Making Sense by Michael Reagan

Another week, another round of Republicans attacking each other.

This time it was over the Ukraine funding bill that was passed by the House and ultimately became part of the big military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that Congress passed this week.

The Republican controlled House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, passed the Ukraine funding bill after what seemed like years of delays by a vote of 311-112.

All the “no” votes came from Republicans and Johnson had to rely on Democrats to get the bill over the finish line.

That, of course, raised new cries for Speaker Johnson’s ouster from the suicidal wing of his own party.

Many House Republicans voted “no” on the military aid bill because they wanted Johnson to include money for Southern border security in the bill.

I get it. We need to take care of the Southern border. I live in California and see the consequences of Biden’s immigration fiasco every day.

But attaching money for border security to the military aid bill would have been a poison pill that would have killed it immediately.

How do we know that? Because the HR 2 immigration bill that came out of the Republican House last year has never been voted on by the Democrat-controlled Senate – and never will be.

And the so-called bipartisan immigration bill that the Senate passed a few weeks ago will never get voted on in the House.

Attaching border security money to the foreign aid bill was always a dumb idea.

It would have meant Israel and Taiwan would not get the military help they need. And Ukraine would not get any more of the help it needs from us to defend itself – and which was promised years ago by two presidents.

The reality is, people, we are morally and militarily obligated to Ukraine.

Presidents Clinton and Obama each guaranteed Ukraine’s leaders that if they gave up their stockpile of Soviet Empire-vintage nuclear weapons, which they did, the United States would protect and defend them.

That obligation to protect Ukraine is what we have been doing with money and weapons since Vladimir Putin started the war by sending in his tanks and artillery.

It doesn’t matter how corrupt Ukraine’s politicians are or whether Ukraine should or should not become a member of NATO. Two U.S. presidents guaranteed the country’s safety and protection if they gave up their nukes and we should honor that guarantee.

So the political reality in Washington is that it is wrong to blame Johnson or the other House Republicans for doing what was needed to keep our promise to Ukraine.

Money for the Southern border was a totally separate issue that should never have been attached to the Ukraine military funding bill.

Speaker Johnson is a smart guy. He did it the right way by keeping Ukraine aid and the border security issue separate.

If we Republicans want to take care of the Southern border, then, damn it, I would suggest we elect a Republican president, a Republican Senate and a Republican House on Nov. 5, 2024.

That’s the only way we will ever be able to fix the border and fix our hapless immigration system, which has remained broken for decades because both parties have been too weak, too afraid and too stupid to fix it.

If Republicans in Congress continue to fight with each other the way they have been since Biden was elected, the American people have every right to ask, “Why in the hell would I want to elect one of these people to lead when they are incapable of working together?”

It’s very simple: If the Republican Party can’t find a way to unite, it doesn’t deserve to win anything in 2024.

And if Hakeem Jeffries becomes Speaker of the House in 2025, it won’t be because the Democrats did such a damn good job in the election.

It’ll be because the Republicans screwed up. Again.

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Copyright 2024 Michael Reagan, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation. Send comments to [email protected] and follow @reaganworld on Twitter.