Everyone, Peter Zeihan here coming to you from Columbia at the southern point of the island of Hawaii got the slopes up on a low up behind me, the larger volcano here, I am going to take something from our ask Peter forum, we’re going to put that link here at the end of the video too in case she was sending your own questions, and it’s am I worried about Ukraine in the light of what has become an American boycott, on weapons supplies? And yes, yes, I am. The Ukrainians are running out of ammo, there’s no way they could produce enough to support the war themselves. And the Russians are mustard a fresh human wave. And you know, human waves are very vulnerable to mass fire, but you have to have ammo for that to work. So there are some concerns, we might be seeing a turning point in the war here in the next few weeks if something doesn’t change. But what is going on is we’ve got a dozen roughly, Republicans on the right, who are blocking anything from happening in Congress that they don’t agree with. And so this is not a Ukraine problem. This is an everything problem. These view reps are blocking anything on any issue. So we’ve got programs that need to be addressed, not just Ukraine, but aid for Taiwan against China aid for Israel against Hamas. There’s issues with health care and business reform and criminal justice before the solid, the defense system and the budget, every single thing has been dropped. It’s not that these folks oppose Ukraine, per se, it’s they oppose anything that isn’t exactly their way. So I call them the Greenpeace faction of the Republican Party, because they just hate everyone. This means that this Congress has been the least productive in American history. At this stage in Congress a little bit more than halfway through their session. We’ve only passed about 20% of the bills that the second least productive Congress in history has passed. So this isn’t an issue of big government versus small government. This is just an issue of dysfunction. And it’s a problem for everybody. Now, I don’t think it’s going to get any better any soon. When the Republicans didn’t do very well, in last midterms, the hope of getting the big majority vanishes, they had a very slim minority beginning. And they have seen that minority shrink down. In part, it’s because they’ve cannibalize their own, this faction of Republicans forced out the former Speaker McCarthy of California. And so he just quit, he left the house altogether, leaving that seat open. We’ve had another a couple of resignations since and then the Republicans purged one of their own Republican Santas of New York. For me make sure I get this right. Using campaign finance to purchase gay fetish foot port can’t make a shed on any Hill. What it means is not just that the margin that the Republicans have in the majority has gotten smaller and smaller, worse than it sounds, because to pass something in Congress, you don’t need a majority of the votes, you need a majority of the seats. And so every empty seat kind of acts as a quasi vote against the majority. So they only have a Republican, they only have a margin of two, they can only lose one vote if they still want to get things passed. And that makes each individual faction including the Greenpeace faction, more powerful. So this is going to go one of two ways. Number one, they’re going to continue to stall everything and this Congress will go down in history as the most pathetic ever until we have general elections. A year from now, November in the new Congress would sit down in January, or the bulk of the Republicans reach across the aisle and start cutting deals with centrist Democrats. Now that’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of minutia. There’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of noise. And in the environment that we’re in right now, anyone who reaches across the aisle is in buying a primary challenge from the freak Wings of their parties, whether it’s the Greenpeace faction or the Republicans or the squad version of the Democrats. So none of these are easy decisions, but they do suggest that drama in Congress is going to increase or rather than decrease in the months ahead. And that’s not just bad for Ukraine. That’s bad for everyone except for the Chinese who think this is fantastic. Alright, that’s it for me. Take care.
Commentary
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
‘Division’: Americans react to Trump address to Congress
Mar 7 Dr. Frank Luntz‘Overblown’: Americans debate the merits of DEI policies
Feb 27 Dr. Frank Luntz‘Biased’: What Americans think of ‘mainstream media’
Feb 21 Dr. Frank Luntz‘Getting rid of them’: Americans discuss Trump and immigration
Feb 14 Dr. Frank LuntzUS Congress dysfunction over Ukraine aid has no end in sight
By Straight Arrow News
The United States has committed more than $75 billion to provide military support and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Despite President Joe Biden’s appeal for an additional $60 billion, some Republicans in Congress are becoming increasingly skeptical about the ongoing need to fund Ukraine’s defense. Adding to the complexity, Senate Republicans are tying their approval of more funding for Ukraine to a simultaneous strengthening of immigration rules, but a bipartisan agreement on that is hardly guaranteed.
Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan delves into the dysfunction and explains how this Congress has been the “least productive in American history.” He warns that the “drama” in the U.S. Capitol might significantly impact Ukraine’s prospects in its war with Russia.
Excerpted from Peter’s Jan. 29 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:
We are taking a question from the ‘Ask Peter’ forum today – am I worried about Ukraine’s dwindling weapons supplies in light of what’s going on with the U.S. Congress? Yes, yes, I am.
Ukraine’s supplies are running out, and there’s a dozen or so Republicans blocking anything from being passed in Congress, so that means no more ammo for Ukraine. However, this isn’t isolated to things involving Ukraine. These Republicans are blocking everything they disagree with. So, this is a problem for everything and everyone.
Sure, we’ve seen unproductive Congresses before, but in case you haven’t flipped on the news in a while – there’s plenty going on. The real kicker is that I don’t see this resolving itself anytime soon. I’m sure people will try to step across the aisle and work something out, but the extremes from both sides will be sure to stomp that out ASAP.
Unless we see some true bipartisan cooperation, the dysfunction we’re seeing in Congress will only get worse. Hopefully, we don’t have to wait for the November elections to sort this out, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Everyone, Peter Zeihan here coming to you from Columbia at the southern point of the island of Hawaii got the slopes up on a low up behind me, the larger volcano here, I am going to take something from our ask Peter forum, we’re going to put that link here at the end of the video too in case she was sending your own questions, and it’s am I worried about Ukraine in the light of what has become an American boycott, on weapons supplies? And yes, yes, I am. The Ukrainians are running out of ammo, there’s no way they could produce enough to support the war themselves. And the Russians are mustard a fresh human wave. And you know, human waves are very vulnerable to mass fire, but you have to have ammo for that to work. So there are some concerns, we might be seeing a turning point in the war here in the next few weeks if something doesn’t change. But what is going on is we’ve got a dozen roughly, Republicans on the right, who are blocking anything from happening in Congress that they don’t agree with. And so this is not a Ukraine problem. This is an everything problem. These view reps are blocking anything on any issue. So we’ve got programs that need to be addressed, not just Ukraine, but aid for Taiwan against China aid for Israel against Hamas. There’s issues with health care and business reform and criminal justice before the solid, the defense system and the budget, every single thing has been dropped. It’s not that these folks oppose Ukraine, per se, it’s they oppose anything that isn’t exactly their way. So I call them the Greenpeace faction of the Republican Party, because they just hate everyone. This means that this Congress has been the least productive in American history. At this stage in Congress a little bit more than halfway through their session. We’ve only passed about 20% of the bills that the second least productive Congress in history has passed. So this isn’t an issue of big government versus small government. This is just an issue of dysfunction. And it’s a problem for everybody. Now, I don’t think it’s going to get any better any soon. When the Republicans didn’t do very well, in last midterms, the hope of getting the big majority vanishes, they had a very slim minority beginning. And they have seen that minority shrink down. In part, it’s because they’ve cannibalize their own, this faction of Republicans forced out the former Speaker McCarthy of California. And so he just quit, he left the house altogether, leaving that seat open. We’ve had another a couple of resignations since and then the Republicans purged one of their own Republican Santas of New York. For me make sure I get this right. Using campaign finance to purchase gay fetish foot port can’t make a shed on any Hill. What it means is not just that the margin that the Republicans have in the majority has gotten smaller and smaller, worse than it sounds, because to pass something in Congress, you don’t need a majority of the votes, you need a majority of the seats. And so every empty seat kind of acts as a quasi vote against the majority. So they only have a Republican, they only have a margin of two, they can only lose one vote if they still want to get things passed. And that makes each individual faction including the Greenpeace faction, more powerful. So this is going to go one of two ways. Number one, they’re going to continue to stall everything and this Congress will go down in history as the most pathetic ever until we have general elections. A year from now, November in the new Congress would sit down in January, or the bulk of the Republicans reach across the aisle and start cutting deals with centrist Democrats. Now that’s not as easy as it sounds. There’s a lot of minutia. There’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of noise. And in the environment that we’re in right now, anyone who reaches across the aisle is in buying a primary challenge from the freak Wings of their parties, whether it’s the Greenpeace faction or the Republicans or the squad version of the Democrats. So none of these are easy decisions, but they do suggest that drama in Congress is going to increase or rather than decrease in the months ahead. And that’s not just bad for Ukraine. That’s bad for everyone except for the Chinese who think this is fantastic. Alright, that’s it for me. Take care.
Hurricane Helene hits US coast, Appalachia and beyond
Israel holds upper hand against Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran
The Sinaloa Cartel civil war
New Ukrainian weapons hit Russia where it hurts
Weighing social costs vs. economic benefits on immigration
Underreported stories from each side
Trump adding copper to trade protections, Commerce secretary says
14 sources | 10% from the left Getty ImagesCanadian ministers, Ontario premier to meet with Lutnick as tariff fight continues
47 sources | 17% from the right Getty ImagesLatest Stories
Mexican cartel may be operating mass extermination center
Judge orders DOGE to turn over records, answer questions about downsizing gov’t
Amtrak promotes free luggage while Southwest axes free checked bag
Guantánamo immigration detentions end, US relocates migrants to Louisiana
Money returns to Maine universities after Gov. Janet Mills, Trump trans dispute
Popular Opinions
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.
Trump risks economic earthquakes by gutting US workforce
Wednesday Adrienne LawrenceWhy this Congress faces an uphill battle to pass the federal budget
Wednesday Newt GingrichWhy Alito was ‘stunned’ by SCOTUS’ misguided USAID ruling
Tuesday Ben WeingartenAmericans will miss having a friendly southern border
Tuesday Ruben Navarrette