Patriot, 2024 is here, and while there are certainly good reasons to be worried that global conflicts might escalate at any time, we did manage to stymie the $100 billion war spending “supplemental” bill in the closing days of the 2023 congressional session. As I discuss in my newest column (below), we know the military-industrial complex won’t give up on asking for this money, but if the resolve of those in Congress opposed to the runaway spending holds firm, the sooner we will be able to confront the corrupt system that drains our economy. Read the column below, and if you support Campaign for Liberty’s mission to support a non-interventionist foreign policy, consider chipping in a contribution to support Campaign for Liberty. Ron Paul A New Year’s Resolution Worth Keeping In the closing days of 2023, the Biden Administration once again announced a large military aid package for Ukraine, this time a “mere” quarter of a billion dollars. Without a new authorization of funds from Congress, it is said to be the last bit of money left over from the more than $100 billion already authorized by Congress for the proxy war with Russia through Ukraine. President Biden’s request for an additional $100 billion to spread around Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan was rejected by a Congress eager for its winter break, and with each passing day it looks like it’s going to be harder to push it through. Poll after poll show that Americans are increasingly opposed to more of their money being spent on the neocon’s lost-cause war to overthrow Putin in Russia. For example, a recent Fox News poll revealed that more than 60 percent of Republican voters do not want any more money sent to Ukraine. As we enter an election year, it’s probably safe to predict that Republican candidates will be wary of crossing the wishes of the clear majority of voters. That is why the Biden Administration has been desperately trying to re-frame its request for more Ukraine war money as anything but a request for more Ukraine war money. For example, they even brought back the old discredited “domino theory” used to justify U.S. actions in the Vietnam war. If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, Biden said in December, then he will keep going into western Europe where we will be forced to fight him there. On the one hand, supporters of the Ukraine war warn that Russia is about to reconstitute the Soviet empire in Europe, while at the same time the same people tell us Russia is out of missiles and on its last leg. One more infusion of US money will end the “Russian threat” once and for all. Both of these things cannot be true at once. In fact, neither of them is true. But still the Administration, much of Congress, and an insatiable military-industrial complex keep selling the lies. Last month Secretary of State Antony Blinken inadvertently revealed what exactly all the spending for war is about when he stated that as much as 90 percent of the aid for Ukraine is actually spent in the United States. The money is used “to the benefit of American business, local communities, and strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base,” he said in an interview. In other words, the money “for Ukraine” is actually a massive welfare program for well-connected military contractors back home. As we begin the year 2024, we need to home in on the real threat to the United States. It is not Russia or China or Iran. The true threat is closer to home: it is a corrupt system that bleeds the country dry to fight imaginary enemies while enriching the military-industrial complex. For the New Year, Congress should resolve to end the stranglehold of the military-industrial complex by reining in out-of-control military spending. Members should simply vote “no” on military spending bills until they are drafted to benefit the American people rather than the Beltway elite. I don’t hold out much hope of this happening in the short run, but it only takes a few dedicated Members to make a real difference. If you’d prefer to donate via PayPal, please click here. Join Ron Paul’s Patriot Club with a monthly
contribution! Your support sustains our work and members are automatically entered to receive special giveaways autographed by Ron
Paul. If you would like to make a donation by mail, please send your check to Campaign for Liberty, PO Box 104, Lake Jackson TX 77566 or you can call 703-865-7162. The mission of Campaign for Liberty is to promote and defend the great
American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets, and a constitutional foreign policy, by means of
education, issue advocacy, and grassroots mobilization. |