Senate Showdown: Ted Cruz Russia sanctions bill needs 60 votes...sanctions German officials over pipeline...Dem Menendez has competing sanctions bill

[basquebromance]

drama in Washington! listen to both sides, then make up your mind!

 

[Donald H]

What is the question? It seems that it's whether or not Russia invades Ukraine. So if they do then Germany will fall into line with US wishes.

If Russia doesn't invade Ukraine then it's more likely that Germany won't object to Nordstream.

Therefore, there is a need for a provocation from the Ukraine side against Russia. That would cause Russia to react with shooting back. And then America can claim that Russia invaded.

So now we need to wait to see how that provocation is created?

Is Russia/Putin intending to invade Ukraine?

 

[1srelluc]

So how does all that effect "The Big Man's" 10%?

The world wonders.

 

[Donald H]

The unfortunate reality is that the whole thing hinges on whether or not Russia invades. Russia being posed on the border with either an invasion force or a defensive force, isn't filling the bill.

It's going to have to be more than just the questionable prospect of Russia invading.

Hence, the need to provoke Russia to start shooting, or shooting back, whatever the facts reveal.

 

[basquebromance]

Cruz points out the pipeline goes around Ukraine, not through it, so that Putin can invade Ukraine while still profiting from the pipeline

 

[basquebromance]

"the pipeline is just as big a threat as Russian troops on our border" - Ukraine's Prime Minister

Ted Cruz on the Senate floor: "In January, the European Parliament voted to condemn and stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The vote was 581-50. 581-50. Mr. President, if you care about trans-Atlantic unity, let me suggest that we side with the 581 and not the 50."

 

[basquebromance]

if this bill fails, my friends, a few days from now, we will turn on the TV and see Russian troops invading Ukraine

 

[basquebromance]

the vote failed on a party-line 55-44 vote

Dems torpedo Cruz’s bid to sanction Russian pipeline

A nearly party-line vote scuttled the Texas senator's attempt to punish Putin, but a new bill is waiting in the wings.

www.politico.com

 

[basquebromance]

Dems torpedo Cruz’s bid to sanction Russian pipeline

A nearly party-line vote scuttled the Texas senator's attempt to punish Putin, but a new bill is waiting in the wings.

www.politico.com

excerpts:

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) argued that sanctioning Nord Stream 2 immediately, as Cruz’s bill requires, “might even be the excuse Putin is looking for” to invade Ukraine

Another top Democrat said Cruz’s bill would be a “gift” to Russia “because it's a signal of division at a moment when we need to be standing together.”

“This bill isn’t going to help Ukraine. It’s designed to hurt the president of the United States,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a key White House ally on the effort. “Some of our Republican colleagues have consistently put their desire to politically harm President Biden ahead of their desire to protect the nation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out in support of Cruz’s bill

Of the six Democrats who backed Cruz’s bill, four are facing difficult reelection fights in November: Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Mark Kelly of Arizona. Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin also backed the legislation.

“I would suggest, if Joe Biden were not president, if Donald Trump were sitting in the Oval Office today, every single Democrat in this chamber would vote for these sanctions,” Cruz said. If Russia invades Ukraine, “the reason will be that the United States Senate heard the pleas of our Ukrainian allies and we turned a deaf ear to them.”

Republicans also disputed Democrats’ argument that immediately sanctioning the nearly-completed pipeline would drive a wedge between the U.S. and European partners.

“The pipeline itself is the wedge. That’s the whole point,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. He added that Democrats were “more concerned about standing with Berlin than with Kyiv” — a reference to Germany’s long-standing support for the pipeline, which will provide cheap energy for the country.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), seen as a bellwether for Democrats given her work on the issue over the years, said she opposed Cruz’s bill because the U.S. posture on sanctions should “reflect those changes” in Germany’s position.

“It’s leverage that the West can use as Vladimir Putin is thinking about what he’s going to do with Ukraine,” Shaheen said