Tag: China

2022 Election, Domestic Policy, Infrastructure, Politics

2022 American Nationalist Voting Index – A Strong America

Bob Claude |

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is a proud symbol of American strength and the selfless service of our armed forces in preserving our freedom. However, a nation’s true strength is found in the commitment of its people to their fellow citizens and their nation as a whole. This is doubly true of the America of TR, who stood for both democracy and equal opportunity for all. While it was often an ugly process, Congress actually considered and occasionally passed legislation consistent with TR’s ideals and deserved the support of American nationalists.

Congressional Gold Medals for Capitol Police

This Congress convened amidst an attack by a rebellious mob that came perilously close to overthrowing a newly elected president during the certification of the electoral count. The Capitol Police bore the brunt of the attack and defended congressmembers with conspicuous bravery. The House and Senate recognized their service to the nation by voting to award them Congressional Gold Medals.The Senate vote was unanimous and the House roll call vote can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021161

Every true American nationalist should agree and salute them as well.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

We have lived with the decline in our national transportation infrastructure for decades. As I discussed in this previous post, Congress finally took action when it passed the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (HR 3684) more commonly known as the Bipartisan infrastructure bill. The links to the House and Senate Votes are

House Vote : https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021369

Senate Vote: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1171/vote_117_1_00314.htm

CHIPS Act

The COVID pandemic exposed dangerous gaps in the supply chains of our basic industrial materials and human needs products.  The shortage of domestically produced computer semiconductor chips that are key components of almost every product led to the passage of the CHIPS Act (HR 4346), which will jump start the production of them in the US. The bill also makes important investments in research and technology education. Here are the links to the votes in the House and Senate:

House Vote ; https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022404

Senate Vote – https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00271.htm

Economic Security

Congress voted on several other bills to address supply chain shortages threatening our economy. HR 4476 would have created an Office of Trade & Economic Security in the Department of Homeland Security charged with monitoring critical supply chains and coordinating a response to potential issues.  It passed the House but died in the Senate. The House vote can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2022112

Finally, the House and Senate considered a bill called the America COMPETES Act, a predecessor to the CHIPS Act which would have created a Committee on National Critical Capabilities to monitor and prevent the transfer of vital American technology to China and other foreign adversaries. The bill passed in both Houses of Congress, but differences in the text were never resolved. The two votes can be found here:

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202231

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00109.htm

Conclusion

Theodore Roosevelt was a paragon of personal resilience and knew America needed to be resilient to be a truly strong (see this previous post). As we head to the polls, let us reject many politicians calls to division and ease and, instead, recommit ourselves to building the nation and the people that TR envisioned. Remember to vote and God bless America!

2022 Election, Foreign Policy, Politics, Uncategorized

2022 American Nationalist Voting Index – Speaking Softly

Bob Claude |

The foreign policy debate has been dominated by the reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its effect on our relations with the rest of the world. As I mentioned here, TR’s heart, soul and perhaps body would have been with the Ukrainians as they defend their independence against Vladimir Putin’s brutal attack. However, a realist foreign policy would recognize that the US and the world have other important interests as well (see this previous post). It is not appeasement to keep the door open to the potential for negotiations for a peaceful end to the war, if simply because this is how almost all wars end. Meanwhile, the challenge of China and Central American stability potentially impact the American future as much, if not more, than the outcome of the war in Ukraine.

The most important foreign policy issue, though, arises here at home.  TR was a strong proponent of presidential power, but the abuse of the war power by recent presidents has led us into forever wars far afield from our core interests. Our continued involvement in Iraq is a classic example.  The House has considered a resolution to finally repeal the Bush Administration’s 2003 Authorization for use of Military Force under the War Powers Resolution.  The only record vote occurred in the House of Representatives and can be found here

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021172

The resolution needs to be strengthened to prevent further abuses (see here), but cleaning up the past excesses is at least a start. 

Not much further from home lies the instability in Central America, which has fueled the immigration crisis. Congress passed a bill to address one aspect of the crisis through strengthening the fight against corruption in Nicaragua, which the former Sandinista guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega has turned into a family dictatorship. Those votes can be found at

S 1064 – Reinforcing monitoring of corruption & Human rights in Nicaragua

https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021354

The oppression of China’s Uighur minority is just one example of Chinese President Xi Jin-Peng’s increasingly dictatorial rule. Indeed, it is not only a symbol of the brutality of the regime, but also its cynical mercantilist economic policy to monopolize the solar power and clean energy industries (see my previous post on the subject here).  HR 6256 imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, especially in the Xinjiang Uighur Region, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. It was passed by a unanimous voice vote in both the Senate and the House and has been signed by the President. It is one of the few examples of when politics did stop at the water’s edge, enabling Congress to act across party lines to defend both human rights and our own economic strength.

Foreign Policy

Ukraine – The War within American Foreign Policy

Bob Claude |
Source: Adobe Stock

Joe Biden arrived in Washington promising a plethora of conflicting foreign policy goals. Much was made of a new “foreign policy for the middle class”, which appeared to be a rejection of the old liberal hegemonic model of his predecessors Bush and Obama. Yet Biden also claimed “America is back” to being an international leader throughout the world.  Climate change also was supposedly a driver, as well as the old Obama Administration “pivot toward Asia”.   These priorities have now been eclipsed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Administration’s stated goal of weakening Russia. If Ukraine and Europe remain the top priority, this new priority will prevent any real progress on any other foreign policy goals.

The administration’s focus on defeating Russia in Ukraine conflicts with the rest of the world’s more pressing priority of ending the war as soon as possible.  For developing nations, the war is causing a hunger crisis that threatens their people’s lives and national stability. Russia and Ukraine supply 28% of the world’s wheat exports, 29% of barley and 15% of maize.  They are also leading exporters of potash and fertilizer, which allows other nations to grow their own food. Ukraine itself provides the calories necessary to feed 400 million people (see the recent leader in The Economist magazine “The Coming Food Catastrophe”). In response, India and other nations are embargoing the export of domestically grown wheat and other foodstuffs in a move reminiscent of protectionist measures taken during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the call to uphold the international rule of order rings hollow with nations that experienced invasion and conquest by western nations in the past.  Whether it is China, India or other countries, they remember their colonial past and do not believe that they should sacrifice trade and other relations with Russia for a far-away conflict.  As I mentioned in this previous post, their past has made them the ultimate realists dedicated to preserving and building their own sovereignty against more direct threats. 

President Biden’s Russia-Ukraine myopia also weakens the effort to respond to more direct challenges. Japan, India, Indonesia and Southeast Asia nations are more concerned about the threat from China than Russia. They are undoubtedly wondering if the vaunted pivot to Asia has now turned 180 degrees towards Europe.  Latin America also needs our attention and is equally unconcerned about Ukraine. Indeed, Russia has threatened another Cuban missile crisis by proposing to station military assets with fellow anti-American authoritarian regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.  A policy centered on Ukraine may thus result in a direct strategic threat to the American homeland.

Washington’s obsession about Ukraine thus endangers its ability to achieve other critical foreign policy objectives. It makes it more difficult to recruit developing countries to fight climate change and protect America from real national security threats. Something will have to give. At this point, the climate change agenda is most at risk.  The only other way to accomplish all of these objectives is to paper them over with billions of American budgetary dollars.  Russia’s invasion highlights the need for increased domestic commitment on the American home front, but a spending spree of that scale currently lacks any real American public support and could endanger our own economic goals. If the Administration wants to take that road, it must prepare the American people to make significant sacrifices in taxes, spending and domestic policy.  The choices this may entail will be the subject of the next article in this series.