J4O Newsletter: Meltdown on Wall Street

The shocking demise of venerable investment house Lehman Brothers had special meaning for the Jewish community. The firm began as a cotton trading concern founded by German Jewish immigrants in 1844 and became the fourth largest investment bank in the US.

Last September, I stood up at NASDAQ and said it's time to realize that we are in this together — that there is no dividing line between Wall Street and Main Street — and warned of a growing loss of trust in our capital markets. Months later, Senator McCain told a newspaper that he'd love to give them a solution to the mortgage crisis, “but” — he said — “I don't know one.”

In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress. Senator McCain used the crisis as an excuse to push a so-called stimulus plan that offered another huge and permanent corporate tax cut, including $4 billion for the big oil companies, but no immediate help for workers.

This March, in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout, I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets. Just a few weeks earlier, Senator McCain made it clear where he stands: “I'm always for less regulation,” he said, and referred to himself as “fundamentally a deregulator.”

Read more, or click here to watch Senator Obama's two-minute video about his proposals for the economy.

Our news of the week on what's happening out and about on the campaign trail in the Jewish community features a wonderful event held in New Brunswick, New Jersey following the launch of the New Jersey branch of the Obama campaign's national Jewish Outreach effort. Click here to read about the event.

The most recent smear originates from the Republican Jewish Coalition. True to form, rather than debating the real issues which differentiate the two candidates, the RJC has engaged in the universally despised tactic of “push polling.”

According to politico.com, the RJC's supposed “poll asked voters their response to negative statements about Obama, including reported praise for him from a leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas and a friendship early in his career with a pro-Palestinian university professor. Some Jewish Democrats who received the poll — including a New Republic writer who lives in Michigan — were outraged by the poll, describing it in interviews as ‘ugly’ and disturbing.”

Senior ABC News correspondent Jack Tapper quotes one target of the poll, Ben Cohen: “It was evocative of a time and a kind of politics that I would never want to see rise in America. You shouldn't scare people to get elected — Jewish people have experienced that before really horrifically.”

Voters in many states, including Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, have reported being targeted.

Click here to email this article to your friends and family and warn them to be on the alert for propaganda masquerading as polling.

Earlier this week, Joe and Hillary sat down to tell voters about why Obama-Biden is the best vote for women. Jews for Obama volunteer Yocheved Seidman eloquently captured the spirit of this discussion: “As a Jewish mother with many responsibilities — work, caring for my family, participating in my community, and more — this wonderful discussion addresses both issues that affect me and those that all women are concerned about.”

The speakers scheduled to speak at the rally included Senator Hillary Clinton and Nobel laureate Dr. Elie Wiesel. No candidates for political office were invited or scheduled to appear.

Suddenly, earlier this week, the organizers, claiming that a Republican presence was needed to keep the event nonpartisan, announced that they had invited Sarah Palin.

Hillary Clinton has supported Israel throughout her career and has made several trips there; Sarah Palin has never visited and has no record of support for Israel. Clinton is known and respected by leaders all over the world; Palin is a complete unknown. In short, Hillary Clinton's presence would have helped the cause, while Sarah Palin's presence would have helped only Sarah Palin.

The outcry against Palin's attendance at the rally was loud and instantaneous. Senator Clinton announced that she would not be attending. J Street launched a petition drive and collected over 20,000 signatures in 24 hours. To their credit, the organizers of the rally quickly backed down and announced that no “American political personalities” would appear.

The McCain smear machine immediately went into overdrive. “The Obama campaign pressured Clinton into withdrawing from the rally,” they said, even though she made the decision entirely on her own. “Obama's campaign could have joined us at the rally but refused,” McCain claimed, but in fact Obama had offered to send Congressman Robert Wexler. “Senator Obama chose politics rather than the national interest,” McCain asserted, even though it was actually outrage in the Jewish community which caused Palin to be disinvited.

The “Stop Iran” rally is an important community effort. We at Jews for Obama encourage you to attend and support the cause. We also encourage you to make sure your friends and relatives know that the Obama campaign was eager to show its support by participating in the event, despite the scurrilous claims to the contrary by the McCain campaign.

The crackdown on protestors and dissent at the recent Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota has horrified many observers. As one journalist reporting on the events put it, “It's one thing to have predicted the dangers to our civil liberties since the September 11th attacks and quite another to see one's prediction in action.”

One member of the St. Paul City Council, Dave Thune, had this to say about the convention:

Contrary to official comment, this was not a “wonderful week”. To see our city decked out in prison camp fenced splendor complete with coast guard gunboats on the mississippi, helicopters overhead, beleagured and tired st. paul police officers, peaceful demonstrators bloodied and gassed, gangs of out-of-town thugs smashing everything in sight, citizens asking loved ones to write important family contact numbers on their arms, garbage trucks shutting down bridges and streets, nameless faceless badgeless riot police, videos of young girls crying “I love you” as they are maced and struck, and another futilely holding out a flower as she is sprayed with peppergas... Allegations of weapons, molotov cocktails and homemade napalm stirring the fears and apprehensions of citizens and police alike...

One of the protesters arrested at the convention was Max Specktor, son of American Jewish World editor Mordecai Specktor. He and seven of his fellow protesters, the “RNC 8”, have been charged with “conspiracy to commit riot in the furtherance of terrorism.” That's right, terrorism.

We as Jews are particularly sensitive to the need to protect civil liberties. Throughout history, the Jews have suffered disproportionately under regimes where individual liberties are disrespected.

Common interest, respect, and brotherhood characterized the relationship between Jews and African Americans during the civil rights movement. Senator Obama spoke out forcefully against anti-Semitism in the Black community in his moving speech at Martin Luther King's church in Atlanta.

Some of us would like to say to those around us, “Judge the candidates on their policies not on their skin color.” However, directly confronting someone whose vote you think might be motivated by racism can be alienating and counterproductive for both parties. After all, how do you know what is in someone's heart?

There is a better way. Ask him or her, “Do you think that Obama has the ideas and policies that will help the country?” “Has he wavered in the pursuit of these goals throughout his career?” “Has he ever done anything to cause racial polarization?” Draw people into a discussion of the issues and clarify that their own interests are at stake in this election and that they can trust Obama to work for them.

To learn more about the historically strong relationship between American Jews and African Americans, listen to this wonderful documentary, “Can You Hear Me?”, co-produced by Claire Schoen Productions and A Traveling Jewish Theatre. As Claire Schoen said, “Our story, the story of Blacks and Jews, is about a history of brotherhood and the commonality of purpose.”

This week we read about Bikkurim, the first fruit offerings Jewish farmers in the Holy Land were commanded to bring in thanksgiving to G-d for the land and its produce. On a basic level, Bikkurim remind us never to become ungrateful for the things we are blessed with in life.

Interestingly, the law only took effect fourteen years after the Jewish people entered the Promised Land. It took seven years to conquer and another seven to apportion the land amongst the twelve tribes of Israel. Only when that process was completed did the law of the first fruits become applicable.

But why? Surely there were quite a few tribes who were settled earlier. No doubt, some of the farmers who had received their allotted land had planted and seen the first fruits of their labors. Why then were they not required to show their appreciation immediately by bringing the Bikkurim offering?

The opening sketch of last weekend's season premiere of Saturday Night Live took America by storm. The joint address to the nation by “Sarah Palin” (Tina Fey) and “Hillary Clinton” (Amy Poehler) had virtually everyone who watched it, including the candidates, in stitches.

Since its debut on-line less than a week ago, the sketch has been viewed over four million times. If there's anything we've learned from the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, it's that four million people can't be wrong, right?

Seriously, folks, click here to watch, but be warned: it gets just a little bit edgy at the end.

In the nine days since we asked you to support the Obama for America campaign by donating to it through the Jews for Obama donation page, our donation total has gone up by over $4,000, a 50% increase which puts us in fifth place out of over 780 groups who have raised money for Obama.

All we need is 75 more $25 donors to catapult us into third place and keep helping Obama win this election. Obama will need to spend $39 million between now and the election in Florida alone. He needs our support!

Click here to help us reach our goal. Don't forget to bookmark our donation page, and visit it the next time you're reminded how important it is for us to win this election!