By now, you’ve heard of the crisis in Ukraine; if not, here it is in a nutshell.
The crisis started on November 21, 2013 shortly after then President Viktor Yanukovych made an announcement to abandon an agreement to strengthen ties with the European Union and to instead seek closer cooperation with Moscow. Protesters took to the streets. Over the next few weeks, occasional clashes with police and demands made by the protesters escalated to arrests; on January 22, 2014, three protesters died during a confrontation with the police and on February 18, 2014, 26 people died and hundreds of others injured. That was the beginning of a crisis that may not see an end anytime soon.
On February 20, 2014, hours after a truce between the government and the protesters, violence erupted, prompting government snipers on rooftops to gun down well over 80 protesters; that was the tipping point for the violence to reach a mass that could no longer be controlled and restrained.
In order to avoid further bloodshed, Vladimir Putin, Russia current president, ordered its troops in Ukraine. Note that Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe that shares borders with Russia in the East and the Northeast. In other words, Ukraine is in Russia’s backyard.
The pointed question is: what in the world does US have to be involved? Most importantly, why has the US government decided to burden the taxpayers some more? The US government, via Secretary John Kerry, promised one billion dollar in loan guarantees to Ukraine.
Our financial situation is not that great; the long time unemployed didn’t get an extension. The latest information regarding the US financial health is, for fiscal year 2014, the deficit is $649 billion dollar (649,000,000,000) while the national debt stands at $17.4 trillion dollar ($17,444,385,246,891).
The debates in Washington, DC to help those in need, the less fortunate, always wind down with no solution due to lack of fund; and yet, at any moment notice, the government has always managed to dish out billions of dollars to foreign entities. It’s a practice that bypasses the constituents but burden them and their offspring financially.
How would like to put an end to that practice?
Share your thoughts
Twitter: @mducheiney