Biden: The Priority Is Ukraine, So Give the Republicans What They Want for the Border. Now! Or Use National Security Emergency Executive Orders.
Time is of the essence: Ukraine is running out of ammunition and air defense missiles. The United States promised to help Ukraine against Russia “for as much as it takes and for as long as it takes.” Apart from Biden’s promise, the United States is also obligated to defend Ukraine as a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, along with Russia and Great Britain, which required Ukraine to transfer all its nuclear weapons to Russia in exchange for the defense of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. Ukraine executed its part of the bargain, so the USA, Britain, and Russia must execute their part of the bargain. Russia has egregiously violated its contractual obligation (it does not matter that the treaty was not approved legislatively), but that does not mean the USA and Britain should not abide by their contractual obligation.
Today, the USA is behind in fulfilling its obligation because House Republicans are stonewalling. Their stated reason: their priority is not Ukraine; they first want legislation passed to secure our border. It is also because Trump has instructed them to hold off on border legislation until after the election, since he does not want Biden to get credit for solving the border crisis, which would help him win the presidential election in November. In addition, some House Republicans are against helping Ukraine because they are openly for dictatorial Russia, not for Ukraine, which is scandalous and un-American, just like being for Hitler during World War II, a betrayal of democracy and human rights, as well as of our foreign policy.
Those Republicans openly against aiding Ukraine and those blocking a House vote on aid to Ukraine are all professed Christians. Are they against defending the weak from bullies, from the powerful? How is it Christian to not help a peaceful democratic Ukraine defend itself against a cruel, immoral, devastating and illegal invasion by Russia? Would they have been for Hitler during World War II? Would they have voted against helping Poland defend itself against the Nazis? How is being for Putin’s dictatorial, aggressive, criminal, human-rights-violating Russia moral? What type of Christianity is theirs, the Christianity of the Nazis?
Biden must realize that our reputation is at stake. Reputations take a long time to be made, but can be lost overnight. As the main member of NATO, we absolutely cannot lose the confidence of our NATO allies, nor of Ukraine which has relied on our promises of unending military support at enormous human and infrastructure cost. Nor can we allow Russia to win its invasion of Ukraine, as that would threaten our European allies down the road, shake their confidence in the USA and in NATO, and even result in Russia attacking some NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltic nations.
Therefore, without delay, President Biden should publicly offer House Republicans to implement their border and asylum proposal in exchange for their voting aid to Ukraine within seven days. Surely, today, aid for Ukraine is the priority, not Democratic border and asylum policy. If House Republicans refuse the offer, Biden should use his executive authority to assist Ukraine’s defense as an urgent matter of national security, even without the approval of House Republicans. He must explain to the nation that being for Russia and against Ukraine today is a betrayal of our fundamental values, and that holding up a House vote on aid to Ukraine consists of aiding and giving comfort to our enemy, which is treasonous.
Also, without delay, as a matter of a national security emergency in the face of continued House Republican stonewalling, President Biden should use his executive authority to quickly solve the border crisis through various measures. One instantly effective measure is to make a no-cost bureaucratic change regarding how foreigners apply for asylum: require all asylum applications to be made at US consulates in the country of residence, not at our borders, the same as tourist and business visa applications. That requirement, beyond being an effective solution for our border crisis, is a very humane measure, being extremely convenient for those wishing to apply for asylum, eliminating the need for long and dangerous treks to our border. As a matter of national emergency, Biden should couple that asylum application reform with a provision that all migrants caught without a visa or asylum papers will not be allowed to apply for asylum in the future. Additionally, the absurd, counter-productive policy of “detain and release” must be replaced by “detain and deport”.
Biden should also propose a major Peace Corps effort to help Central American countries develop economically and socially, through infrastructure and school projects. An economically and socially prosperous Central America would be an enormous positive for the United States, aiding our own economy and eliminating the migrant crisis. Such a major, extremely honorable Peace Corps effort should have been made decades ago, not just in Central America but in many developing nations in other continents.
As for complaints that we don’t have the money for Ukraine’s defense or a major Peace Corps effort, because we have large budget deficits and enormous federal debt, Biden must explain to the nation that such investments can be financed by the Federal Reserve through QE, which has been used for a decade to get us out of the sub-prime and Covid crises, at no real cost to American citizens since it consists of Treasury bond financing by the Federal Reserve, avoiding any “crowding out” or tax financing by citizens. Furthermore, QE, as we have seen, is not inherently inflationary, as we had ten years of record low inflation and interest rates during the decade of QE. Inflation, in fact, started up again in 2021 not because of QE, but because of Covid supply-chain disruptions and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which drove up energy and agricultural prices (that was “cost-push” inflation). QE is never inflationary, so long as it is not excessive, resulting in excess aggregate demand (“demand-pull” inflation). So long as there is some unemployment and unused production capacity, there is room for QE.
In any case, Biden must explain to the nation that helping Ukraine recover all its territorial sovereignty from Russia is imperative, much, much more important for us and the entire democratic world than any temporary rise in inflation. And that no one should worry about our budget deficits or federal indebtedness, so long as the Fed continues to use QE financing judiciously. He should explain that a very large part of our federal debt (outstanding Treasury bonds) is currently owned and financed by the Federal Reserve, due to QE. And that all Treasury bonds held by the Fed are not “real” debt, only “virtual” debt which the Fed could continually roll over or even cancel at any time, with absolutely no increase in inflation, since that would not result in any increase in the money supply, i.e., no increase in aggregate demand. So, the reality is, a very significant portion of federal indebtedness is only “virtual”, not “real”. Our “real” federal debt consists only of outstanding Treasury bonds not held by the Fed, it is very manageable, and will gradually shrink due to sustained economic growth and to the Fed judiciously using QE to avoid long, deep recessions.
Finally, Biden must point out to Americans that should Russia defeat Ukraine, it will not stop its aggressive ways, just like the Soviet Union which it led for 70 years. Russia, like the imperialist Soviet Union, is a threat to humanity, even though it is no longer communist. Today, Russia is a cruel, murderous, fascist, imperialistic dictatorship, just like Nazi Germany, and is our enemy, even threatening nuclear war! Furthermore, Biden must point out that Trump and his Republican supporters are also a threat to democracy, openly calling for the end to democracy (see the recent CPAC convention) and for being allies of dictatorial imperialistic Russia, not of Ukraine and other democracies. Biden must also point out that once a dictatorship is installed, it lasts for decades. How can any Republicans want dictatorship for America? How can any Christian Americans want that? No rational, moral Americans would want that.
© Edward Sonnino 2024
February 26, 2024
