• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    The support will include both a $1.25 billion drawdown package for Ukraine’s military and a $1.22 billion package authorized through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, according to Biden. The department has now used all funds allocated by Congress under that initiative, he added.

    I’d say at least he did it even tho he waited till the last minute…

    The U.S. Department of Defense will be delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets and hundreds of armored vehicles to Ukraine, Biden said, “which will strengthen Ukraine’s hand as it heads into the winter.”

    But there’s only 3 weeks till trump’s in office, so I’ll wait to see if the deliveries are made before celebrating

    • Skua@kbin.earth
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      5 days ago

      I do at least have some hope that if Trump attempts to prevent it happening, he will do so by tweet and therefore be ignored by the actual people responsible for it

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        It’s the dictator’s dilemma.

        The only people they want to work for them has to always tell them what they want to hear, and those are bad employees.

        So stuff like this, if trump even mentions it, someone will just tell him it’s handled whether it is or not.

        I’d feel a lot more confident of good people stopped resigning and stayed to do what good they can, but trump ain’t filling those spots with competent employees

  • GlobalCompatriot@lemm.ee
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    4 days ago

    In the meantime US homeless is at another all time high, which tops last years all time high. 18.1% higher than last years high of 12%

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      I don’t know how many times this needs to be explained, but this is not money. It is not stacks of cash we could use to hand out to the homeless, or to rent them apartments.

      This is war materiel. Artillery shells, vehicles, etc. It is assigned a dollar value. This is stuff we have sitting in warehouses, sometimes pretty old and in need of replacement anyway.

      I’m no fan of the military industrial complex, but these donations could even be seen as a way to create American jobs in American factories, building modern replacements for what is being sent.

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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    5 days ago

    All this while the homeless rate in the United States increased to 18%.

    It shows were Biden’s (and Senate Democrats) priorities are when he’d rather spend billions to shore up the American empire’s expansion rather that spending less than half of that to help Americans who have no shelter, home, nor prospects.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        5 days ago

        That’s even worse; it means that even the democrats in charge of the Senate have the same fucked up priorities along with Biden

    • aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com
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      4 days ago

      “American empire’s expansion,” LOL.

      make sure you don’t mention the fact that it is Russia that invaded Ukraine, claimed its territory, and expects to rule it.

    • weeeeum@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      The united states has funded its military to be capable of fighting a two front war with both Russia and China. We already spend hundreds of billions every year building and stationing equipment and troops in Europe and NATO allies.

      Ukraine has been doing all of that for us for YEARS.

    • GlobalCompatriot@lemm.ee
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      4 days ago

      They care for empire more than they do its citizens. And I’m going to bet most of the people that are down voting you are also struggling financially while defending our country ignoring them.

      • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        I agree with your first sentence in general, but this is not giving money that could better be used to help the homeless. This is giving equipment that is sitting in warehouses. This equipment is assigned a dollar value.

        Let’s say we could somehow sell this stuff and convert it to money, then it could be used to help the homeless right? Also wrong in this case. It has been allocated by Congress to help Ukraine. It cannot be used otherwise.

      • aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com
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        4 days ago

        what we need are some projects or communist style brutalist block buildings. Those worked well in the past!

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        4 days ago

        yes, i’ve learned not to bother responding to liberals on liberal territory. i’m not responsible for; nor capable of; educating anyone.

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I’m all for helping Ukraine but it seems like a constant spit in the eye seeing our govt shell out billions of dollars worth of aid to other countries while our own citizens fight to survive this corporate hellscape that constricts us tighter and tighter by the second.

    Edit: I’d love for someone to explain to me how it’s not insulting to send billions to countries like Ukraine and Israel or wherever tf else when all that money could’ve been used to create federal programs that actually help American citizens like the homeless or literally anything like that.

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      60 billion is a drop in the bucket, the majority of which isn’t cash, it’s equipment that’s been sitting and is no longer being used. That 60 billion is put back into our own economy because it means jobs are being made to replace said equipment. It’s a win win for both sides. We’re also the richest country on the planet, we have plenty to do what we need to here at home, but it’s not getting done because of Ukraine, it’s not getting done because we have politicians who are beholden to the rich oligarchs here.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        That 60 billion is put back into our own economy because it means jobs are being made to replace said equipment.

        Unironically arguing that our bloated military industrial complex is a good thing because trickle down theory. Centrists are Reaganites, one and all.

        We’re also the richest country on the planet, we have plenty to do what we need to here at home,

        And we have chosen not to.

        it’s not getting done because we have politicians who are beholden to the rich oligarchs here.

        But if we keep the oligarchs happy, it’ll totally trickle down like daddy Reagan said.

        • BlemboTheThird@lemmy.ca
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          5 days ago

          No, Ukraine’s survival is not good for American oligarchs and nowhere in the comment you’re responding to was that even vaguely implied

          • GlobalCompatriot@lemm.ee
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            4 days ago

            Sinking Ukraine in endless debt that they default on so it will be swept up by the oligarchy is good for American oligarchs.

            • aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com
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              4 days ago

              Yes, we should let them be swept up by Russia, which has a far worse corruption and oligarchy problem, instead.

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          The fuck? Nothing I said was even remotely in support of your argument. What part of us giving our old equipment to Ukraine, which in turn helps support jobs here did you not get?

        • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          It’s not that different from Roosevelt’s WPA but with the rich getting a cut off the top for their continued support.

          • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            How does that detract from what I said at all? It doesn’t matter the process. What matters is we’re prioritizing other countries over our own and it’s pathetic.

            • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Supporting Ukraine is a cheap way to hold Russia at bay and reduce their disruption and potential negative impact across Europe and other countries we have tight alliances with.

              If Russia invades a NATO country because Ukraine falls to them and they want more, well, shit gets way more complicated and exponentially more expensive, because we’re going to a full blown world war.

              Think of this as a significantly cheaper way to achieve our global goals without costing American lives or significant resources.

    • BlemboTheThird@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      The aid we send to Ukraine is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of wealth we allow the ultra rich to hoard. Our wealth tax rates are already criminally low, and even on those the underfunded IRS fails to collect somewhere between $500 billion to a trillion every year.

      Our lack of a public safety net has nothing to do with foreign aid, and everything to do with our corrupt government doing everything it can to entrench the oligarchy.

      Edit, didn’t think to source it until after I commented, looks like I sort of misremembered an old politico article, which is kind of a shitty source anyway–but everything other than the exact numbers I mentioned is still true

      Also, lumping Israel and Ukraine together as equally bad is ludicrous

    • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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      5 days ago

      In the scale of the US GDP this amount is nothing.

      The US spends easily 500x this on its citizens. Foreign aid is essential for America to maintain its place in the world order. This investment pays for itself a million times over through American foreign relations and trade.

      So to answer your question, this is not insulting because it’s a tiny fraction of Americas budget and it will benefit America and its citizens.

      • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        How is blowing up Palestinian people good for America? Like Ukraine is one thing as I’ve already stated but Israel is an entirely different beast (a genocidal beast at that).

        You say it’s a tiny fraction of what we spend on our own citizens but then where is all that money going? Our billionaires are richer than ever meanwhile homelessness is at record highs since the fuckin depression.

        Make it make sense.

        • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io
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          5 days ago

          How is blowing up Palestinian people good for America?

          You should ask that in another post/comment because everyone is answering the Ukraine part. Anyway the return the US is supposed to be getting is an unstable Middle East, preventing the rise of a regional power (matters for cheap oil) and getting an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the region. It’s evil as fuck and its efficacy is debatable but that’s the theory.

        • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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          4 days ago

          To understand the geopolitics you first need to understand that genocide means nothing to these countries. Countries will pretend to give a fuck when they can use that as a reason to justify their actions but when it doesn’t align with their interests the ignore it.

    • mercphilby@discuss.online
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      5 days ago

      Yeah, I’m insulted too. Ukraine isn’t our problem. If we aren’t going to police ourselves, we shouldn’t be policing the world.