Path to NATO membership is key, let Kyiv be aggressive and other commentary

Ukraine beat: Path to NATO Membership Is Key

Once the Ukraine war ends, Kyiv “must join NATO,” argues William B. Taylor at The New York Times.

“The last time the United States tried to secure NATO membership for Ukraine” in 2008 we failed, as Germany and France “were immovable in their opposition.”

Both “believed they could shape Russian actions by forging closer ties with Moscow — mistakenly, as it turned out.”

And “NATO’s failure to offer Ukraine” a path to membership likely gave Vladimir Putin confidence the West wouldn’t act if he invaded.

“The lessons from 2008 for today” include: 1) “NATO membership is necessary to deter Russian aggression.” 2) “To achieve NATO membership for Ukraine, the United States must start early, making it a clear priority for the next NATO summit.”

“Europe will not be secure — and will not be whole and free — until Ukraine is in NATO.”

Liberal: Let Kyiv Be Aggressive

While the “Biden administration’s steadfast support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression has been laudable,” Peter Juul argues at the Hill, “the administration persists in setting too many constraints on when and where Kyiv can use U.S. weapons for fear of antagonizing Vladimir Putin.”

That the fear is unwarranted: “Anything below the threshold of direct NATO involvement will likely not provoke a significant response against the United States or its allies.”

And “with new long-range munitions on the way to Ukraine, it’s well past time for the U.S. to remove remaining restrictions on Kyiv’s use of American-supplied weapons.”

That “can reduce the pressure on Ukrainian forces fighting on the frontlines” as well as erode “Moscow’s capacity for terror attacks against Ukrainian civilians.”

Libertarian: Milei Wins in Rent-Control Rollback

“Argentina has seen enormous benefits from one [Javier] Milei policy: removing rent control,” cheers Steven Greenhut at Reason.

Critics have long “pointed to reams of economic evidence proving that rent control reduces the amount of overall housing and reduces the quality of housing.”

Though “it reduces rent for some tenants,” it “creates scarcity in the housing market and dramatically increases prices for available units.”

Now that “Milei eliminated what The Wall Street Journal termed one of the world’s ‘strictest’ rent-control laws,” Buenos Aires “is undergoing a rental-market boom.”

Landlords are “rushing to put their properties back on the market, with Buenos Aires rental supplies increasing” over 170%. Though “rents are still up in nominal terms,” renters “are getting better deals than ever, with a 40 percent decline in the real price of rental properties” when “adjusted for inflation.”

Conservative: Chicago Mayor Johnson Is a Disaster

“Brandon Johnson is rapidly establishing himself as one of the worst mayors in Chicago’s history,” groans City Journal’s John Q. McGinnis.

His approval rating stands at “an abysmal” 25%, thanks to “a troubling blend of cronyism and incompetence.”

The ex-teachers-union organizer is pushing the Chicago Public Schools CEO “to secure a $300 million, high-interest loan” to finance a “staggering” 9% pay raise and to hire “nearly 5,000 new teachers, despite declining public school enrollment.”

Johnson also eliminated “the ShotSpotter system” that “aided law enforcement in solving crimes” and is “grappling with a looming $1 billion budget deficit.” 

From the right: Empress Kamala’s New Clothes

Just as with President Biden, Democrats and the media are “now discovering that even unrelenting hagiography can’t make up” for Kamala Harris’ “enormous liabilities.”

Last week she “embarked on a ‘media blitz,’ and in doing so confirmed the wisdom of all those advisers who fought never to let that happen,” as her “answer to every question is canned, memorized, substance-free.”

And the real “problem is bad policies — engineered by Mr. Biden and the progressive left, doubled-down on by Ms. Harris, rejected by voters” — on everything from inflation and immigration to crime, national security and “radical cultural shifts.”

Fact is, “even media spin can’t make it appear the empress has clothes.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board