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With over 90% of Republican voters in favor of building a wall, there was never a single prayer in the draft border agreement. It was doomed to try to advance legislation that did not implement the clear policy priorities of the party base.
This position is widely known and aired before former President Donald Trump opposed the bill. President Trump may have won a major victory, but just as attempts at comprehensive border legislation in 2013 and 2007 didn’t stand a chance, a bill that ignored 900 miles of wall didn’t stand a chance. What the party’s foundation holds dear must be respected. period.
This is where national security policy comes into play, which would likely pass Congress without border provisions and then pass first in the Senate before being sent to the House, although it is unlikely to pass in the House. The bill should pass, but it will likely go to the House of Representatives. Passed with a bipartisan majority.
Supplemental bill expected to include massive military aid to Ukraine According to a Pew Research report, 48% of Republicans believe there is too much aid to Ukraine. When asked whether our country is sending enough aid to Kiev, 33% of Republicans answered “not enough” or “just enough,” while 18% responded with an honest and always refreshing “I don’t know.” I answered.
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Republicans are very much in favor of aid to Israel and Taiwan, and have very strong majorities on increasing national security spending in general. So what should a viable political party do? When a sizable minority of the party disagrees with the historic Republican position on an issue?
For political parties to function, they must keep most of their members, activists, and donors happy at all times. Consistently ignoring or even worse rejecting a party majority is tantamount to courting, if not defection, then at least indifference.
Short answer: Vote for the package. The issue of aid to Ukraine has upset a minority of Republican voters and some Republicans for a variety of reasons, but those reasons are unconvincing to the historic “Reagan Party,” which is deeply opposed to aid to Ukraine. There are also many opponents. It is not large enough to move the party away from its historical roots and steadfast majority.
For political parties to function, they must keep most of their members, activists, and donors happy at all times. Consistently ignoring or even worse rejecting a party majority is tantamount to courting, if not defection, then at least indifference. It seems certain that a majority of the party will support the supplementary bill.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. John Cornyn, Sens. Tom Cotton, and Sens. John Thune, all party leaders responsible for national security, have all vowed that Putin will not win the Spring War. insists on sending aid to Ukraine to guarantee They are much more persuasive than opponents who make their case hard to summarize but sincerely. These opponents are not stooges of the Putin regime, as the insane leftists and their traditional media mouthpieces like to claim. Rather, they belong to a long tradition of Republican isolationism that has waxed and waned, never making up more than a small, if insignificant, percentage of the party.
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National security is a Republican issue, particularly President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure to stop President Putin’s second invasion of Ukraine (the first occurred under President Obama), and the U.S. military. The president’s failure to deter Iran with constant attacks, and his move to begin international shipping and back away from wholeheartedly supporting Israel in the aftermath of the 10/7 massacre.
The president visited Israel after the atrocities and got off to a great start with the Jewish state. But ever since, Team Biden has continued to pursue a slow and steady, admittedly relentless effort to force Israel to accept anything less than the destruction of Hamas. This is a typical Biden chaotic development, and the situation will only get worse as Biden sees a threat to his re-election in the necessary existential war for Israel.
Republicans, by contrast, need to stand firmly behind Israel. It is our ally, the equivalent of a nuclear-armed state, and the only democratic state in the Middle East. Trump has been a trusted friend of Israel. Biden not so much. House Republicans must quickly provide our allies with the aid they need.
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National security will be one of the key issues in his campaign if he wins the Republican nomination and advances his case against a weak and increasingly confused president. (Tuesday’s moment when the president couldn’t remember the name of Hamas was just the latest in a long series of “oh!” moments.) President Trump may continue to promise to quickly conclude peace with Ukraine But if Putin brings forward action, it will be much harder to do so over the next nine months.
For the Republican Party to remain a viable party, it simply needs to pay attention to what is important to its base. The vacancy created by Justice Scalia’s death, especially on the Supreme Court, was critical to President Trump’s victory in 2016, and President Trump recognized this and strongly promoted this issue. If he (or Ambassador Nikki Haley) wants to take on the challenge in November, the party’s platform will be on the wall: rebuilding the nation’s defense and industrial base, projecting power above and below the seas, and supporting allies. It must be very clear in terms of cooperation with “Peace through strength” did not begin or end with Reagan, but it remains a wall that supports the party’s gravity. No matter how sincere or noisy you are, you cannot abandon yourself because of the noisy minority.
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There is a good chance that Speaker Mike Johnson will lose the gavel if he forces a vote on the supplementary bill as requested by all Republicans. The knucklehead caucus that toppled former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is still around, ready to raise money from disruption and clicks, throw a tantrum if Ukraine aid passes, and threaten to launch even more reckless attacks on themselves. I might set it up.
But national security is serious, but most serious. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, including to the chair. Prime Minister Johnson needs to strengthen whatever happens to guarantee the country’s defense and alliances.
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