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Democrats Seek Support

Jews asked to back budget and defend Obama's Israel record.

Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washington

W

hen two-fifths of the
Democrats in the U.S. Senate
met last week in Washington
with representatives of Jewish groups, the
senators delivered a clear message: If you
agree with us, it's about time you spoke
up.
The appeal, delivered at an annual
meeting organized by the Democratic
Steering and Outreach Committee with
the assistance of the National Jewish
Democratic Council, was targeted at two
disparate issues: Helping to pass a budget
and defending President Obama from
charges that he is selling Israel down the
river.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman
of the Armed Services Committee, and
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., both of whom
are Jewish, spoke most forcefully, partici-
pants reported, linking Jewish requests
for funding to the need for Jews to lobby
Republicans to help pass the budget.
In an interview after the meeting,
Cardin told JTA that it's not enough to
advocate for spending; the Jewish com-
munity, he said, needs to help get a budget
passed.
"The Jewish community has a direct
interest not just with the debt ceiling, but
also in the budget as we attempt to get the
deficit under control;' he said. "Will our
priorities be preserved?
"The Jewish community has been
very effective in their involvement in the
American political scene. My point was
these are very consequential times, and
they need to focus their efforts in a much
more dramatic way. The consequences are
much too great."
The hourlong meeting attracted 21
senators — a substantial turnout, consid-
ering how Congress is mired in negotia-
tions to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 3 or
face a default and shortfall in government
funding. There are 51 Democrats in the
Senate, along with two independents who
caucus with them.
Not all of the Jews attending the meet-
ing were Democrats.
Josh Protas, the Washington director
of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs
(JCPA), the umbrella body for Jewish pub-
lic policy groups, said the takeaway was
that Jewish groups need to be more pro-
active in resolving the budget crisis.

28

july 21. 2011

Sen. Carl Levin

Sen. Ben Cardin

Rabbi Steve Gutow

"The Jewish community can be actively
talking to their members on both sides of
the aisle about the importance of address-
ing this and not getting to the crisis point
we're close to approaching:' he said.
The remarks by Levin and Cardin
were prompted by a presentation by the
chairwoman of the Jewish Federations of
North America's board of trustees, Kathy
Manning. She appealed to the senators to
protect a number of funding programs in
budget talks, including Medicaid, the pro-
gram that funds the poor, and Homeland
Security grants that help nonprofit insti-
tutions implement security precautions.
"We know firsthand the critical
impact that the delivery of basic health-
and long-term care made possible by
Medicaid has made in people's lives and
the tragic consequences should this pro-
gram be weakened by Congress:' said
William Daroff, the Washington director
of Jewish Federations of North America.
One of the Jews present who asked not
to be identified because of an agreement
at the meeting not to describe what others
said, characterized the senators' response
as follows: "They basically said: `If you
want these things, help us pass the bud-
get:"

some of the major donors to Jewish orga-
nizations that lobby for increased social
spending are wealthy Jewish Republicans
who chafe at increasing taxes.
At the meeting with the senators, the
budget crisis seemed to push Israel and
Middle East issues aside for the first time
in years. Usually, Israel takes up two-
thirds of the meeting, one participant
said; this time, most of the talk was about
domestic issues.
When it came to Israel, Levin and
Cardin said misimpressions about
Obama's Middle East policies need to be
corrected, according to meeting partici-
pants. It may be fine to criticize Obama
for pressing Israel to negotiate with the
Palestinians on the basis of the 1967
lines, they said, but it's dishonest not to
mention that he also called for mutually
agreed land swaps and secure borders for
Israel.
Levin thanked Howard Kohr, president
of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), for agreeing to
his request to write to his constituents
in Michigan earlier this year to quash
an unfounded rumor that the Obama
administration was funneling money to
Hamas, participants reported. Levin said
that such rumors, left unchecked, under-
cut Obama's prospects of pushing back
against a Palestinian effort to obtain U.N.
recognition of statehood in September.
Susie Turnbull, a past vice chairwoman
of the Democratic National Committee
who now heads Jewish Women
International (JWI), said it was critical

for the Jewish community to push back
against misconceptions.
"We as Jews have a responsibility to
take up this mantle," said Turnbull, who
had delivered a presentation on how bud-
get cuts would adversely affect women's
health care. "You tamp down rumors and
misstatements and misconceptions when
they appear."

Partisan Politics
While they will aggressively lobby to
defend discrete budgetary items, Jewish
groups are wary of taking sides in a bit-
ter partisan budget fight. Particularly
difficult for Jewish groups is the issue of
tax increases to generate revenue. Indeed,

Get Involved Or Not?
Some of the Jews at the meeting resented
the pressure from the Senate Democrats
to take sides in the budget battle. "I'm not
going to get deeper into the debt ceiling
game of chicken',' one said.
But with the stakes high, some Jewish
groups are wading into the battle.
JCP/Vs president, Rabbi Steve Gutow,
joined an interfaith appeal on Thursday to
pass a budget, saying the two sides need
to explore ways to increase revenue.
"We make up what is needed for
Medicaid patients, but we can't do it all:'
he said in a conference call with other
clergy. "There are other ways to balance
our budget, there are other ways to close
our debt" other than further cuts, he said.
In addition to representatives from
the federations, AIPAC, JCPA and JWI,
top staff and laypeople came from the
Anti-Defamation League, the American
Jewish Committee, Americans for Peace
Now, J Street, the Orthodox Union,
Agudath Israel of America, the Hebrew
Immigrant Aid Society, NCSJ, American
Friends of Lubavitch and the Reform and
Conservative movements. I I

