More than six weeks after bringing his “State of the Nation” address to Murray and Calloway County business leaders, Senator Mitch McConnell acted similarly Tuesday afternoon with the Hopkinsville Rotary Club — sharing his thoughts on the dangers of American isolationism, America’s need to be involved in the Russo-Ukrainian War, and two major blunders from the Biden-Harris Administration.
In town for the ribbon cutting of new barracks renovations in Fort Campbell, something he helped orchestrate, the 39-year political veteran channeled former Republican President Ronald Reagan, noting “peace through strength” would be key in the coming years against a burgeoning “Axis of Evil” in North Korea, China, Russia, Iran and Iran’s proxy states.
Reagan, he said, helped administer defense spending increases of up to 6% of the nation’s GDP in the late 1980’s, and this military deterrence eventually led to the tumbling of the Berlin Wall and the former Soviet Union.
Today, McConnell said America’s defense budget is less than half of what it was 40 years ago, and he alleged that President Joe Biden’s “precipitous evacuation of Afghanistan” may have indirectly prompted a power like Russia, Vladimir Putin and others to gain ground in Europe.
The only good to come of this recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, he added, was NATO’s acceptance of two new allies: Finland in 2023, and Sweden in 2024, with Ukrainian forces now pushing back into Russian territory.
But to think the world isn’t watching what’s happening on this front, McConnell said, is a fool’s errand, and spending now would save money — and lives — for the future, especially if those monies and tranches sent to Ukraine are partially spent in the United States bolstering military and industrial infrastructure.
As for the domestic front, McConnell doubled down the economy’s influx of cash through the America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the southern border as this administration’s “biggest unforced errors.”
McConnell was not in favor of ARPA reparations in a post-pandemic world, at least not to this level of spending, because of potential catastrophic inflation.
Furthermore, McConnell assured he was a fan of legal immigration — having been its beneficiary following his fruitful marriage with Taiwan-born and former U.S. Secretary of Labor and Transportation Elaine Chao.
Unchecked entry, however, won’t work.
Whomever wins this November, McConnell said his stepping down from party leader will afford him the time to focus on two of his preferred platforms: defense and foreign policy.
McConnell also personally thanked the Hopkinsville Rotary Club for playing its part in combating, and nearly eradicating polio, through support of a vaccine. McConnell has long touted the strength of the vaccine, after he battled the disease in his childhood.
Full audio from McConnell’s visit:
