The Republicans have to get it together

Another week, another round of Republicans attacking each other.

This time it was about the Ukraine financing bill that passed the House of Representatives and ultimately became part of the major military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that Congress approved this week.

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

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

That, of course, led to new cries for the ouster of Speaker Johnson from the suicidal wing of his own party.

Many Republicans in the House of Representatives voted ‘no’ on the military aid bill because they wanted Johnson to include money for southern border security in the bill.

I understand. We have to take care of the southern border. I live in California and see the consequences of Biden’s immigration fiasco every day.

But tying border security money to the military aid bill would have been a poison pill that would have killed it instantly.

How do we know that? Because the HR 2 immigration bill that came out of the Republican House last year never passed the Democratic-controlled Senate — and it never will.

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

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

It would have meant that Israel and Taiwan would not receive the military assistance they needed. And Ukraine would no longer receive from us the help it needs to defend itself – and which was promised years ago by two presidents.

The reality is, folks, we have a moral and military obligation to Ukraine.

Presidents Clinton and Obama both guaranteed Ukrainian leaders that if they gave up their stockpile of vintage nuclear weapons from the Soviet empire, 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 his tanks and artillery.

It doesn’t matter how corrupt Ukrainian politicians are or whether or not Ukraine should join NATO. Two American presidents guaranteed the country’s security and protection if they gave up their nuclear weapons, and we must respect that guarantee.

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

Money for the southern border was an entirely different issue, which should never have been linked to the Ukrainian military financing law.

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

If we Republicans want to take care of the southern border, then hell, I would suggest that we elect a Republican President, a Republican Senate, and a Republican House on November 5, 2024.

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

If Republicans in Congress continue to fight each other as they have been since Biden’s election, the American people have every right to ask, ‘Why on earth would I want to pick any of these people to lead if they are unable to take charge? to collaborate?”

It’s 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 of Representatives in 2025, it won’t be because the Democrats did such a damn good job in the elections.

It will be because the Republicans screwed up. Again.

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

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