Americans are hurt and in debt while we send billions every year to an ungrateful peace partner in the ME..
Time to Cut Bait!
Why it s time for Obama to cut off America s subsidies to Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's come-from-behind re-election victory this week,
fueled by an overt embrace of apartheid policy and racist fear-mongering about Arab voters, has put the United States in a difficult situation. So long as Netanyahu pretended that he was committed to democratic values and a two-state solution, the Americans could look the other way or blame Palestinian intransigence for a lack of progress.
But now, despite some shameless backtracking, it's clear that Netanyahu is, at best, an unreliable partner for peace, if not an outright foe of an independent Palestine. As many have pointed out, the divergence of U.S. and Israeli interests has never been more pronounced, and the big question is how the U.S. should adjust. While the Obama administration has
indicated it may support a United Nations resolution calling for an independent Palestine along 1967 borders, it should go even further: by cutting the U.S.'s massive subsidies to Israel and withdrawing diplomatic cover for Netanyahu's every move.
For the most part, with few exceptions, foreign aid ( give-aways ) is a waste of taxpayers' hard earned dollars. We've been giving financial aid to some countries ( Africa ) for many decades, and what has been our return on the investment? And, some in politics ( Hillary ) have gotten kick-backs for the aid. How much has her campaign chest received from foreign donors? How much of foreign aid is returned via money in secret bank accounts for our politicians? Do all politicians agree to foreign aid packages out of the goodness of their hearts without expecting anything in return? How many decades has the money been flowing to foreign governments, and what has John Q. Public realized in return?
You are correct, much of the aid comes back to buy our congress with political contributions via AIPAC the American Israeli Political Action Committee...
Hardly as they are 10th on the list of highest payers for political influence. Even lower than the Gun Lobby so showing that it is Saudi and the other rich islamonazi nations getting the best of the Amerian government
Count AIPAC and its affiliates it controls...
AIPAC An Inside Look USC News21
Although AIPAC does use a team of in-house lobbyists, it also focuses on developing its 100,000-member base and pro-Israel supporters from other groups across the nation into an army of citizen lobbyists on the local and federal levels.
AIPAC does so by keeping affiliates informed through its biweekly
Near East Report, providing training sessions on how to deliver talking points, and sending alerts when it's time to contact elected officials on specific pieces of legislation.
The co-head of AIPAC's Los Angeles Young Leaders program, Richard Dinets, explains how AIPAC provides its members the infrastructure and tools they need to be effective, but it's their passion that drives them to take action.
“They’re committed to making those phone calls and writing those emails year round,” says Dinets. “They’re willing to take the time and make the case.”
AIPAC also does a good job of coordinating with other pro-Israel organizations across the country. One of those groups is Los Angeles–based Democrats for Israel, a group affiliated with the California Democratic Party.
“I work very closely with the AIPAC staff,” says
Leeor Alpern, president of
Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles. AIPAC also works with the California Democratic Party and helps organize their state convention in Sacramento every year.
The Democrats for Israel and AIPAC work in parallel.
“AIPAC's mantra is, in Congress they have friends and potential friends,” says Alpern, who himself has been an AIPAC member since the mid-'90s. “Ours is, we have Democrats, and hopefully they're all pro-Israel Democrats.”
Their strategy is to identify up-and-coming Democrats, build a personal relationship with them and then immerse the elected officials in pro-Israel issues.
AIPAC does the same thing but across party lines. The lobby starts reaching out to politicians well before they get to Congress, while they still work as city council or school-board members or as part of the state legislature, says
Dan Schnur, director of the
Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, who is also an AIPAC member.
The lobby realizes by the time someone gets to a position of national prominence, that’s not the time to help them understand the issues, because they’ve already thought it through to that point.
“By working with state and local, elected and appointed representatives of both parties, AIPAC has gotten to a position where no matter who gets elected president, in either party, that man or woman is going to be a strong supporter of Israel,” Schnur explains.
AIPAC maintains a strong bipartisan presence in state and national politics by encouraging its members to support pro-Israel candidates from the party of their choice. The lobby would not ask a liberal Democrat to support a conservative Republican or vice versa, Schnur says.
Although the strategy involves AIPAC pushing its allies and members to give to both political parties, Alpern, who is a loyal Democrat, doesn’t mind.
“I don’t want my party to be the only pro-Israel party,” he says.
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