US Aid to Israel: Full Tank. Disaster Relief: Empty.
As Bloomberg notes, natural disaster relief across the US is grinding to a halt. This alarming situation is not, however, stopping the legislative machine from funding other priorities. For instance, just recently, the House passed HR 6126 providing $14.5 billion in military aid to Israel, a vote that notably saw Rep. Smith (R-MI) – who received $4,500 from AIPAC in 2022 (OpenSecrets.org) – vote
'yes'. Funny how the well is dry for Americans, but deep for foreign military adventures. One might wonder, how many hurricane-ravaged communities could be rebuilt with $14.5 billion? We're told there's no money for our own infrastructure, for healthcare, for mitigating climate disasters that increasingly devastate American towns. Yet, when it comes to supporting a foreign government's military
actions, Congress finds a bottomless purse. It truly makes one reconsider what constitutes a 'national emergency' in Washington D.C.'s budgeting process.