Sick of Illegal Wars and Staggering Healthcare Costs? Blame Congress

At a time when nearly half of Americans say they’re struggling to afford basic necessities, President Donald Trump has turned his attention to invading and ruling Venezuela.

One in two Americans are having trouble affording groceries, utilities, healthcare, housing, and transportation, according to a recent poll. Healthcare costs are rising—and in many cases doubling—for millions of Americans because Republicans in Congress refuse to help. And while grocery prices remain high, those same GOP lawmakers chose to cut food stamps for millions of struggling people.

Our government should be helping working people and families. Instead, the president chose to use our tax dollars to invade a foreign country. And while Trump said plenty about how the US will now rule over the people of Venezuela, he hasn’t explained why the same tax dollars that paid for this invasion can’t be used to make healthcare, food, or housing more affordable for people here.

The president added he’s “not afraid of boots on the ground” in Venezuela. But the last times the US attempted to take over other countries—in Iraq and Afghanistan—it cost trillions of dollars, thousands of American lives, and potentially millions of lives in the Middle East. It’s way too soon to make this mistake again—and Trump had previously promised he wouldn’t, calling those wars “foolish” and “stupid.”

But it’s not too late to improve this situation. Members of Congress can stop another unjustifiable war—and help Americans pay their bills instead.

To be sure, someone will benefit from this invasion—just not ordinary Americans. The president has offered oil companies taxpayer dollars to take Venezuela’s oil. They hardly need the help, though they did contribute handsomely to his campaign.

Despite previous claims by the administration, this move is far more about oil than drugs, since Venezuela isn’t a supplier of the fentanyl that still causes so many deaths—and even the cocaine trafficked through Venezuela tends to head to Europe, not the United States. Either way, the US shouldn’t be in the business of deposing every questionable leader in the world by military force.

Congress is to blame here, too. It’s their job to declare war, not the president’s—and they didn’t do their job to stop this. The president sent plenty of signs that this invasion might be coming. But in recent weeks, despite bipartisan efforts in both the House and Senate, narrow majorities in Congress refused to pass measures that would have halted it. Both measures failed by just a handful of votes.

And in December, members of both parties passed a $1 trillion war budget with zero safeguards to stop something like the Venezuela invasion—which, again, was easy to see coming. Members of Congress passed the $1 trillion war budget at the same time that congressional Republicans voted to refuse help for millions of Americans struggling to afford health insurance. So the invasion went forward even while millions of Americans did the math on just surviving until the next paycheck.

But it’s not too late to improve this situation. Members of Congress can stop another unjustifiable war—and help Americans pay their bills instead. Congress can refuse to allow the president to send troops back into Venezuela with a simple vote. And while they’re at it, Congress should extend some real help to Americans struggling to get by.