Tangle - House passes foreign aid, TikTok bills.

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

The House foreign aid and TikTok bills. On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed three separate foreign aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, totaling $95 billion. The House also passed a bill that will ban TikTok from app stores if ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns it, does not sell the app to a U.S. company and also allows the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) helped usher the package across the finish line despite threats from members of the House Freedom Caucus that they'd move to vacate him from the speakership if he passed the bills.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.Watch our latest YouTube video, an interview with Edwin Raymond. He is a recently retired NYPD lieutenant, civil-rights activist and author of the riveting new memoir An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America. You can view it here.We just released the next episode of our new podcast series, The Undecideds. In episode 2, our undecided voters primarily talk about Trump’s legal troubles. How do they feel about his alleged crimes? How would him being convicted - or exonerated - change the way they vote? What about his claims he should have immunity as president? You’ll hear how they consider these major themes of the race, and also what they made of Haley dropping out and Biden’s State of the Union Address. You can listen to Episode 2 ⁠⁠here.⁠⁠Today’s clickables: Thank you (0:29), Quick hits (3:21), Today’s story (5:52), Left’s take (9:18), Right’s take (12:59), Isaac’s take (16:42), Listener question (22:25), Under the Radar (26:13), Numbers (27:08), Have a nice day (28:20)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Tangle is looking for a part-time intern to work as an assistant to our YouTube and podcast producer. This is a part-time, paid position that would be ideal for a college student or recent college graduate looking to get real-world deadline experience in the industry. Applicants should have: Proficiency in Adobe Premiere — After Effects a plus. Minimum of one year of video editing (Adobe Premiere) Minimum of one year of audio editing and mixing (Any DAW) Good organizational and communication skills Understanding of composition and aesthetic choices Self-sufficiency in solving technical problems Proficiency in color grading and vertical video formatting (preferred, not required)To apply, email your resume and a few paragraphs about why you are applying to [e-mail] and [e-mail] with the subject line "Editor opening"The job listing is posted here. Preference will be given to candidates in the greater Philadelphia area. What do you think of these bills now that they’ve passed the House? Let us know!Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, back in Philadelphia after, I mean, I don't know how to describe it, a whirlwind week, totally bonkers. Thank you guys all so much for all the support, everyone who sent kind emails and left notes on social media and Twitter DMs and all that stuff. It has been really awesome and just like a super special week for us here at Tangle HQ. And of course, for me personally, I had this event in New York City where I got to get my wife Phoebe on stage to introduce me and the night, which was really cool for us. Obviously, New York City, where I got to get my wife Phoebe on stage to introduce me and the night, which was really cool for us. Obviously, New York is really special to us as a place.

And it was so awesome and a dream come true to put on a sold out live event there, just as people who spent so much time there together. And then to go straight from there to giving a TED Talk in Vancouver was pretty surreal and not something that I knew I was going to be doing a month ago. And the TED Talk went super well, I think was received really well. We got a standing ovation. There was a lot of good energy in the room for what we were talking about. And it was effectively a talk about the work that we're doing here at Tangle. So I was really proud of the week we had. I'm really stoked about the week we had, feeling a lot of energy and momentum, despite the fact that I've been running around like crazy for the last few weeks. I somehow don't feel depleted. I feel energized and I feel

supported and motivated and sure of what we're doing. And so it's really awesome and pumped to just be back in the chair, doing the work that we do here on a day-to-day basis and feeling like there are people out there who are rooting for us and appreciate what we're doing. So we're going to have a recording of the event up later this week. It'll be coming out as part of our Sunday podcast. So for those of you who missed it, I'm super pumped to be sharing that. I'm sure we'll get some video and images up too eventually, but the audio stuff we're going to try and push out as soon as we can. And whenever the TED Talk is live, which could happen tomorrow or it could happen in a few months based on what I know from what the TED folks have told me, we'll share it and we'll make sure you guys know about it. So I'm really excited for that, too.

But just wanted to say thank you for all the support, for all the stuff everybody's done in little different ways to help get us here. And this was a big one. This is a big week for us. So we're celebrating and we've got our heads down and we're working hard too. So with that out of the way, as always, we'll kick things off with some quick hits. First up, the Senate reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, which allows warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals living outside the U.S.,

but often picks up the communications of Americans who contact those foreigners. Number two, Israel's military killed 14 people in a raid in the West Bank. Israel also struck Iran in response to its latest drone and missile attack, but Iran played the strikes down and made no indication it would respond. Separately, the United States is reportedly working on a deal to forge diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Number three, Columbia University arrested over 100 pro-Palestine protesters on its campus, including the daughter of Representative Ilhan Omar, the Democrat from Minnesota. Separately, Google fired 28 employees after a multi-city protest against the company's cloud contract with Israel's government. Number four, 12 jurors were chosen in

former President Donald Trump's quote-unquote hush money trial, and opening arguments will begin on Monday. And number five, today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which could determine whether a city can fine or jail homeless people for sleeping in public spaces. It was a dramatic day on Capitol Hill with huge implications for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, but also for the nearly 200 million American users of the social media app TikTok. This is the moment $60 billion in aid was approved for Ukraine. It came despite fierce opposition from a majority of Republicans. But today, 100 Republicans joined every Democrat to approve the aid package.

It only came up for a vote because the Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, changed his own position on supporting aid. And that decision could possibly cost him his job. $60 billion to war-torn Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Twenty six billion for Israel in its war against Hamas, with billions more for humanitarian needs in Gaza. The bill is passed. And eight billion to Taiwan. The bill is passed. But hardline Republicans say they feel betrayed. On Saturday, the United States House passed three separate foreign aid bills for Ukraine,

Israel, and Taiwan, totaling $95 billion. The package also includes a bill that will force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell the app to a U.S. company and also allows the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine. House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican from Louisiana, helped push the package across the finish line despite threats from members of the House Freedom Caucus that they would move to vacate him from the speakership if he passed the bills. $60.8 billion of Ukraine aid was approved by a 311 to 112 vote. $26.3 billion of Israel aid was approved by a 366 to 58 vote. And $8.1 billion of security assistance for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific was approved by a 385 to34 vote. The TikTok divestment and Russian asset seizure bill was

approved by a 360-58 vote. Despite all the bills passing easily, the opposition to each bill was distinct. First, all 112 votes against Ukrainian aid came from Republicans, requiring Democrats who voted unanimously in favor to pass it. Then, opposition to the Israel aid bill was bipartisan, with 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting against it, followed again by Republican opposition to aid for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, with 34 GOP members voting against that. Finally, most Republicans came together to pass the TikTok and Russian Assets bill, with 50 Democrats in opposition joined by 15 Republicans. We covered the possibility of the four separate bills being pushed through Congress in our most recent full-length edition

on Wednesday. We also covered the TikTok bill in March. It's not the perfect legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson said. It's not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House. This is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican from Georgia, called Johnson a lame duck speaker and vowed to remove him, then left Washington, D.C. without bringing up a motion to vacate, raising speculation that she might back off her threat. The vote on aid for Ukraine was being closely watched by foreign leaders. Ukraine's president,

Volodymyr Zelensky, cheered the bill's passage, saying it keeps the war from expanding and will save thousands of lives. The approvals were also celebrated by defense contractors who stand to win huge contracts to supply equipment to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. A previous effort to pass aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in tandem with border security measures in the U.S. had failed after former President Donald Trump encouraged Republicans to vote against it. Meanwhile, a vote to require ByteDance to sell TikTok or have it banned in app stores had faced a series of hurdles before finally passing the House Saturday. Now, all four bills are headed to the Senate, where they are expected to pass later this week before being signed into law by

President Biden. Today, we're going to break down some commentary from the left and the right about these bills, and then my take. We'll be right back after this quick commercial break. First up, we'll start with what the left is saying. The left celebrates the passage of the aid bills, particularly for Ukraine. Some note that Johnson and House Democrats have been surprisingly successful in finding compromise. Others praise Johnson for putting the bills to a vote despite threats from within the GOP. The Washington Post editorial board wrote that Speaker Johnson and the House show allies can rely on the U.S. still. With Johnson's support and skillful management of

the legislative process, large majorities of the House got an opportunity to work their will, which was to support $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and others in the Indo-Pacific, the board said. The Ukraine measure is by far the most important of the bill, since the country faces the most immediate threat. It is low on ammunition and under relentless Russian military pressure that might lead to major losses or even defeat. This is a historic moment. A de facto bipartisan coalition government has maintained U.S. global credibility. Yet it feels more like an inflection point than a conclusion, the board added. More conflict over foreign policy priorities, both between and within the

two parties, seems inevitable. Thanks to the votes the House just took, however, the chances are better that tough conversations among allies occur in the context of a U.S. commitment, at least in this crucial U.S. election year. In Bloomberg, Patricia Lopez says the aid bills show MAGA hasn't cowed Johnson. Instead of catering to MAGA extremists, Johnson declared himself a Reagan Republican, rejecting the isolationism that has come to dominate the party's extremists. It was a refreshing and unexpected turn from Johnson, Lopez wrote. It's too soon to know whether this latest battle will prove to be Johnson's crucible, but he is learning one lesson over and over again. His biggest victories as House

Speaker have come through the most conventional means, forming coalitions and building on common interests to reach a reasonable middle ground. Efforts like these are not a surrender, regardless of what the extremists may say. They are the only way to govern in a closely divided body, Lopez said. However, Johnson came to his epiphany on the need for the U.S. to stand by its allies and against the world's bullies that reaffirmed this country's willingness to provide world leadership. It also provided a moment of unity that the House may need to draw on again as it faces down aggressors and tyrants. In a separate piece, Washington Post editorial board member Shadi Hamid argued it matters that some Democrats voted

against aid for Israel. 37 of the 213 Democratic members of the House voted against the legislation. In one way, this was a lot. Voting against Israel aid was once exorbitantly risky. It no longer is. On the other hand, for a war as brutal and unpopular as this one, 37 seems like a low number, Hamid said. No matter how you look at it, one conclusion is inescapable. There is a divide at the heart of the Democratic Party. In a CBS News poll conducted earlier this month, only 32% of Democrats said the United States should send weapons and military supplies to Israel. The no votes weren't meant to express opposition to aid for Israel altogether. The problem, rather, is that

the bills fail to put any condition on that aid. It also rewards the Netanyahu government with enhanced and exceptional privileges, enabling Israel to use the money to purchase arms from its own domestic industry as well as to buy U.S. weapons below fair market value, Hamid said. For Americans, myself included, the question lingers. If we're not willing to use our leverage now, is there any circumstance in which we would? Alright, that is it for the leftist saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. The right is split on the bills, with many supporting further aid to U.S. allies. Some single out the Ukraine aid as a misuse of resources. Others criticize Johnson but say House Republicans should keep him as Speaker. The Wall Street Journal editorial board said the House votes for a strong America.

America's allies and enemies have started to wonder if the U.S. is too consumed with infighting to defend itself and its interests. So, put down a marker. Even a dysfunctional and narrowly divided Congress perceives the world's dangers and has decided to meet the occasion, the board said. At the core of these bills is U.S. self-defense. Some $23 billion of the roughly $60 billion aid bill will replenish U.S. weapons stocks with better equipment than what America has given to Kiev. Another $11 billion is marked for U.S. troops in Europe for ship and aircraft maintenance and more. Credit is due to House Speaker Mike Johnson, who in recent days explained the stakes in Ukraine with more clarity than President Biden has mustered. He had

to defy some of the right, who revealed their isolationism by opposing all four bills, the board said. Those who say Mr. Johnson betrayed the GOP are peddling a false history. Mr. Johnson, from his first day as Speaker, revealed himself as a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan. Saturday's votes are a show of will from the United States that will reverberate around the world. In the Federalist, Sean Fleetwood argued that D.C.'s America Last crew has no plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Johnson has gone above and beyond to break his repeated pledge to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before advancing foreign funding. It's no secret that the D.C. political class cares more about fortifying Ukraine's borders than America's,

Fleetwood wrote. More than two years and $113 billion later, Ukraine isn't any closer to beating Russia than the day Moscow launched its invasion. There's been no explanation from the Biden administration or any Ukraine first member of Congress on what they view as a reasonable resolution to the conflict. Instead of fantasizing, America's leaders must recognize the current situation in Eastern Europe for what it is. And that means acting like statesmen and negotiating a settlement to end the bloodshed and blank checks. You don't have to be a Putin stooge to recognize that dumping endless amounts of U.S. funds into Kiev without proper oversight and a clear obtainable objective is a disservice to the American taxpayer and the tens of thousands of Ukrainians being slaughtered in a war they can't win.

Twas the season of chaos and all through the house, not one person was stressing. Holla differently this year with DoorDash. Don't want to holla do the most? Holla don't. More festive, less frantic. Get deals for every occasion with DoorDash. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, Get deals for every occasion with DoorDash. from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. In PJ Media, Grayson Bokich wrote, Johnson's speakership is hanging by the edge of an atom.

Republicans are particularly talented at snatching hanging by the edge of an atom. Republicans are particularly talented at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, precisely because infighting costs them their ability to focus on the long game. Democrats are all in on almost everything they do and are terrifyingly patient in achieving their goals. But why not support getting rid of Johnson? If there is even a single vote that can disrupt their plans, they will wait until they retake the House in November, Bacchus said. So, for now, they are content to keep Johnson around because he has at least caved on doing some of what they want. The most benign reason I can think of for why Johnson has seemingly betrayed his trust is simply because of external circumstances. The White House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats, meaning if you can't prevent some bad policies from being unleashed on the American public, any good ones will sit

collecting dust on Senator Chuck Schumer's desk, Bakic said. So even if you want to fight against a bad policy like foreign aid without any provisions for America, your slim majority in the House won't guarantee it will pass. All acts of resistance will be effectively symbolic. All right, that is it for the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So one of the unfortunate truths in politics is that sitting members of Congress will often speak the truth on certain issues when they're off the record. Here are two anonymous quotes from Republican members of the House that were published in Axios that caught my eye. Quote, We could have gotten the Democrats to fold on a variety of border policy changes,

one House Republican said, but in the end we lost our leverage because we weren't negotiating as a majority. Another House Republican told them, truthfully, they might prefer losing of conservative hardliners. In a lot of ways, the last 48 hours have shown largely what I warned Republicans about when the House Freedom Caucus ousted Kevin McCarthy and replaced him with Mike Johnson. From the beginning, I've said that I respect the House Freedom Caucus for maximizing their power and doing their best to decentralize the control leadership has of the entire chamber. It is a good thing for more individual members to be able to flex, so to speak, and members of the House Freedom Caucus pushed some genuinely positive rule changes

while threatening to remove McCarthy. But I also wrote about the potential for unintended consequences from ousting McCarthy that the House Freedom Caucus members didn't seem to be considering. For instance, in June of 2023, I wrote that, quote, to be clear, you don't have to support the House Freedom Caucus agenda to support how they're advancing it. In fact, this may be an especially good thing if you don't support their hardline views. As Philip Wallach noted under what the right is saying, there is a read of this new dynamic that moderates on both sides are becoming more powerful because of the House Freedom Caucus's punitive actions, which could result in more bipartisan legislation, which would represent a tactical blunder by members of the House Freedom Caucus. Then, in October, after Johnson was chosen

as McCarthy's replacement, I said this, quote, I think Johnson is about to get run over. By the end of this week, this little-known member of Congress who began serving in 2017, has never held a leadership post, and has never negotiated between factions in Congress, is going to be in a room with the President of the United States, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and he'll be deciding what to do about the most important world affairs, the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Palestine conflict, the southern border, and our multi-trillion dollar budget. End quote. Johnson has navigated the difficulties of his situation much better than I expected, but from a conservative Republican position, i.e. Johnson's position, it's hard to argue he's sufficiently held his ground. Taking quick stock of where things are, I was mostly right to predict

that Johnson would get run over and Wallach was 100% correct that there would be a lot more bipartisanship in the post-McCarthy era, something that undermines the House Freedom Caucus's goals. Remember, Johnson has now pushed through $95 billion of foreign aid opposed by a majority of Republicans, passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill opposed by a majority of Republicans, and worked to pass Republicans' obstruction to pass six spending bills with a bipartisan majority. He also just passed a potential TikTok divestment or ban that is supported by President Biden and many Democrats.

As for the actual bills themselves, let me start with what was least surprising. Funding for Israel was a slam dunk after Iran's retaliation, and I never thought for a moment that legislation wasn't going to pass. It and the Indo-Pacific, read Taiwan, funding are basically a continuation of long-standing U.S. policy to leverage itself in those regions. Some bipartisan objection to the Israel funding is worth filing away, but it isn't anywhere near where it needs to be to stop that kind of funding from moving forward down the line. The really novel stuff here is the $60 billion for Ukraine and the TikTok divestment bill. I'm glad each of these packages was voted on separately, and kudos to Speaker Johnson for that,

genuinely, because they really have nothing to do with each other. But my feelings on them are the same as I've articulated before. I think supporting Ukraine is still worth it, and I think the outcome of passing this now after six months of delay is a massive strategic failure. You can listen to my full argument about that in our podcast from late February. Doubly so because Trump and House Republicans effectively killed any chance at addressing the border with congressional action alongside the foreign aid bill. They had a chance to do that with a bill that was more good than bad. But now anything Biden does on the border will be limited to executive action until after the election.

Again, this is a strategic failure by the Republican Party, who hold only a slim majority in the House, but could have gotten some major priorities passed without control of the White House or Senate. It was a major missed opportunity for the country too, because the border crisis is real and needs more than just executive action. As for the TikTok divestment or ban, I've gone back and forth on that idea for

a few years. Then a few weeks ago, I wrote about why I've landed in opposition to it and the can of worms I'm worried it might open. I'm genuinely surprised this is how that legislation got across the finish line, mostly on its own merits and with broad bipartisan support. So I view this entire sequence of votes as a very mixed bag. Now, we'll wait and see if a few members of the House decide to throw Johnson's future into doubt with another motion to vacate and whether Democrats will join the fray. Based on their track record so far, though, I'd warn those members to proceed with caution. though, I'd warn those members to proceed with caution. We'll be right back after this quick break. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered.

This one's from David in Miami, Florida. David said, should foreign countries be allowed to give universities in America huge amounts of money? Seems to me like the Trojan horse is inside. So honestly, yes, I think they should. But interestingly enough, that's not what my position was when I started looking into this issue more. This was my thinking when I first read your question. Tuition and fees have jumped by 65% between 2001 and 2021. At the same time, student debt has exploded and the perceived value of college has dropped. And although public schools receive funding from our government, which I don't have a problem with as an investment in our nation's future, private schools often receive public money in the form of research grants too. These same schools that you're talking about as receiving foreign money from the likes of Qatar

or Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates are the most successful private research schools, places like MIT, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, or Carnegie Mellon. Those schools are some of the ones with the largest endowments too, which begs the question, what do they even need foreign money for? In short, the answer is to beat one another. Those elite universities are driving the cost of college up because they're competing with each other to drive the college experience up. The college rankings arm race implies costlier colleges, smaller class sizes, bigger dorm rooms, better on-campus services, more reputable faculty, and increased study abroad opportunities. The cost of operating an elite university is high.

Okay, but why are foreign governments donating to those schools? It's not actually to buy influence with our next generation or to create a generation of pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers, as some people allege, but actually to buy the prestige and knowledge associated with our world-class education centers. It reflects the fact that you have ongoing enormous amounts of collaboration between Harvard and other institutions as well that require a lot of money to run, Danji Curl, the former senior advisor to the Department of Education, told the Harvard Crimson. That funding is often for constructing and running global campuses. Qatar, for example, invited leading United States universities to set up programs

in the country. It invited Georgetown for foreign service, Northwestern for journalism, Carnegie Mellon for business administration and computer science, and Texas A&M for engineering, according to Lucy Lepofsky, the former president of Mercy College. Qatar built each university its own building and provided all the infrastructure necessary for quality academic programs, including an independent student center to serve all the schools and students, she added. But can we really abide these schools receiving billions in unreported funds from foreign countries? Challenges to the university business model notwithstanding, runaway student debt, exploding tuition, decreasing public funding, and an arms race of college amenities and foreign campus all notwithstanding, isn't there good reason to crack

down on this? Crack down? Absolutely. Eliminate? I don't think so. Universities were already required to report any gift of over $250,000, and the government is now making that reporting easier and punishing missing reports more severely. That strikes me as a prudent response. Passing broad legislation against foreign governments giving funds to American universities in general would be a tremendous overkill, like treating an infected cut on a finger by amputating the arm. Universities with global reach get funding to pursue grants to work on problems with other universities in other countries all the time, and I don't think we want to hamstring the ability for our top-class universities to continue to lead in that area.

Let's see if the current response works, and then go from there. Alright, next up is our Under the Radar section. A new presidential poll from NBC News had a surprising result. It appears Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy is hurting Donald Trump more than Joe Biden. The poll showed President Biden narrowing Trump's lead over him in a head-to-head matchup to two points, with Trump up by a 46-44 margin. However, in a five-ballot poll that includes Kennedy, Jill Stein, Cornel West, and not-sure-wouldn't-vote-or-other, Biden leads Trump 39-37, and Kennedy gets 13% of the electorate with a greater share of Trump voters than Biden voters from the head-to-head matchup supporting Kennedy. Further, the survey found the election hit a 20-year low in high interest from voters. NBC News has the poll, and there's a link to it in today's episode description.

All right, next up is our numbers section. The percentage of weapons the U.S. has sent to Ukraine as a percentage of its own stockpile is 4%, according to the Kiel Institute Ukraine Support Tracker. The percentage of weapons the Czech Republic has sent to Ukraine as a percentage of its own stockpile is 59%, the highest percentage of any country. The number of House Progressive Caucus members out of 99 who voted against the Israel aid bill was 33. The percentage of Americans who support sending military aid to Israel is 36%, according to a March 2024 survey by Pew. The percentage of Americans who support providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza is 50%. The total number of no votes on the Indo-Pacific security bill was 34, the fewest

of all four bills. The size of the military aid package the U.S. sent to Taiwan in August 2023 is $80 million, the first ever transfer of U.S. military equipment to the island nation. The percentage of Americans who think TikTok should be banned unless it's sold to a non-Chinese company is just 27%, according to a March 2024 survey by CNBC. All right, and last but not least, our have a nice day section. In honor of Earth Day today, the U.S. Forest Service has teamed up with the Washington State Department of Transportation to develop a network of highway overpasses and underpasses designed to provide safe passage for wildlife. These wildlife crossings have been shown not only to benefit local ecosystems

by promoting intraspecies genetic diversity, but roadways and drivers as well, reducing collisions with large animals by up to 80%. I think that's a real miracle, that over one of the busiest freeways in the world, you're going to be driving under it, and a mountain lion fox might be walking over, said Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation in California. CBS News has the story and there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, that is it for today's podcast.

As always, if you want to support our work, you can go to readtangle.com forward slash membership and consider becoming a member. We'll be right back here, same time tomorrow. Have a good one. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by John Wall. The script is edited by our managing editor, Ari Weitzman, Will Kabak, Bailey Saul, and Sean Brady.

The logo for our podcast was designed by Magdalena Bokova, who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go to readtangle.com and check out our website. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+.

The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad

and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.