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Contributing Editor
Vigorous Vote
Jews wield unusual influence
in congressional races.
ur U.S. representatives are national lawmak-
ers, yet relatively close to the people they
represent during two-year terms. Each serves
about 700,000 constituents. Congress' two chambers
together hold significant sway as a check on the execu-
tive branch of government and its presidential policies.
The junior chamber's 435 members also provide impor-
tant balance to the powerful, exclusive
100-member Senate.
In Michigan this election year, voters
will fill 14 congressional seats, one less
than in 2010 based on fewer Michigan
residents. Republicans control nine of the
15 current districts. State Republicans
drew Michigan's new congressional dis-
tricts, axing the current district in the
heart of the Detroit Jewish community.
Some Aug. 7 primary battles stand out.
In the new 14th district, snaking from
southwest Detroit through the Grosse
Pointes, west across northern Detroit and north through
Jewish parts of Oakland County to Pontiac, current 9th
district incumbent Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township
will face current 13th district incumbent Hansen
Clarke of Detroit and Southfield
Mayor Brenda Lawrence in the
Democratic primary. The district
tilts Democratic; all three candidates
for the $174,000-a-year job are good
grassroots campaigners.
Peters, a second-termer, has devel-
oped a rapport with much of the
Gary Peters
Jewish community and is largely in
sync with this voting bloc on social
causes, Israel and Iran. He's visible,
outspoken and responsive to Jewish
groups that come calling.
Clarke, a first-termer, is less known
in Oakland County, but committed
to the challenge. He also has a vot-
ing record reflective of much of the
-111V1/4
Jewish
community's thinking.
Hansen Clarke
Lawrence is popular among
Southfield Jews and has actively
responded to local Jewish needs. She
may siphon votes from Clarke, but is
not likely to distance Peters from his
overall strong Jewish support.
Both Clarke and Lawrence have
fewer campaign dollars than Peters.
All three see themselves as bridges
Brenda
between Detroit and the suburbs.
Lawrence
They are among an elite coterie of
Michigan Democratic Party emerging
stars; it's too bad they are competing
against each other.
12eve
Ne
In other congressional districts on the
edges of Jewish Detroit:
• Incumbent Thaddeus McCotter of
Northville, a four-termer, squares off
in the 11th district Republican primary against school-
teacher Kerry Bentivolio of Milford, a Vietnam veteran,
a Michigan National Guard soldier advocate in Iraq and
a Tea Party favorite. The redrawn Republican-leaning
district encompasses parts of western Wayne and
southwest Oakland counties as well as Waterford east
to Troy, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. McCotter
is strong on Israel, but not well known in the
Jewish community despite his brief presiden-
tial run. He's a social conservative, but in defer-
ence to the lines of his district, has broken with
his party in the past on issues relating to the
auto industry and the United Auto Workers. His
votes relating to Israel align with most of the
Jewish community. He supports Mitt Romney
for president.
• The new Democratic-favoring 13th district
stretches from Detroit south to Ecorse and
west to Westland, Wayne and Romulus. Current
14th district incumbent John Conyers faces
four Democratic primary hopefuls, including Glenn
Anderson, a state senator from Westland. Anderson is
pro-Israel so provides a contrast to Conyers, no friend
of the Jewish state. Conyers is a 24-term congressman
who clings to seniority status and
name recognition. He's likely to pace
the field in labor support and has a
large war chest. The bribery conspir-
acy conviction of his wife, Monica,
while she was a city councilwoman,
will make him vulnerable (consider
the effect that Detroit Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick's text-messaging scandal
John Conyers
had on his mother, Carolyn Cheeks
Kilpatrick, and her ill-fated 2010 re-
election bid).
The Jewish vote will be a factor in
the Peters/Clarke/Lawrence and the
McCotter/Bentivolio races. It also
played a role in Conyers' decision
to not chance it against Peters and
Clarke and move to the safer, new
Glenn
13th district.
Anderson
• Sander Levin of Royal Oak,
Democratic incumbent in the 12th
district since 1993, seeks re-election
in the new ninth district, which takes
in Bloomfield Township, Beverly
Hills, Franklin, Bingham Farms
and Berkley as well as southeast
Oakland County and southern
Sander Levin
Macomb County. The ranking
Democrat on the House Ways and
Means Committee is popular and largely in step with
the Jewish community. He'll face a token challenge from
businessman Allen James O'Neil of Ferndale in the pri-
mary.
,
Thaddeus
McCotter
Our Vote Matters
Because only 1 percent of the American population gets
involved in political parties or runs for public office,
Jewish political involvement does have an impact. It
A Vigorous Vote on page 29
28
February 2 2012
JN
Editorial
Israel's Cost Of Living
Is Still A High Priority
t's a case of supply and demand:
1 Brand-name imports cost more
in Israel for many reasons, not
the least of which is that Israelis are
willing to pay more for them. Image
apparently matters. As a result,
locally made goods are losing ground
in the high-stakes Israeli retail wars.
That's not only unfortunate, but also
explains why a box of Cheerios or Ziploc bags
is higher priced in Israel than in Europe or North
America. Israelis flock to clothing and furniture
retailers, from U.S. retailers such as The Gap and
Crocs to European retailers such as Ikea and Zara.
The Jewish wire service JTA cites the example of a
pair of women's slim cargo pants from the Swedish
retailer H&M costing $29.95 in the U.S., $32.40 in
France and $39.22 in Israel.
Still, Israelis aren't happy about what they pay for
housing or cottage cheese. Last year, they built a
cost-of-living social protest movement that forced
the government to take notice. The outrage also cre-
ated the opportunity for sweeping national change of
how wealth is distributed.
A customs tax of about 12 percent on imports is
charged on all sorts of items, ranging from necessi-
ties such as medicine, clothing, tires and appliances
to eye-grabbers such as toys, cosmetics and luggage.
Significantly, the tax also is attached to basic raw
materials for chemicals and wood.
Other cost factors include a higher Israeli tax rate,
Israel's relatively small consumer market and the
higher cost to bring in goods via ship and air than
by truck and rail. Israel is a country of just 7.5 mil-
lion people, but U.S. and European retailers make
up on less volume sold by charging higher prices on
things Israelis want. The Israel Textile and Fashion
Association underscores that Israeli stores must limit
their inventory to assure there's nothing left over; so
on popular collections, prices go up.
In response to spinning-out-of-control costs,
Finance Minister Yval Steinitz ordered adoption of
the Trajtenberg Committee recommendation to end
customs duties on hundreds of imports effective
Jan.1. The government stands to lose $100 million
or more each year in lost revenue. It's a good-faith
move in a land where imports were a rarity 20 years
ago. That changed when multinational corporations
responded to Israel's liberalized import quotas.
Consumer goods guru Unilever bought Telma and
Swiss food company Nestle bought Osem; both of the
purchasees are Israeli food manufacturers. Today,
according to the Israeli Chamber of Commerce, Israel
has 2,000 food importers alone.
The burden remains on the Netanyahu admin-
istration to act not only on recommendations of
the Trajtenberg Committee, which the government
empowered to delve into the 2010 street protests,
but also go beyond and shape an authentic new
socioeconomic agenda that provides more than lim-
ited upgrades to the way of life for Israel's young
middle class.
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