 We're giving money to organizations providing aid to the more than one million refugees, most of them women and children, who have already fled the war. There are many good charities. My choice is Save the Children's Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund, whose volunteers are working heroically in the border nations of Poland, Romania and Hungary. They're offering food, transportation and shelter — as well as tiny touches like a stuffed animal for kids uprooted from their families and homes in the dead of winter.
I understand that your hands are tied militarily, not wanting to risk direct confrontation of Russia by U.S. or NATO forces. We all fear the possibility of nuclear war, given the unhinged behavior of Vladimir Putin. I listened carefully to your State of the Union remarks about "powerful economic sanctions," including cutting off Russia's largest banks from the international financial system and "choking off Russia's access to technology that will sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come."
And yet, Mr. President, you continue to send an estimated $22 million a day to Russia for its oil. Let me repeat that number, computed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark): twenty-two million dollars every day!
I know you are concerned about soaring gas prices. Indeed, you mentioned the problem three separate times in your speech to Congress. In Central California where I live, gas has jumped above $5 a gallon. That hurts, no doubt about it.
But you know what? Most Americans will pay more at the pump if it were carefully explained that this is a way to help stop Putin and save Ukrainian lives.
Your Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said recently that halting the purchase of Russian oil would do more harm than good. But then Sunday he flipped and indicated you are seriously considering it. What has changed, other than political headwinds?
Many of your top Democratic allies, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, want to stop the flow of oil money into Putin's war chest. "I'm all for that," she said last week. "Ban it."
We all understand, Mr. President, that you and your party fear losing ground in next November's midterm elections. You don't want folks blaming you for sky-high gas prices, while we're also recovering from the pandemic and worrying about the rising cost of other goods and services. But here's the deal: Voters are already upset about gas prices. You could turn that into a positive by giving it meaning.
During World War II, President Roosevelt created the Office of Price Administration to oversee rationing staples such as butter, sugar, milk — and, yes, gasoline — to support the war effort. Americans stepped up, with pride, to do their part at home while fighting raged thousands of miles away. We're ready to support you now.
You're helping by tapping our federal oil reserves. And maybe, if needed, there's a way to temporarily encourage increased oil production at home without too much environmental impact. Perhaps you and various governors could provide short-term relief from gasoline taxes.
Whatever happens in this war, Americans want to feel they did everything they could, right now, to help the brave people of Ukraine. And they want to know that you did everything in your power at as well.
Please act, President Biden. Stop buying Russian oil.
(c) Peter Funt. Distributed by Cagle syndicate.
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