On health care, Obama

It is interesting that several letters to the editor are from persons who seem to be confused with the facts. Health care has never been a right throughout the history of this country. President Obama had little to do with the writing of either the Senate or House of Representative health-care bills. Not one Republication had any input in the writing of either bill. Presidents sign bills that Congress has passed. No president authors a bill. Presidents can present to Congress suggestions as to what they would like Congress to include in future legislation. The constitutionality of the present health-care law will be determined in the near future. There are many constitutional questions regarding the legality of many of its sections.

As for Israel, I wish your readers had read the article by Ed Koch, former mayor of New York City and a staunch Democrat, in this regard. He states, regarding the treatment of Prime Minister Netanyahu by President Obama, “It is unimaginable that the president would treat any of our NATO allies, large or small, in such a degrading fashion. That there are policy differences between the United States government and the Netanyahu government is no excuse. Allies often disagree, but remain respectful.”

To its credit, Congress acted differently to the prime minister. However, Congress does not make foreign policy. The president determines our foreign policy almost unilaterally under our Constitution. As Mayor Koch further states: “It is one thing to disagree with certain policies of the Israeli government. It is quite another to treat Israel and its prime minister as pariahs, which only emboldens Israel’s enemies and makes the prospect of peace even more remote.”

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Israel is not the cause of the lack of progress in the peace process. It has made numerous concessions over the years for the sake of peace. Each concession has been met by greater demands, more rockets directed at Israeli civilians, and without any reciprocity by the Palestinians. It is time for Jews of any political persuasion to speak up and tell the president we are disappointed in him. Silence, in this case, is not golden. The silence of America’s Jews during the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis cost countless lives of our brethren. We should not be silent anymore. Now is the time to speak out.