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blm's JournalPoliticsNC: Jackson is probably best communicator in all of Congress
https://www.politicsnc.com/the-explainer/Jackson has the unique ability to break down seemingly complicated political issues into very easily digestible language. He is an explainer. As Pearce noted, he does a better job of explaining the news than all the cable outlets in our 24-hour news cycle.
I realized we were seeing something unique when I read his email on Ukraine. He explained what is happening in the country, how we are responding, and why. I learned a lot from his straightforward email and Im reading a lot of other sources.
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Gary Pearce' Talking About Politics: Jeff Jackson is best political communicator in NC
https://talkingaboutpolitics.com/jeff-jacksons-bank-shot/Congressman Jeff Jackson is the best political communicator in North Carolina.
His social media posts yesterday on the banking situation are a master class in explaining volatile, complex issues in simple, plain-spoken terms.
Last night, I saw that his video had been viewed over one million times. Im a print guy, so I read his email. I learned more from his 670-some words than from thousands of words in news reports.
And he added some nice color about Sunday nights emergency Zoom call with several hundred members of Congress:
It was literally on regular Zoom. I was emailed a link. I clicked it, and suddenly I was in a very normal-looking Zoom room, only this one had most of Congress in there. (It wasnt even presentation mode just a wide-open Zoom room where people had to be reminded to mute themselves when they werent speaking. It was wild.)
His key points:
After recapping the situation, the Treasury Department informed us that all the depositors at the Silicon Valley Bank will be made whole. Same with the bank in New York.
We were told that were going to pay for that with a fund that banks already pay into not taxpayer money.
We were also told that only the depositors were being made whole shareholders and bondholders in the two failed banks will be wiped out.
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Rep. Jeff Jackson updates constituents on next phase expectations in Ukraine. Good read.
As a new member of the Armed Services Committee, Ive spent the last few weeks learning as much as I can about the war in Ukraine.
Ive spoken with generals, Pentagon officials, and some folks close to the ground.
Now that Im reasonably well-informed, its time to report back on whats about to happen in Ukraine.
(And yes, everything Im about to tell you is unclassified).
Both Ukraine and Russia are about to launch major spring offensives.
Russia has already begun theirs to some extent - its been focused on the city of Bakhmut, which is now surrounded on three sides by Russias mercenary army, the Wagner group. Bakhmut has been under siege for months and, whether or not Russia succeeds in taking it, the price it has paid has been severe.
Ukraines spring offensive is waiting for thousands of its troops to finish getting the upgraded equipment and training which theyre receiving at NATO bases across Europe as we speak.
Most people Ive spoken to believe this will be the decisive phase of the war. Both sides are going to try to deliver a knock-out punch over the next 6-8 months.
Neither side starts in a dominant position. Russia will have the advantage of more troops, but Ukraine will have basically every other advantage: Training, equipment, morale, allies.
Most importantly, Russia still does not have air superiority. Their planes cant fly over Ukrainian forces because theyll be shot down - not by the Ukrainian Air Force, but by its air defense artillery which has played a crucial role in allowing Ukrainian forces to have freedom of movement on the ground.
This device is how Ukraine keeps Russias Air Force stuck in Russia.This device is how Ukraine keeps Russias Air Force stuck in Russia.
Thats why air defense artillery is still the number one piece of equipment Ukraine is asking for, followed by regular artillery and then armored vehicles.
According to Ukraine, after those priorities, its fighter jets. Theyve requested F-16s but the concern is that the quickest we could get the planes, spare parts, maintenance teams, and trained pilots in place would probably be next year and placing that order would drain billions that need to be used for more immediate priorities, forcing a trade-off that would hurt the spring offensive.
Ukraines best offensive hope right now is the influx of new tanks and armored vehicles from the allies. Namely, Leopards, Challengers, Abrams, Bradleys, and Strykers.
BUT - using these vehicles to their full potential means learning a completely new way to fight. It takes a much higher level of coordination to synchronize the use of artillery, armor, and ground forces.
Its called combined arms warfare and its the crux of how Western forces fight. It requires a completely different level of communication among your troops and commanders, and a lot of software goes with it.
Ukrainians are getting a crash course in that training right now and then theyre going to have to turn around and put it to use in combat immediately.
Thats not an ideal timeline, but, theyll be going up against Russian civilians that just got drafted and thrown into the war against their will with very little training and older equipment.
Russian civilians that just got drafted and thrown into the war against their will with very little training and older equipment.Not looking thrilled to be there.
Russias shortages are significant. Its taking tanks out of reserve storage from the Cold War. Theyre so short on tank commanders that there are reports of medics operating tanks.
Russia is also running low on artillery shells and is turning to China for more. We have intelligence that indicates China is considering supplying Russia. If they do, it will be a huge international problem for China - which China very well knows, which is why it hasnt happened yet.
Russia is also using its own prisoners as cannon fodder by sending them to the front and treating them as intentional targets by letting them be fired upon by Ukrainians in order to reveal the Ukrainian firing positions, then counter-attacking those positions with artillery.
(Those of you familiar with Russian history will see echoes of its past in this kind of approach to warfare. A move like that is straight out of Russias long history of treating its soldiers as maximally expendable cogs in their rumbling war machine. What strikes us as horrifying is, for them, simply revisiting some of their classic techniques.)
It has also become clear that Russia has kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children and is paying Russian families to adopt them and even change their names so they cant be found after the war is over. This came up several times in our last committee hearing, as did the fact that this is the latest entry in the long list of Russian war crimes so far.
Many of my constituents have asked how much weve spent helping Ukraine. Its about $113 billion, which is about 2% of everything the federal government spends in a year. However, thats not all in the form of a cash payment to Ukraine. A big piece is us putting a price tag on the military equipment were sending them and crediting that against the amount weve said we would spend.
A major focus of our first hearing was on oversight for the assistance were giving them. We had the Inspector General for the Department of Defense come in and answer questions - some quite hostile - about any evidence of equipment or funds being diverted. As it turns out, theres a lot of oversight built into the system. Weve given them handheld scanners to help us see where equipment is, weve had members of Congress personally visit to see the stockpiles, and - frankly - Ukraine has an enormous incentive to maintain a strong relationship of trust with us, particularly when it comes to how theyre using what were sending. For his part, the Inspector General told us that there is no evidence that weapons are being diverted.
One big question that many are asking: How does this end?
The most succinct answer Ive heard is from a senior official at the State Department, who said this in a hearing:
We want to put [Ukraine] in the best possible position so that whether this war ends on the battlefield, whether it ends with the diplomacy or some combination, that they are sitting on a map that is far more advantageous for their long-term future and that Putin feels the strategic failure.
That sounds about right to me.
Thats the latest. Ill keep you posted.
Rep. Jeff Jackson
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