The U.S. is spending more money to bankroll Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, compared to the amount set aside to help the island of Maui in Hawaii rebuild after the Lahaina wildfires.
Breitbart expounded on this claim, noting that President Joe Biden pledged $95 million to help Maui rebuild. In contrast, Washington is shouldering the daily cost of the Russia-Ukraine war – which is bigger than the pledge.
"A day of war costs us $100 million," outgoing Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told state media. while the military represents the largest portion of these expenditures, funds are also essential for overall country maintenance, including infrastructure, reconstruction and support for the socially vulnerable. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky axed Reznikov amid a campaign to crack down on corruption and war profiteering.
Biden's $95 million pledge to Maui is but a fraction of the $135 billion he has allocated for Ukraine. The U.S. is the primary source of financial support for Kyiv as it continues to fight Moscow, following the February 2022 "special military operation" by Russian forces.
Per the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the U.S. government has already committed $113 billion to Ukraine. This translates to an astonishing daily sum of $223 million. Meanwhile, military aid to Ukraine alone has averaged $86 million per day.
The $113 billion approved by Congress came in four packages – $14 billion in March 2022, $40 billion in May 2022, $12 billion in September 2022 and $45 billion in December 2022. However, the Biden administration has requested a fifth tranche of $24 billion – bringing total spending up to $135 billion. (Related: ENDLESS AID: Biden to ask Congress for supplemental aid package "north of $10B" for Ukraine.)
How absurd: Billions for Kyiv, pennies for Maui
In contrast to the billion-dollar aid package requested for Ukraine, Biden merely offered victims of the Lahaina fires in Maui a $700 one-time household emergency aid check. Critics described the sum as "insulting" compared with the hundreds of billions of dollars the U.S. government has sent to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake blasted the one-time aid in a post on X (formerly Twitter). "Only $700 per household to help rebuild Lahaina, Biden? We're spending $900 per household to fund your proxy war in Ukraine," she wrote.
"This is insulting," financial commentator Mark Wlosinski meanwhile tweeted. "Can someone please explain how our government can send hundreds of billions to other countries, but chooses to pinch pennies when our own people are in need?"
Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Hawaii's primary lifeline, is virtually scraping the bottom of the barrel. Lawmakers said the agency under the Department of Homeland Security is expected to run out of money within the month.
Efforts to get a speedy appropriation hit a brick wall after the Biden administration sought some $24.1 billion in military spending for Ukraine while requesting $12 billion in emergency funding for disaster relief programs. That means that funding Maui's recovery is tied to funding Ukraine's military, an issue frowned upon by Republicans.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicated that 52 percent of voters disapprove of Biden's handling of Ukraine, with 38 percent believing that too much is being done to assist Ukraine. In particular, 62 percent of GOP primary voters said the level of assistance provided to Ukraine is excessive.
BigGovernment.news has more stories about the federal government allocating taxpayer funds.
Watch this video about the Biden administration struggling to tie disaster funding to Ukraine aid.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Costly war: American aid to Ukraine about to hit $65 billion.
Maui wildfires continue to expose government's FAILURES and QUESTIONABLE decisions.
Presidential candidates clash over Ukraine aid during first 2024 GOP primary debate.
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