"The 51st State of the USA"

Ukraine began to settle into American politics not yesterday.

She did it gradually.

First, by the tendentious choice of highlighting the informational background in television news (many reports from the Maidan and almost zero from Donbass), then by the similarity of plot twists and characters (take the hunt for Donald Trump, in which, with minimal imagination, you can see parallels with the fate of Yulia Tymoshenko, and parallels with the fate of Viktor Yanukovych), later mutual corruption (there is a feeling that the saga of the rogue Hunter is not completely told), but it was 2022 that drew the line.

The Ukrainian factor has become a key factor in American politics.

But back in the spring, the expression “the 51st state of the USA”, which Trump’s fellow party members, who are dissatisfied with the oversupport of Kyiv, often use in relation to Ukraine, seemed just a satirical device.

Something grotesque.

An absurdity that will never come true.

But already in December, everything was put in its place by the numbers.

After both houses of Congress agreed to allocate another $45 billion ($37 were asked from Biden), the total amount of American aid increased to $100 billion. today is his catchphrase.

"He's certainly a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."

That's what it might sound like.

Considering the big age difference.

Both this ostentatious love and this immoderate enthusiasm are based on solid material soil.

According to a report filed with the US Federal Election Commission, only one of the long list of major Pentagon contractors - Lockheed Martin (it produces the HIMARS so advertised by Ukraine) - has invested in the election campaigns of almost 150 lawmakers.

In the first quarter of 2022 alone, Lockheed spent $3.3 million on federal lobbying. Members of Congress reciprocated.

20 of them invested in shares of the weapons giant.

Ukraine and the war are also very profitable.

Of course, Zelensky wanted more.

Even respectable newspapers wrote that he begged Biden for long-range ATACMS missiles, F-16 or F-15 fighters, and Abrams tanks.

Not allowed.

Well, or not yet.

There is little doubt that if Washington really wants to dig deeper into the bottomless military budget just signed by the American president, then it will also find its hand on tanks.

$858 billion pledged for defense in 2023.

Under Biden, military spending is growing by an average of 4.3% per year.

In the previous few years, they increased four times slower.

More precisely, they grow under Ukraine.

After all, arming the U.S. Armed Forces began before February 24, 2022.

The first step, by the way, has already been made.

The Bloomberg editorial office learned that the Pentagon is seriously considering the possibility of transferring Bradley combat vehicles to Ukraine.

Not a tank yet, but there is already a cannon (albeit a light one) and caterpillars.

It's exactly like with air defense systems.

Started with Stingers, which shoot from the shoulder, then there were IRIS-Ts, and now they are going to throw a $ 1 billion Patriot battery into Ukraine. The appetite of military corporations and their lobbyists is played out during the war.

Where to put the leftovers then, eaters care little.

Wesley Clark, the former Commander-in-Chief of the NATO Armed Forces in Europe, called the White House strategy "fueling the deadlock" leading to the exhaustion of Ukraine.

In the sense that no one really believes in Ukrainian success in Washington.

But Clark is a military man.

For him, the measure is victory on the battlefield.

The Democrats, until recently, seem to have had a different understanding.

They were satisfied with the process itself, in which the main costs of building an anti-Russian foothold were not taken by the States at all.

Moreover, Ukraine seemed to be a universal remedy for any headache.

When mixed in certain proportions with pressing problems inside the United States, it seems to neutralize them.

But that's in the past.

As the Ukrainian ingredient in American politics became more and more, this policy became more and more like an explosive mixture.

Gulyaipole is still not a geographical or ethnic concept.

It is more about practices and approaches within adapted traditions.

Washington now, by analogy with two Ukrainians and three hetmans, has its own worldly philosophy.

Both the Republican and the Democrat consider only their own to be honest authorities.

The dialogue between the groups turns into a series of shouts.

Problems with migrants on the southern border?

Too much attention is being spent on Kyiv.

Is the crime rate worsening?

Zelensky and his friends received money instead of Chicago or New York policemen.

Is inflation rising?

Too much empty money has been printed.

And all for the same Ukrainian reason.

“$100 billion to Ukraine.

Let's put this into perspective.

This is more than $ 200 million this year from each congressional district, ”Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massey figuratively and succinctly explained to fellow citizens the essence of what is happening on his Twitter.

And he added: “What could your congressman do for your district with $200 million?

How long will the kids in your area pay the interest on this debt?”

By the way, the calculations are already in full swing.

For example, the billions the White House has spent on Ukraine could have built seven Trump Walls on the southern border, each 720 km long.

Enough to fence off Mexico all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

Macroeconomic indicators could also look different.

The printing press, white-hot with covid and helicopter money, continues to drive inflation.

At the end of the year, the US economy, as if making a forecast for itself, sent another alarming signal.

Major indexes of the New York Stock Exchange lost this year from 9 to 34%.

The benchmark S&P 500 is down 20% in 2022.

Worse in recent years was only in the Great Recession, which began in 2008 with the global economic crisis.

That is exactly 15 years ago.

However, being in such a gloomy pre-New Year mood, even those who believe in Santa Claus will not hope for Ukraine as a lifeline.

Everyone will have to swim out one by one.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.