RUTHFULLY YOURS

FILING IS NOT CLOSED AND THE PRIMARY IS LATE SO THERE MAY BE CHANGES…BUT THE INCUMBENTS WILL REMAIN….FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS HAS THIS POSTED AT http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/massachusetts-2014-candidates-for-congress-where-they-stand?f=must_reads

Filing Deadline (Major Parties): June 3, 2014

Primary: September 9, 2014
To see the actual voting records of all incumbents on other issues such as Foreign Policy, Second Amendment Issues, Homeland Security, and other issues as well as their rankings by special interest groups please use the links followed by two stars (**).

U.S. SENATE
Elizabeth Warren (D) Next Election in 2018.

Ed Markey (D) Incumbent
http://www.edmarkey.com/
http://www.markey.senate.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Ed_Markey.htm **

Rated +2 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)

ISSUES
ENERGY
Ed’s taken on the Republicans’ “Drill, Baby, Drill” campaign by opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and helped prevent drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He secured funding to restore and re-sand America’s oldest public beach, Revere Beach and was instrumental in pushing to have the beach declared a National Historic landmark.
Investing in America’s largely untapped clean energy resources — especially wind, solar and geothermal power — will help create jobs, reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil, and keep the United States competitive in the global clean energy race. Markey is a Congressional champion for unleashing America’s clean energy revolution and creating the jobs that accompany increasing energy efficiency and harnessing clean energy resources. In the House of Representatives, Markey authored the renewable electricity standard in the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act. In the Senate, he introduced the American Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act, which would quadruple America’s clean energy production, create 400,000 jobs and save American households $90 billion by 2030.
HEALTHCARE
Voted for ObamaCare
Ed voted in support of ObamaCare, which builds on many of the improvements found in the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 legislation’s critical provisions include: 1) ending abusive health insurance practices like denying people health coverage based on pre-existing conditions and charging women higher premiums; 2) strengthening Medicare benefits and providing seniors a discount on certain prescription drugs; 3) allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance plan until they turn 26 years old; and 4) providing parity in coverage of mental illnesses.
Supporting Women’s Health
Congressman Markey is a strong proponent of ObamaCare, which ensures that preventive services – such as breast cancer screenings and contraception –are available free of charge.
Endorsed by NARAL, Ed is pro-choice and a strong champion of a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about her reproductive health. He voted against the “Stupak Amendment,” which would have denied women the ability to purchase private insurance plans that cover abortion services, even when using their own money. Ed believed this represented an unprecedented intrusion between a womanand her doctor, and he voted against it.
IMMIGRATION
Ed backs President Obama’s goals for improving our immigration system.
He’ll fight in the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration reform that encourages individuals who were educated here to innovate here, cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers, lays out a path to citizenship for the eleven million undocumented immigrants who are already here and allows the DREAM Act’s “dreamers” – those individuals who were brought here at a young age – to earn citizenship by serving in the U.S. military or pursuing higher education.

Frank Addivinola (R) Challenger
http://www.frankaddivinola.com/
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
All Americans should have access to affordable private health care coverage. I am against health care legislation that results in higher taxes, increased government spending and lower quality of health care and I will oppose such legislation.
I support implementation of policies within the private health care system that would reduce costs and make health insurance available and affordable for a wide range of Americans.
The issue of health care must be addressed and there are many items to be corrected such as fraud, abuse, waste, ineffective programs and more. The best way to make health coverage more affordable is to reduce health care delivery costs. Costs can be reduced by tort reform, tax reform, expansion of community health centers, encouragement of preventative care and other actions targeted on making health care less expensive.

I oppose any health care legislation that is designed not for the benefit of American people but for the benefit of big government, bureaucrats and special interest groups. I oppose any legislation that forces consumers to buy goods and services because it is against the fundamental values of our nation and the Constitution. I also oppose any health care “fix” that will end up costing a fortune to taxpayers or will deprive one group of individuals in order to benefit another.
IMMIGRATION
Our immigration laws should be designed to protect Americans, not to accommodate foreigners. All immigration laws should be enforced, and people who want to come to America permanently should follow the procedures.
We can’t punish legal immigrants with high costs and lengthy waiting times while rewarding illegal immigrants with “shortcuts”. We should protect our borders, enforce immigration laws, and – most importantly – eliminate incentives for illegal immigration to our country.
We must verify the legal status of everybody on entitlement programs and implement voter ID laws to ensure fair elections. I am opposed to amnesty because it rewards people that disregarded our immigration laws and places the people that are waiting for their chance to enter the USA at an unfair disadvantage.
The American government’s responsibility is to protect its taxpayers’ money and job opportunities. We should welcome people who come legally to become Americans as our ancestors did. All people who legally become American residents and citizens should be encouraged to learn our language and taxpayers should not pay for language accommodations for those unwilling to invest the time and effort to learn the language of their new country. Children and adults should be provided with opportunities to learn English. The necessity to learn English was the reason why the 20th century waves of immigrants became assimilated into the culture of the USA and built the backbone of our country today.
ENERGY
America’s energy policies should be designed to address two priorities – economic growth and energy independence.
The U.S. economy should not be manipulated by member nations of OPEC especially those that have hostile attitude towards America. Our energy policy should be focused on containing fuel prices instead of prioritizing incentives for alternative fuel sources.
While many alternative energy sources have great promise and should be explored, those sources should be developed through the free-market system, not through government influence on the markets. Our government should not force the taxpayers and consumers to pay these costs.
I will fight the regulatory frameworks that are now preventing the United States from becoming energy independent. As your U.S. Senator, I will support the energy initiatives such as:
• Building the Keystone Pipeline
• Opening new U.S. territories to responsible and safe oil and gas production
• Expanding natural gas production through “fracking”
• Reducing the EPA powers that stifle our energy production and increase production costs

Brian Herr (R) – Challenger
https://www.brianherr.com/

Bruce Skarin (Independent) -Challenger
http://www.bruce2014.org/

U.S. CONGRESS

District 1

Richard Neal (D) Incumbent
http://www.nealforcongress.com/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Richard_Neal.htm **
http://neal.house.gov/

ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
http://neal.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=370:neal-defends-obamacare-in-williamstown&catid=6:news-articles&Itemid=23
Neal Defends Obamacare in Williamstown
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With the Affordable Care Act looking like it is here to stay, Congress expects to continue tweaking the law.

In the State of the Union, President Barack Obama called on Congress to stop perpetual votes to repeal the act — Republicans have filed more than 40 repeal bills — and instead work on bettering it.

The Berkshire’s voice in the House of Representatives is happy with the bill and has aspects of it he will work to preserve.

“There will be opportunities to make changes. But not to miss the point, we are not going to change a ban on pre-existing conditions. We are not going to change capping out-of-pocket expenses, keeping 26-year-olds on their parents health care. Women’s health care and preventive services are expanded dramatically, that’s not going to change,” U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said on Friday after touring Williams College’s Thompson Health Center.
ENERGY
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Richard_Neal_Energy_+_Oil.htm
Voted NO on opening Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling.
Voted NO on barring EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.
Voted YES on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution.
Voted against construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.

District 2

Jim McGovern (D) Incumbent
http://jimmcgovern.com/
http://mcgovern.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Jim_Mcgovern.htm **
Rated +5 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
ISSUES

FOREIGN POLICY
The Congressman strongly believes that the U.S. embargo against Cuba and the travel ban that prohibits U.S. citizens from traveling to Cuba have long outlived their usefulness, and that they should be brought to an end. Such policies serve neither the American or Cuban peoples.
Congressman McGovern supports the Middle East peace process and believes that a “two-state” solution provides the best hope for long-term peace in the region. Jim has been a long-time and steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, and he believes that both the people of Israel and of the Palestinian territories have a right to a peaceful and prosperous existence.
HEALTHCARE
Strong support for Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
IMMIGRATION
Congressman McGovern recognizes the frustration many of his constituents have with our immigration policy and system, both citizens and immigrants alike.
It’s a serious problem, and it requires a serious solution.
The Congressman supports immigration reform with four key components: First, we must improve the effectiveness of our border security to prevent people from crossing the border illegally. Second, we must crack down on employers who recruit, hire and exploit illegal workers. Third, we must develop a common-sense approach to people who are already here illegally, to bring them out of the shadows and onto a path to citizenship. And fourth, we must have an effective and efficient system in place to process, in a timely manner, the large volume of requests to legally visit or immigrate to the United States.
ENERGY
Congressman McGovern believes that our future economic security and environmental sustainability depend on reducing our dependence on foreign oil, improving energy efficiency, and creating new, green jobs here at home. The Second District is home to companies developing many of the most promising technologies in renewable energy. The congressman will continue to support these businesses to grow and create new jobs.
Congressman McGovern has also been a champion in the effort to protect our environment. He believes it is vital to protect our air, water, and natural resources for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations of Americans. The Congressman spearheaded the effort to provide funding to states and local communities to preserve open space in urban and suburban communities.
Congressman McGovern strongly believes that BP – not the American taxpayer – is responsible for the long-term clean up of the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Voted against construction of the KeystoneXL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
Dan Dubrule (R) Challenger
http://www.danforma.com/

District 3

Niki Tsongas (D) Incumbent
http://nikitsongas.com/#
https://tsongas.house.gov/#dialog
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Niki_Tsongas.htm**
Rated -1 by AAI, indicating a mixed Arab/Palestine voting record. (May 2012)

ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
I strongly supported the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care reform legislation signed into law by President Obama in 2010. I supported the ACA because it was designed to improve the quality of our health care system, provide expanded access to care, and lower the cost of health insurance. This is an important piece of legislation that will continue to enact reforms as pieces come into effect in the years to come. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that repealing the Affordable Care Act would increase the deficit by $230 billion over the next decade, passing on more debt to our children and grandchildren. That is why I have consistently voted against repealing the ACA.

ENERGY
Voted against construction of the keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
Declaring energy independence by investing in the jobs of the future – because addressing climate change and reducing our dependence on foreign oil is not just about solving the global warming problem facing the next generation – it has the immediate effect of creating high paying job opportunities if we invest in alternative technologies now. And, companies right here in this district areleading the way by developing solar and fuel cell technology and new ways of transporting energy.
WOMEN’S ISSUES

Since women earned the right to vote 92 years ago, we have seen our rights and influence grow exponentially.
I am proud to join the 81 members of the Women’s Caucus in ensuring that our perspective is represented in the legislation Congress considers.
However, with progress come challenges. In Massachusetts, only five women have gone to Washington to represent the Commonwealth. Two of those women were elected in what is now the Third Congressional District (what used to be called the Fifth Congressional District). In 1925, five years after women earned the right to vote, this district elected Edith Nourse Rogers as the first woman from Massachusetts to serve in Congress; she still holds the record as the longest serving Congresswoman. In 2007, this district elected me to Congress as the first woman from Massachusetts in a quarter century. In 2012, Massachusetts elected its first woman Senator, Elizabeth Warren.

These challenges crystallize just how important it is to have women in power at the national and international level. Advancing equality for women isn’t just about specific initiatives – it is about bringing a woman’s perspective to the debate.

District 4

Joe Kennedy lll (D) Incumbent Elected in 2012
http://www.joekennedyforcongress.com/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Joe_Kennedy.htm**
http://kennedy.house.gov/
ISSUES
ENERGY
In an increasingly complex global landscape, our environment, economy, and energy sources are all interconnected. Congress needs to make wise decisions that foster economic growth today while protecting the global climate for generations to come.

A comprehensive energy policy should focus on conservation, optimal use of domestic resources, and investments that take a long-term view on research and development, renewable energy, and transportation infrastructure. As a member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, I support legislative efforts that reflect these priorities. In my capacity as a member of the Committee, I have repeatedly stood up against attempts to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce essential environmental regulations.
Moreover, I have worked with local municipalities to help them effectively implement new regulations, which can often be costly and difficult to navigate at first. After hearing about the high costs that several 4th District communities were facing in their attempts to be EPA compliant, I raised the issue with the EPA Administrator and have since been working with the Agency and local stakeholders to find a solution that is feasible for all parties involved.
Voted against construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
HEALTHCARE
Access to quality healthcare is a right that belongs to every American. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) achieved a historic milestone when it turned this principle into law, extending high quality coverage to millions of Americans who previously had no coveage at all. Since its enactment in 2010, the ACA has made significant changes to America’s health care system including comprehensive insurance reforms that prevent unfair practices and the creation of state-based health insurance exchanges and tax credits for small business. The ACA has also helped to slow down the skyrocketing cost of health care in this country. In fact, the growth of national health care expenditures is at its lowest rate in over 50 years. I will continue to support efforts that slow health care spending without compromising quality, accessible, and efficient health care.

As we strengthen and streamline our healthcare system so that it can accommodate the increasing demands of a larger and an older population, we must improve system-wide efficiency by coordinating comprehensive care. From full implementation of the ACA’s provisions, to electronic health records, to the demands of caring for an aging population, our country’s healthcare system will require new and thoughtful approaches to efficiency, cost containment, and innovation.

District 5

Katherine Clark (D) Incumbent Succeeded Rep. Markey in special election in 2013
http://katherineclark.house.gov/
http://katherineclark.org/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Katherine_Clark.htm**

ISSUE
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Katherine’s first official act in Congress was to co-sponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act. Women still earn 77 cents to every dollar a man makes. She believes this is about common sense and fairness and knows how this issue impacts families of Massachusetts. When women earn less, it makes it harder for families to thrive. Katherine will continue to support legislation that focuses on what’s best for our communities.
In Congress, she co-sponsored legislation that will boost America’s economy over time by adjusting federal minimum wage standards. “America’s workers deserve the very basic promise of respect, dignity and the ability to care for their families. We are long overdue on this promise, and Congress should work together to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act.”
Katherine is committed to fighting for equal pay for women, preserving programs that affect our seniors and investing in early education. She will support the President and his vision to strengthen our economy and grow the middle class. The economic divide had gone on for too long and Katherine will continue to promote the economic interests of the 5th Congressional District.

Sheldon Schwartz (D) Challenger

District 6

John Tierney (D) Incumbent
http://www.johntierney.com/splash
http://tierney.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/John_Tierney.htm **
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
He supported the passage of historic health insurance reform that will have a real, meaningful and immediate positive impact on millions of Americans. This Act has put an end the worst practices of insurance companies, make health care affordable for the middle class, provide security for seniors and guarantee access to health insurance for the uninsured. No longer will parents have to worry about their children being refused care because of a pre-existing condition. No longer will seniors have to make a decision between paying for groceries and filling their prescriptions because of the so-called “donut hole.” No longer can insurance companies be able to limit or rescind coverage while our family, friends and neighbors are in the middle of cancer or diabetes care. This important measure will ensure that consumers receive the health services for which they are paying top dollar. This law is helping so many middle-class families and small businesses that have been struggling with out-of-control health care costs.
The Health Care Reform Act is publicly supported by more than 360 organizations including AARP, American Nurses Association, Massachusetts Medical Society, American Heart Association, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Partners HealthCare, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Federation of American Hospitals, National Association of Children’s Hospitals, Leadership Council of Aging Organizations and Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals.
ENERGY
John recognizes the immediate, worldwide threat posed by global warming and the inherent threat to our national security spawned by our dependence on foreign oil. To this end he voted to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) on June 26, 2009. This landmark legislation takes steps to revitalize our economy by creating new jobs, increasing our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, preserving our planet and protecting our delicate wildlife by reducing the pollution that causes global warming.
Additionally, this bill included an allocation to fund the Green Jobs Act, an initiative John co-authored, and which became law as part of last year’s Energy Independence and Security Act, that will help to educate, train and raise skill levels to create a workforce prepared to work at all aspects of new American clean energy jobs like those installing solar panels, manufacturing wind turbines, or renovating homes for greater energy efficiency – jobs which cannot be shipped overseas. The first investments in Congressman Tierney’s Green Jobs Act are already paying off for the 6th District and other Massachusetts workers as they gain the skills necessary to take jobs that actually exist in our economy.
Voted against construction of the KeystoneXL Pipeline without limiting amendments.

Marisa DeFranco (D) – Challenger
http://www.marisadefranco.com/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
Marisa supports a Public Option.
• 31% of every dollar goes to administrative waste. Administration takes doctors and nurses away from what they do best—treating and healing patients.
• The Public Option is Pro-Business and an Instant Job Creator. If we decouple health coverage from employment, we will significantly reduce the cost of doing business, for all businesses. Marisa represents businesses across various sectors and knows that if businesses did not have to worry about covering the cost of health insurance, they would hire more employees.
• Entrepreneurs would flourish if we cut the strings of health insurance that tie people to jobs that are the wrong fit. With a Public Option, people would be free to create, invent, start new ventures, and restart the engine of American business.
• Doctors remain private, and the administrative costs saved every year by eliminating waste would go to patient care.

WOMEN
Reproductive Freedom, Equal Pay
Without question or restriction. Anything less is insulting to women as autonomous human beings who can make their own decisions without 24-hour waiting periods, pictures and infantilizing lectures. If women cannot direct their own bodies, they cannot direct their own destinies. Period.
Women, Part II: The issue of choice should not be women’s only appearance on an issue, but sadly, it often is. Not with me.
Marisa supports Equal Pay for Equal and Comparable Work. Marisa has direct and on the ground experience with pay equity issues. When she became a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, she proposed that we focus our volunteer efforts on one economic bill, because it affects all women. The Commission voted in favor of her proposals, and we spearheaded the effort on a Comparable Work bill. Marisa led our group of four commissioners to the hill and for the first time in 11 years, we got the bill voted out of committee favorably and garnered the written support of the Governor.
ENERGY
• We must invest in renewable energy and taper off of fossil fuels. We subsidize fossil fuels at a rate of 5x renewables. Marisa would flip those numbers immediately. Next, she would implement a 7, 10, or 15-year tax credit program (depending on the project) for production and investment tax credits for renewable energy projects. Currently, credits expire every 2-3 years, and Congress allows them to lapse, creating little incentive for investors.
• The hydro-fracturing process, “fracking,” the development of the Canadian tar sands and the pipeline, and the building of new nuclear power plants are all short-sighted. It takes more energy to extract oil from the tar sands than it will produce. Nuclear power is unsafe, unwise, and unsustainable: it is “cheap” in cost only because the taxpayers subsidize it, and we the people take on the liability costs in the event of a disaster.
• Investing our federal dollars into renewable resources will have multiple benefits, starting with the building of new high tech manufacturing plants in the U.S., which will in turn create good jobs and bring back a healthy economy. The investment will also return dividends by declaring and achieving our energy independence, saving us billions and trillions in foreign oil wars.
• The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is very close to the Massachusetts border. Vermont has demanded the decommissioning of this plant in March of 2012, and Marisa supports that demand.

John Devine (D) Challenger
http://johndevineforcongress.com/
Seth Moulton (D) – Challenger
http://www.sethmoulton.com/welcome?splash=1
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
HEALTHCARE

I support the Affordable Care Act because it takes important steps to lower costs and broaden access to care for many who have previously been locked out of the insurance market. But I also don’t believe that the Affordable Care Act is perfect. As a member of the party that fought so hard to enact the health care reform law, I will always jump at the opportunity to make it better. One area that needs to be addressed is health care supply; we need to make the proper investments in technology to increase the supply of medical services, while also ensuring everyone has efficient access. Where there are problems, I will own up to them and fight to fix them, to make the law one that truly works for everyone, and makes the country healthier, stronger, and more economically secure.
I trust women to make their own health care decisions, and I don’t believe government should come between a woman and her doctor.
IMMIGRATION
We are a nation of immigrants. For generations, immigrants have made America more secure, more vibrant, and more prosperous. They drive our economic growth and dynamism and show that in this country, anyone can make it if he or she is willing to work hard.
Yet today, our immigration system is broken. We train some of the brightest minds from other countries in our universities only to see them leave because they aren’t allowed to stay. Those who are able to immigrate here have to go through an unnecessarily onerous, complicated process that serves neither their families nor our communities. And of course, 11 million undocumented immigrants remain in the shadows. It’s unacceptable.
We badly need immigration reform that welcomes the world’s best thinkers, streamlines the path for citizenship for those trying to come here, and puts undocumented immigrants on a path to citizenship. This kind of reform will make our businesses more competitive, strengthen our economy, and lower our deficits – while ensuring we remain a nation of opportunity, one that is always willing to welcome the world’s strivers to our shores.
ENVIRONMENT
We have an economic and moral responsibility to reduce the damage we are causing to the environment and our communities. Climate change is affecting industries all over the nation, including iconic ones like Massachusetts fisheries. And as we’ve seen over the past few years, increased natural disasters threaten our families and businesses. We must take action to lower greenhouse gas emissions and stop the scourge of climate change. Our economy, health, and environment depend on it. Environmental stewardship is a strong investment in our future and we have a duty to leave our planet in better shape for our children than we found it.

Richard Tisei (R) – Challenger
http://tiseiforcongress.com/

District 7

Mike Capuano (D) Incumbent
http://www.mikecapuano.com/
http://www.house.gov/capuano/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Michael_Capuano.htm**
Rated +4 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
ISSUES

HEALTHCARE
After many months of debate, Congress passed historic health care reform in March of 2010. Mike supported both H.R. 3590: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and H.R. 4872: the Reconciliation Act of 2010. Millions more Americans will now have access to affordable health care as a result of this legislation, which also prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage based on a pre-existing condition, and allows young people to remain covered by their parents’ health insurance until age 26.
During the debate over health care reform, Mike also worked hard to protect Massachusetts’ important academic medical centers. The health sector is also a major employer. As a result, $4 billion in funding was preserved for Massachusetts’ health care system.
Mike strongly supports universal health care coverage and is disappointed that health care reform does not include a public insurance option, something he fought hard to add to the final bill. Additionally, Mike proudly sponsors legislation to create a single payer system and supports other opportunities to create a public option.
MIDDLE EAST
Mike Capuano is deeply committed to the state of Israel, a staunch ally of the United States and a country that shares our democratic values.
Mike shared the hope that the “Arab Spring” would bring democracy and peace to the region. That said, he knows revolutions do not always bring, in the short term or even in the long term, free institutions, rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities. He believes the United States should offer what assistance it can to promote democracy and economic and social development. He also believes we should take care not to exacerbate existing conflicts.
Mike believes that Israel’s future and the future of all the peoples of the Middle East are best protected by reducing tensions in that troubled region. Toward that end, Mike agrees with those in Israel who support a two-state solution as long as it assures Israel’s long term safety. He firmly believes that it is possible to achieve a negotiated settlement to end the long and bitter conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is possible, and that the United States has an important role to play in encouraging the parties to resolve their differences. His principle, as a Member of Congress, has been to cast votes that will enable the United States to serve as a credible partner in reaching that goal.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Mike Capuano strongly believes that we must address climate change before it is too late.
• He supported the Climate Stewardship Act to create a cap and trade system and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• He supported the SAFE Climate Act, to freeze 2010 emissions at 2009 levels, gradually lowering the targets to reduce emissions below 1990 levels.
Every year that we fail to take action only makes the changes that will be required to stop global warming much more drastic. Mike is hopeful that we will finally see real progress on this serious issue. The House in 2010 passed a bill to freeze emissions at 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and slowly reduce them to 83% of 2005 emissions by 2050. He fought to strengthen the bill by:
• Advocating for strong building code provisions so that new homes and commercial buildings are energy efficient,
• Pushing for a strong renewable electricity standard to require that a certain percentage of a power company’s portfolio came from renewable sources,
• Calling for more funding to be dedicated to green jobs.
Mike also led efforts to ensure that the bill dealt responsibly with the very serious issue of emissions from our transportation sector. These account for almost 30% of our country’s emissions. The bill that passed in the House gave states the flexibility to use up to 1% of funds raised by the climate change bill for transit projects, which will not only help the environment and reduce emissions, but will also create good, well paying, jobs. This is a small step toward pushing leaders to recognize that transportation must be part of the climate change solution.
Mike is a proponent of green jobs. Massachusetts, with its perfect mix of technology, education, and research centers, stands to benefit uniquely and become a national leader in the rapidly expanding green economy. Clean technology jobs are already one of the largest sources of employment in Massachusetts and also one of its fastest growing sectors. Mike and his colleagues succeeded in getting $500 million for green jobs training in the stimulus bill, and billions more for energy and environmental research that will directly create thousands of new green jobs.
Voted against construction of the KeystoneXL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
WOMEN’S ISSUES
Congressman Mike Capuano has always been an effective advocate for advancing women’s rights, and sensitive to issues of concern to women. As Mayor of Somerville, Mike:
• Granted paid parental leave in the first union contract he settled, years before the federal Family and Medical Leave Act became law.
• Established provisions for flextime and job sharing.
• Doubled the number of female employees in the police and fire departments. Over 52% of his police hires and 38% of fire fighters were women, bilingual, or minority.
• Promoted women to lead major departments, including Auditing, Law, Treasury, Personnel and Communications.
• Faced with troubling pay disparities between male and female city employees, Mike negotiated across the board pay raises for jobs predominately staffed by women and instituted career ladders for nurses, librarians, and clerical employees.
• He empowered women to resist domestic violence, at no cost to tax-payers, by providing cell-phones, programmed to call 911, to women with restraining orders against their abusers.
• Determined to break the cycle of violence before another generation of women was victimized, he championed a dating violence support group at Somerville High School, adding gender issues to the school’s highly regarded Mediation Program.

District 8

Stephen Lynch (D) Incumbent
http://www.stephenflynch.com/
http://lynch.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Steve_Lynch.htm**
Rated -1 by AAI, indicating a mixed Arab/Palestine voting record. (May 2012)

HOT BUTTON ISSUES
ENERGY
We must move toward energy independence and a secure energy future by investing in clean energy technologies, safely and responsibly utilizing our domestic energy resources, and lowering demand for fossil fuels by reducing our energy consumption.
I am committed to making America a leader in developing clean, responsible energy technologies like wind and solar power. I support efforts to continue and expand the production tax credit for renewable energy projects, and support expanding incentives for the private market to invest in developing clean energy technology. America cannot fall behind other countries in developing these technologies, and we must ensure that American workers build the next generation of clean energy.
While we work toward clean energy technology that can support our energy needs, we can also reduce our reliance on foreign oil by taking advantage of the resources we have here at home. However, we need to access domestic energy resources in a safe and environmentally conscious way, or not at all.
Finally, we can reduce our reliance on foreign oil by increasing energy efficiency and lowering demand for fossil fuels. I support increasing fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles, investing in mass transit infrastructure like high speed and intercity passenger rail, and continuing investments in critical weatherization and home heating efficiency programs.
Voted against the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
ISRAEL
Defending America’s Allies
The State of Israel is one of our most important allies. I have consistently voted for robust foreign assistance funding to Israel, which has been critical in ensuring its security. I also believe we must continue advancing the peace process in the Middle East.
The best chance for peace is for both sides to return to talks and negotiate an agreement that will be acceptable to both the Israelis and Palestinians. The United States and the international community have important roles to play in encouraging an environment conducive to successful negotiations and a sustainable peace.
HEALTHCARE
Congressman Lynch voted against The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act when it passed the House of Representatives on March 25, 2010, because he did not believe it would achieve real reform. In a private meeting with President Obama at the White House prior to the vote, Congressman Lynch told the president that he could not support the bill, but if it passed would not vote to repeal it, and work to improve it. Thus far in the 112th Congress there have been numerous bills and amendments offered to repeal the law or parts of it. Congressman Lynch has maintained his commitment not to repeal, but to improve the bill, and work towards bringing about real health care reform.
Congressman Lynch voted to repeal a provision in the Affordable Care Act that would unduly burden small businesses with unnecessary, complicated paperwork. The repeal of this IRS Form 1099 filing requirement had bipartisan support, both parties agreeing that this provision should be removed, improving the overall bill. In contrast, Congressman Lynch opposed a bill, the Repeal Mandatory Funding for Graduate Education Act, which eliminated funds appropriated in the Affordable Care Act for several grant programs designed to increase the size of the health care workforce and specifically increase the number of general practice and primary care physicians. According to current estimates, there will be a shortage of nearly 40,000 primary care physicians in the next 10 years. In order to improve access and quality of care to all Americans, including the 32 million targeted by the health care reform bill, a sufficient number of well trained and physicians is imperative.

District 9
Bill Keating (D) Incumbent

http://www.billkeating.org/
http://keating.house.gov/
http://www.ontheissues.org/MA/Bill_Keating.htm **

Rated -2 by AAI, indicating an anti-Arab anti-Palestine voting record. (May 2012)
ISSUES
HEALTHCARE
Last year, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to provide quality, affordable health care to millions of Americans who had been ignored and left behind by the current system.

While many of the law’s provisions will be phased in throughout the coming years, several important changes have already been implemented. Senior citizens who reached the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” – the feared, yet unavoidable gap in coverage that affects millions across the country – are now assured a rebate so that they don’t have to choose between buying food and buying life-saving medicine. Recent college graduates and young adults struggling to find employment or afford a plan of their own now have the option to remain on their parents’ insurance plan until they reach the age of 26. This does not cost the government any money and allows young people a safety net, often saving parents thousands of dollars. Americans, both young and old, who were previously denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions are no longer discriminated against by unjust policies. Insurance companies can no longer cherry pick their customers.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Voted against the Keystone XL Pipeline without limiting amendments.
While serving in the Massachusetts legislature, Bill wrote and passed safe water legislation that continues to protect our state’s fragile lakes, streams, and wetlands from chemical pollution. He is committed to protecting the diverse ecosystems of the 9th District with the same passion. We must permanently address key sources of pollution and encourage ‘green’ habits, like recycling and other efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.

Wastewater management, specifically on Cape Cod, remains a crucial concern as it is a sole-source aquifer with a soft and porous foundation of sandy soil. The Cape’s ongoing fight continues against the presence of nitrogen and other toxic agents that filter into the aquifer from septic systems, wastewater treatment facilities, and storm water drains and out into the estuaries, wetlands, and waters. We see the results of high nitrogen levels in large algal blooms known as Red tide, strong odors, and depletions in fish and other marine life populations. Bill is working closely with the towns and Commonwealth to seek federal funding when possible for wastewater projects across the district.
WOMEN’S ISSUES
Bill is a strong supporter of women’s reproductive rights and policies that afford access to legal, safe reproductive healthcare services. Most recently, he opposed H.R. 3, a bill that aims to rescind tax credits for small businesses that provide their employees with healthcare coverage plans that include legal abortion services.

In honor of Women’s History Month in March, Bill started a Women’s Advisory Board for the 9th Congressional District. The Board is comprised of female professionals, public servants, community leaders and small businesswomen from across the district.

Mark Alliegro (R) Tea Party Activist Challenger
https://www.markalliegroforcongress.org/
HOT BUTTON ISSUES
CLIMATE CHANGE?
Global warming – Did we do it?
Is the Earth warming? If so, is the warming caused by human activity?
Many on the left have been linking these two separate questions and using them to pursue an anti-growth agenda for years now. A brief review of some recent history can be revealing, because it highlights the behavior of those who know they are losing the battle of ideas.
Those of us who remember the 1970s may also remember the global cooling frenzy. The hypothesis then was that aerosols (tiny airborne particles) generated by increased fossil fuel consumption were making the Earth’s atmosphere more reflective, preventing solar energy from penetrating and heating the Earth. Other factors contributed to this perceived problem, such as store-bought aerosols used directly in the home (household cleaners, hair spray, etc.).
HEALTHCARE
The Problem: An massive, ill-conceived and even more poorly implemented health insurance scheme. Do you remember the promises of Obamacare? The President and his allies in Congress told us that if we liked our insurance plans, we could keep them. They told us that if we liked our doctors, we could keep them. They told us that their plan would hold down the cost of medical treatment, that tens of millions of Americans would flock to the program, and that there would be no associated tax increases. Let’s take a moment to examine just a sampling of these promises:
You can keep your current insurance plan! Already, approximately 5 million Americans have lost their personal health insurance and are being forced into Obamacare exchanges. Millions more Americans will have lost their health insurance plans by the one-year anniversary. The President and his allies understood that this would happen, even while they were promising that we would be able to keep our insurance. Does that sound honest to you?
The cost of medical insurance would decrease under Obamacare! According to a report by the Manhattan Institute that includes state-by-state data, the cost of medical insurance to individuals is rising by 41%, on average. In some states, the average cost will more than double. Does that sound like cost-containment to you?
The plan would provide medical coverage to many more Americans! In the same time frame that approximately 5 million Americans have lost their existing health insurance, only 106,000 have registered to obtain health insurance under the new obamacare exchanges (according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). And of course some of this 106,000 includes people who were forced to sign up because they are among the 5 million that have had their own insurance pulled out from under them.
There will be no tax increases associated with Obamacare! The Obamacare train wreck contains at least 20 new taxes on families, some of which we would never associate with “health care”, such as the “Black liquor” tax hike ($23.6 billion) that took effect in 2010. This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel and was part of the back-handed way in which Obamacare was finally passed (Reconciliation Act; Page: 105). Here are three other Obamacare tax hikes that have already taken effect since January, 2013:
1. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax ($86.8 billion)
2. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers ($20 billion)
3. Flexible Spending Account Cap – also known as “Special Needs Kids Tax” ($13 billion)
Others, such as the Individual Mandate Excise Tax are to be phased in later. Maybe by delaying some of these new taxes, the President and his allies hoped that few people would notice until it was too late.
FOREIGN POLICY
LEADING from BEHIND?
In the annals of military or diplomatic history, the concept of “leading from behind” was non-existent…until the Obama Administration entered the war in Libya. And, it has led us from failure to failure.
The Russians snookered us in Syria where the civil war continues, giving Al Qaeda a major base of operations. The Iraqis rejected us after freeing them from a tyrant, and now that country is falling within grip of Al Qaeda. Libya is in turmoil. Jordan is being threatened by Al Qaeda. Our government gave Iran, the world’s largest sponsor of terror, some $8 billion to “play nice.” Yet, the centrifuges still spin, as they inch closer and closer to a building nuclear weaponry. In Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai has essentially told us to take a hike, and is now negotiating with the Taliban. And, our government has turned its back on Israel, our only friend in the Middle East, with whom we have a treaty and a moral obligation to defend.
Three things stand out in all of this. First, leading from behind translates to ineptness and weakness. President Kennedy once said, “We should never fear to negotiate, and never negotiate out of fear.” Obviously, this White House never got that memo.
Second, the amateurish handling of foreign policy by the White House and the State Department denigrates the valor, sacrifice, wounds and loss of life by our brave military in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East. We have lost brave men and women. We have lost treasure. We have lost our honor in the eyes of many.
Third, because of the ferment in this critical area of the globe, Al Qaeda is on the rise and with it a major threat to our national security is escalating.
Yet, as on all of the major issues facing us, Congressman Keating, a member of the Homeland Security Committee says nothing. His taciturn tongue speaks volumes.

John Chapman (R) Challenger
https://www.johnchapman2014.com/

Vincent Cogliano Jr. (R) Challenger
http://www.coglianoforcongress.com/

Dan Shores (R) Challenger
http://www.danshores2014.com/

Unlike Pat Buchanan and some other conservatives, I don’t think that Vladimir Putin’s support of traditional values makes him a good guy. Freedom comes first. I also support traditional values but I don’t want the government to shove them down my throat. Banning obscenity from entertainment media, Putin’s latest ukase, would keep Shakespeare, Goethe and Dante out of circulation in their original form, not to mention Rabelais or Villon.

What we do with our freedom is another thing. Apple has just bought Dr. Dre’s earphone company for $3.2 billion, making the rapper one of the country’s wealthiest men. One presumes that the selling point of his earphones is not their superior technical characteristics but their association with Dre’s rapping, which is too disgusting to illustrate on this site; readers may satisfy their prurient curiosity here. Dre raps about drug use, rape, pimping and violence: he is a repulsive degenerate whom a healthy society would excrete and forget. Dre’s $3.2 billion score gauges the popularity of evocations of rape and murder.

There is no guarantee that freedom will prevail over dictatorship. I reviewed some of the history here.

Democracies do not necessarily field the most efficient or enthusiastic armies. The French under Napoleon and the Germans under Hitler were the best soldiers of their day. Democracies have one important advantage, namely the capacity to correct errors. Democracies do not necessarily make better decisions than dictatorships in each case, but they are less like to perpetuate errors. It is easy to replace an elected leader who goes mad; not so a charismatic tyrant. This makes the ultimate victory of democracies more probable, but hardly inevitable. It may be likely that a charismatic tyrant will make decisive errors, but it is far from assured that such error will be made soon enough to make it possible to defeat the tyrant at the right moment. I like to think that providence was at work during the Second World War, but that sort of question is above my pay grade.

A people can will itself out of existence democratically as well as by any other means: France did so during the 1930s, and survived the clutches of Nazi Germany thanks to the Allies.

Putin’s mission is to save Russia from dissolution. Ten years ago, with a fertility rate of just 1.2 children per female and fourth-world life expectancy for men, Russia seemed doomed. The fertility rate since has recovered to 1.7, for reasons we do not adequately understand. Part of the reason surely is renewed national self-confidence.

Anna Wintour featured a fawning column about Syria’s butcher Bashar Assad’s comely wife Asma,with the title “Rose of the Desert.” It was subsequently scrubbed from the Vogue website: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/22/154334.html

“She was described as a rose in the desert in the March American edition of Vogue this year but it seems she turned into a rose on its side—or site, as is the case when the magazine dropped the glowing profile of Syria’s First Lady, Asma Al Assad.

The fashion bible was derided and ridiculed by several critics, in and outside the media circle, for its over-the-top tribute to the Assad family in its March edition. Mrs. Al Assad was described as the “freshest and most magnetic of first ladies” whose mission was to “change the mindset of six million Syrians under 18, encourage them to engage in active citizenship.”The writer’s complete disinterest in asking Mr. or Mrs. Assad on anything remotely “negative” was as laughable as the magazine doing a fluff piece on one of the world’s most closed society’s dictator’s wife.Vogue’s legendary editor Anna Wintour is said to run the magazine like a dictator which might explain why she chose a dictator’s wife to profile—but they did it, they ran it, and they defended it. ”

Michelle Obama’s recent tribute to fashion queen bee Anna Wintour was a bit embarrassing.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has named its collection of used clothes — a sort of consignment shop one must pay to enter and where nothing is for sale — after Anna Wintour. A trustee of the Met since 1999, the editor of Vogue, artistic director of Condé Nast, and inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada has over the years raised some $125 million for the museum. Earlier this week, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Anna Wintour Costume Center, Michelle Obama delivered a speech. Never have I read one quite like it.

The first lady’s presence at the occasion was no surprise. Some of Anna Wintour’s favorite charities, after all, are the Democratic Party and the career of Michelle Obama’s husband. Since 2004, every cent of Wintour’s political contributions — $114,750 in total — has gone to Democratic candidates and to Democratic groups, including the DNC, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.

As a bundler for Obama, Wintour has raised a total of $5,448,371 over the course of two presidential campaigns. In 2012 she co-hosted, with the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, a New York City fundraiser for the president to which some lucky commoners were also invited. Dinner cost $40,000 a plate. Start saving now, and you may be able to attend the next dinner. It is likely to take place in the summer of 2016, for Wintour has said that she wants to see President Hillary Clinton on the cover of Vogue.

We are not betraying any industry secrets when we say that politicians have a tendency to flatter and woo the donors on whom their livelihood depends. Even by political standards, though, Michelle Obama’s tribute to Anna Wintour was cloying, fulsome, and unctuous. It was also untrue. “I know that Anna hates being the center of attention,” Obama said, which is ridiculous, considering Wintour has been the basis for one movie, starred in another (nonfiction) one, appeared on the Late Night with Seth Myers a few days after the Met gala, and has visited the sets of Charlie Rose, The Colbert Report, 60 Minutes, the Late Show with David Letterman, and Entertainment Tonight. She is also in the habit of being photographed constantly. Camera-shy Anna Wintour is not.

Reason won many of the West’s greatest victories and advances, but faith secured them. I’m not talking solely about religious faith, though that’s a big part of it. I’m talking about what Richard Weaver called the “metaphysical dream of the universe” — a profound understanding of What Is that transcends reason alone.

As Malcolm Muggeridge said, life isn’t a process; it’s a drama, and we too often tend to understand things in theatrical terms. The champions of Holocaust denial are eager to employ reason (or what passes for it) because they understand that creating even a morsel of reasonable doubt is a huge victory for their anti-Semitic faith. There is part of the human soul that wants to believe that there are evil conspiracies afoot. Why feed them solely for the sake of a good argument?

Whether it’s Holocaust denial or the dream of a Marxist society, we believe lies not because we have to but because we want to (another Muggeridgeism). Or as Burke put it: “Politics ought to be adjusted not to human reasonings but to human nature, of which reason is but a part and by no means the greatest part.” Shouting that all taboos should be questioned out of a fashionable assumption that taboos are suspect doesn’t necessarily lead to a world where valuable taboos are reaffirmed.

Rather, a dogmatic obsession with questioning dogma means that even the victories are open to second-guessing through reason. But reason alone cannot restore what toppled faith has lost. A truly advancing society hammers down dogmatic victories. It doesn’t constantly tear them up to check that the spikes are secure. Indeed, the mere act of checking loosens the spikes.

I’m running long so I’ll just hand the baton off to Chesterton:

Whether the human mind can advance or not, is a question too little discussed, for nothing can be more dangerous than to found our social philosophy on any theory which is debatable but has not been debated. But if we assume, for the sake of argument, that there has been in the past, or will be in the future, such a thing as a growth or improvement of the human mind itself, there still remains a very sharp objection to be raised against the modern version of that improvement. The vice of the modern notion of mental progress is that it is always something concerned with the breaking of bonds, the effacing of boundaries, the casting away of dogmas. But if there be such a thing as mental growth, it must mean the growth into more and more definite convictions, into more and more dogmas. The human brain is a machine for coming to conclusions; if it cannot come to conclusions it is rusty. When we hear of a man too clever to believe, we are hearing of something having almost the character of a contradiction in terms. It is like hearing of a nail that was too good to hold down a carpet; or a bolt that was too strong to keep a door shut. Man can hardly be defined, after the fashion of Carlyle, as an animal who makes tools; ants and beavers and many other animals make tools, in the sense that they make an apparatus. Man can be defined as an animal that makes dogmas. As he piles doctrine on doctrine and conclusion on conclusion in the formation of some tremendous scheme of philosophy and religion, he is, in the only legitimate sense of which the expression is capable, becoming more and more human. When he drops one doctrine after another in a refined scepticism, when he declines to tie himself to a system, when he says that he has outgrown definitions, when he says that he disbelieves in finality, when, in his own imagination, he sits as God, holding no form of creed but contemplating all, then he is by that very process sinking slowly backwards into the vagueness of the vagrant animals and the unconsciousness of the grass. Trees have no dogmas. Turnips are singularly broad-minded.

If then, I repeat, there is to be mental advance, it must be mental advance in the construction of a definite philosophy of life.

Everything Is About the Holocaust Except the Holocaust

Dear Reader (including those Dear Readers who do not hold your reading dear and as a result thought I forgot the Dear Reader gag last week, when in fact I very subtly wrote “Deer Reader” with a link to a deer reading. Get it? Ye of little faith! Nothing says comedy more than a bibliophilic odocoileus virginianus, am I right?),

I am not going to dwell long on Charlie Crist. With his baseball-glove skin and white hair, he looks not unlike a career beachcomber who spends his days with a metal detector in search of treasure he’s convinced himself he deserves and he will tell you all about it if you make the mistake of sitting next to him at the counter at the local diner. Whenever I see him on MSNBC or NBC, he looks like the same kind of eccentric, only dressed up for one of his many court dates.

Except for his eyes. He’s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll’s eyes.

Anyway, sticking with the beachcomber thing, lingering too long on the subject of Charlie Crist would be like waving a metal detector over the same patch of sand over and over again. All you’ll find is a few bits of detritus, a bottle top or two, some dead things, maybe an old condom, and then beyond that, there’s just nothing, layer after layer after layer of nothing. The texture of the nothing may change — he’ll grow wetter and tend to smell more — but there’s no golden prize to be found, because like that treasureless patch of beach, the defining quality of Charlie Crist is that there’s simply no there there. He is an oxymoron (often with a silent “oxy”): He is a man defined by what he is not, including his lack of manhood.

I bring this up because earlier this week Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post’s “The Fix” blog wrote a post with the less than economical headline: “Charlie Crist didn’t leave the Republican party because of racism. He left it because he couldn’t win a primary.”

Crist apparently went on Jorge Ramos’s show on Fusion TV and said: “I couldn’t be consistent with myself and my core beliefs, and stay with a party that was so unfriendly toward the African-American president, I’ll just go there.” Crist added: “I was a Republican and I saw the activists and what they were doing; it was intolerable to me.”

Now, this isn’t merely a lie. We are used to politicians telling us they can and will “eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” that they won’t take money from lobbyists, that they can give you seven-minute abs in six minutes and all of that. This is different. This is the sort of lying that makes God look over the top of his morning newspaper the way a dad looks at his kid when the boy’s making fart sounds with his armpit at the breakfast table. This is the kind of lying you expect of Vichy politicians as they run into the room after hastily putting on their “Vive la Resistance!” T-shirt for the first time.

The underlying problem with “Chef,” written, directed by and starring Jon Favreau is that he is the big enchilada and he has very little zing. The plot is so derivative that it seems pre-eaten and the film must rely on the personalities of the performers rather than smart dialogue or character development; in this category Favreau is missing both seasoning and charisma. To make matters worse, he has cast Sofia Vergara and Scarlett Johannsen as the two women in his life; you’d need someone with the screen presence of a Ryan Gosling or a young Jeff Bridges to play opposite these smoldering females – not a tattooed schlub who’s not too interesting outside the kitchen. We’re living in weird times when unattractive men like Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Seth Rogen are big box office stars playing schlemiels who become the love interest of extremely beautiful women. In real life, such women might very well be interested in these actors but only because they are so successful – not for their looks or sad sack qualities.

As substitute for missing or uninteresting dialogue, Favreau offers a Latin soundtrack that’s upbeat and rhythmic and would be fine on a 1/2 hour segment on the food channel or as background music for vacuuming. As the young son looking for a relationship with an absent father, Emjay Anthony is sincere but unbelievable to anyone who’s been around a 10 year old nowadays. Not since the early Mickey Rooney movies have I seen a kid who was eager to clean up a greasy food truck (clubhouse for Mickey) or one who would rather be a short order cook for long hours as opposed to playing video games or hanging out with his friends. As for John Leguizamo and Bobby Cannavale, they have stock parts of ethnic fillers and get to use many curse words casually. Oliver Platt and Dustin Hoffman deserve mention for their hair only.

Reviewers have mentioned the subtext of this movie as Favreau’s showing what he can do with a small indie film instead of huge mega hits like Iron Man for which he wasn’t chosen as director in its latest iteration. I’d prefer to think that he’s a big guy who clearly enjoys eating and thought it would be fun to build around his relish for great grilled cheese, Cuban pork and Texas barbecue sandwiches. The food is festive – the movie more like re-heated leftovers.

A pro-active Aliyah policy (the Jewish ingathering to the Jewish state) was Israel’s most effective engine of growth and posture of deterrence. It catapulted the Jewish state from 650,000 Jews in 1948 to 6.5 million in 2014, from a $1.5bn economy in 1948 to $300bn in 2014, from a technology devoid country in 1948 to a commercial and defense technological powerhouse in 2014 (second only to the USA), from an insignificant military power in 1948 to a leading global military power in 2014, from a misperceived strategic liability in 1948 to the most reliable and capable ally of the US in 2014.

All Israeli prime ministers, from Ben Gurion (starting in 1948) through Shamir (ending in 1992), enforced a pro-active Aliyah policy in defiance of the demographic and bureaucratic establishments, crowning Aliyah as Israel’s top national priority. They followed in the footsteps of most of the Zionist leaders from the late 19th century, who realized that Aliyah was the soul, flesh and lifeline for the reconstruction of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel. They did not engage in reactive policy, which would focus their attention on the absorption of the Olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel). Rather, they were preoccupied with a pro-active policy, generating waves of Aliyah in the aftermath of the wars of 1948-9 (from Arab countries), 1956 (from Poland) and 1967 (from the USSR and Eastern Europe), in the early 1960s (from Morocco) and the 1970s (from the USSR and Eastern Europe), from 1950 through 1995 (from Romania), during the 1980s and early 1990s (from Ethiopia) and during the 1990s (from the USSR). The groundwork for the arrival of one million Olim during the 1990s was carried out by Prime Minister Shamir during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Thus, they triggered waves of Aliyah totaling 3.5 million Jews, leveraging windows of opportunities, caused by ideological, social, economic, military, diplomatic and political regional and global developments in Israel, the Arab World, the USSR, Eastern Europe, Argentina and the USA (the US Congress played a critical role in liberalizing Soviet emigration policy). While most of the 3.5 million Jews aspired to emigrate anyway, it was Israel’s pro-active policy which facilitated emigration and guided them to the Jewish state, rather than to the US, Europe, Canada or Australia. It was Prime Minister Shamir’s pro-active Aliyah policy (e.g., pressuring the US to stop issuing refugee certificates to Soviet Jews, and recruiting the US Senate to pressure Moscow to allow Jewish emigrants to fly only to Israel), which eliminated the 80% dropout rate of Soviet Jews, who used to emigrate from the USSR but avoided Israel. The pro-active Aliyah policy was responsible for Israel’s unprecedented growth, surging the Jewish state to the top of the OECD countries, demographically, economically, scientifically, technologically, medically, educationally, agriculturally and militarily. Without the pro-active Aliyah policy, the Jewish state would not have qualified for OECD membership, and possibly would not have survived the lethal challenges of the last 66 years.

“Israel is the most extraordinary collective achievement of the Jewish people in thousands of years. It is the embodiment of the dreams, faith, blood, sweat and tears of the Jewish people today and throughout time in both spiritual and physical terms. Israel is something that every Jew should celebrate and be thankful not only on Yom Ha’atzma’ut, but every day of the year.”

Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, is a joyous holiday. In Israel, every year, from Eilat to Metulla, from Tel Aviv to the Jordan Valley, everyone across every spectrum – secular, religious; rich, poor; left, Right, Ashkenazi, Sephardi – is out celebrating.

The reconstitution of the Jewish state, and its growth within three generations from a third world economic and military basket case into a prosperous and powerful country, is among the most astounding success stories in human history. Certainly it is the greatest story of Jewish success since Joshua led a nation of former slaves in conquering and settling the land of Israel some 3,500 years ago.

And today, three generations after the enslavement and genocide of European Jewry and the expulsion of the Jews from Islamic lands, the Jewish people in the Land of Israel have built arguably the most dynamic society in the world.

For the Jews of the Diaspora, Israel’s success should be a source of enduring pride and joy. Independence Day should be celebrated by Jews throughout the world. But in recent years, associations of Israel with joy have become increasingly rare.

As one Jewish student activist put it, the celebration on his campus was nothing more than “a bunch of kids eating cake.”

And at the same time, he explained, many students were posting statuses on their Facebook pages talking about how the day was “bittersweet because of the Nakba.”

The situation was all too similar in campuses throughout North America. Yom Ha’atzma’ut, the celebration of the greatest act of Jewish will in modern times, was marked with a shrug, and small clumps of students eating felafel and humous, and cake.

In this week’s episode of the Capitol Hill soap opera, Lois Lerner, the apparatchik at the center of the IRS jihad against conservative groups, was at long, long last held in contempt of Congress. Amid the farce, the House’s IRS probe is floundering.

Ironically, this happens just as the chamber’s separate probe of the Benghazi massacre has been given a chance to succeed. That is because House speaker John Boehner, after over a year of delay, has finally agreed to appoint a “select committee” to investigate Benghazi. Congress has no constitutional authority to enforce the laws it writes, a power our system vests solely in the executive branch. But a select committee, with a mission to find out what happened — as opposed to conducting oversight through the prism of some committee’s narrow subject-matter jurisdiction (judiciary, budget, education, reform, etc.) — is the closest legislative analogue to a grand jury.

Of course, a grand jury operates in secrecy, as is appropriate for protecting the privacy of the innocent while gathering evidence against the guilty. Congressional investigations are generally conducted in the open by ambitious politicians, an atmosphere that can be as conducive to spectacle as to a search for the truth. As Charles Krauthammer sagely observes, the success of the Benghazi investigation now hinges on the ability of chairman Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) to impose on the select committee the discipline of his long prosecutorial experience — to “keep the proceedings clean, factual, and dispassionate.” But if he can do that, the select-committee structure and focus has a chance of breaking through the Obama stonewall and getting to the bottom of things.

The IRS investigation, to the contrary, remains mired in Capitol Hill’s labyrinth of committees and subcommittees. To be sure, some important information has been uncovered. But the case is languishing. Indeed, during the House’s months of dithering over the contempt citation — which is meaningless from an investigative standpoint, however consequential it may be politically — the Obama administration has busied itself codifying the very abuses President Obama claimed to find “outrageous” and “unacceptable” when they first came to light.

In a competent investigation, one designed to find out what actually happened, Lois Lerner would have been immunized months ago. That is, Congress would have voted to compel her testimony by assuring that her statements could not be used against her in any future prosecution — removing the obstacle of her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

They are rankled! Upset! Angry! Outraged! Gnashing their teeth! Balling their fists, straining their massaged tendons, and cutting their palms with their manicured nails! They’re really, really mad! It’s unconscionable! We won’t tolerate it! Their Gucci knickers are in such a twist they have a hard time picketing and not walking funny! We just won’t come here anymore!!! Take that, Sultan of Brunei!

How dare the Sultan of Brunei, who owns some of our favorite party spots, want to stone to death gays, and lesbians, and even transgenderites, and people of all sixteen lifestyles who make whoopee outside marriage, or even if they’re not married?? Our kinds of people!!!And isn’t cutting off the hands of thieves just a bit harsh, damn it all? Over here, we let thieves off with a fine and a warning. And that rule about no drinking?? Criminey! Unacceptable! No gambling?? That’s criminal!!!

The Clarion Project (which unfortunately is dedicated to “challenging ‘extremism’ and “promoting dialogue,” much as many of the Hollywood protesters do), on May 7th reported:

As Clarion Project previously reported, as of April 1, the first phase of sharia law went into effect in the country. Eventually, punishments including the stoning to death for the crimes of adultery, homosexuality and blasphemy and the amputation of limbs for theft will be implemented.

Jay Leno, who participated in the protest organized outside the hotel, said, “I’d like to think that all people are basically good and that when they realize that this is going on, hopefully, they will do something about it … I mean, it’s just … I don’t know. Berlin, 1933? Hello, does it seem that far off from what happened during the Holocaust?”

Other celebrities and business people are joining in the boycott, including comedians Stephen Fry and Ellen DeGeneres, and TV host Sharon Osbourne. British billionaire Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, said in a tweet: “No @virgin employee, nor our family, will stay at Dorchester Hotels until the Sultan abides by basic human rights.”

Jay Leno, who at one point joined the protests, and speaking without cue cards and with no big adoring audience hanging on his every punch line, mumbled his incoherency about Berlin, and 1933, and the Holocaust. (He really shouldn’t say anything in public without cue cards or a script.) But then his wife, Mavis, has been after the women-brutalizing Taliban in Afghanistan for a long time.

But women are brutalized by Sharia elsewhere in the world, as well, by Islam. Not just in Afghanistan. Try the Sudan, and Libya, and Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, and Iran, and Jordan, and Gaza, the West Bank, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Persian Gulf emirates. And in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, the U.K., Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, all those former Soviet Central Asian republics whose names end with “stan.” Austria. The U.S. and Canada. And Australia.

The Clarion Project pointed out this disparity between the outrage over Muslim Brunei and instances of other Islamic nations that have investments in the U.S.

Christopher Cowdray, the chief executive of the London-based Dorchester Collection of hotels owned by Brunei, said it was unjust to single out the Beverly Hills Hotel and its employees. “There are other hotel companies in this city that are owned by Saudi Arabia … you know, your shirt probably comes from a country which has human rights issues,” said Cowdray.

“This is misguided,” Robert Anderson, the great-grandson of the founder of the hotel, told Reuters after the vote. “We should be against human rights violations in all countries, not just the Brunei.”

However, the Sultan of Brunei’s wanting to turn his country into an Islamic prison is nothing new. Islam has been practicing these things since long, long before Brunei was a gleam in the eyes of the Sultan’s ancestors. Since the seventh century.

So, where were all these hair-tearing protesters forty years ago? Or when Islamic terrorists began hijacking airplanes? Why do some of these same protesters run Boycott Israel campaigns, and wish to see Israel torn from limb to limb? Why are they just now becoming “conscious” of Sharia? Have they the teeniest notion of how many hundreds of thousands of Muslims and non-Muslims have been meted the harshest Islamic “justice” over the centuries?

Perhaps not. While the mainstream media shies away from reporting honor killings, rapes, murders, domestic terrorism and related Islamic activities just in this country, the Internet is awash with news sites that do report these things. Hollywood types don’t read these sites. Their “social justice” mentors advise them not to.

Where was their “Islamophobia” then? Or is it “Islamophobia”? I’m willing to bet that if one asked at random any of the outraged demonstrators against the Sultan if they were “Islamophobic,” they’d scream bloody murder in denial. “What do you think I am? A racist?” Of course, a Malaysian or Brunei Muslim is not of the same “race” as a Pakistani or Arab or Turkish Muslim. Nor even of the same race as a chalk-white British convert to Islam. Still, the charge of “Islamophobia” is attended by the charge of “racism.”

Of course, they don’t condemn Islam. Islam is such a colorful religion, what with all that praying and prayer mats and pretty architecture and flowing garb. It’s all so culturally diverse, you see. Sharia has nothing to do with Islam. Right? They can divorce Islam from Sharia and not be caught condemning Islam. CAIR will never file a slander suit against Jay Leno. Leno was smart. He didn’t equate Sharia with Islam, either. Nor with jihad. Or perhaps he commits the same error, that is, segregates Sharia from Islam.