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Flotsam and Jetsam

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Congressional candidate Doug Pike explains why he’s dumping J Street and sending its money back: “I am also troubled by J Street’s position that Israel needs to end construction of any new housing units in East Jerusalem — an issue inflamed by the recent ill-timed announcement of a go-head for a 1600-unit project there. While this might seem an acceptable price for getting the Palestinians back to the bargaining table, underlying it is the Palestinians’ unrealistic hope of retaking control of East Jerusalem. Because I see Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, I do not like to hear loud voices in Washington — including top administration officials and J Street’s leadership — demanding an end to all housing construction in East Jerusalem.”

The Obami are uninterested in the really crippling sanctions (e.g., petroleum), so how much can Congress really do? Not much: “Rules without enforcement don’t mean much. That’s the new tone the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its supporters on Capitol Hill are taking when it comes to Iran sanctions. This week, congressional appropriators close to AIPAC moved to introduce enforcement language that would penalize federal agencies that contract with companies doing business with the Islamic Republic.”

And while we dawdle: “Six months after the revelation of a secret nuclear enrichment site in Iran, international inspectors and Western intelligence agencies say they suspect that Tehran is preparing to build more sites in defiance of United Nations demands. The United Nations inspectors assigned to monitor Iran’s nuclear program are now searching for evidence of two such sites, prompted by recent comments by a top Iranian official that drew little attention in the West, and are looking into a mystery about the whereabouts of recently manufactured uranium.”

Obama imagines he’s moving toward a nuclear-free world with a new START deal. Jamie Fly says there’s less than meets the eye: “In reality, the new agreement doesn’t achieve much — the Russians, unable to pay for their current nuclear forces, have already of their own volition cut the number of launchers to the treaty’s new level. The reductions of strategic deployed nuclear weapons are not that far below the levels obtained under the 2002 Moscow Treaty. The treaty also faces an uncertain future in the Senate. It is uncertain in part because the administration has only released limited information about the treaty’s details.”

Kathleen Parker gets this right on ObamaCare’s impact on abortion funding: “Prediction: Abortions will be performed at community health centers. You can bet your foreclosed mortgage on that. There was always a will by this administration, and now there’s a way.”

Another dose of ObamaCare reality: “Across the country, state officials are wading through the minutiae of the health care overhaul to understand just how their governments will be affected. Even with much still to be digested, it is clear the law may be as much of a burden to some state budgets as it is a boon to uninsured consumers.”

Whatever bounce Obama got in his approval ratings from passage of his signature legislative issue seems to have fizzled. But that’s nothing compared to the ratings for Congress – Pollster.com’s average pegs it at 78.1 percent disapproval and 11.7 percent approval. That’s worse than Gov. David Paterson.


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