Like many people with more than a couple of brain cells to rub together, I'm in Israel's corner when it comes to their war with Hamas, and it's not even a question. Israel's war against this terrorist group should be total and unwavering. Hamas needs to be destroyed down to the roots and Gaza retaken by Israel so that it can not only begin to recover, but anything out of that area has the chance to destroy innocent lives both within and without it again.
However, this doesn't mean that I think the United States should begin helping fight this war by giving away billions of dollars. If Israel wants to buy things from us, that's great! If there are civilian groups that want to get together to hand over donations to the country as many churches are doing right now, then also great! But our government should take its hands out of our pockets and hand our tax dollars over to other countries.
As RedState reported on Thursday, a bipartisan funding bill that gives Israel $14.3 billion in aid was passed by the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson did well in making sure it was just about Israel to the disappointment of Democrats...for some reason Mitch McConnell...but regardless, we shouldn't be shelling out any more money at this juncture.
Israel will be fine. They are a highly-trained and well-supplied fighting force up against a group that has to destroy its own plumbing infrastructure in order to create rocket launchers that don't work half the time. As I write this, Israel is currently steamrolling over Hamas, killing their leaders and reclaiming territory.
Israel doesn't need our help. We don't need to get involved in another war.
In fact, we don't need to be involved in the Ukraine war either, and this looks to be a growing sentiment. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans are now of the opinion that we're helping too much:
As the harsh winter months approach in Ukraine, Americans’ views on the war there have shifted, with a plurality now saying the U.S. is doing too much to help Ukraine. Forty-one percent of Americans overall say the U.S. is doing too much, which has risen from 24% in August 2022 and 29% in June 2023. Thirty-three percent, down from 43% in June, say the U.S. is doing the right amount, while 25% believe the U.S. isn’t doing enough.
Both Republicans (62%) and independents (44%) increasingly see the U.S. as doing too much to support Ukraine compared with when Gallup began asking this question in August 2022.
That's a big shift, and it's not surprising.
Outside of the rising awareness that something shady is happening between Ukraine and the Biden administration when it comes to all that money, the rising cost and economic troubles that come with being an American are hard to ignore for the majority of us. Especially as 2024 draws closer and prices climb higher, Americans are beginning to become increasingly concerned about what's happening within its own borders.
And it's not looking good.
Regardless, Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen told Sky News in October that the U.S. could certainly afford to fund two different wars that aren't even ours.
“I think the answer is absolutely. America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs, said Yellen. "And we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. And look, the American economy is doing extremely well.”
Two things. Firstly, the American economy is not doing well at all. As Bonchie wrote near the end of October, inflation is off the charts and Americans can't keep up:
Since Biden took office, the compounded or aggregated inflation rate, whichever term you prefer, is over 21 percent. That means that Americans are paying 21 percent more today to live the same way they were living just two and a half years ago. It's hard to express how much of a shock to the system that has been for many families. Despite claims of rising wages (which have not kept up with brline inflation), the vast majority of people have not received a 21 percent raise over that time period.
Owning property has become nearly impossible for the average American now as well with mortgage rates topping eight percent. Even groceries and gas have become an unsustainable expense. Rent is skyrocketing.
Our economy is not doing "extremely well."
And yet, despite all the problems within our own borders where our money could be utilized to great effects, such as the construction of a border wall, the deportation of illegals from our country, infusing our police forces with more funding, or helping clean up and restore places that recently saw train wrecks or bizarre wildfires...we're sending our cash to fight wars, none of which we need to be involved in, and one whom it's hardly necessary.
As far as I'm concerned, we're being taxed way too much. If our government has the cash to throw at two countries for their wars, then they're taking too much from us. Not only does our tax rate need to be reduced significantly, but we need to defund the IRS dramatically or abolish it altogether since it's pretty clear that it acts as an avenue for our government to act in a fiscally irresponsible manner.
It's time to take the credit card away and begin doing what should have been done long ago. Not "no new taxes." More like "we're stripping a lot of taxes off the books." Period.