Freedom to vote

As an American and a Jew, I am outraged and insulted that someone would tell me what party not to vote for as a result of a single issue. There are many issues for which Republicans have either voted no or not allowed a vote to take place.

Where do they stand on health care, vote no or repeal the Affordable Care Act without having a fair and just replacement.  The same is true for investment in infrastructure, (roads, bridges, etc.), climate change, women’s health issues (defunding Planned Parenthood), voters’ rights, immigration, fair tax policy, regulations, (cars, food and financial institutions). There are many other issues where the Republicans vote on the side of the billionaires instead of voting for what the other 99 percent favor. We vote for individuals with whom we agree on a number of issues, not just one issue. The main theme of the Republican Party now and in past years is to cut taxes and cut spending and everything will be fine. Right now they don’t even know how to manage their own party.  How will they be able to govern our country?

As far as the Iran deal is concerned, the naysayers never came up with an alternative other than to use force to compel Iran to stop their nuclear program. Because I am Jewish, do I have to go in lockstep with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s direction? Am I not allowed to review the Iran deal and form my own opinion that no deal is much worse than the deal the United States and five other nations have entered into? We saw what happened when President George Bush forced us to go to war with Iraq. Do we need to have our brave soldiers killed at this time when there is a possibility that the nuclear issue could be resolved peaceably? The United States is strong enough to choose diplomacy at this time instead of war.

There is no one party more favorable to Israel than the other party. Some argue that the Republicans are Israel’s saviors, but they forget the amount of military aid, weapons, intelligence and millions of dollars that have been given to Israel by Democrats legislators.

I am aghast at the millions of dollars spent by AIPAC, J Street and  affiliated organizations and Jewish individuals, both supporters and the opponents of the Iran deal. The money would have been better spent on Jewish education in the United States. I think that all those organizations and individuals should match the funds they have spent and donate them to Jewish educational organizations.

I want to state my resentment of Netanyahu’s appearance before our Congress without receiving an invitation by our president. How would the Israelis feel if President Barack Obama spoke to the Israeli parliament regarding how they should vote for a particular policy? The actions of Netanyahu are unforgivable when he pokes his nose into American politics. What country will he run to when he needs help for the safety of Israel? It will be all of the United States and not just the Republican Party and don’t let the no-deal people and Netanyahu forget that.

Arthur I. Fixler is past president of the Holocaust Education and Research Center of Rhode Island and a member of Temple Emanuel.