By Reagan Steele – Business & Economic Policy Writer
While most politicians in Washington are still cosplaying Cold War heroes, one Republican Congresswoman just said what the rest of America has been thinking: enough with the anti-Russia theater—let’s get back to business.
Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made headlines this week when she reposted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about wanting to restore full relations with the U.S. and said plainly: “There’s no reason why we can’t be great trade partners with Russia.”
For the working class and the business world alike, it’s a message long overdue.
Who Got Hurt by the Sanctions? Not Russia.
After U.S. corporations stampeded out of Russia in 2022 to make a moral statement, what followed wasn’t the collapse of Putin’s economy—but the collapse of American market share.
- Ford, GM, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Starbucks—all pulled out.
- Russia replaced them with local brands and Chinese companies like Chery Auto, Geely, and Haval, who now dominate the auto market.
- Lada sales are surging, and Russia’s domestic auto production is booming.
- Pepsi and Coke? Swapped out for domestic colas.
- McDonald’s? Replaced by a knockoff that locals say tastes the same but costs less.
And instead of hurting Russia, American companies just gave China a bigger cut of the pie.
Russia’s Economy Is Growing—Europe’s Is Not
In a turn that should shake every policy wonk in Sacramento and D.C. alike, Russia’s GDP is expected to grow more than 3% this year, while Germany, France, and the broader EU are hovering near zero or worse.
So who’s “isolated,” again?
Russia’s raking in profits by exporting energy, food, and weapons to Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Meanwhile, California farmers face fertilizer shortages, small businesses are drowning in inflation, and our ports are clogged with Chinese goods because we’ve shut the door on half the world trying to prove a point.
Sacramento Is Uniquely Positioned to Lead
Here in California’s capital, we’re not some bystander to global trade—we’re sitting on one of the country’s strongest bridges to it.
Sacramento is home to one of the largest Slavic communities in America, including tens of thousands of Russian-speaking residents with deep ties to family, faith, and business across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. These are folks who speak the language, know the markets, and already understand how to move goods, build trust, and do business with a region most Americans couldn’t point to on a map.
While D.C. politicians posture, Sacramento could be leading the way—using our local workforce and community connections to tap back into a market we should’ve never abandoned. The infrastructure is already here. All we need is for our leaders to stop playing global therapist and start acting like businesspeople.
California’s Economy Shouldn’t Be a Pawn in Global Theater
This isn’t about picking sides in Eastern Europe—it’s about putting American prosperity first.
The average Californian can’t find Donetsk on a map. Most can’t explain who’s fighting who in the Donbass region or why we’ve dumped $150 billion into a war that’s increasingly looking like a lost cause. But what they can tell you is this:
- Gas is expensive
- Food is up
- Jobs are unstable
- And Sacramento politicians are more focused on flying flags than fixing problems.
George Washington said it best: “Avoid entangling alliances.” He warned us not to get dragged into Europe’s wars. And right now, we’re ignoring that wisdom and paying the price for it—at the pump, at the grocery store, and on every job site in this state.
Time to Cut the Russophobia and Start Acting Like Adults
Luna’s comments shouldn’t be controversial—they should be common sense. You don’t have to like Putin to acknowledge reality: Russia’s economy is here to stay, and locking ourselves out of that market just makes room for China to tighten its grip on global trade.
This isn’t about friendship. It’s about business. And business is suffering because our leaders care more about virtue signaling than economic survival.
The Bottom Line:
California doesn’t need another hashtag war. We need trade, we need growth, and we need leaders who understand that patriotism means putting American interests first—not sacrificing them on the altar of foreign policy fantasies.
Reagan Steele
Reagan Steele covers financial markets, housing, and local business trends. He smokes too much, sleeps too little, and refuses to speculate.
