U.S. should take care of its own first

I appreciated Keith Peterson's "Guest View" explaining the importance of American's support for Ukraine as it fends off Vladimir Putin's troops seeking to make Ukraine part of ascending Russian Empire. Although he makes a good case for support, I hope he can see why others have sympathy for Ukraine but are tepid about financial support.

First, it was reported that the U.S. has already delivered about $115 billion in money and equipment to Ukraine's cause (and is about to commit another $24 billion), yet other nations of the world have only spent $100 billion. This raises a question of proportionality - is our country doing more than our fair share? The question becomes more poignant when we now see other nations backing away from helping.

Second, many Americans are having trouble grasping how our leaders leapt to help Ukraine stop the Russian invaders when they lack interest in or desire to fund efforts that would stop the invasion of our own country by tens of millions of criminal illegal immigrants - who freely cross our borders each day, face little vetting, and go inland to create financial ruin and cultural destruction within vast areas. No one asked our citizens if this was OK. The ruling elite just created a costly, unnecessary situation that was controllable.

Third, America is a blessed and rich country. However, our resources are not without limits. One might not have noticed this - given that deficit federal overspending is the rule and led to the creation of a $33 trillion-dollar national debt. Our nation is being a "friend" of Ukraine and a "compassionate sponsor" of illegal immigrants by running up debt which diminishes its own citizens. Further, debt at this level jeopardizes our national security in a dangerous world. Help others? Sure. But take care of your own first.

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg