(VIDEO): The Russia-Ukraine Tipping Point

I join David March to discuss what looks to be the decisive hour for Ukraine as Kiev is under siege. This leads into a broader discussion that includes the Middle East and Canada.

I had the chance to sit down yesterday for an hour-long conversation with my Book Club friend David March, who combines working in the defense industry with being extensively well-read on foreign and military affairs (among other things). I appeared on his The Spy Guy podcast. Our format is simple—I ask questions, he offers his insights. In our conversation below, we discuss the following:

*The Russia-Ukraine situation appears to have reached a tipping point, with prisoner exchange swaps being reached between the two sides, and Russia said to be preparing a “long-term ceasefire” (i.e. “surrender”) offer to Ukraine. This is coming in the context of a drone attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and suggests it’s Ukraine’s last chance to preserve something of their country. We discuss everything from the short-term situation to the ancient roots of the conflict to what appears to be President Trump’s welcome decision to distance himself and the U.S. from the war.

*We discuss the Middle East, in light of Trump’s recent trip and the reports that a deal with Iran on their nuclear program are imminent. This would be a major breakthrough for the White House and for world peace in general. We discuss what Iran might or might not be looking for with their nuclear program.

*Given that David is Canadian, we talked about Alberta—the province where secessionist sentiment is strong and the most likely target for Trump’s “51^st state” rhetoric. While secession is extremely unlikely, Canada does have a problem on their hands, and David gives us insights into how the Canadian system works.

Overall, it was a thought-provoking discussion, and David offers a lot of excellent insights that you certainly won’t get in standard media discussions.

We didn’t discuss domestic and economic affairs in the video, but there were two major developments this week worth bringing up:

*It was last year that U.S. Steel was sold to the Japanese company Nippon Steel. This week it was announced that the company will stay in its historic home of Pittsburgh. This is a major victory on a number of fronts, including President Trump’s tariff policy. It means good-paying jobs (70,000 or so) in a region of the country that desperately needs it and for people that would otherwise slip to the economic margins.

*The House of Representatives passed most of Trump’s tax proposals in a virtually straight party-line vote (save for a couple GOP holdouts). The bill now goes on to the Senate, and is highlighted by:

*Overtime pay will be tax-free
*Tips will be tax-free
*Newborn babies mean a $1,000 “baby bonus” (Trump asked for the bonus to be $5,000, illustrating that even with a Republican House, we still have to fight for everything)
*The child tax credit will be $2,500
*Just as important, the bill extends the Trump tax cuts of 2017, which would have otherwise expired this year, an outcome that would have been devastating to small businesses.

All of the above are some of the most significant tax cuts given to middle and working-class people that I can recall. I would also add that, from a pro-life perspective, they start changing the economics of family formation and make it easier for people to choose life.

Furthermore, the bill removes about one million illegals from Medicaid. The bill also stops Medicaid from being used to fund transgender surgeries. When Democrats scream “Hands off Medicaid”, this is what they’re screaming against. Cleaning up the obvious fraud and abuse from the program that serves people who can’t afford health insurance allows Medicaid to better serve its actual purpose.

The bill is far from perfect. It doesn’t do nearly enough to deal with government spending overall, one of the valid reasons that many Republicans are still raising criticisms. The bill still needs to pass the Senate. But it’s highly likely that the problems of GOP senators who are legitimately concerned and willing to negotiate (Ron Johnson from Wisconsin being an example) can be worked out and that we’ll see this tax relief in more or less the form outlined above make its way to Trump’s desk for a signature fairly soon. As the process unfolds, we’ll talk more about the bill, including possible ways on dealing with some of its shortcomings.

Everyone have a good Memorial Day Weekend!

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I wrote a novel back in 2003 that was set in a fictional Irish Catholic neighborhood in postwar Boston. It’s still online at Amazon, in both print and electronic formats. The novel celebrates Catholic teaching, old-school populist politics (in an era when the Democratic Party was home to my kind of voter), the Boston Red Sox and Notre Dame football. In the worlds of faith, sports, and politics, it captures what I believe.

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