Democrats Border Unreality – WSJ

Think of the Senate s failed Wednesday vote on Ukraine and Israel funding as the early stages of Democratic grief denial, anger, bargaining. It seems Republicans are serious about border security after all. Will depression give way to Democratic acceptance?

The unified Republican opposition to the vote sent a clear message to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his liberal troops, who ve labored to ignore what s been politically plain for months. In August, when the White House asked for a further $24 billion in Ukraine aid, it recognized the Republican price of more foreign aid would be greater national security at the southern border. That s why Joe Biden s August funding request paired Ukraine dollars with an additional $4 billion for border security.

The White House s mistake was betting it could simply buy off the opposition. Senate Republicans had swallowed that lure in the past. More than 16 of them including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had rushed to help the Biden White House pass blowout bipartisan infrastructure and semiconductor bills. And so the administration stuck with its money-solves-all approach, in October upping its border offer to $6.4 billion in return for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan dollars.

But the crisis at the border made this approach untenable. Daily crossings are again surging toward unprecedented levels. Republicans worry about the growing risk of a terrorist incursion across the southern line. And they know they ll get no credit for greenlighting cash that is essentially used to facilitate today s open-border policies. For more than a month, the GOP has made clear that the only trade to be made is real policy change on asylum and parole rules in return for Ukraine dollars.

via www.wsj.com

Kimberly Strassel.

But I’m worried for Ukraine. My son and his wife are in Kyiv. If Biden had led a more muscular resistance, including air assets, Ukraine’s counter-offensive would have been more successful. Putin is no joke and neither is Xi. We need to defend Europe, such as it is. It shouldn’t be necessary for Republicans to extort support for a secure Southern border out of the Biden administration, but I guess that’s the only language they understand.