Georgia Republican gets tough on border crisis
On September 21, Georgia's most-outspoken and occasionally-controversial Republican - Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene - announced her latest plan, sharing a forthcoming announcement that she'll be introducing a declaration of war against Mexican drug cartels, in Congress.
Speaking to the right-wing conservative broadcaster Charlie Kirk, Taylor-Greene announced her bold plan on Twitter, and it appears to have echoes to the past when other Republicans have tried to enact similar measures.
In the view of Georgia's MTG, the issue goes back to the misallocation of funds by the Biden administration, who she believes are allocating money to causes that should be used instead to tackle the flow of drugs into the United States from Mexico. As she put it on Twitter:
"Washington is completely ignoring the invasion happening at our Southern border but is willing to send billions to fight a proxy war with Russia. Today, I announced I will introduce a Declaration of War against the Mexican cartels who are murdering 300 Americans a day with fentanyl."
Whether the issue is solely the fault of the Biden administration, or the continuing failure of policies enacted by the one-term former president Donald Trump, is a matter of opinion, but MTG has clearly decided who she thinks is at fault.
Is a war the answer?
While many will share MTG's concerns over the mounting fentanyl crisis in the United States, it's questionable whether a declaration of war with Mexico is likely to solve the issue, or indeed whether such a measure is likely to ever be approved. The Georgia Republican appears to have forgotten that a similar plan failed earlier this year.
In March of this year, MTG announced that she had joined a growing roster of Republicans who are co-sponsoring a bill to declare war on Mexican drug cartels. The bill - H.J.Res.18 - was first introduced by Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw, in January of 2023 and numerous others subsequently added their name to the bill as co-sponsors. Around the same time, MTG called for even more extreme action, suggesting it would be appropriate for the U.S. to bomb Mexico.
Fortunately, the resolution wasn't enacted. In spite of this failure, it would seem that Taylor-Green is intending on pursuing the same plan once again.
MTG believes Biden is in business with the cartels
The American public are used to outlandish statements from the Georgia Republican MTG, and senior Republicans have even gone so far recently as to suggest that she seems more concerned about her social media following than about enacting the constitution.
In recent months, she's spoken bluntly about the role that Democratic President Joe Biden has played in the border crisis, accusing him of being in business with the cartels, and even of being their best business partner. Such accusations are presumably based on the apparent ease with which fentanyl is making its way into the United States and into the hands of those who've become addicted to it.
While the scale of the problem is worrying, there also needs to be attention on why so many desperate Americans are seeking apparent solace in the drug - perhaps more a reflection of the times we live in? Most rational Americans would also agree, an all-out war with a bordering nation is unlikely to be the answer.
Time will tell if the proposal advances.
Do you think that Marjorie Taylor-Greene is more focused on making headline-grabbing statements, than on serving the people who voted for her? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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