Government on a temporary budget

Za "Time" from New York

The morning after the passage of the decision to extend funding for the US government brought visible relief to New Yorkers, not so much that a last-minute deal was reached in Congress, but because of a clear, sunny day and water receding from flooded streets. Importantly, hundreds of thousands of federal workers will not have to go on furloughs, and millions of citizens will not be without their services; it is not without significance that the New York subway stations have reopened, and the streets of Brooklyn no longer resemble rivers on which cars float, while drivers helplessly hold their hands on the steering wheels. The lake in Prospect Park partially returned to its bed, visitors once again flooded the paths and grassy areas, so that Smorgasburg, one of the largest open-air markets, arranged dozens of food and drink stalls in front of which visibly cheerful people crowded. They didn't care too much that the conflicts between the two leading parties brought the country to the brink of collapse, nor that aid for Ukraine was missing from the temporary budget. Regardless of whether they supported Republicans or Democrats, they danced together to the sounds of a local musical attraction NYC Ska Orchestra, although in Washington - where the fate of the country is decided - it is not the least bit cheerful or relaxed.

WE HELPED, WE DON'T KNOW FOR THE FUTURE

Visibly displeased with the passage of a budget to fund federal institutions until November 17, hard-line Florida Republican Matthew Gaitz has launched the procedure to remove his party colleague Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives. The reason for the anger of this devotee of Donald Trump, known for his right-wing views, was McCarthy's decision to bring the temporary funding bill to a vote despite strong opposition from radical Republican lawmakers who insisted on spending cuts and the overall budget for fiscal year 2024, which formally began on 1 of October. For them, it is absolutely unacceptable for any bill to be passed in the lower house of Congress without the majority support of the Republicans, which is what just happened. In the days leading up to the vote, Trump himself repeated that the government should be shut down if a satisfactory agreement could not be reached, that Republicans lost a lot by agreeing to raise the debt ceiling and that no one should fear the consequences. shutdown. "The blame will fall on whoever is the president, in this case the corrupt (like the devil) Joe Biden," the former president urged his followers on the media platform True Social. Despite the better-worse advice, the short-term government funding measure, which is usually passed to buy time for a comprehensive budget deal, received majority support in both houses of Congress from Democrats and some Republicans, who are clearly entering a phase of tough negotiations. of party conflicts between the right-wing and moderate wings.

While McCarthy nonchalantly responded to Gates's remarks that he had violated agreements with members of his party in a "brazen manner", which is why he must be removed, telling him - "try it, and we'll see", President Biden promised from his working cabinet that the U.S. continue to provide financial assistance to Ukraine. "We must not allow American support to end under any circumstances," he said, calling on Congress to start negotiations on a new aid package as soon as possible, which should amount to 24 billion dollars.

The president's warnings that "time is running out" and that there is no time "for any games" show that things are not going exactly the way the White House would like.

One of the latest public opinion polls conducted by CNN reveals that the majority of Americans do not support the allocation of additional financial resources to Ukraine, while the public is divided on how much help has been given so far in the fight against Russian aggression. Thus, 55 percent of those surveyed believe that the US Congress has no reason to send new funds, and more than half of those surveyed think that America has already done enough, which, apparently, is part of the explanation for the dispute in Congress, considering that at the beginning of the Russian aggression, as many as 62 percent of respondents claimed that America must get more involved in the Ukrainian war.

This is the most unpleasant message for Ukraine on this side of the Atlantic: we helped, we are not sure that we can continue this much.

According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon has just sent a letter to congressional leaders warning that money is running out to replace the weapons the US sent to Ukraine and that there has been a slowdown in the supply of troops participating in the counteroffensive. According to this agency, the head of the financial service of the Pentagon, Michael McCord, wrote to the presidents of the House of Representatives and the Senate that only 1,6 of the total 25,9 billion dollars that were intended for Ukraine remained. McCord made it clear that without additional funding, the US will have to delay or reduce aid for air defense, munitions and drones, which are crucial as Russia prepares a series of winter attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Kevin McCarthy also received that letter, although he himself, as a representative of the more moderate wing of the Republicans, has already said several times that he supports continuing to send aid to Ukraine, but that for him the priority is the protection of America itself. "More Americans die because of the southern border than because of Ukraine," McCarthy said, alluding to the fact that every day 10.000 migrants leave Mexico for Texas, while the number of those who entered the US during September reached a record 200.000. He thus sent another, not so pleasant message to the country that Russia is trying to erase from the map of Europe: that in the new American budget, due to spending cuts, there probably won't be enough money for everyone, that priorities must be determined and that the US should to define their mission in Ukraine.

COMPASSION AND EVERYDAY

The enthusiasm of the helper is clearly not at the same level as the willingness of the attacked to defend himself, and it is not difficult to understand why this is so.

Among other things, because those who help after a while reach a stage when their own problems become more important than the problems of those they support; because the residents of New York's Staten Island want to go back to their gyms that currently house refugees from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or Nicaragua, since there is no money to care for them in the new reception centers; due to the fact that there are not enough garbage collectors in Manhattan compared to the number of residents of the most populated American city who line up garbage bags in front of their buildings, because there is a lack of money to hire an additional number of municipal workers; due to the fact that the Prospect Expressway turned into a huge river during the heavy rains, because the drainage shafts were neglected, so the citizens waded in water up to their knees and removed branches from the openings with brooms; because parts of Detroit, where President Biden joined members of the United Auto Workers on strike, look like the backdrop for a new sequel Mad Max with empty, ruined buildings, deserted streets, closed shops and half-open shop windows. And because most people are still unable to put the defense of the right of a European people to exist above their need not to see immigrants sleeping on the sidewalks, to go to training regularly, to live in a clean city, to walk peacefully in Brooklyn in the rain or to party, like some years ago, weekends in the Detroit heart of the automotive industry.

This does not mean that the US will stop helping Ukraine. Somewhere deep in the consciousness of a large number of Americans is the feeling that one must lend a hand to the weak in need, especially if the attacker is a symbol of an undemocratic, totalitarian state such as Vladimir Putin's Russia, with all the vestiges of former animosity towards the Soviet Union. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that any American administration will sit back and watch Putin's tyranny of its neighbors, but probably the aid will no longer be as unquestioned or generous as it was until now.

Therefore, all of it together begins to resemble those songs that have no real ending. There are those where the band members play what they have and end the song with a guitar or drum riff, and there are others, no worse, but somehow sketchy, which get quieter and quieter as they disappear below the threshold of audibility... Just like the one from the repertoire NYC Ska Orchestra listened to by New Yorkers, happy and content to once again be lounging on the grass in Prosper Park, tossing kernels of corn to the wild geese swimming serenely between the backs of sunken benches that peek out from the lake in the heart of Brooklyn.