After the horrific Maui fires that claimed the lives of hundreds of residents, including children, federal aid to the island hit a roadblock.
The corrupt, ineffective federal government is preventing billions of dollars in aid from reaching the people impacted by the tragedy.
According to reports, a proposed $12 billion emergency funding package, some allocated for Maui, is linked to $24 billion for Ukraine.
“After bureaucrats destroyed Maui, DC holds relief money hostage for Ukraine. They don’t work for you,” Peter St. Onge writes.
“Just days after Maui burned, the White House proposed a 12 billion dollar boost to FEMA, America’s disaster management agency, with some of that money presumably going to Maui,” he said.
“Thing is Biden’s 12 billion was jammed into a Bill to give Ukraine another 24 billion, using Maui victims to blackmail Ukraine skeptics who are opposed, like most Americans, to writing blank checks to an ongoing meat grinder that risks nuclear war.”
WATCH:
After bureaucrats destroyed Maui, DC holds relief money hostage for Ukraine.
They don’t work for you. pic.twitter.com/ZrxsEKR1T2
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) August 20, 2023
“The ‘leaders’ in Congress decided to combined disaster relief for Maui with an extra $24 billion in funding for Ukraine. That means members of Congress who oppose more funding for Ukraine (there are many) would have to vote NO on disaster relief for Maui if they want to also block Ukraine war funding. This puts them in a lousy no win voting situation,” Wall Street Silver writes.
The "leaders" in Congress decided to combined disaster relief for Maui with an extra $24 billion in funding for Ukraine.
That means members of Congress who oppose more funding for Ukraine (there are many) would have to vote NO on disaster relief for Maui if they want to also… https://t.co/gvEvlOZHJQ
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) August 20, 2023
Honolulu Civil Beat reports:
The Biden administration asked for the supplemental spending on Wednesday, the same day the president also approved the disaster declaration for Maui.
But the effort to get a speedy appropriation has foundered after the Biden administration sought $12 billion in emergency funding that would extend disaster relief programs while simultaneously requesting some $24.1 billion in military spending for Ukraine in the same package.
That means that funding Hawaii’s needs for Maui’s recovery has been tied to funding to back Ukraine’s military, an increasingly unpopular topic in some Republican circles. When the House passed its fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill early this summer, a contingent of several dozen House Republicans sought to prohibit additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
In a press release, Rubio said that the White House’s supplemental budget request included “numerous” items that should be part of regular appropriations – not put through as emergency spending – and singled out the funding for Ukraine as particularly problematic. He said he believes funding for Ukraine should be considered separately because of questions about how U.S. military stockpiles there have been used.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) highlighted Joe Biden’s abysmal response to the Maui tragedy:
In the two weeks since one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, Joe Biden:
1.Enjoyed 60 hours at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware
2.Had another Camp David weekend getaway
3. Rented a house in Lake Tahoe for an entire week
4.Asked for another $24 billion for Ukraine— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) August 20, 2023