The legacy media has a narrative that only Republicans are willing to risk a government shutdown to realize their agenda. However, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado announced he is also willing to close Washington down to get more aid for Ukraine.
Bennet asserted Thursday on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports” that “if that’s what’s required,…we’ll have to do what’s required.”
Congress has already poured tens of billions of taxpayer dollars into Ukraine’s war with Russia. There is a push among Democrats and Republicans alike for even more, though resistance to writing a blank check to Kyiv is growing.
NBC: Are you ready to hold up a bill that comes to the Senate that does not include that Ukraine funding, potentially to shut down the government?
Democrat Michael Bennet: I definitely am. https://t.co/p2WfFRiqyH
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 5, 2023
Lawmakers successfully separated aid for Ukraine from last weekend’s stopgap federal budget agreement. Bennet stood in the way of the compromise initially before ultimately voting to keep the government operational.
In a statement after his weekend vote to fund the federal government, Bennet said “the United States has an essential and unique role to lead the free world in Ukraine’s defense. The future of democracy is at stake.”
Democrats are prone to breathless warnings about the “future of democracy” when their agenda is threatened.
Bennet was asked Thursday by Tur if he is ready to see the government shut down if a bill comes before the Senate to fund Washington that does not include billions for Ukraine.
His reply? “I definitely am. I definitely am.”
Bennet went on to reference his mother’s background. ‘She’s a Polish Jew, she was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1938, it’s very easy to see from her perspective.”
He said the 16 million people who died in Poland and Ukraine tend to be forgotten by U.S. politicians “concerned with a different set of imperatives.” History lessons aside, American politicians absolutely should have different priorities, such as putting this nation first and being fiscally responsible.
The senator then said that the U.S. has put more than $70 billion into Ukraine’s war effort. He claimed this figure “is less than what the Europeans have put into the war.”
While Bennet digs in and considers a government shutdown over wanting more funds for Ukraine, others in Congress are not so willing to tie the functioning of Washington to foreign aid. It is and should be a separate issue decided with U.S. interests put first.
