All Zelenskyy Wants for Christmas Is $45 Billion
And D.C. is a bit too eager to play Santa Claus.
by Daniel J. Flynn
December 22, 2022, 10:19 PM
Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled 5,000 miles wanting Congress to give him $45 billion but more so wanting not to ask for it.
The charismatic Ukrainian leader insisted, “Your money is not charity.” Who called truth the first casualty of war?
The aid package requested amounts to 30 percent of Ukraine’s prewar gross domestic product and likely all of its 2023 military expenditures. It roughly equals the entire annual economy of Vermont or Wyoming. Zelenskyy wants to transfer a lot of money from the U.S. economy to the Ukrainian economy, and he does not even need to fire the prosecutor to make it happen.
The suggested contribution, uncharitably called charitable contributions, bills every American an average of $135. For those who actually pay income taxes, that number increases dramatically to a figure larger than the amount you spend on your kid for Christmas.
Maybe Zelenskyy is right. This looks like something other than charity, which, of course, relies on choice. The $45 billion wealth transfer requires compulsion. Congress wants to force us to pay for a war (yes, we would pay for one side of someone else’s war) halfway around the world and far from our clear interests.
Ukraine ranks as our 67th-largest trading partner, with our exports amounting to about 0.1 percent of our total, and imports adding up to an even smaller percentage. Eyes that see Ukraine as crucial to the national interest necessarily see just about every country in this way. Know a fight? They want to jump in — or, more accurately, nudge others into doing so.
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https://spectator.org/all-zelenskyy-wants-for-christmas-is-45-billion/