The following bullet points are from a Jewish friend of mine. I asked him to hammer out several reasons Jews, who take their land and faith seriously, should not vote for Obama. Here’s just a smattering of the many reasons…
Israel: Much has been said regarding Obama’s supposed support for Israel. Many Obama apologists argue that American financial support for Israel remains high and that the United States military continues to participate in joint exercises with the Israeli Defense Force. Also, the apologists point to American financial support for Israel’s defense. However, all three of these points are political overstatements and coverups of Obama’s continued attempts to undermine Israel. Roughly, the United States has continued to provide approximately $3 billion dollars per year to Israel in military economic aid; however under Obama, sales of military end items are now conditioned on various things, including supposed progress in the peace process with the Palestinians. In contrast, the Obama administrations has sent $4 billion to Egypt (Muslim Brotherhood), Libya (who knows), and Pakistan (nuclear power); all of whom are not friendly to Israel. Specifically in the case of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has said it intends to maintain the 1979 peace treaty, though that would be counter to their recent (2011) co-sponsorship of a demonstration at Al-Azhar University (Obama’s “beacon of learning”) where the primary chant was “kill the Jews.” Similarly, despite the anti-Israel rhetoric spouted by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, Obama exerts pressure on Israel to make peace without resorting to the same techniques on the Palestinians.The United States military participation with Israel has been decreased under Obama. For example, joint military exercises had mostly been put on hold since 2009 when Israeli forces intercepted the Turkish ship Mavimara, which was purportedly on a humanitarian mission to Gaza, but its passengers were armed and they attacked the Israeli soldiers who boarded the ship. Additionally, the US recently pulled approximately 2/3 of the forces it originally committed to a missile defense joint exercise. Finally, Israel has been excluded from such events as the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum where Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Maria Otero (Obama appointee) did not even acknowledge Israel as a victim of terror.
Religion: Obama and the Democrats’ pre-eminent achievement is Obamacare. Much has been reported about the Obama administration’s directive to the Catholic Church to violate its beliefs and provide health care coverage for abortifacients. Similarly, traditional Jewish law does not endorse abortion. However, the abortion debate does not usually involve interpretation of Jewish law. Nevertheless, where there is smoke regarding the subversion of religious beliefs to the secular State there is fire. In California, there have been many attempts to ban circumcision, including ritual circumcision. In 2011, in Gavin Newsom’s San Francisco, the circumcision ban actually made the ballot, at least until a federal judge forced some sense and the First Amendment into the conversation and removed the ballot measure.
Energy policy: Obama’s stark anti-energy independence directly affects Jewish interests, including Israel. The less oil we obtain from our own vast reserves, the more we must import from anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American countries, which include: Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Contrary to administration statements, Obama’s Department of the Interior has not authorized any new drilling, but instead is riding the coattails of Bush administration drilling authorizations. The earliest Obama might consider oil leases in the Arctic is 2016, after he’s out of office.
Tikkun Olam: Literally translated this phrase means “repair the world.” Mostly, this phrase is used by Reform movement as part of their platform for social justice. Tikkun Olam is used as the catch phrase to encourage charitable giving and to perform volunteer work. Mitt Romney’s recent release of his tax records show he likely the better Tikkun Olam candidate because he regularly gives approximately 30% of annual income to charity and his volunteer work is well-reported. In contrast, Obama has historically donated approximately 5%, though in recent years the Obama family has upped their giving to 14% in 2010 and 21% in 2011.
Also, Obama can hardly be said to be repairing the world when he continually advocates for division between Americans. Whether the subject is race, age, religion, gender, citizenship or any other category, Obama is on the forefront of promoting the differences between people instead of our common goals. People should be required to show identification to purchase a firearm or an alcoholic beverage, but not to vote. However, if you had no identification at the Democratic National Convention, you were not getting in. Americans are now being divided by their household income because the “rich” should pay their fair share, but 47% of taxpayers are not contributing funds to support the services that everyone draws upon. Obama cannot have a rational discussion about Medicare or Social Security, which both need to be revised, but instead portrays potential reformers as granny-killers. The entitlement discussion directly ties to the Ten Commandments because we are instructed to honor our father and mother, but how can we when the current system may support our grandparents, but will not be solvent to help our parents?
Nevertheless, many will point to Obama’s empty rhetorical statements such as equal opportunity, support for Israel, respect for religions, and independent energy. However, in practice, Obama has fostered class warfare, support for anti-Israel regimes, religious suppression, and a less oil, and more bankruptcies (Solyndra, Abound Solar). Look past the teleprompter and all will see the emptiness of Obama and his policies.
