We need more financial independence and not less in this country.
Ironically, our socialist member of the House understands this better than most other people.
Four Democrats and four Republicans all voted against the House Bill that would allow the Executive Branch to seize the wealth of Russian Oligarchs that exceeds 5 Million USD, and this wealth would then be transferred to Ukraine to help with their war efforts. The Russian in question has to be a supporter of President Putin’s invasion supposedly, although we know that often times, more people are accused than are truly guilty of this, and not many Russians have even a chance to not support their Russian president somewhat, due to the authoritarian nature of their state. Therefore, this leads to a potential of many Russians losing their wealth without due process, including those on the West’s side and working from the inside to stop the war and possibly take President Putin out of power.
Here are the House of Representative members who voted against this bill:
- Madison Cawthorn: NC-11 (R)
- Marjorie Taylor Greene: GA-14 (R)
- Thomas Massie: KY-4 (R)
- Chip Roy: TX-21 (R)
- Cori Bush: MO-1 (D)
- Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez: NY-14 (D)
- Ilhan Omar: MN-5 (D)
- Rashida Tlaib: MI-13 (D)
These representatives may not be regarded popularly now, but they may become regarded as highly as those who fought against the Patriot Act and some of the other unlawful practices of the US Military and Intelligence communities during the earlier era of the War on Terror.
Here is the statement from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s team, a self-described democratic-socialist:
As you can see here, private property is important to her and to the greater United States community.
There are two major reasons these eight congressional leaders are correct.
One, it does set a terrible precedent and it either is or should be unconstitutional, and is 100 percent against the spirit of the law. How soon before they start seizing our wealth. It creates instability in our business sphere as foreign nationals will hesitate to invest money in the USA over fears of their government acting up, and it potentially hurts many lower class immigrants and many others including our own domestic citizens who could be next to be targeted. As we have seen under previous administrations and in Canada, financial wars against one’s own people can happen in proper constitutional states as well.
Two, it is not very smart. A lot of these oligarchs are against the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, and a lot of them have been trying to work to end it. Furthermore, a lot of them have wealth in the West because they want to keep their money from the corrupt Russian government. They do not want to be extorted or blackmailed. More Russian money here probably means less Russian money in Russia. And, we should be doing everything we can to prop up one of these oligarchs as the next ruler to stop this invasion and create popular and a realistic demand for a change of president in Russia. We should not be driving these oligarchs to further believe Russia’s propaganda that seeks to paint the West as bad as Russia when it comes to freedoms, rights, and liberties, and as Russophobic.
Even though these are not the most popular members of the House of Representatives, and even though these are often the most radical members on each side of this chamber, they made the right call. When judging decisions like this, it is best to look at the decision instead than to resort to ad hominem attacks.
Also, lastly, it is highly contextual the way in which Russian Oligarchs got their money. Many people accuse them of stealing the money, but it is not like that all the time, or really at all. They often just got really good deals or were very smart. Either way, they should have due process.
For More Information, you can read this here:
https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-unites-aoc-smack-down-russian-asset-seizure-1701849
Also, the ACLU has come out against this bill:
KTH 