Post by TomLine on Apr 3, 2017 9:53:51 GMT -5
ISRAELI-AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
by Tom Lineaweaver
WITH THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE THIS IS WHAT THE FLAG SHOULD LOOK LIKE
by Tom Lineaweaver
WITH THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE THIS IS WHAT THE FLAG SHOULD LOOK LIKE
Our Government is bought and paid for by Israeli Lobbies. For example:
Article: Senator Tom Cotton Received Nearly $1 Mil To Oppose Iran Deal
The group paid $960,250 to Cotton’s campaign, soon after which he lead the writing of an open-letter, signed by 47 Republicans, stating that a GOP White House would not adhere to any accords with Iran.
By American Herald Tribune | January 11, 2016
Link: www.mintpressnews.com/senator-tom-cotton-received-nearly-1-mil-to-oppose-iran-deal/212632/
Sen. Tom Cotton with PM Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office, September 31, 2015 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Text: The historic nuclear accord with Iran, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was negotiated for months and finally signed by Iran and the U.S., UK, Russia, China, France (the P5) and Germany (+1) on 14 July, 2015.
Under the arrangement Iran has pledged to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, decrease its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98% and reduce approximately two-thirds the total number of gas centrifuges for 13 years.
In exchange for Iran’s adherence to these terms, the UN Security Council members have agreed to reduce sanctions on the Islamic Republic. For example, the U.S. is obligated to end all “secondary” sanctions, meaning those imposed on other countries to prohibit their business with Iran. The European Union will lift its own sanctions, effectively unfreezing some $100 billion in assets–this number is an estimate from the U.S. Treasury Department–currently tied up in overseas bank accounts. In addition, the member states will refrain from imposing any new sanctions on Iran.
The deal is objectively good but perhaps more importantly, it has allowed both the West and Iran to declare victories through diplomacy, avoiding any military action.
Israel remains obstinate on the deal, as it was all throughout negotiations; Prime Minister Netanyahu even went so far as to bypass President Obama and give a fiery speech before the United States Congress in March, lambasting the deal and an open relationship with Iran.
Speaking before the largely Republican Congress, Netanyahu said “This deal won’t be a farewell to arms,” to which the lawmakers applauded. “It would be a farewell to arms control. And the Middle East would soon be crisscrossed by nuclear tripwires. A region where small skirmishes can trigger big wars would turn into a nuclear tinderbox.”
As yet, no bigger wars have been triggered by the Iran deal, and early indications show the deal will have a positive impact on strengthening relations with the West.
But as a report by PressTV alleges, the Israel lobby paid off Republican Senators in Congress to oppose the deal. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas received nearly $1 million from the Emergency Committee for Israel, a U.S. based rightwing political advocacy organization.
The group paid $960,250 to Cotton’s campaign, soon after which he lead the writing of an open-letter, signed by 47 Republicans, stating that a GOP White House would not adhere to any accords with Iran.
Cotton has kowtowed to the Israel lobby in the past, just as most other Republican lawmakers in Congress. During a July visit to Israel Cotton claimed “I will stand with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel and work with my colleagues in Congress to stop this deal.”
Aside from obstructionism against the Iran deal, Netanyahu and the Israel lobby collude with Republican lawmakers to maintain the occupation of Palestine, securing huge sums of military aid and characterizing opponents as anti-Israel.
Stories published in our Hot Topics section are chosen based on the interest of our readers. They are republished from a number of sources, and are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in these articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Mint Press News editorial policy.
The group paid $960,250 to Cotton’s campaign, soon after which he lead the writing of an open-letter, signed by 47 Republicans, stating that a GOP White House would not adhere to any accords with Iran.
By American Herald Tribune | January 11, 2016
Link: www.mintpressnews.com/senator-tom-cotton-received-nearly-1-mil-to-oppose-iran-deal/212632/
Sen. Tom Cotton with PM Netanyahu in his Jerusalem office, September 31, 2015 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)Text: The historic nuclear accord with Iran, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was negotiated for months and finally signed by Iran and the U.S., UK, Russia, China, France (the P5) and Germany (+1) on 14 July, 2015.
Under the arrangement Iran has pledged to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, decrease its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98% and reduce approximately two-thirds the total number of gas centrifuges for 13 years.
In exchange for Iran’s adherence to these terms, the UN Security Council members have agreed to reduce sanctions on the Islamic Republic. For example, the U.S. is obligated to end all “secondary” sanctions, meaning those imposed on other countries to prohibit their business with Iran. The European Union will lift its own sanctions, effectively unfreezing some $100 billion in assets–this number is an estimate from the U.S. Treasury Department–currently tied up in overseas bank accounts. In addition, the member states will refrain from imposing any new sanctions on Iran.
The deal is objectively good but perhaps more importantly, it has allowed both the West and Iran to declare victories through diplomacy, avoiding any military action.
Israel remains obstinate on the deal, as it was all throughout negotiations; Prime Minister Netanyahu even went so far as to bypass President Obama and give a fiery speech before the United States Congress in March, lambasting the deal and an open relationship with Iran.
Speaking before the largely Republican Congress, Netanyahu said “This deal won’t be a farewell to arms,” to which the lawmakers applauded. “It would be a farewell to arms control. And the Middle East would soon be crisscrossed by nuclear tripwires. A region where small skirmishes can trigger big wars would turn into a nuclear tinderbox.”
As yet, no bigger wars have been triggered by the Iran deal, and early indications show the deal will have a positive impact on strengthening relations with the West.
But as a report by PressTV alleges, the Israel lobby paid off Republican Senators in Congress to oppose the deal. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas received nearly $1 million from the Emergency Committee for Israel, a U.S. based rightwing political advocacy organization.
The group paid $960,250 to Cotton’s campaign, soon after which he lead the writing of an open-letter, signed by 47 Republicans, stating that a GOP White House would not adhere to any accords with Iran.
Cotton has kowtowed to the Israel lobby in the past, just as most other Republican lawmakers in Congress. During a July visit to Israel Cotton claimed “I will stand with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel and work with my colleagues in Congress to stop this deal.”
Aside from obstructionism against the Iran deal, Netanyahu and the Israel lobby collude with Republican lawmakers to maintain the occupation of Palestine, securing huge sums of military aid and characterizing opponents as anti-Israel.
Stories published in our Hot Topics section are chosen based on the interest of our readers. They are republished from a number of sources, and are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in these articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Mint Press News editorial policy.
Article: The Best Congress AIPAC Can Buy
By L. Michael Hager | Mar 22, 2016
Link: www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/03/22/the-best-congress-aipac-can-buy/
By L. Michael Hager | Mar 22, 2016
Link: www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/03/22/the-best-congress-aipac-can-buy/
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Conference at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 2014. (US State Department)Text: For the sake of our democracy, the flow of interest group money that is buying off our elected lawmakers must be stopped.
Nowhere is the influence and power of a political lobby more evident than in the annual Policy Conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
This year’s Conference takes place in Washington, DC on March 20-22. An event that rivals the President’s annual State of the Union message, the gathering has drawn nearly 400 confirmed speakers, including Vice President Joe Biden and Presidential candidates Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, who will address more than 15,000 pro-Israel Americans (including 2/3 of the current Members of Congress). According to the Lobby’s website, the event is the “largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community.”
Among the confirmed speakers are 30 members of the U.S. Congress, 25 of whom received 2016 contributions from pro-Israel PACs and individuals, averaging $36,000 per recipient ($908,000 in total). From each of those speakers, AIPAC gains a public expression of high level support for Israel. [Note: the contribution figures come from opensecrets.org, a project of the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.]
Among the presidential candidates for 2015-16, AIPAC generated contributions in the amount of $212,927 for Hillary Clinton and $203,850 for Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio received $132,552 and Lindsey Graham $74,200. No surprise that all of those candidates have pledged “full support” for Israel.
There is nothing illegal or morally wrong with lobbying Congress or candidates for office. In fact, it can serve a useful purpose in educating members and candidates about matters subject to legislation. The problem comes when the lobbyists use money to secure access or buy support for proposed bills and resolutions.
AIPAC itself does not make political contributions and is in fact legally prohibited from doing so. Instead it uses its considerable resources ($3 million annual lobbying budget) to link current and aspiring members of Congress with pro-Israel donors. AIPAC’s projection of invincibility encourages political candidates and officeholders to accept pro-Israel contributions or risk seeing those funds go to their opponents. For example, former Congressman Paul Findley and former Senator Charles Percy lost their seats for failure to adhere to the AIPAC line.
The AIPAC-led pro-Israel lobby is probably the strongest, best organized and most effective lobby network in Washington DC. For the 2015-2016 election cycle, the pro-Israel network has already dispensed $4,255,136 in contributions. The largest single amount ($259,688) went to Senator Charles Schumer of New York.
Among interest groups that lobby on behalf of a foreign government, none ranks higher in contributions to members of Congress than the pro-Israel lobby.
To illustrate how such contributions influence legislative action, take two pro-Israel bills introduced on February 10, 2016, one in the House and one in the Senate, both with the title: “Combatting BDS Act of 2016.” H.R.4514, introduced by Illinois Congressman Bob Dold, has 22 cosponsors; of those 23 members, 12 receive 2016 pro-Israel lobby contributions averaging $23K. S. 2531, introduced by Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, has 17 cosponsors; of the 18 cosponsors, 15 receive 2016 pro-Israel lobby contributions that average $60K.
Several of those members of Congress who cosponsored the pro-Israel bill, but without 2016 contributions, received substantial gift money during the six years period 2009-2015. A maplight.org table shows that among House bill sponsors Bob Dold (who introduced the bill) received $118K; Kathleen Rice $49K; Jackie Walorski $46K; Doug Lamborn $37K, Trent Franks 19K; and Steve Stivers $9K. Among Senate bill sponsors, Joe Manchin received $122K; Orin Hatch $92K; Ben Cardin $241K; and Dean Heller $71K. In sum, all of the Senate cosponsors and all but three of the House cosponsors are pro-Israel lobby recipients.
Israel gains additional paid support from Lobby-financed junkets for Congressional members and staff. See my earlier article entitled “Ethics and Apartheid: How Israel Junkets Undermine U.S. Democracy,” Foreign Policy Journal, February 2, 2016.
The appearance of conflict of interest erodes citizen trust in government. Given the critical importance of money for reelection campaigns, political contributions such as mentioned above have the potential to corrupt or create the appearance of corrupting otherwise honest officials.
Despite its current success in promoting anti-BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) resolutions and bills, the AIPAC juggernaut may be starting to weaken. For example, it failed to block the Defense Secretary nomination of Chuck Hagel in 2013. Even with enhanced lobbying money from Israel, it failed to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. And significantly, it has seen the number of Americans holding favorable views toward Israel decline by 16% (to 59%).
The funds generated by AIPAC and its donor network are only one part of a larger picture, dominated by congressional fundraising and lobby contributions. Defense, pharmaceuticals, the NRA and other lobbies are just as guilty as AIPAC for corrupting our government representatives with money to fuel their legislative agendas.
For the sake of our democracy, the flow of interest group money that is buying off our elected lawmakers must be stopped.
That's just two articles. There are more.
What about Trump? You can see about Trump here: line2016.freeforums.net/thread/548/donald-trump-israel-100-america
With all the talk about Russia interfering with the 2016 election, nothing is said about Israel interfering with our elections for a long time. But, they do it with money, paying Congressional leaders that support Israel at every turn. I guess paying Congress off is better than hacking on a computer.
Israel is not our friend. They have attacked us, murdered an American citizen, spied on us, and maybe did 911. See about it here: line2016.freeforums.net/thread/601/israel-friend
When I am President, Israel will get what they deserve.
LET US MAKE AMERICA FREE OF ISRAEL
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TOM LINEAWEAVER FOR PRESIDENT 2020
Come join the team: line2016.freeforums.net/thread/364/join-team
TOM LINEAWEAVER FOR PRESIDENT 2020