DISCLOSURE: Before I begin, a little disclosure. First off, I'm a former Clinton supporter; now I'm an Obama supporter, as of June 4th. Second, I'm a Jew and I support our government's support of the State of Israel. Third, like millions of Jews in the U.S. and Israel, I'm
strongly against the Israeli government's hardline approach as far as its dealings with the Arab community--and the Palestinian issues in general--are concerned. Fourth, my father-in-law, who passed away in 2005, ran the Mideast desk of the U.S. Army's Defense Logistics Command during the Yom Kippur War. As a result of that--as you'll read in more detail below--he was very much on the front line of
Operation Nickel Grass in 1973. So, please be clear here when I say I am in favor of our country's ongoing support of Israel as far as military materiel assistance is concerned.
The above being said, it's becoming rather clear to this diarist that there's an 800-lb. gorilla in the room this year with regard to what's little more than a lamely obfuscated attempt by our current administration in power to hide the fact that
U.S. taxpayers--above and beyond traditional campaign matching funds--are very much involved in funding both Senator McCain's, and the entire GOP effort this cycle.
Here's the basic money/food chain:
1.) The U.S. government will provide somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.555 billion in foreign aid to Israel in 2008, alone. In fact, when taking into account annual assistance from a slew of other U.S. governmental agencies, actual annual aid to Israel is much greater than the officially-quoted $2.555 billion I mention here. Aside from this reality being common knowledge on the Hill, personally, I know this to be a fact based upon first-hand information I've received on this matter from sources that will remain anonymous.
2.) The state of Israel hired the 501(c)3 group, Freedom's Watch, to lobby the U.S. government on its behalf. (NOTE: Freedom's Watch is not a 527 group, and therefore, under the guise of their non-profit/501(c)3 status, they are not compelled to disclose the source of their funding and spending to the extent that they would be required to do so if they were structured as a 527.)
Back in the day--before we had a Judiciary Branch that was run like a political organization--as my father-in-law used to regale me, "When it came down to supporting Israel with materiel, we delivered our goods first and hopefully noone asked questions later."
Like our situation with Iran, today, Operation Nickel Grass was an event where U.S. actions directly precipitated a major gas shortage. What do you think will happen if Israel, regardless of whether it's supported by the U.S. overtly or covertly, goes on the offensive against Iran in the next few months? Could our country even withstand the economic and political fallout--literally and figuratively--from that kind of action now?
Under the umbrella of their 501(c)3 status, the public will probably never know how many millions of dollars Israel's pouring into their lobbying program at Freedom's Watch.
3.) Freedom's Watch is pouring upwards of $250 million in "527-like support" into a lengthy list of Congressional and Senate races this cycle, as well as supporting general (and, obviously, Republican), issues-based media initiatives that are rather clearly spelled-out in a link on the Freedom's Watch homepage.
Per a press release they issued this past Wednesday, June 18th, here's a list of the congressional districts being targeted by Freedom's Watch in their first major round of robo-calling:
AZ-5, AZ-08, CA-11, FL-16, GA-08, IL-08, KS-02, KS-03, KY-03, NH-01, NH-02, NY-20, OH-18, PA-04, PA-10, and PA-11.
Here's Freedom's Watch' so-called "bi-partisan" issues platform:
A Strong Economy - Freedom's Watch believes the keys to a strong economy are to lower taxes; keep interest rates stable and inflation in check; cut government red tape; reduce federal spending; eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse; and enact tort reform to end frivolous lawsuits.
Threat from Radical Islam - Freedom's Watch believes that victory is the only option in Iraq and the War on Terror, and that the threat from Iran is real - Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
Support for the Troops - Freedom's Watch never forgets the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform and supports enhancing the quality of life of military personnel and their families.
Quality Health Care - Freedom's Watch supports legislative efforts to increase access to and affordability of private-sector health care by using tax incentives and free market principles; we oppose attempts to put the government in charge of health care.
A Strong National Defense - Freedom's Watch believes we must rebuild a military that was systematically underfunded during the Clinton years, which means increasing the size of the force; improving readiness; investing in modernization and more equipment; and improving intelligence gathering.
Securing Our Borders -Freedom's Watch believes that our borders must be secured, immigration laws enforced, and assimilation encouraged.
Illegal Drugs - Freedom's Watch opposes the legalization of illicit drugs and supports a drug policy that is both tough and humane, and based on enforcement, prevention, and treatment.
Picking Sound Judges -Freedom's Watch will vigorously support strict constructionists and oppose liberal activist judicial nominees to our highest courts - it is critical that judges follow the law and not legislate from the bench.
Opposing Big Labor's Radical Agenda - Freedom's Watch opposes Big Labor's efforts to expand union membership through coercion and intimidation, and we will stand up to the labor boss' radical agenda of higher taxes and more government control of the economy.
4.) While claiming otherwise, it would appear that Freedom's Watch is blatantly subsidizing (to the tune of $500,000-plus) Karl Rove's de facto consulting work on behalf of the GOP and the McCain campaign's efforts this cycle, as well. There were numerous reports over the past four days relating to this fact; so many of them, that I'm not even going to bother wasting time with links.
Among the many other bits and pieces of damning information, I believe it's pertinent to mention that none other than Ari Fleischer--Dubya's most well-known former mouthpiece--is the leading in-house communications strategist at Freedom's Watch, as well.
5. It's becoming clear, especially in the past few days, that there's a bit of gloating going on within our Party with regard to a supposed lack of 527 activity on behalf of the Rethugs up until now. I beg to differ. The GOP'ers are just warming up. Particularly representative of our (Democrat's) rather complacent mentality would be a piece I read today by Jonathan Martin on Politico, entitled: "GOP third-party effort nonexistent."
IMHO, Mr. Martin has it all wrong. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Starting with the calculating 501(c)3 status of "Freedom's Watch," the largest and most legally unaccountable soft-money bankroll in American political history, Democrats are about to face an onslaught of propaganda unlike anything we've ever witnessed. The Republicans are going to be sneakier, more out-of-bounds, more manipulative, and more grass roots-oriented in their spending than ever. It will be fierce. We will be blindsided daily. Many times, we probably won't even know it! Worse than that, we won't even know who's funding it! What we do know is that the State of Israel is the largest client of record cutting checks to this group. And, that's further reinforced by the exceptionally deep pockets of rightwing, conservative activists such as Sheldon Adelson.
Karl Rove is in stealth mode, being subsidized by a "non-profit" lobbying group: Freedom's Watch!
Referencing Jonathan Martin's piece, McCain's claiming he "won't accept funds from 527's!" Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.
Guess what? Freedom's Watch is NOT a 527!
Then again, even in his piece on Politico today, Martin acknowledges this semantics play by the McCain campaign now:
While Bush spoke out against third-party activity in 2004, it was widely understood in the Republican political community to have been done with a wink and a nod.
McCain, too, has eased somewhat off his harder line of late.
Since speaking out this spring against a North Carolina Republican Party ad that invoked Obama and his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and angering conservatives who see the use of such associations as imperative to winning in an otherwise tough year for the GOP, McCain has said that he won't play the role of "referee" about every ad that is aired.
Told that party allies were hesitant to form groups out of fear that they'd never be able to do business with or even darken the door of a McCain White House, a top campaign adviser suggested that the candidate who rebuked the Swift Boat Veterans might not do the same this time when it's his name on the ballot and there are similar third-party attacks being waged against him.
"He wishes that 527s did not exist on either side," said McCain strategist Steve Schmidt. "But he understands that they do. And he certainly isn't going to say that one side should have them and one side should not in the context of a presidential campaign."
This week, while we sit around slapping ourselves on the back, we're already being blindsided!
Just ask all of our Democratic incumbents in AZ-5, AZ-08, CA-11, FL-16, GA-08, IL-08, KS-02, KS-03, KY-03, NH-01, NH-02, NY-20, OH-18, PA-04, PA-10, and PA-11! (See "#3," above.) I think they would probably agree with my assessment now, as well.
What we are witnessing, at least to some extent, is a heavily-subsidized (by US taxpayer funds) foreign government bankrolling the same firm that's running the lion's share of one political party's operations this cycle. Shouldn't there be a law against this somewhere? Sometime? My strong support for Israel--complete with pride for related family history and related accomplishment--notwithstanding, I don't want any foreign government interfering (even tangentially) in my country's election processes. Why aren't we hearing more about these massive conflicts of interest now?
Wake up my fellow Democrats!
There's a light at the end of this tunnel, and it IS a train. The engineers of that train are none other than Ari Fleischer and Karl Rove.