This time last week, the Russia sanctions bill was floundering in the House,with efforts by the Republican leadership to tack on sanctions against North Korea complicating matters. Today, House Democrats say a deal has been reached on the matter.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D – MD) reported that the deal will allow for “sweeping” sanctions against Russia, and will also include sanctions against both North Korea and Iran. Officials express hope the deal will be finalized before the August recess.
The key aspect of the bill is that it will dramatically limit the ability of President Trump to ease sanctions on Russia without Congressional permission. The exact scope of the new sanctions aren’t clear, and in particular there’s been question about the Senate supporting the North Korea sanctions in their version of the bill.
The limits on easing sanctions are something the Republicans initially sought to impose related to the P5+1 Iran nuclear deal, as a way to try to undermine the pact. The Democrats, however, wanted it for Russia, believing President Trump to be conspiring to ease sanctions on them, despite him having made no move to do so in the last six months.
The barking mad psychopaths in DC realy need to go.
They know one thing, all that matters to them — how to pump up the emotions of donors to get money out of them.
Sanction yourself Rep. Steny Hoyer you corrupt piece of garbage. I am so sick of isolationist’s who keep creating sanctions on everyone which isolates us even further. I am sure this corrupt demon cat will vote in favor of the Israel anti-boycott act.
Just what we needed, a gratuitous Cold War 2, serving only partisan interests in domestic politics.
How many will now die for the outrage felt that the Hideous Hillary did not get her presumed crown?
Did we miss anyone?
Trump should use his veto.
To get Iran off the hook?
There is no hook.
How is Iran on a hook? It’s the USA that hasn’t started to apply its part of the ‘deal’.
This was about Trump vetoing, or not , the legislative branch doing something stupid. He chose not to. As they used to say in Russia, “That will be noticed.”
Trump turned into such a jackass. He promised to drain the swamp, but instead he chose to let the swamp drown him.
I don’t think he chose that. He just failed. He can’t swim, and he drowning in the swamp, that is deeper than he realized — “who knew?” he asks.
Yeah, he’s proving sort of a jackass, but it is less choice than blundering.
I agree, and the results are still the same.
“I would have won had I not been subjected to the unprecedented attacks by Comey and the Russians.”
– Crooked Hillary
You forgot to blame Jill Stein, Bernie Sanders, WiikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Guccifer 1, Guccifer 2, and I’m sure I missed a few. I was a life long Democrat, and I just re-registered as ‘No Party’. I’m done with The Democrats (Republican-Lite). Sickened and disgusted.
I’ll bet Putin’s approval rating is way higher that Tump or Hillary.
“Sweeping Sacntions”.
Apparently more like unilateral economic war:
http://johnhelmer.net/us-senate-strikes-for-russian-equality-the-oligarchs-targeted-in-new-sanctions-bill/
“Not since the German government arranged for Vladimir Lenin to return to
Russia, crossing German territory in a sealed train on April 16, 1917,
has a foreign state at war with Russia done something as revolutionary
as the US Senate did on June 15, 2017. That is when, by a vote of 98 to
2, the senators began the process of attacking the Russian oligarchs.
They are the men who have dominated the Russian economy for more than
twenty years, concentrating more national wealth in their hands than
can be found in any other major state in the world today.”
As usual, the legislator is stumbling drunkenly into something that will end VERY badly.
Even the usually subservient-to-US-interestes Europeans are complaining a bit: https://www.rt.com/news/397222-eu-concerned-us-bill-russia-sanctions/
And why are there sanctions on Iran in the first place? Ah yes, those Middle Eastern “friends” again.
What do the sanctions do – prevent free trade between us and the “enemy”. How long before someone, not presently equipped to trade with the “enemy”, develops the where-with-all to take your place. This “sanctions” weapon works when you’re the Israel and you surround your victim (Gaza) and you control their whole World, but this is hardly the case with Russia – e.g. we prevent them from buying tomatoes from Turkey and they start growing their own or buying them from Syria. What do we do next – bomb tomato farms in Syria? – compensate irritated tomato farmers in Turkey. These sanctions work when the “enemy” wants something like ball bearings and we are the only manufacturer of ball bearings in the World. But we sold that deal out long ago. We no longer lead the World markets in anything but porn, weapons and financial baloney. We are fourth grade girls trying to hurt other girls not in the clique by ostracizing them, but what we don’t realize is that we are not so damned popular ourselves.
Sanctions also differ depending on whether they are short term or long term. As time passes, those impacted by sanctions compensate. They develop industries, as Iran has developed an arms industry as South Africa and Israel did before. They change their banking systems to be independent, which is an increasing reaction to US use of banking sanctions. They do outreach to third parties, as Iran now is with the other signatories to the agreement the US is not respecting.
Also, sanctions on one country differ from sanctions on many countries, because they end up helping each other even if the sanctions are seen by us as independent.
Also, sanctions on small countries differ from sanction on larger countries with more resources to be independent if they develop them, Cuba vs Russia.
In short, we are over-using and abusing the idea of sanctions, and it is backfiring, and likely to get worse.
This “sanctions” weapon works when you’re the Israel
It hasn’t worked for Israel.
“hasn’t worked for IsraeL” – Huh? The Israelis have been getting their way, haven’t they? They have Gaza and West Bank under their thumb, don’t they? The suffering Palestinians cannot import cement to rebuild their bombed homes or sanitation supplies to treat their drinking water. For awhile, the Palestinians in Gaza couldn’t even import macaroni (because it is cheap carbohydrates and the Israelis preferred the Palestinians to be too starved to rebel). True – one border of Gaza is to Egypt, but America takes care of that by bribing the Egyptian military to keep that border closed as tight as their border with Israel.
Please explain your statement.
Please explain your statement.
Sanctions are intended to punish a polity and those living beneath its aegis with one objective: to crush resistance. This hasn’t happened in Palestine.
So while Israel continues to tyrannize Palestinians (and “sanctioning” is a far too generous description of what Israel does), it has failed categorically to significantly affect any major policy positions of Hamas, the democratically elected government of the Palestinian people ~ a history that provides further cause for Trump to abandon the path of sanctions.
Otherwise, your analysis is good.
pensword,
OK – I get the point – sanctions are supposed to change the victim’s behavior, not just punish the victim. Agreed, but both Israel sanctions on the Palestinians and the American’s sanction on Russia and Iran were both designed primarily to punish and “grind down” their victims. Israel has no desire to get the Palestinians to love Israel; they just want to exterminate them. In like fashion, America doesn’t want Russia or Iran as an ally; America wants both hides nailed to a barn door. In both cases, “sanctions” are the methods of a coward who doesn’t dare physically attack its victims, but hopes that its “sanctions” will accomplish more than they ever will
“Israel has no desire to get the Palestinians to love Israel; they just want to exterminate them.”
If that was the case, the Palestinian Arabs would have been exterminated by now. Israel has had every opportunity and a completely free hand to do so. Instead, the Palestinian Arab population grows instead of shrinking. And not just that, it grows faster than the Palestinian Jewish (aka Israeli) population.
US should set priorities
#1 N Korea – A bomb is no joke
#2 South China Sea – Freedom of seas
#3 ? Shame to go to war on hurt feelings and lies.
Freedom of Sea isn’t being threatened except by us, against China.
#1 – All the nations that don’t have nukes have, for decades, been saying that our A bombs endanger them. The nuclear club has treated that as a joke. N Korea and all other nations have every right to develop their own nukes in the face of such insincere hypocrisy.
#2 – S China Sea is none of our business. The US is just picking a fight in China’s sphere of influence. If the US were serious that China’s behavior is unacceptable, we should all embargo them. I’m all for Walmart’s shelves to go empty, maybe Americans will actually make things and have jobs again, in a way that doesn’t destroy the planet.
I disagree with your “All the Nations” statement. I know of no British Commonwealth country that believes US A bombs endanger them. The same applies to most European countries and I doubt if Latin Americans or Africans even think about it. There are fringe groups in these countries (mostly what we used to call fellow travallers of the Soviet Union) that objected. India and Pakistan have a mutual loathing for each other so they believe that each other A bombs are endangering them (but not Russian, British, French or US A bombs).
My problem with N Korea having nuclear weapons is their history of blackmailing for food and materials. I would be quite happy to see them stew in their own feces, but that is not their history. I also do not like the concept of nuclear proliferation because of the huge damage an A bomb can do and the possibility of fanatics getting hold of the bomb.
What does anger “All the Nations” is US interference in their elections. The last election in Canada, the Democrats provided millions in free election help to the Liberals and American NGO’s spent over 100 million damming the Conservative government and praising the Liberals. Thus, most nations are having a good laugh at Americans over possible interference in their last election. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
As for empty Walmart shelves I agree with you. When NAFTA was signed it was to combine American know how, Canadian resources and Mexican workers with one of the major benefits being reduction in Mexican immigrants to the US.
Unfortunately political corruption in the US and Canada trashed that concept. China donated millions to the Clinton campaign and got favored nation status when Clinton got elected. In Canada, Jean Chretein, (when out of politics) made millions working for a legal firm that was paid millions by China. When elected Prime Minister – China got favorite nation status in Canada. The workers of Canada, the US and Mexico got shafted by this corruption.
China is grabbing islands that belong to other countries (Japan, Philippines, and Vietnam and Taiwan). China lost their claim on some of these islands in an international court. China decided might is right and kept the islands. Thus, I have problems with your claim that these islands have always been within China’s sphere of influence and the US is picking a fight. No China is grabbing land from its neighbors.
One of the weird events in history is Chinese Mandarins destroyed all sea worthy boats 500 years ago because the Mandarins did not want to see the rise of a naval merchant class that the Mandarins could not control. Thus, China did not have ships that could reach these islands that they are now claiming until a couple of years ago. That makes a claim of “within their sphere of influence” hard to justify.
In my opinion, freedom of the seas is a vital part of international trade. China is saying that no ship can go through the S China sea to Japan, the Philippines or Vietnam without China’s permission. That is a bridge too far for me.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5b9aa16829d23961d1d93f8558333247878853a80ba63684b78091fc0425b24c.jpg
This image is of thousands of protesters against renewing the Trident program in London in 2016. Nuclear states unfairly hold veto power over UN resolutions. Every human’s life is held hostage by the reality that any use of nuclear weapons is likely to escalate into a war that no one will survive. Violent fanatics holding the world hostage is already what’s happening, regardless of N Korea.
I’m glad we agree on “Free Trade.” Regarding the S China sea, the facts are in some dispute. Not in dispute is that this area is on the other side of the world from the US. The US has been selling and giving away weapons to China’s regional rivals. If China is seizing land, that is the business of the countries in the region directly impacted. We should not have alliances with small countries that could get us into a pointless war with our biggest trading partner. We should also not spend so much on weapons that we believe every issue everywhere is America’s business.
I have not noticed China stopping or interfering in their neighbors trade . China is making themselves some airbases that could act as cheap stationary aircraft carriers . I recall both China and Russia wanted to keep Yugoslavia whole . NATO and Germany destroyed Yugoslavia . Europe and the United States has been operating under the NWOs .China and Russia don’t accept the NWO orders . Putin once said he thought Russia might like to join the NWO ? “Lets talk about what the orders should be ” the answer he received was no everything has already been decided .Trump seems to be changing the plans for the new world order establishment . That may be why they want to get rid of him .
What is an NWO?
Israel Lobby runs Congress.
Four words was all it took to tell the whole truth.
Atul Regmi, Jew Hater.
If only the American people could find some way of putting sanctions on the U.S government . Sanctions like all laws and rules that are meant for us should also apply to the government and their employees . I can’t see how sanctions on other innocent people could be good for business or world peace . How about supporting this 1 single national law on a public referendum Call it eric’s referendum on equality .
Assholes and idiots. The day is rapidly approaching when the rest of the world starts slapping sanctions exactly where they belong….and dumping the Petro Dollar.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and other EU countries do not want sanctions against Russia. The US congress is clueless.
From what I can tell, the House changed the sanctions to ensure that NORD Stream avoids sanctions. Not a word from the Germans and Austrians about the new version. And not one report on how the change came to be. I would guess the reporting of any back room lobbying by the Germans would have embarrassed Merkel who the Russian conspiracists see as some anti-Putin saint.
Dances with Bears discovers the ‘traitor clause’ in the new sanctions bill.
It will punish Russian Oligarchs who are patriots while rewarding those who support dissident groups (I wonder if there is a Putin assassination bonus).
http://johnhelmer.net/us-senate-strikes-for-russian-equality-the-oligarchs-targeted-in-new-sanctions-bill/#more-17836
This is not just a ‘sanctions bill’ it is an attack on Russia’s political system.
And this is meant to be the Government of a grown-up, developed, modern country, not a badly behaved group of obnoxious children. I suppose the mean-spirited behavior will spill over into the already dangerous efforts to criminalize BDS, the non-violent, voluntary method to try to get Israel to follow international laws, in the “US Congress”, allegedly dealing with US interests.
Sanctions make Russia more resilient and self reliant and hence economically stronger. European countries feel the pinch. Besides Russia has plenty of contacts with countries that are willing to trade with her. The strongest of those countries are China, India and Iran. Make no bones about it US is shooting itself in the foot.
richardvajs,
While yours is a comparatively mild version, it’s no different than “African-Americans are lazy and stupid” in character. The Jewish population of Palestine is more than six million, and no, not all of them answer to your description.
Why do you insist upon making this personal? For your information, I come by my opinions of Israel quite honestly. I am ethnically Jewish, was married into a Jewish family, and presently have relatives living in Israel; I am not some mouth-breathing ignoramus. Because their country lied America into the mass killing of Iraqis and Syrians, and because their country practices apartheid and land-theft, every Israeli must share that blame – or have the decency to leave that blighted criminal enterprise called the State of Israel
Not only do I not “insist” on making this personal, the next time I do will be the first time I do. In point of fact, now YOU are making it personal, about yourself rather than about your sweeping ethnic generalizations. If you’re not some kind of mouth-breathing ignoramus, feel free to quit talking like one.