Primary Highlights from a Jewish Democratic Perspective

Vermonth had a Jewish female Governor named Madeline Kunin

STRATEGY TO DEFEAT THE  
      REPUBLICANS IN 2010

The Republicans are depending on fear, intolerance, ignorance and amnesia to return to power, and polls show their prospects are good.

To counteract them, I think Democrats should go on the offensive and challenge Republicans as much as possible. To this end, I have put together the talking points and questions below. I hope that many will use these and other points as part of a major campaign to make a difference in the 2010 election. We need to bombard the media by letters and call-ins, using some of the talking points to refocus attention on the dismal Republican record and their strong efforts to obstruct the Democratic initiatives. Every Democratic candidate should seek many debates where these points are stressed over and over, so that voters realize what is really at stake in the upcoming election: Democratic efforts to move forward and solve the nation’s problems or a return to the same Republican policies that were so disastrous.

As you know, if Republicans regain power or even come close, all that we believe in will be threatened.
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  TALKING POINTS AND QUESTIONS TO CHALLENGE REPUBLICANS
A. Economic issues
1. What exactly would the Republicans do if they returned to power to:
a. create jobs?
b. reduce the deficit?
2. How would Republican policies if they returned to power differ from those during the Bush years that had such disastrous effects for the US and worldwide?
3. Since the Republicans drove the country into a ditch during the two Bush terms and are now doing everything possible to prevent the Democrats from getting us out of the ditch, why should we give them the keys to power again?
4. Republicans are properly concerned about soaring deficits, but are you aware that the George W. Bush administration converted a major 3-year surplus, one projected to last for many years and to potentially completely eliminate the federal debt, into a major deficit, and that most of our total debt was accumulated during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes?
5. To avoid major future deficits and other problems, isn’t it advisable to spend money now to reduce unemployment, by, for example, repairing our infrastructure,  fix our dysfunctional health care system and develop renewable sources of energy?

B. Governmental Involvement

1. Republicans want less government involvement, but weren’t much of our recent economic troubles due to insufficient governmental regulation to thwart the greed in the private sector?
C. Jobs
Comments welcome on the following?:

Many Republican legislators claim that the federal stimulus bill created no new jobs and then appear at ribbon cuttings in their state claiming credit for bringing jobs created by that bill to their states.
Twenty-two million jobs were created during Bill Clinton’s 8 years in office, but only a few million during George W. Bush’s 8 years in office.
When Obama came into office, the US was losing about 750,000 jobs per month. He turned this around so that we have gained net jobs over the past 6 months, although far from what is needed..
D. The Republican Party Today
1. The Republican party is so dominated by the radical right that John McCain could not select his first choice Joe Lieberman as his vice presidential nominee and instead horridly chose the untested and unqualified Sarah Palin.

2. The Republican party is increasingly dominated by the radical right today. It is no longer the party that had moderates like Nelson Rockerfeller. Jacob Javitz and Clifford Case.
3. The extremists dominating the Republican party have opposed every Democratic proposal – even when they supported and even sometimes co-sponsored such proposed programs in the past – often using wild exaggerations such as “death panels” and socialism.
4. McCain, who was considered relatively moderate, is now claiming that he was never a maverick and has changed his position on immigration, climate change and other issues to appease conservatives in his difficult primary battle with a staunch conservative.
5. Do you support Republican filibusters of bills that (a) saved the jobs of over 100,000 teachers and many police officers and fire fighters; (b) provided continued unemployment insurance to the long-time unemployed; (c) would provide medical help to responders at and after 9/11?
E.Miscellaneous
From an op-ed article by Robert Creamer at the Huffington blog, July 13, 2010
“Dirty Little Secrets the Republicans Don’t Want You to Know”
Over the course of eight short years—between 2000 and 2008—the Republicans methodically executed their plan to transform American society. They systematically transferred wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest two percent of Americans—slashing taxes for the wealthy. They eviscerated the rules that held Wall Street, Big Oil and private insurance companies accountable to the public. They allowed and encouraged the recklessness of the big Wall Street banks that ultimately collapsed the economy and cost eight million Americans their jobs. They ignored exploding health care costs, tried to privatize Social Security, gave the drug companies open season to gouge American consumers and presided over a decline in real incomes averaging $2,000 per family. They entangled America in an enormously costly, unnecessary war in Iraq, pursued a directionless policy that left Afghanistan to fester, and sullied America’s good name throughout the world.
F. Climate Change:
1. Climate Change: How can you be skeptical on climate change in view of all the recent severe climate events, and most of all because almost all, if not all, of the peer-reviewed articles and all the world’s scientific academies agree that climate change is a threat, and it is largely caused by human activities?
G. Israel and Other Jewish Issues
1. It is significant that while there are many Jewish Democratic members of congress, there are no Jewish Republican senators and only one Jewish Republican member of the House of Representatives.

2. During the eight years of the Bush presidency, there was no progress toward peace in the Middle East; and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran all became stronger

3. Most US Jews recognize that a just, sustainable, comprehensive two-state solution is essential if Israel is to remain a Jewish, democratic state, able to solve its many economic environmental and other domestic problems, and that some thoughtful pressure from the US government is essential to obtain a solution to the current conflicts.

4. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders have often expressed their strong commitment to Israel’s security, while also urging Israel to make the changes that will ultimately be beneficial to both countries.

5. Some other considerations include: How will Israel solve its many environmental, economic and other domestic problems without a proper resolution of the current conflicts? How will Israel remain both a Jewish and a democratic state if it maintains the West Bank?

6. Rather than stressing obstacles to a resolution and seeing issues in terms of good versus evil while the situation worsens, isn’t it better to seek common ground and solutions?

7. There is still strong bipartisan support for Israel in the US congress. The vast majority of Democratic congress members support Israel. However, like many Israelis, they may not support every Israeli policy, just as they have disagreements with some US policies.
8. Republicans are in complete denial about climate change, and this will increasingly threaten Israel, which already is suffering from the worst drought in its history and major heat waves and wildfires.
9. The US-Israel security relationship is doing very well and getting better. The two military and intelligence establishments have been working closely and productively
10. People who argue that Obama is more sensitive to Muslims than Jews should consider that his chief of staff and main advisor are Jewish, that he picked a Jew as a Supreme Court nominee, that he is the first president to have seders in the White House and he has frequently stressed his solidarity with Jews and with Israel.
11. For more facts about President Obama and Israel, please visit:
http://www.njdc.org/media/entry/obamasecurityfactsheet072110
Among the material there are the following:
a.  President Obama requested and received $2.8 billion for directly assisting Israel’s security. This is the largest amount given to Israel in U.S. history specifically allocated for Israel’s security apparatus.
b. The Obama Administration has led the global effort to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. Steps taken include:
Building international consensus against Iran’s nuclear program
Imposing new U.S. sanctions on Iran and those who conduct business with Iran
Imposing new sanctions against Iran’s banking sector because of its links to international terrorism
c. High-level military and intelligence personnel including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, CIA Director Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen have all traveled to Israel in 2010 to discuss security cooperation vis-à-vis Iran and other situations in the Middle East.

Pres. Obama has to become a much stronger and more verbal leader in the next 2 months regarding important issues like more stimulus for jobs, accounting for where the stimulus money so far, precisely, has gone and stronger tactics against lobbyists like Fox News.  We need him to bring out the workers and the voters.