Jewish Groups To Challenge Ethics Reform
Nathan Guttman reports in The Forward:
Two of America’s most influential Jewish organizations are gearing up for their first direct confrontation with the incoming, Democratic-led Congress. The topic: Democratic proposals for congressional ethics and lobbying reform.
At issue are two key congressional perks, targeted for elimination, that Jewish organizations rely on to achieve community goals: overseas junkets, including dozens of trips to Israel each year, funded by Jewish organizations; and an estimated $25 million a year in earmarked funds for Jewish communal projects. Both the trips and the earmarked funding face possible elimination as part of the Democrats’ pledge to fight corruption on Capitol Hill.
[…]Most of the junkets are sponsored by the main pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, through its sister organization, the American Israel Education Foundation.
The fully funded Israel trips have gotten out of control. And f’it…I’ll say it. I’m sick of hearing wealthy Jews brag about how they’re getting their 3rd trip to Israel…FOR FREE. Whoppee. If we have to sell Judaism to folks, especially rich folks, something’s very, very wrong. They should lose their funding. Other than JFS and JIAS, most UJA committees are coffee/danish meetings for wealthy Jews, deciding how the other 97% of Jewry should live.
Point taken shtreimel but this story is about public officials being given expensive junkets from lobbyists when in theory they are not allowed to take gifts of more than $75 in value
How about Jewish organizations stop being corrupt and start being Jewish? We’re way over our heads in shit from the schnorr industry. Jewish independence means just that: no dependence.
(Ah, but we are dependent? so much for the zionist dream)
I could live with this if another of the new rules was that nobody from the State Department can accept employment from Saudi Arabia after they leave State (or during, for that matter).
hmm, the Jewish community is OPPOSED to anti-corruption legislation? We have sunk to a new low ladies and gentlemen.