August 12, 2016
In Her Own Words
JAC summer intern Emily Small

While interning at JAC this summer, I have learned many things. But the most important message I take away with me is that small actions can create real change. JAC is a small organization compared to the super PACs and other national political and special interest organizations. Every day JAC works to help elect candidates that will fight for legislation that is pro-choice and pro-Israel and to educate people on the crucial issues that affect our lives. Watching the small, dedicated staff work to affect change on a national level highlights the importance to me of voting this November.
 
I have spoken with too many people who feel voting is "pointless" or "arbitrary."  Their excuse is always "I'm just one person and my vote doesn't matter." This is the wrong way to think. Donald Trump is a real threat to our country. He's a narcissistic, sexist, racist, xenophobe who is outrageously unqualified to be President. Yet he has a real chance of winning this election. The only way we can keep Trump away from the White House is to vote for Hillary Clinton. Staying home is not an option. Our right to vote for our President and members of the House and Senate - a right that many people have risked their lives for - is the foundation of our democracy. 
 
If you use your vote, you strengthen our country. My vote is my voice. I plan on using my precious vote to make sure that the most qualified candidate in history, Hillary Clinton, is elected. When I return to school in a few weeks, I will do all that I can to make sure my friends vote, too. My generation has the most to lose if Trump wins. Anyone who chooses not to vote will, in essence, be casting a vote for Trump. They will have no one to blame but themselves when he leads our country down a path far from greatness.
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If you know anyone interested in interning at JAC, please contact the office at [email protected]

  

JAC members met with NC Senate candidate Deborah Ross (l to r: Dana Gordon, Steve Victor and Deborah Ross)
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Planning on attending a candidate event, getting out the vote, attending rallies or other JAC-related activities? Take a picture and send it to us to add to the EZ Read!
[email protected] 




Talking Points Highland Park
Election 2016
featuring Jon Carson
former Director of Organizing for America
Tuesday, September 6
10:00 am
Highland Park, IL

 
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For more information and to RSVP, contact the JAC office at 847.433.5999 or [email protected]
Sen. Michael Bennet 
August 15
Chicago, IL
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Coffee with Senate Candidate
 Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
August 23rd
9:30 am
Highland Park,IL
click for details
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An Evening with
Brad Schneider
candidate for IL-10
and
Rep. Ted Deutch (FL-19)
August 29th
7 pm
Highland Park, IL
details to follow
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For more information and to RSVP, contact the JAC office at 847.433.5999 or [email protected]
 
Featuring Guest Speaker 
Humorist 
Andy Borowitz

Monday, September 26, 2016 
 
 
Meet the Candidates 
NC Senate Candidate
Deborah Ross

NC Senate candidate Deborah Ross is challenging anti-choice Sen. Richard Burr. Ross, a lawyer, served 10  years in the NC General Assembly and also served as director of the state's ACLU office.  Democrats finally have a chance to regain a much-needed Democratic Senate seat in the South with this race. 
 
Ross has traveled to Israel twice and says "I will work to strengthen the relationship between our two countries and continue our tradition of leadership in this critical region," she has said.
 
As a state legislator, Deborah fought for women's access to reproductive care.  Her opponent is an extremist who has consistently voted against women's health care. "I will work to preserve a woman's constitutionally protected right to an abortion ... and [work] to repeal the Hyde Amendment," Ross has said. 
 
JAC is proud to support Deborah and hope that you will join us in this important effort.
 
 
#ImWithHer  
 
Hillary Clinton will be a role model for our children.
Donald Trump won't. Click here to watch. 

 
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Israel & the Middle East
Trump Is Unreliable for Israel
Donald Trump would be an unreliable and potentially dangerous ally of Israel as president of the United States, a group of senior Republican national security officials told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
NGOs for Survivors of Slain Troops to Brief White House
Israeli and U.S. nonprofits that offer counseling to survivors of troops killed during their military service joined for a briefing to the White House initiative for military families.

UN Calls for Immediate Halt of Aid Money to Gaza
All international humanitarian organizations need to immediately halt all aid money to Gaza until it can be proven that the money isn't being squandered by Hamas, a leading Christian-Zionist has said.
Read Full Article

Stop Trying to Make Israel a Wedge Issue
The United States signed the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 countries and Iran nearly a year ago, but the partisan fault line that developed in the Jewish world during that legislative struggle remains. It surfaces constantly during policy discussions on the U.S.-Israel relationship - and it is time for this to end.
Anti-Semitism & BDS
Israeli Athletes Encounter Hostility At Rio Olympic Games
For Israelis, the Olympics will forever be tainted by the 1972 Munich games, where 11 Israeli athletes were brutally mur�dered by Pales�tin�ian terrorists. These days, anti-Israel violence at the Olympics has been replaced by pol�i�tics, with rep�re�sen�ta�tives from countries hostile to Israel going to great lengths to avoid any inter�ac�tion with Israeli athletes.
Pence Suggests Trump's 'Muslim Ban' Include Jews, Others
Speaking with conservative radio host, Charlie Sykes, Pence expanded on Trump's proposal. When Sykes asked him to clarify whether the ban would apply to Christians, Jews and others from "compromised" countries, as well as Muslims, Pence suggested that would indeed be the case.
Reproductive Rights
Tough Decisions: Reproductive Choice and Jewish Genetics
As Sarah and her husband were checking off last-minute wedding prep, they got a suggestion from their rabbi. He asked them if they'd been genetically tested for diseases common among Ashkenazi Jews.
"Just to have the choice, even though it's a hard choice," she said, "was essential."

Anti-Abortion Advocates Seek Fresh Ammunition
Seeking to arm themselves with new ammunition after losing a major Supreme Court battle, the anti-abortion movement is calling for a national database for abortion statistics and increased state reporting - moves likely to raise patient privacy concerns.
Read Full Article 
 
Rubio Opposes Abortions for Zika-Infected Women
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says he opposes abortions for women infected with Zika, as the health crisis sweeps his home state.The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to microcephaly in babies born of infected women.
Read Full Article 
 
 
Pelosi Gets Personal with GOP on Birth Control
Hammering GOP leaders for tying funding for the Zika virus to restrictions on Planned Parenthood clinics, Pelosi on Thursday wondered aloud how many Republicans abstain from using contraception.
Read Full Article
Separation of Religion & State
Religiously-Affiliated Employers May Discriminate
ERISA is the federal law governing employee benefit plans, including retirement accounts and health insurance. Employer plans governed by ERISA have a few requirements that particularly draw conservative ire. However, not all employers are required to follow ERISA. In particular, the statute exempts "church plans" from its requirements.

Missouri Right to Say No Church Playground Renovations
In Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, the Supreme Court will consider whether the state of Missouri violated the U.S. Constitution when it denied the church's application for a cash grant to subsidize the cost
of resurfacing its playground with recycled scrap-tire material. 
Beyond the Core
Court Decisions Show New Approach to Voting Rights Cases
Critics of Republican-led efforts to change voting laws in key states are scoring a new round of victories in courts across the country. The wave of favorable decisions illustrates a new approach voting rights advocates are taking in court.

Gabby Giffords: Trump's '2nd Amendment' Line Hints Violence
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, urged Americans in a statement Tuesday to condemn Donald Trump's remark about "Second Amendment people" taking action to stop Hillary Clinton from appointing Supreme Court judges, saying it could incite violence.

Appeals Court Blocks Voter ID Changes
With the presidential election only three months away, a federal appeals panel Wednesday blocked a lower court ruling that would have allowed Wisconsin voters without photo IDs to sign an affidavit and cast a ballot.

Photographer Documents Survivors of Gun Violence
Photographer Kathy Shorr resolved to photograph victims of gun violence throughout the United States. Specifically, she was interested in the many, often nameless individuals who survived. "We always heard about those who died but never about what happened to those who lived," Shorr explained. "It seemed as if they were to just pick up the physical and emotional pieces and just go on with their lives.  I felt it would be important to show them and to hear what they had to say."
Read Full Article
Political Byte
GOP Senator Susan Collins: Why I Cannot Support Trump
"I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president. This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country."
 
Nevada Sen. Candidate Advocates for Trafficking Victims
It's for women like the thousands who never speak out that Catherine Cortez Masto is so committed to this work. It's for them that she's running for Senate. Cortez Masto is currently the Democratic candidate in Nevada, tapped by her party to fill the seat that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid will vacate when he retires after five terms in office this fall. 
 
Friends Don't Let Friends Vote for Jill Stein 
She traffics in extreme and irresponsible rhetoric about her opponents and elevates conspiracy theories into the discourse.
 
McConnell Issues Warning GOP is in Danger of Losing Senate 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not optimistic that he will be in charge of the Senate come November and Donald Trump, he implied, is not helping matters.
 
Eight U.S. Election Races the Jewish Community is Watching
On the local level in a handful of states and districts, Israel and the consequences of the nuclear deal reached with Iran last year remain top of voters' minds. Here are eight races the active Jewish-American community will be closely watching come November.

Harry Reid Won't Rule Out Hardball Tactics in Garland Fight
Sen. Harry Reid isn't ruling out going to the mat to force consideration of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Reid is still weighing his options, and on Thursday the Senate minority leader wouldn't rule out a move to force a discharge vote.
#ImWithHer
Clinton Camp Formally Launches Republicans for Hillary Effort
The launch of the group, Together for America, comes after months of scattered efforts by the campaign and its allies to woo anti-Trump Republicans.The group consists of nearly 50 leaders in business, national security, foreign and economic policy, politics and other arenas, according to a list provided by the campaign. Their goal is to eventually build grass-roots support among conservatives, an aide said.

Ex GOP Rep. Chris Shays: Why I'm voting for Hillary Clinton
I think many Republicans know Donald Trump could cause great damage to our country and the world at large, and still plan to vote for him. But not me. He represents practically everything I was taught not to be, and everything my wife and I taught our daughter not to be. Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, will be getting my vote, not reluctantly, but with a strong conviction that she will be a good president.
Read Full Article

Hillary Clinton's Commitment to Religious Freedom
As Americans, we hold fast to the belief that everyone has the right to worship however he or she sees fit. I've been fighting to defend religious freedom for years. As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world.
Trump Watch
GOP Officials Warn Trump Would Put  Security At Risk
Fifty of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald Trump "lacks the character, values and experience" to be president and "would put at risk our country's national security and well-being."

Dan Rather Says What Needs to be Said
No trying-to-be objective and fair journalist, no citizen who cares about the country and its future can ignore what Donald Trump said today. When he suggested that "The Second Amendment People" can stop Hillary Clinton he crossed a line with dangerous potential.

Trump's Remarks Similar to Atmosphere Prior to Rabin Killing
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Donald Trump's suggestion that gun rights advocates could "do" something about Hillary Clinton recalled the incitement to violence reported in the months prior to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel. "I instantly thought about Rabin and Israel," Malloy, a Democrat, said.
Read Full Article

Trump Exposes Trump 

Trump Exposes Trump
FYI
Spain Grants Citizenship to 220 Sephardi Jews
The Sephardi chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Shlomo Amar, was among the latest group of recipients of Spanish nationality under Spain's law of return for descendants of Sephardi Jews.
 
Israel Wins First Olympic Medal Since 2008
Israel won its first Olympic medal since 2008 on Tuesday after Yarden Gerbi claimed a bronze medal in the women's under-63 kilogram judo competition at the Rio games.
Read Full Article

Trump Speaks, Children Listen
We know from history that our worst impulses can catch fire when a prominent person chooses to ignite them. This is as true for adults as it is children. If you are an American claiming to be a Christian and yet looking for permission to hate all Muslims and immigrants, mock women and terrorize people of color, Donald Trump is your sign from God.

Our members count on JACPAC to provide information on current events, candidates, and elections.  JACPAC depends on membership support to make this possible.

 

If you have not renewed your membership, please consider doing so today, to help us pursue a strong US-Israel relationship, reproductive rights, and separation of religion and state.  Together we can make this a better world!

   

Sincerely,

 
Marcia Balonick, Executive Director
Joy Malkus, Research Director

Dana Gordon, Membership & Outreach

Hollis Wein, Communications Director 

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Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
Paid for by Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs. Contributions or gifts are not tax deductible. Contributions may total up to $5400 per individual ($2700 for the primary election, and $2700 for the general election). Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Corporate contributions and contributions from non-US citizens who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence are prohibited. All contributions by individuals must be made from personal funds and may not be reimbursed or paid by another person.