Ukraine is leading Maui 18 to 7 in the third quarter…

…and things aren’t looking good for the American team

We are well into the third year of Biden’s four-year term in office, and team America has been trailing the entire time. America has suffered one domestic disaster after another, whether economic, at the border, on the rails, at food processing plants, and most recently, the devastating Maui fire. One thing that has been consistent across them all has been the Biden administration’s complete ineptitude, or worse, apathy in handling them. Yet, for some reason, they never seem to fail to want to aid foreign countries, Ukraine in particular.

Depending on the source, estimates of the amount of aid (both financial and military) that the US has sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February of 2022, is in the neighborhood of $100 billion. Using population estimates available online, that translates to somewhere in the neighborhood of $1800 per Ukrainian resident, with the government poised to send further financial and military assistance. By contrast, the US government has stated residents of Lahaina, Maui, will each receive a $700 one-time payment. This difference is greater than it seems. While looking at a per capita figure reveals a 3x disparity assistance, looking at the overall spending reveals a greater travesty. According to worldpopulationreview.com https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/lahaina-hi-population , as of 2023, Lahaina has a population of only 9,118 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2020, the population of Lahaina was 12,702). So, the government is willing only to offer Lahaina $64 million dollars in aid, despite the town being essentially leveled by fire, while planning to offer even more assistance to Ukraine than has already been granted.

I’m setting aside, for the moment, the fact that the U.S. Government is not a charity and has no Constitutional authority to provide charitable aid to anyone, least of all foreign entities. As James Madison said, “The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” In light of that, no one should be receiving financial aid of any sort from the federal government. However, if we accept the fact that the U.S. Government has a long history of acting as the largest (illegitimate) charitable foundation in the world, why is it foreigners and corporations are always the primary recipients of that charity?

How is it that the American government values the citizens of Ukraine at least three times higher than those whom they are elected to serve? Why is it our government seems always willing to put foreigners above their own citizens? At every turn, Biden fumbles or finds another way to give the ball to the other team. Look at Biden’s responses to both situations. On August 24, Biden made the following statement regarding Ukraine:

Today, the people of Ukraine are once more marking their Independence Day, while suffering the all-out assault of Putin’s craven war for land and power. For eighteen months, Ukrainian families have lived under the daily threat of Russian rockets and the reality of brutal attacks. But the people of Ukraine have refused to break.

By comparison, when asked by a reporter on August 13, “Mr. President, any comment on the rising death toll in Maui,” the president replied, “No. No comment” and left. Lounging on the beach and riding his bike were more important. This is similar to Biden’s response to the train derailment in Ohio. Instead of visiting a tragic accident affecting U.S. residents in the city of Palestine, Biden traveled to Kyiv. Even once the President made remarks regarding the fires in Maui, despite thousands having lost their homes, over a hundred lives lost, and hundreds more missing, the President:

• spent the first two minutes on empty platitudes and odd greetings of other officials (does he really have a granddaughter named Maisy?)

• spoke to the locals about the United States being with them in a way as to make Maui sound like it is not part of the United States: “I want you to know, on behalf of the United States of America and all the nation, the American people stand with you” - last I checked, Maui was part of the United States of America

• spent the next two minutes talking about himself, presumably to show empathy, but…

• spoke for all of another four minutes during which he said, “whatever you need, you’re going to get” - I’m sorry, but a one-time $700 payment does not constitute “whatever you need”

As if to add insult to injury, FEMA is there staying in $1000/night hotel rooms and talking about running out of relief funds. What?!?!?!

The U.S. Government no longer sees itself as a servant to the people of America. On the contrary, it holds its own citizens in contempt. Those who have given it the power to govern, and continue to fund all of its bloat, are  “a basket of deplorables,” all of us, not just the ones to whom Hillary referred. We are worth less than chewing gum stuck to the bottoms of their shoes. Prospects for the fourth quarter look just as bad as the first three. We need to stop giving the ball to the other team. If Americans don’t get off the bench and move the ball down the field, Maui will serve as a mere precursor to the ash heap this government will make of America.