Sen. Rand Paul appears to have upset a majority of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle over a simple demand in regards to a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine.
The Kentucky Republican is merely asking that senators put American taxpayers first and include oversight into how the money will be spent by the Ukrainian government once the package is provided, The New York Sun reports.
“My oath of allegiance is to the United States and to the U.S. Constitution, no other nation,” Dr. Paul said Friday on the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, laying out his request for an amendment empowering the inspector general to oversee what would otherwise just be a blank check.
“When [the] government’s handing out money,” he said, “the thieves line up as well,” noting how in Afghanistan, Congress would provide millions to build a hotel, “and the contractor would run off with the money.”
He added: “Pallets of $100 bills were airlifted into Afghanistan every three months for 20 years.”
The NY Sun adds:
The same special inspector general, John Sopko, who uncovered such graft in Afghanistan is standing by, Dr. Paul pointed out, to do the job on the Ukraine package.
In “What We Need To Learn: Lessons from Twenty Years of Afghanistan Reconstruction,” the inspector general tallied that America lavished a total of $145 billion on the doomed effort to rebuild the country and warned there are “many lessons [America] needs to learn” in the future.
The future is now, and with this $40 billion, America will have sent $54 billion to Ukraine in 60 days.
“[I]t isn’t noble to give people money you don’t have,” he told host Clay Travis. “We have double-digit inflation; the lockdown has still so completely screwed up the economy we don’t have baby formula. So, yes, I think there are priorities.”
“[T]he NATO allies need to step up, and we don’t need to be the sugar daddy and the policeman of the world that we have to do everything,” he added, noting that other NATO countries have been stingy in providing military assistance to Kyiv.
Paul added that while he is sympathetic to Ukraine’s plight following Russia’s invasion, handing out billions of dollars that the U.S. essentially borrows from countries — like China, who supports Russia — to hold American debt is insane.
The NY Sun adds:
If nations in the neighborhood aren’t willing to break the bank to support Ukraine’s fight for liberty, America will answer the call in a responsible manner. Dr. Paul isn’t opposed to that role as the Arsenal of Democracy.
What he is opposed to is not knowing where our money is going. The question is why the rest of the United States Senate doesn’t seem to care.
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America First: Rand Paul Slams Breaks On Multibillion Dollar Ukraine Aid Package