Free Republic

Where money amasses, Clintons follow. So it didn't take long for the Clintons to suddenly get their interest in "philanthropy" back after a long droughty hiatus. According to the Associated Press: The need to “Keep Going” is the theme of this year's Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, as Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conference’s return last year after a six-year hiatus. “Giving up and giving in is a surefire guarantee that we will not...

David Sacks@DavidSacks · Feb 26 I was talking to an international investor who says the corruption in Ukraine is beyond belief. Theft and bribery are endemic — much worse than in Latin America. The oligarchs must be feasting on our hundred billion.

The U.S. will back Ukraine in its war with Russia for “as long as it takes,” President Biden said Tuesday night, pledging indefinite American backing for Kyiv as the war enters its second year with no clear path toward peace. In his State of the Union address, Mr. Biden said the U.S. and its Western allies have stood together against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, calling the conflict a “test for the ages” that the free world has met. “I spoke from this chamber one year ago, just days after Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal war against Ukraine....

The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine that could be announced as soon as this week, according to two US officials and a senior administration official. The Pentagon’s plan still needs to be approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before it is sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. The three officials told CNN that approval is expected. Ukraine has been calling for the US to send the advanced long-range air defense system that is highly effective at intercepting ballistic and cruise missiles as it comes under a barrage of Russian...

The CEO of US weapons giant Raytheon Technologies, Gregory Hayes, revealed on Thursday that Washington is working with partner nations in West Asia to transfer a handful of their air defense systems to Ukraine."The [Pentagon] is going to attempt to do some trading for us where we’ll take some from the [West Asian] countries that are our friends and some from our NATO allies, and try and get those into Ukraine early next year," Hayes said, before adding that the weapons will be "[backfilled] with new production over the next two years."Image source: Raytheon Technologies CorporationHayes did not mention specific...

Nine months after invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is beginning to fracture the West. Top European officials are furious with Joe Biden’s administration and now accuse the Americans of making a fortune from the war, while EU countries suffer. “The fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the U.S. because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons,” one senior official told POLITICO. The explosive comments — backed in public and private by officials, diplomats and ministers elsewhere — follow mounting anger...

@RepThomasMassie Biden’s latest Ukraine spending request will put the US Congress on a trajectory to spend TWICE as much money on Ukraine as we spend on roads and bridges in a year. No one can tell you where it’s all gone or going. Demand a halt. Demand an audit. Demand an Inspector General.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide more than $37 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, a massive infusion of cash that could help support the nation as Russian forces suffer battlefield losses in their nine-month-old invasion. The administration’s funding request, which comes as lawmakers begin their post-election session, also seeks $9.25 billion in COVID-19 funding to prepare for a possible winter surge and help combat the virus nationwide. Government funding expires in mid-December, and the Ukraine and COVID aid would be part of the package to fund the government through the end of September 2023....

Former President George W. Bush will hold a public conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week, the Bush Institute announced on Thursday. The conversation is part of the Bush Institute’s conference on the “Struggle for Freedom” on Nov. 16, where Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will also provide virtual remarks. The event plans to discuss threats to freedom around the world, particularly noting Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and concerns about a potential attack on Taiwan by China. The Republican president’s discussion with Zelensky — a prominent display of support for Ukraine — comes as Republicans in the House have...

At this point, the United States has sent more than $17 billion in cash and military aid to Ukraine for that nation’s fight against the Russians. The United States has been far and away the largest, most generous patron of Ukraine’s government of any of the allies who are supporting this effort. But this has dragged on for quite a while now and it is long past time to begin seriously discussing the obvious question. How long are we supposed to keep this up? In fairly short order, the money we’ve sent to Ukraine will more than double the annual...

WASHINGTON — Negotiators to a stop-gap spending bill in the U.S. Congress have agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine in response to a request from the Biden administration, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.The source, who asked not to be identified, said the measure will also include resettlement funding for Afghan refugees

Democrats and Republicans have both been backing Ukraine aid for months now. But there’s a growing sense of unease on Capitol Hill that something could soon happen to disrupt that financial support: Republicans could win the House in November.“I’m absolutely not supporting any further funding for Ukraine,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Daily Beast last week.Dozens of Republican members of the House have already sought to throw up roadblocks to Ukraine aid packages. Fifty-seven Republicans tried blocking $40 billion in aid to Ukraine earlier this year, in addition to 11 Republican...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Sunday he is requesting “at least $12 billion” in aid for Ukraine in a stop-gap spending bill. Schumer said during a press conference on Sunday, “Ukraine has made significant advances against Russia in the war, the vicious war that Putin has waged against the Ukrainian people.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be the keynote speaker at a top defense industry conference in Austin, Texas, later this month. Zelensky’s keynote address at the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) annual Future Force Capabilities Conference and Exhibition will occur over video on September 21. Zelensky is expected to make his pitch to U.S. defense companies for more weapons to aid in his country’s war with Russia, Reuters reported. Zelensky will be joined by Ukraine’s minister of defense, Oleksii Reznikov, who will also address the defense industry leaders. NDIA’s board of directors includes individuals who work for defense industry titans...

"A valuable present for Ukraine on the occasion of its Independence Day! U.S. President Joe Biden announced the allocation of nearly $3 billion in military aid to our state. The package includes air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, artillery systems, and radars," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Shmyhal as saying on social media. In addition, the Ukrainian state budget on Wednesday received another $3 billion as a non-refundable grant from the U.S. via the World Bank mechanism, the prime minister said. "This is the first tranche from the additional $4.5 billion of direct budget aid," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., claimed this week that helping Ukraine fight off Russia is a “top priority” for both Democrats and Republicans.“I think we all agree the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine,” McConnell said after being asked about the House’s $40 billion aid package for Ukraine.McConell said he expects “substantial support” from his party for the package.“We’re going to try to process it as soon as possible,” he added.Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 GOP leader in the Senate, agreed and predicted “a big vote over here”...

The Biden administration's next security assistance package for Ukraine is expected to be $1 billion, one of the largest so far, and include munitions for long-range weapons and armoured medical transport vehicles, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday. Last Monday, the Pentagon announced a separate security assistance package for Ukraine valued at up to $550 million, including additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). The new package would be funded under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval...

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer told Charlie Kirk during a live segment of his show that there is not a "dollar amount" that is too much to send in Ukraine spending.

The United States is fighting a proxy war in Ukraine against Russian aggression, and we’re not doing it on the cheap. The Biden administration announced on Friday that we were sending another $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory over the eastern Luhansk region last week. Putin jumped the gun a little, although Russian troops hold the upper hand throughout most of the region. The problem for Putin is that those pesky Ukrainians refuse to surrender. And the United States is making their continuing resistance possible by giving Kyiv high-powered weapons...

(Still more #ComDem_Insanity!)The Biden Administration to give $750 Billion to the Ukraine?What possible US authority has the power to obligate the USA to such expenditures.