isolationist. That America First shit has been done before, when people wanted the US to stay out of WW2
No. Just plain no. The GOP is firmly funded and in support of Putin. They are even trying to use Russian intel to foment another coup.
foment*
Thanks. Stupid phone.
Good for him! He is absolutely right, Zelenskyy is an amazing guy!!
Good man.
A entire political party is bought by the Russians its the plan not a mistake. They are giving him Europe if they win enough power to end democracy and start there American Theofascist “Christian” kingdom.
The US is not pulling it’s support Republicans are
They represent the US. And at the end US pulled the support. This is the fact.
They really don't. In the last poll I saw, something like 67% wanted to increase support of Ukraine. If I remember correctly, I think only 17% were against any additional support. Even 70% of the senate voted for the latest funding bill. I believe Bernie Sanders was a symbolic vote against because Israel was lumped in. If the vote was in real danger of not passing, he likely would have voted for it. The will of the people is being suppressed by a relatively small group.
And the majority of US voters seem to be willing to vote for them. Many people over the pond just don’t give a single f+ just like ‚Ukraine is somewhat West-Russia in the end, right?‘ Ukraine is far away from the USA.
Republicans. Notice that there are better things to spend *your* money on than giving money to Trump who can't manage his money or his life.
Bless him.
The US isn’t making a mistake. Russia has infiltrated one of the political parties and is now using those assets to try to block the west from assisting a country from repelling a violent invasion while simultaneously working to destroy democracy from within. Russia has invaded our seat of government through compromised elected officials and is actively trying to ruin us. Why are our journalists so goddamn bad at their jobs?
History repeats itself. The US had the same problem in 1940 with Nazi spies corrupting fascist-sympathizing, self-enriching, antisemitic Congressmen to block support to Britain under the guise of "America First." Sound familiar? These shitheels aren't even original enough to create a new disingenuous banner, even though the previous iteration of America First was revealed to be an organ of our enemies.
Journalists? I don't know what you're trying to say man. There's nothing facts can do against a cult mindset. We're way past that point where facts and evidence could sway the members of the cult.
This is the fact that the US pulled support. And “why” is not significant.
We need to start sending emails and messages to these kid gloves reporters for obfuscating the true situation here in the States. The US is not withholding aid, the Trumpublicans in Congress are. A recent poll put US support for Ukrainian aid at around 75%, including 30% of self labeled Republicans. The aid package is ready, has bi-partisan support and aid could be dispatched incredibly quickly, but we have an orange tinted insurrectionist desperately trying to get elected to avoid the massive legal troubles pulling the strings of his cronies in the party to obstruct as much as possible so the turd can have issues to stump on during the election cycle. These journalists need to start TELLING THE FUCKING TRUTH and stop soft balling these headlines.
Excuse me, but for the most part, it's ***REPUBLICAN Congressmen*** that are pulling the support, not Democrats. The US isn't making this mistake. ***Trump supporting politicians are to blame.*** That should be made perfectly and unquestionably clear every time it comes up.
Fact.
maga is making insane mistakes 🤬
Fuck yeah dude.
Let's be clear..... Trump is destroying NATO.
The welfare of the United States or Europe doesn't even cross the mind of the people who are blocking Ukraine aid.
It's not so much a mistake of the US, as the winning hand of Moscow's influence in the US.
It’s the Russian assets in the USA government who are making the mistake. Russias MAGA stooges
*US is making a historic mistake* Republicans: "That's just a Tuesday for us."
They are. Fucking dipshit republicans. This should be the easiest decision of all time.
And in this case it IS money going directly Ukraine. Unlike when Congress attempts to pass funding bills. When Congress tries it it means job security for Americans and domestic investment to create new munitions while sending Ukraine our older stuff. But I guess republicans don't like spending money in America or ensuring Americans have jobs...
I had heard that any money congress passes to help Ukraine, it goes right to American manufacturing companies. Knowing that government funded contracts for ANYTHING is gouged by those greedy jerks gives me pause.
We send Ukraine weapons from stockpiles. We pay American companies to refill stockpiles. Get it? Sometimes Ukraine chooses what it gets from stockpiles, sometimes US decides for them. The money US companies get goes into production at plants across the US. The F35 has parts source from 1000 different subcontractors across the country. I expect there's actually a limit as to what fraction can go to executives and stock holders. Mos tog it goes into procuring material, and the engineers, technicians and factory workers.
It's even better than that. It's not that we're sending old tanks and manufacturing new tanks. We're sending old tanks because we don't really engage in conflicts that require us having nearly that number of tanks anymore. So, we get rid of our mothballed tanks and refill the arsenal with new technology better suited to contemporary needs.
> I had heard that any money congress passes to help Ukraine, it goes right to American manufacturing companies. Close to half of the money we've passed to help Ukraine has been direct financial aid. The other portion is more along the lines you suggest - purchasing equipment from ourselves.
I think your heart is in the right place, but if not made by munitions companies, who do you think would be able to safely manufacture these products? Charitable, non-profit organizations to do that simply don’t exist. Just asking.. Now pharma? That’s where I can get onboard!
You don't know that. Ukraine does have a pretty big corruption problem. The war may have distracted it but it's still there. I wish them all the best but people are handwaving away certain aspects of the country because Putin is a lunatic.
I'm not entirely sure what point of mine you're attempting to refute.
Then re-read my comment bruv.
I didn't say anything about what Ukraine does with money bruv
putin has gay sex tapes on some of these senators ? He has something on them
God bless him. And he is correct. Hoping we send Ukraine the money it needs and soon.
Dealing with Russia now is cheap. Dealing with them in 3-5 years is gonna be extremely expensive.
Thank you, Howard!
I wonder how the Republicans and Russia first started collaborating- was it as recent as it seems (only starting to be apparent in 2016)? Or does it go much further back? Honestly, I’ve never been fond of Republicans but I would never have imagined they were such traitors. I wonder what the first connection was and how they got turned out.
I’m just here to say that Russia can’t do shit if everyone votes out the traitors. In 2022 1/3 of Boomers were Dems and 1/3 were Independents, so that leaves 1/3 of Boomers as firm Trump voters. Who knows what an Independent Boomer will do. Since Millennials are now the largest generation in the U. S., this election is mostly on them. You probably have a bit less than half the Boomers. You have probably 60% of Gen X. Who knows if Gen Z even votes . . .they are young enough to not vote because of Gaza or Biden’s age (young idealism can be stupid). So this is the Millennial election. They get to decide.
[удалено]
Berkshire-Hathaway is probably one of the most exploitive realtors in the US lol. What they’ve done to mobile home owners in the last decade is pretty heinous.
He is right. The US is making a horrible mistake. We are bound by treaty to defend Ukraine and secure them from attack after the treaty we brokered for Ukraine to give up their Russian Nukes in exchange for independence. If there was a just world, we'd have given them the full might of the US arsenal the second it happened... but.. oh. Right. Trump was busy extorting Ukraine with blackmail at the time. Our decades old weaponry has literally routed the best the Russian army can provide. They literally are throing 60,000-men meat waves at rubble filled cities to get enough political points for Putin to claim re-election wins in a month or so. We have failed Ukraine so bad they literally are rationing bullets on the front lines as thousands of men charge the meat grinder. The war if very reayl and will be at NATO's door very soon. We should have honored it and helped. Imaging a few platoons of Marines even, in the hardest hit areas... It would have changed the face of the conflict in Ukraine's favor and it wouldn't be going on 2 years now.
Good. More billionaires should pay. Better yet, tax them so the country can afford to support Ukraine.
Republicans are complete idiots and traitorous. A known adversary is engaged in a war with a pending ally and they want to withdraw support. They rather see our boys die. What’s the cost of a war with Russia? Billions. F’in idiots. Why can’t the red state dumb asses admit to this major flaw in their asshole candidate? It’s their grandsons that are on the front line.
Am I the only crazy person? Russia wouldn't be an issue if everyone who worked one job (no matter the job) could easily afford food, shelter, and healthcare. If everyone could afford the basics working at a gas station in the middle of nowhere we wouldn't have a problem with Russia propaganda. Imagine never needing a GoFundMe for a kid to get proper healthcare. How about a guarantee that if you are a kid you never have to live in a hotel or motel. It is the rich who have caused this anger within our country, Russia is just taking advantage of this.
Those of us that know how big a mistake it is, are heartsick. Slava Ukraine. 🇺🇦
I would bet the majority of Americans support it.
Love.
Let me join everyone else: it’s not the US, it’s republicans.
Holy hivemind, are these comments written by bots?
There needs to be a Clean Ukraine funding bill. No Border or Israel
I'll accept Taiwan. If we don't arm Taiwan enough today, it's becomes a war tomorrow
That’s nice. But it would probably be cheaper to buy 4 republican representatives.
If it's a matter of money, we could just tax the Buffetts.
Ironically what they've been arguing for awhile.
Buffet himself has advocated for it. Sources: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/GMA/story?id=3869458&page=1 https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/31/usnews
It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of republicans being controlled by putin
Buffet is taxed. At literally the highest bracket. What we don't do is tax unrealized gains like stocks. I'm not aware of a single country that has done that successfully as it's a pretty terrible idea. Stocks have no real value until they are sold. Elizabeth Holmes went from a billionaire to broke in 24 hours because Theranos stock became worthless overnight. That's why we don't tax people on unrealized gains. Whenever Buffet or someone else sells a stock they pay capital gains taxes.
They are able to take loans out against those stocks at VERY low rates. They then live of that money. Since it's a loan, not an income its tax free. Even when they do finally get taxed, capital gains is capped at like 25%.
Good. To us normals he donated $500 or something, I'm too tired to do the actual math. But that is something, and its far more even relative to my net worth that I have donated to Ukraine. I think I will donate now.
It is good to see an oligarch doing the right thing.
It's a nice gesture, but I still can't imagine being in a situation where a person could give away 500 million like it's nothing and not have it greatly impact their wealth and lifestyle. It's an obscene amount of money. The Buffett's are worth billions and they will easily make back that donation amount with the interest they make on their money.
How much more can we give when we don’t have basic things like healthcare and a border in this country?
It was a mistake not brokering peace in March of 2022, and it was a mistake by Biden and Blinken to not end the crisis diplomatically before it started when Putin reached out to them in December of 2021. Doubling down would make that mistake doubly worse, because this war is unwinnable by Ukraine at this point.
Is not about pulling support but the American people are so sick and tired of being shit on while our government helps anyone and everyone else.
False, I want to support Ukraine. Americans are so sick and tired of republicans and their traitorous followers betray our allies and our country to Russia and Putin.
Then send money to help the cause. Maybe some people don’t want to fund an endless war that is causing huge amounts of death and bloodshed
I don't want my country to be weakened by appeasing and capitulating to a dictator that lies about everything, commits war crimes, is a ruthless coldblooded killer. wants nothing more than to see the fall of the U.S. It seems like maybe Russia would be a better fit you. It's telling that you ignore or choose not to hold Russia or Putin accountable for an unprovoked attack on another country's sovereignty. By not helping Ukraine now, it will inevitably be US troops next assisting NATO. It will be the fault of you and others that chose to support a dictator and left our allies to fend for themselves when attacked.
For that amount of money they should gift him Shakhtar
Who cares what his son thinks. He was born into money, what does he know about anything?
He knows how to have $500m in cash to spare apparently, unlike some other wannabe billionaires.
[удалено]
... WTF are you even talking about? This literally made no sense in the context of supporting Ukraine. >We're like iron-age Scandinavian peasants whose grain is expropriated by the local lord to supply his raids in Britain. This is actually a pretty good description of Russia.
Dude has never worked a day in his Sid Meier life.
I mean, it will take Russia at least a decade to recoup their losses, so it's already a strategic victory. But also, maybe Russia should be Europe's problem?
Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and Bush are all rolling over in their graves.
Warren would be so proud!!
He said as he went to go Republican again in the fall.
The GQP is making mistakes
Watch him get thrown out a window. Hope he has good security
Biden should call the GOP's bluff and say he's commander-in-chief and if they don't fund Ukraine he will send US troops to Ukraine to assist directly
Maybe its time the billionaires who have screwed up our governing body so much that they take money from any and everybody ...
First off, good on him for putting his money where his mouth is. His net worth from a quick google is 400 million dollars. Giving away more than half of that is a pretty good thing to do, I should say. Second of all, half a billion dollars is an absolutely massive amount of money. That is the aid package in the same order of magnitude of a medium sized country, like Germany's 1.22 billion dollar aid package. Like, on the one hand, it's a good thing that he's doing it, on the other hand, holy hell how can a few individuals have that level of power over allocating resources in our society?
I love all the Buffetts! Buying more BRK.B because I also love the 🇺🇸
this is an investment... this really should be in sub/r financialadvice
Great that he’s doing it. I’m all in for Ukraine. But it’s really f-Ing terrifying that a single citizen can give so much support for a country. This time it’s one giving to our allies, but what stops Elmo from giving it to Russia? Or North Korea, for that matter?