What, exactly, is the U.S. government’s plan for Ukraine?

American officials keep saying they won’t negotiate with Russia, but now they’re also leaking a belief that Ukraine can’t win. If both strategies are off the table, what exactly is the American plan?https://t.co/JjeYbdrFT6

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) October 13, 2022

Independent journalist Matt Taibbi writes, “Fifteen years ago, in a July 2007 Democratic primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina, Senator Barack Obama won applause by saying sure, he’d meet with the leaders of countries like Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. ‘The notion that somehow not talking the country is punishment to them’ was ridiculous, he said, adding even JFK and Reagan were willing to talk to the Soviets.

‘They understood that we may not trust them, and they may pose an extraordinary danger,’ Obama said. ‘But we have the obligation to find areas where we can potentially move forward.’

Obama’s line won him new admirers and helped dent progressive support for frontrunner Hillary Clinton. The episode is now mostly forgotten, as Talking to Bad People has again been deemed forbidden, even by former liberals, perhaps especially by them, even with the country suddenly at greater risk of nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban Missile crisis.

These dynamics resurfaced in a confusing way this week. To no one’s surprise the Biden administration continued to say it won’t negotiate with Russia, but it suddenly also began leaking a belief that it doesn’t think fighting will work, either. If both strategies are off the table, what exactly are we doing?”

Read the entire column.

The post What, exactly, is the U.S. government’s plan for Ukraine? appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Ukraine set to become largest recipient of U.S. military assistance in a century

I’ve always fought to protect tax dollars from going towards wasteful spending overseas and instead prioritize them for needs here in Kentucky. I’m proud of the strength and resilience in our Commonwealth and I’ll continue to support Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/HiZGF3ZGdk

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 5, 2022

As Floridians recover from Hurricane Ian and Kentucky contends with major tornado damage, President Biden just pledged another $625 million of our taxpayer dollars to Ukraine on top of the billions and billions already sent.

Ukraine is now set to become the largest recipient of American military assistance in a century.

The Intercept reported last month, “Since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February, the U.S. government has pumped more money and weapons into supporting the Ukrainian military than it sent in 2020 to Afghanistan, Israel, and Egypt combined — surpassing in a matter of months three of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid in history…”

“Analysts estimate that Ukraine, already the largest recipient of U.S. security assistance in Europe since 2014, is well on track to become the largest recipient of U.S. security assistance of the century altogether.” the report continued.

The Intercept noted how unprecedented this foreign spending was, “There is little precedent for the breakneck pace and scale of U.S. spending on Ukraine. ‘It’s more than the peak it paid to Afghanistan by a long shot and many times more than aid to Israel,’ William Hartung, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, told The Intercept. ‘And it’s somewhat unique that they’ve been arming a country where there are two nation states at war.”

Read the entire story.

The post We need less U.S. tax dollars going overseas. Put America First appeared first on Liberty Tree.

I’ll continue fighting to cut spending, reduce our national debt, and make everyday life more affordable. Join me: https://t.co/S6nMxrRawc pic.twitter.com/jaVr88R6Ge

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) September 23, 2022

Reckless spending and unfit leadership created out current crisis. This administration and the Democrats intend to give us more of that.

Which is insane.

Joe Biden and the Left closed down small businesses, shut down the economy and spent billions we didn’t have.

The result? Prices are going up for Americans everywhere, across the board.

As Democrats plan to do more of the same, I will continue fight to cut spending, reduce our debt and make everyday life more affordable.

You can help here.

The post As prices continue to go up, Democrats want more spending. I will keep fighting to cut spending appeared first on Liberty Tree.

NEW @randpaul on RS today: if Biden had made human rights the center of his foreign policy he has a lot to explain with this $2.5B arms package to Egypt. https://t.co/G8tv4CrviD @Doug_Bandow @jackhunter74 @sarahleah1 @medeabenjamin @LibertarianInst @scotthortonshow

— Responsible Statecraft (@RStatecraft) February 10, 2022

“A State Department human rights report details how President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi converted a country into a prison. Among other horrors, Egyptian security forces engage in extrajudicial killings, torture, as well as harsh crackdowns on anyone who wishes to practice the right to freedom of speech…

Egypt uses American treasure to buy American weaponry. Since 2009, the United States has sold Egypt $3.2 billion in fighter aircraft, $1.3 billion in tanks and armored vehicles, $750 million in missiles, $369 million in munitions, $328 million in military technology, and $240 million in naval craft. As the United States prepares to effectuate yet another military sale, perhaps we should review how one of our most reliable customers treats its people.

Human Rights Watch reports ‘Egypt’s security apparatus has arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted tens of thousands of persons,’ and that ‘torture crimes against detainees in Egypt are systematic, widespread and likely constitute crimes against humanity.”

Read the entire column.

The post Why I want to kill Biden’s massive US-Egyptian arms deal appeared first on Liberty Tree.

My statement following the announcement by @POTUS to deploy additional troops to Europe. pic.twitter.com/gZKGikznI6

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 3, 2022

The post We can’t be the world’s police appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Guns are used more times in self-defense annually than in violent crimes. No one pushing for gun control cares about your safety.@brad_polumbo for BASEDPolitics: https://t.co/D14g5BAHAw

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) February 3, 2022

BASEDPolitics’ Brad Polumbo writes, “On Thursday, President Biden gave public remarks where he renewed his calls to ban ‘assault weapons.’ (A vague term that generally refers to scary-looking guns.) To justify this ban, Biden argued that the Second Amendment isn’t absolute—and in doing so, the president falsely claimed that the Second Amendment banned cannons in early American history.

‘[Banning assault weapons] doesn’t violate anybody’s Second Amendment rights,’ he said. ‘There is no amendment that is absolute.’

Then Biden got into historical analysis that was… interesting.

‘When the amendment was passed it didn’t say anybody can own a gun and any kind of weapon,’ Biden claimed. ‘You couldn’t buy a cannon when this amendment was passed, so there’s no reason you should be able to buy certain assault weapons.’

This bizarre aside is more than a non sequitur. It’s actually false. As Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler noted in September 2021:

‘You do not have to look far in the Constitution to see that private individuals could own cannons.”

Read the entire column.

The post Biden repeats false attack on the Second Amendment that even WaPo debunked appeared first on Liberty Tree.

not well… https://t.co/FDekiEthQ1

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 29, 2022

The post Joe Biden is not well appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Brad Polumbo writes, “President Biden campaigned on moderation and a ‘return to normal.’ Yet, on the regulatory front, the Biden administration has been far more aggressive than previous administrations—both Republican and Democratic. At least, that’s the finding of a new report from the center-right American Action Forum (AAF).

Biden Administration Quietly Burdened Americans with $201 Billion in Hidden Taxes Last Year, Report Finds@brad_polumbo explains:https://t.co/bs7HNlZuM3

— FEE (@feeonline) January 25, 2022

Analysts Dan Goldbeck and Dan Bosch reviewed President Biden’s first year in charge. They found that through regulatory actions and executive orders, this administration imposed more than $201 billion in regulatory costs—and 131 million hours of new annual paperwork on Americans.

That’s nearly 40 times more costs imposed than during President Trump’s first year. Yet in perhaps a more apt comparison of presidents from the same party, the report finds that Biden’s regulatory expenses are even three times greater than those incurred during Obama’s first year.”

Read the entire column.

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Inflation is affecting every single American and the President curses and personally insults a reporter for daring to ask about it. https://t.co/rMIZT4Z2ge

— Kelley Paul (@KelleyAshbyPaul) January 24, 2022

The post Inflation is affecting us all and Biden curses at reporter for asking about it appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Norm Singleton writes at Real Clear Markets, “As rising prices and diminishing supplies have replaced COVID as the American people’s number one concern, President Biden has unsurprisingly announced several initiatives aimed at lowering prices and restocking the shelves. Unfortunately, Biden’s proposals will increase prices and decrease supply of goods and services.

For example, Biden has announced plans to spend $1 billion in an attempt to increase competition in the meat processing industry. According to the President, the reason meat prices are high and supplies are low is because of greedy big business.  Not because, wait for it, the government shut down the economy for a year.

Where he is right is that four companies control 85% of the packaged beef market; 70% of the pork market; and 54% of the poultry market. This is definitely enough consolidation to draw attention. However, if one takes the modern approach of applying the consumer welfare standard to one or a few companies allegedly controlling a market, one sees no need for government intervention.

Better yet, Biden’s case for antitrust style intervention gets even worse as you keep looking…

The market effects of higher barriers to entry into a given market – is a more concentrated market. This is what Biden should focus on – handling the poor public policy instead of throwing money at the issue and ignoring the underlying problems.

Thankfully, in the case of meatpacking Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie and Maine Senator Angus King have introduced the PRIME Act (HR 3835/S. 2001), which allows custom slaughterhouses to sell their products directly to consumers in the same state. This legislation increases competition, consumer choice, and in the process provides a market solution.”

Read the entire column.

The post President Biden is not PRIMED to fight high prices he doesn’t understand appeared first on Liberty Tree.