We’ve repeatedly seen Tea Party groups engaging in this type of behavior, and we demand that Republicans, including Tea Party mouthpieces Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN), condemn this crass political stunt.

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I know that foreign aid is one of the least popular expenditures - even though it amounts to less than one percent of the federal budget. But foreign assistance cannot be viewed as charity. It is fundamental to our national security, and any sensible long-term strategy to battle extremism. Moreover, foreign assistance is a tiny fraction of what we spend fighting wars that our assistance might ultimately prevent.

In a world that is becoming increasingly globalized, it is great to see that President Obama understands foreign aid’s importance. As President Obama indicated, foreign aid is a “tiny fraction of what we spend fighting wars,” and yet surprisingly, it serves as our country’s first line of defense. Because of the aid our country provides, we are able to safely and securely promote American interests abroad without putting any troops on the ground.

Our assistance helps developing nations build stronger economies and plays a part in securing a robust global market. Equally as important, our aid programs fight diseases, provide natural disaster relief and promote stability to previously unstable governments.

All too often, American citizens - including our elected officials - seemingly forget these truths. There are countless of in-plain-sight instances where foreign aid has been mutually beneficial to the U.S. and a recipient. Take Israel for example. Because of increased U.S. security assistance to Israel under the Obama administration, our two countries have been able to fund some of the most advanced weapons defense systems in the world including the Arrow, David’s Sling and Iron Dome. This was on full display last fall during Pillar of Defense when the Iron Dome allowed the time to properly negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas.

Foreign aid is a seriously important tool, and President Obama made that evident in yesterday’s speech. Hopefully, the message was also clear to both policymakers and the American public. Foreign aid needs to continue to be a centerpiece of our national security.

For a full transcript and video of Obama’s speech, please click here.

The new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center indicating that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has chosen a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens to serve as a campaign co-chair is deeply disturbing for all Americans. But as an American Jew, this is particularly unsettling given the CCC’s links to anti-Semitism. It is unacceptable for any politician to accept support from someone affiliated with an SPLC-designated white nationalist hate group, let alone select one as a co-chair of her re-election campaign’s grassroots steering committee. Haley must drop the support or have her campaign defined by her co-chair’s hateful affiliation.

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s report is available here. SPLC reported:

In anticipation of her 2014 re-election campaign, the Tea Party darling has put together a 164-member steering committee comprising folks from all 46 of her state’s counties. And on that list is one “Republican leader” and Tea Party activist named Roan Garcia-Quintana of Greenville.

The name won’t ring many bells outside of the South Carolina political world. But he’s better known in white nationalist, anti-immigrant and neo-Confederate circles.

Garcia-Quintana is a lifetime member and current board member of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), which is listed as a white nationalist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The CCC is the linear descendant of the old White Citizens Councils, which were formed in the 1950s and 1960s to battle school desegregation in the South, and has evolved into a crudely racist organization. Its website, for example, has published pictures comparing pop singer Michael Jackson to an ape and referred to blacks as “a retrograde species of humanity.”

Garcia-Quintana is also a rabid nativist, even though he’s a naturalized citizen who was born in Havana. He’s executive director of the anti-immigrant group Americans Have Had Enough, based in Mauldin, S.C., where he lives. At the 2008 CCC conference held in Sheffield, Ala., Garcia-Quintana referred to Latino immigration as an “illegal alien invasion.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League both published background information on the Council of Conservative Citizens detailing the organization’s long anti-Semitic history.

“As long as Iran continues to pursue a nuclear and ballistic missile program in defiance of multiple UN Security Council Resolutions, the U.S. will target and disrupt those involved in Iran’s illicit activities. We will continue to work with our international partners to intensify this pressure and tighten sanctions on Iran’s energy sector as it provides much needed financial support for the Iranian regime’s proliferation activity.”

Treasury’s announcement further detailed those being targeted:

The designations focus on entities and individuals supporting previously designated entities within Iran’s proliferation network as well as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO), and Iran’s Ministry of Defense for Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).  These organizations are at the center of Iran’s continued proliferation activities.  

To read the full release from the US Treasury Department click here

After the votes were cast, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez said in a press release:

“Iran’s provocative actions threaten not just regional stability, but pose an existential threat to our ally Israel, and clearly are a very real threat to U.S. national security.  Iran’s leaders must understand, that unless they change course their situation will only get worse. Their economic struggles and international isolation will only grow,” said Menendez. “While this resolution makes absolutely clear that we are not authorizing the use of force, it does make clear that we have Israel’s back. If Israel is compelled to take military action in self-defense against Iran’s nuclear program, we should stand with Israel - using all the tools of our national power - to assist Israel in defense of its territory, people and existence.”

For the full press release and video of Senator Menendez speaking on the Senate floor, please click here.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, John, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to Jerusalem. You’re an old, personal friend and a longstanding friend of Israel. And that friendship was demonstrated in President Obama’s historic visit here in March ... We’ll discuss Iran. We’ll discuss the terrible harm to stability in Syria. But above all, what we want to do is to restart the peace talks with the Palestinians. You’ve been working at it a great deal. We’ve been working at it together. It’s something I want. It’s something you want. It’s something I hope the Palestinians want as well. And we ought to be successful for a simple reason: When there’s a will, we’ll find a way.

SECRETARY KERRY: My pleasure. We were just saying what a pleasure it is; it’s always wonderful to come back to Israel, and particularly to Jerusalem. It’s a pleasure for me to visit with my friend of many years now - longer than we can count - Bibi Netanyahu. And I’m really grateful to him for the seriousness with which he is working and undertaking the homework that President Obama asked all of us to engage in when he came here on his visit.

There have been some very serious meetings, a lot of very serious discussions. We’re working with the Prime Minister, with Minister Tzipi Livni, with military - General John Allen was here on the ground, working with his counterparts on the issues of security. I would reiterate that the United States of America is committed now, as it always has been and will be, to the security of Israel. The security of Israel is paramount in our discussions with respect to the peace process.

...

On Syria, I just came from a meeting in Amman with 10 other ministers. They all agreed and are committed to try to move towards a negotiated solution. Nobody has any illusions about how difficult, complicated, what a steep climb that is. But we also understand that the killing that is taking place, the massacres that are taking place, the incredible destabilization of Syria, is spilling over into Lebanon, into Jordan, and has an impact, obviously, on Israel. So we have an obligation to try to see if we can implement Geneva One. Again, we’re aware of the pitfalls, but I think the Prime Minister knows better than anybody what the implications of these security threats are. 

And S-300 missiles coming from Russia or other countries - from Iran, missiles - are destabilizing to the region. The United States is committed not only in its defense of Israel, but in its concerns for the region, to try to address this issue. 

For the full script of the press conference, please click here.

83 years ago, Harvey was born to Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants in New York City. In 1973, Harvey moved to San Francisco and, in one of the gutsiest moves in American political history, ran for public office. Although, his bid for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was unsuccessful, it would not be the last time Milk sought public office. In 1975 Milk supported California State Senator George Moscone in his successful run for Mayor of San Francisco. Because of his loyalty to Moscone, Milk was appointed to the city’s Board of Permit Appeals. While on that board Milk not only advocated for gay rights, but also seniors. After a failed attempt to run for State Assembly, in 1978 Milk once again ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisor and become the first openly gay man ever elected to a major public office in the United States. Milk used his position to vocally advocate for equal rights and fight against discrimination.

Milk tragically died on November 27, 1978 when Dan White shot and killed Mayor Moscone and Milk.

As the Anti-Defamation League notes:

”[Even though] Milk served less than a year in public office before he was brutally assassinated by another city supervisor…his life profoundly changed a city, state, nation and a global community. His courage, passion and sense of justice rocked a country and stirred the very core of a put-down and pushed-out community, bringing forward new hope and a new vision of freedom.”

If you are looking to join the NJDC family and stay up to date, please click here. We look forward to seeing you at our next event!

“The truth is that Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are such an essential part of who we are that it’s fair to say that Jewish heritage is American heritage.”

Vice President also described how Jewish values are woven into American history:

“So many notions that are embraced by this nation that particularly emanate from over 5,000 years of Jewish history, tradition and culture: independence, individualism, fairness, decency, justice, charity. These are all as you say, as I learned early on as a Catholic being educated by my friends, this tzedakah.”

This Tea Party ticket does not align with the views of most Jewish voters. Here are some highlights from Cuccinelli’s, Jackson’s, and Obenshain’s records:

On Equal Rights for Gays and Lesbians:

Cuccinelli on homosexuality: “Homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong.”

Jackson also said: “New York’s decision to allow same-sex people to marry is another government sledgehammer used to shatter our Judeo-Christian culture. As a black American, proud of our civil rights progress, I speak for most black citizens when I say it is offensive that sexual preference has been elevated to the equivalent of a racial characteristic such as skin color. The two could not be more dissimilar. One is an outward characteristic. The other is sexual behavior. It denigrates the illustrious struggle for equality for Americans of African descent to associate us with the homosexual demand that society accept and approve their behavior.”

On Women’s Rights:

Cuccinelli compared a woman’s right to choose with the battle to end slavery: “Our experience as a country has demonstrated that on one issue just after another. Start right at the beginning, slavery. Today, abortion. You know, history has shown us what the right position was.”

Cuccinelli was also so vehemently opposed to the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate that he said going to jail would be an effective way to protest the clause. He said, “My local bishop said he told a group, ‘Well, you know, I told a group I’m ready to go to jail.’ And I told him, ‘Bishop ... you need to go to jail.”

Jackson equated Planned Parenthood with the Ku Klux Klan: “The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was. And the Democrat Party and the black civil rights allies are partners in this genocide.”

Obenshain tried to criminalize miscarriages: In 2009, Obenshain introduced a bill that would have required women to report a miscarriage within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year. Under the bill, “When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion, the mother or someone acting on her behalf shall, within 24 hours, report the fetal death, location of the remains, and identity of the mother to the local or state police or sheriff’s department of the city or county where the fetal death occurred ... Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.”

On Obamacare:

Cuccinelli tried to sue the Federal Government over the Affordable Care Act: Five minutes after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, Cuccinelli walked straight to Richmond’s federal courthouse to sue the Federal Government. Cuccinelli said in a press conference four months after filing the lawsuit, “It is not essentially about health care, it’s about liberty. If the government prevails in this suit and Congress can force Americans to buy health insurance in the name of regulating commerce, then congress will have been granted a virtually unlimited power to order you to buy anything.”

On Climate Change:

Cuccinelli started an anti-climate change witch hunt in Virginia: In 2010, Cuccinelli demanded the University of Virginia turn over documents that former Professor Michael Man had used to receive grant money for global warming research. Cuccinelli said the request was part of an “open inquiry” into whether there were “knowing inconsistencies” as Mann was seeking taxpayer dollars. Three months later, Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. ruled that Cuccinelli can investigate fraud in potential university grants, but he said that Cuccinelli’s subpoena failed to state a real “reason to believe” that Mann had committed fraud.

On President Obama’s Citizenship and Background:

Cuccinelli previously embraced the birther movement: In 2009, a conservative radio host asked Cuccinelli if he could legally challenge President Obama’s citizenship. He responded, “Well only if there is a conflict where we are suing the federal government for a law they’ve passed. So it’s possible. [...] Well, that’s a good question. Not one I’ve thought a lot about because it hasn’t been part of my campaign. Someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility.” Cuccinelli has since walked backed his comments by saying, “I absolutely believe that President Obama was born in the United States. I don’t buy into the claims that he wasn’t. On the recording, I was asked a hypothetical legal question, and I gave a hypothetical legal answer in response.”

Jackson on President Obama’s foreign policy: “Obama clearly has Muslim sensibilities. He sees the world and Israel from a Muslim perspective. His construct of ‘The Muslim World’ is unique in modern diplomacy. It is said that only The Muslim Brotherhood and other radical elements of the religion use that concept. It is a call to unify Muslims around the world. It is rather odd to hear an American President use it. In doing so he reveals more about his thinking than he intends. The dramatic policy reversal of joining the unrelentingly ant-Semitic, anti-Israel and pro-Islamic UN Human Rights Council is in keeping with the President’s truest - albeit undeclared - sensibilities.”

After Jackson’s nomination, current Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling spoke out against Jackson’s comments by telling Politico, “These kinds of comments are simply not appropriate, especially not from someone who wants to be a standard bearer for our party and hold the second highest elected office in our state. They feed the image of extremism, and that’s not where the Republican Party needs to be.”