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Koch: Vote For Obama
Since President Obama and Mitt Romney both have positions that are “acceptable” on Israel, American Jews should vote Democrat in support of Obama’s domestic agenda, contends former New York mayor Ed Koch.
After previously criticizing the Obama administration’s approach toward Israel, Koch is now campaigning for Obama within the U.S. Jewish community.
Speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” Koch was asked whether he is bothered by some Jews who say they are disappointed the ex-mayor is back in the Obama camp. He replied: “I think that I have done more than many people in support of the state of Israel, including many of these critics. So while they have the right to criticize me, that doesn’t make any difference as far as I am concerned. I trust my own judgment.”
Koch said, “I have concluded that their positions [Obama’s and Romney’s] are acceptable…so that I won’t be voting on who’s better between the two candidates on that issue.” Koch stated that since Obama is “good” on Israel, Jews should support the president’s domestic agenda “as it relates to Medicare and Medicaid, Obamacare, abortion, food stamps…”
“On every single domestic issue, the Republicans are dead wrong and the Democrats are dead right,” he said. “If I felt the Democrats are hostile to Israel I would not support them. But they are not.”
Obama Is The Real Radical, Says Bolton
President Obama is the real “radical,” putting “restructuring the U.S. and its economy” ahead of national security, former UN Ambassador John Bolton, a senior adviser to Mitt Romney, declared in an interview with this columnist on New York’s WABC Radio.
Bolton was firing back in response to an interview the president gave to the Associated Press in which Obama categorized Romney’s positions as “extreme.” “I think the Obama tactic obviously is a familiar refrain that has been used against Republicans for years,” retorted Bolton when asked about Obama’s statements.
Continued Bolton: “And in fact, it is Obama who is the radical here on a whole wide range of issues, especially on national security. He is the first president since FDR whose initial thought on wakening in the morning isn’t what threats does the U.S. face. Instead he has thoughts of restructuring the U.S. and its economy.”
“I think he is comfortable with America in decline,” added Bolton. “I think his massive cuts in defense while expanding every other part of the government demonstrate that.”
Obama To Palestinians:
Please Wait Until After The Election
The Obama administration has asked the Palestinian Authority to delay its bid to unilaterally declare a state at the United Nations until after November’s presidential election, a senior PA official told KleinOnline. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the request was passed to PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s office by the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem earlier this month.
The official said the PA has not yet made a decision about the timing of its application with the UN General Assembly for accepting “Palestine” as a non-member state. The official, however, did indicate that Abbas is inclined toward waiting until after the U.S. presidential election.
Any UN push by the PA prior to the election would place the Obama administration in an uncomfortable position.
Last September, the PA failed to secure enough votes to declare a state at the UN Security Council after the U.S. played a key role in scuttling the statehood attempt. The PA pledged to take a similar request to the General Assembly, where it expects to garner the support of more than 130 countries.
It Pays To Be Close To The President
Top Obama administration officials are tied to energy companies that received hundreds of millions of dollars in stimulus money, according to documentation in the recently released book Fool Me Twice by this columnist.
One such recipient is BrightSource Energy, a solar energy company attempting to build the world’s largest solar power plant even though some are concerned that such a venture is too risky an investment for the federal government. BrightSource received a $1.37 billion federal loan guarantee, the largest the Department of Energy has ever given for a solar power project.
BrightSource’s chairman at the time of the federal loan guarantee was John Bryson, who stepped down from the energy company before being sworn in on Oct. 21, 2011, as the 37th secretary of the Department of Commerce. Bryson resigned from his government post in June after he was involved in an alleged hit-and-run accident.
Bryson also cofounded the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental activist group that, Fool Me Twice documents, is part of the controversial Apollo Alliance. Apollo is a progressive organization that has boasted in its own literature of direct involvement in crafting the “green” portions of Obama’s 2009 stimulus – the very legislation that underwrote BrightSource’s loan. One Apollo board member is Van Jones, Obama’s former green jobs czar who resigned in 2009 after reports revealed that he had founded a communist revolutionary organization.
Also occupying the boards of several companies recently receiving federal funds, including hundreds of millions in stimulus money, is T. J. Glauthier, who served on Obama’s 2008 White House transition team.
Another company investigated in Fool Me Twice is GridPoint Inc, where Glauthier was appointed to the board in March 2008. GridPoint provides utilities software solutions for electrical grid management and electric power demand and supply balancing. The stimulus provides a whopping $4.5 billion for so-called smart grid projects, and GridPoint got paid from scores of smart grid deals funded by the stimulus.
Heather Podesta, sister-in-law of former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta, was also a beneficiary of the stimulus was. She served as the lobbyist for a wind power firm recently awarded a $135.8 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The company is Brookfield Asset Management. It has a board of nine directors, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s longtime girlfriend.
Editor’s note: Aaron Klein is available for a U.S. speaking tour in August, September and October. Topics include the 2012 presidential election and Israel. To book Klein, call 215-380-3469 or e-mail Joshua@kleinonline.com.
Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York’s 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 7-9 p.m. His website is KleinOnline.com.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York's 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 2-4 p.m (CHANGE TO 7-9 p.m.). His website is KleinOnline.com
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