Lois Frankel

The Jewish Members Of The 113th Congress

In the 113th Congress, due to meet on January 3, there will be a total of 34 people of Jewish heritage serving over the two years of that Congress.

There will be 12 Senators and 22 House members, with the only Republican being House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The 12 Senators include newly appointed Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, just appointed and sworn in yesterday for a two year term, before Schatz has to run for the remaining two years of the term of former Senator Daniel Inouye.

The other eleven Jewish Senators include:

Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California
Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut
Michael Bennet of Colorado
Ben Cardin of Maryland
Carl Levin of Michigan
Al Franken of Minnesota
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
Charles Schumer of New York
Ron Wyden of Oregon
Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Among the House members are:

Henry Waxman of California
Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alan Grayson and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
Jan Schakowsky of Illinois
Sander Levin of Michigan
Eliot Engel, Steve Israel, Nita Lowey and Jerrold Nadler of New York

Jewish members of the two houses of Congress come from:

California
Connecticut
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Virginia
Vermont

The 113th Congress Most Diverse Congress In History

One of the greatest results of the Congressional Elections of 2012 is the tremendous diversity that will be present in the upcoming 113th Congress, which begins on January 3.

Just in the new membership, there will be:

4 African Americans
10 Latino Americans
5 Asian Americans
24 Women
2 Hindus
1 Buddhist
1 Non theist
4 openly gay
1 openly bisexual
1 gay of color
4 born in the 1980s

It will include such likely stars of the future as:

Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, whose brother, Julian Castro, is Mayor of that city
Joe Garcia, who is the first Cuban Democrat to represent Miami
Ted Cruz, second Cuban Republican Senator, from Texas
Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, first Hindu Congresswoman
Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, first Buddhist Senator
Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Iraq War hero and diabled from her service in the war
Lois Frankel of Florida, former Mayor of West Palm Beach
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, professor and promoter of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, first openly gay Senator
Patrick Murphy of Florida, youngest member of the new House
Joseph Kennedy III, son of former Congressman Joseph Kennedy II, and grandson of Robert Kennedy

It will be a most interesting Congress coming up in 2013-2014!

The Republican Jewish Coalition, Israel, And Barack Obama: A Total Failure To Change The Jewish Vote

The Republican Jewish Coalition made every effort to defeat President Barack Obama, but failed miserably!

In 2008, 78 percent of American Jews voted for the Democratic nominee; in 2012, after spreading lies and mistruths about Obama and Israel, the end result was that Obama received 70 percent of the vote, a total smack to the deception practiced by the RJC!

Why did 7 out 10 Jews remain loyal to Obama and the Democrats? The answer is that they knew that Obama had given more aid to Israel than any other President, including the IRON DOME missile system; that the Democrats were the party of social justice, as shown through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare, along with civil rights legislation, environmental legislation, and stood for women’s rights; and also that the Republican Party wished to cut back on all these accomplishments, including wiping out ObamaCare.

Additionally, many American Jews do not trust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it is now known that even people within his own government and military feel Netanyahu is too trigger happy, wanting to start a war with Iran before diplomacy has played its course, and that Netanyahu favored the Republicans and Mitt Romney from the beginning. So the question was: Should our President have to bow to every demand and detail that Netanyahu insists upon? Is he our President, instead of Barack Obama? And is it not true that Defense Minister Ehud Barak (former Prime Minister) and President Shimon Peres have raved about the support of Israel by our President?

Face the facts: The RJC was more concerned about preserving the wealth of Boca Raton Jewish residents and others elsewhere who are extremely wealthy, and do not wish to pay their fair share of taxes, as evidenced by the meeting in Florida of wealthy Jews where Mitt Romney said his famous “47 Percent” statement that harmed him greatly in the end result!

Also, Orthodox Jews as a group have a problem with socially tolerant views of abortion and gay rights, and are not seen as great advocates of civil rights for other minorities, other than themselves, sad to say!

And it is not just the RJC that was disgraceful!

It was also House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, the only Jewish Republican on Capitol Hill, who has made it his mission to destroy ObamaCare and privatize Medicare, and is very mean spirited in his relations with the President, and is also well known for his attempts to undermine House Speaker John Boehner, who he would love to replace!

And also, House Republican candidate Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, who lost to Lois Frankel, has the same agenda as Cantor. And Josh Mandel, the GOP nominee who lost to Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, ran a nasty, undignified campaign, and made clear that his goal was to promote the Tea Party radicalism of his party, rather than be part of the great majority who see their faith as connected to social justice!

Fortunately, both Hasner and Mandel lost handily, and it would be no loss to the nation if neither ever runs again, with their agenda to help the rich and powerful, and ignore the needs and wants of women, labor, minorities, gays, and senior citizens!

Good Chance That Most Despicable Republican House Members Will Lose Reelection On Tuesday

With the election just three days away, it seems as if some House Republicans, of the Tea Party variety, might be kicked out of their seats in the House of Representatives.

These would include members that this author has written about in negative terms over time, including:

Michele Bachmann of Minnesota
Steve King of Iowa
Joe Walsh of Illinois
Allen West of Florida

The chance to defeat Paul Ryan in Wisconsin and Eric Cantor in Virginia, sadly, seems less likely, but at least Ryan is NOT going to be Vice President of the United States after Tuesday.

But the chance to have Jim Graves, Christie Vilsack, Tammy Duckworth, and Patrick Murphy in the House of Representatives as new Democratic members is something very satisfying!

And in the Florida Congressional district that Allen West represented during these past two years, the election of Lois Frankel over Republican nominee Adam Hasner also seems very likely, another great addition to the House of Representatives!

Florida In Play For Democrats In 2012: A Shock To Republicans!

Florida has become in many ways the center of right wing conservatism, what with the election of Governor Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio, and Congressman Allen West in the midterm 2010 elections.

The state legislature is about three fourths Republican as well, and only six Democrats serve Florida in the House of Representatives.

No one is saying that the Democrats are about to take over state politics, as that will be a long haul, but public opinion polls show that Barack Obama leads both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in state polls about the Presidential election, and that Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has a big lead over Congressman Connie Mack IV, and that former appointed Senator George Lemieux is not even in the equation for the upcoming race.

The odds for Lois Frankel to overcome Adam Hasner for the Palm Beach County seat, that West held before he chose to move to a new congressional district in northern Palm Beach County and Martin and St. Lucie Counties, is seen as very good. And West is facing a major challenge in a young, charismatic CPA named Patrick Erin Murphy.

This is probably due to the improving economy, and the growing alienation nationwide of Independents, non Cuban Hispanics, and women to the GOP agenda.

Since Florida is the ultimate “swing state”, this might improve the possibility of Senator Rubio as the Vice Presidential running mate of Mitt Romney, even though Rubio keeps on saying that he has no interest, at age 41, rising to that level.

Florida will certainly be paid a lot of attention in this year’s political races!

Congressman Allen West Should Be Censured For His Vitriolic Attack On Debbie Wasserman Schultz!

South Florida has a very large number of senior citizens, who will be affected by the Republican attempt to gut Medicare and Social Security.

Congressman Allen West, one of the most right wing conservatives in Congress, has come out for such cuts, and his colleague, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is also chair of the Democratic National Committee, criticized his action that will hurt his own constituents. She did not issue a personal attack on West, but when he heard what she had said on the floor of the House of Representatives, he went ballistic!

Already seen as a “loose cannon”, who was forced to leave the military in 2004 because of mistreatment of an Iraqi prisoner of war, West lashed into a bitter personal attack, saying Wasserman Schultz did not act like a lady, and he would not give her, therefore, appropriate respect ordinarily due a fellow member of the House!

West called his colleague “vile, unprofessional, and despicable”, and accused her of “heinous, characterless behavior” unbecoming a member of Congress!

What West needs to do, but will certainly not do, is look in the mirror, realize his temper tantrum was way overboard, and apologize to Wasserman Schultz and all women in America for his lunatic temper and lack of respect for women!

Why has West not learned to be civil, cordial, and congenial with those he does not agree with? Does he really think that hitting someone over the head symbolically with a hatchet is the way to solve disagreements?

West should be censured for his vitriolic attack, as unacceptable behavior! Wasserman Schultz criticized his policy views, while West did a character assassination, totally uncalled for!

However, no such censure will occur, and the best result will be the defeat of West in his congressional district by former West Palm Beach mayor Lois Frankel! This is certainly one of the most significant House races for 2012, even before yesterday’s events!