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April 02, 2020 |
Your
weekly look at the latest news, analysis, and RJC activities around
the country. |
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While RJC offices are closed and our staff are teleworking, you
can reach us by email or by phone (please leave a voicemail message
and your call will be returned). Contact
information for our offices can be found on our
NEW web site. Please visit us online for the latest
RJC
news, to volunteer
for our 2020 outreach efforts, to see details of upcoming events
(when they resume), and to donate
to the RJC.
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Featured —
We hope you and your family are safe and well. Please continue
to follow CDC guidelines and your state’s requirements to help slow
the spread of the novel coronavirus and to help keep our vulnerable
populations safe. We’re all in this together.
Sheldon Adelson, left,
with his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson.
One of the most pressing problems in this coronavirus crisis
is the significant number of American workers who have lost their
income because businesses have had to shut down.
RJC Board of Directors member Sheldon Adelson
is setting a notable example of how America’s business leaders can
support their workforce and the larger community at this time.
In an article for the New York Post, Adelson announced
that his Las Vegas Sands company is paying every one of the nearly
10,000 employees of their resort hotels as if they were still working.
The company is even working to make up for lost tips to their
employees. Adelson called on corporate executives to stand by their
workers so that government can focus on helping small and medium
businesses survive this crisis. He wrote:
To my fellow corporate executives who are looking at
spreadsheets and trying to determine the impact this crisis will have
on sales and share prices, let me say: Our job as business leaders is
now as simple as it is challenging. It is to maximize the number of
employees and their families that we can help — and help them for as
long as possible.
America’s corporations and small- and medium-sized businesses
are making excruciating decisions. Many will result in people being
out of work; millions have already been added to the jobless rolls as
a result of the pandemic. Those difficult decisions, especially for
small- and medium-sized businesses, could determine whether they are
able to reopen when this crisis is resolved.
That is why protecting the ability of small and medium-sized
businesses to recover is where government must again be responsive.
Yes, more than $2 trillion in government rescue aid is coming.
However, the longer this crisis continues, the greater the risk to the
livelihood of many more Americans.
Adelson closed
with words of inspiration and hope:
…As an octogenarian, I have seen the perseverance of this
country over and over again. The common thread is that this nation and
its people always come together in times of great need. There is no
doubting this is one of those times, and the need is great.
The coming weeks will be tough, and the months that follow
will be unsteady. To my fellow business leaders, let us lead by
example. I will gladly participate in an ongoing discussion with each
of you on ways we can work together to protect this nation’s
workforce.
Let us prove the greatness, compassion and resiliency of this
country, once again.
Daniel Ostrov and Stephanie Cole assemble
face shields in Kohelet Yeshiva High School's "fab lab." (Courtesy of
Kohelet)
Fred Rogers, the host of Mr. Rogers’
Neighborhood, taught
that when disaster strikes, we must look for the helpers and
recognize the good work that people are doing to support those in
need.
We encourage you to be a helper if you can.
The Times of Israel reports on six
Jewish coronavirus initiatives you can support from home,
including getting kosher food to Jewish health care workers, producing
face masks at home, and providing food to community members struggling
with poverty. Your community may be doing similar projects – see how
you can get involved!
We are proud to highlight the tremendous efforts being made to
solve the urgent problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
• Companies are shifting gears to produce badly needed
personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers:
MyPillow founder says his company will make 50,000 masks a day to
fight coronavirus… Under
Armour will manufacture 500,000 face masks to address coronavirus…
Brooks
Brothers repurposes factories to produce 150,000 masks daily… 3M
plans to make more than a billion masks by end of
year…
• The availability of 3-D printing has allowed small
community groups and others to get involved in this effort too:
Grassroots
3D printing efforts help produce medical safety gear… The
Kohelet Jewish day school has turned its art center into a medical
face shield factory…
• Others are finding innovative ways to produce ventilators
to treat the seriously ill:
James
Dyson designed a new ventilator in 10 days. He’s making
15,000 for the coronavirus pandemic fight… Israel
retools missile production line to mass produce
ventilators...
• Scientists around the world are racing to develop therapies
and vaccines for COVID-19:
Houston Methodist Hospital performs the nation’s first plasma
transfusion to treat COVID-19… FDA
greenlights clinical trial for COVID-19 coronavirus treatment…
Doctors express hope, questions about using malaria
drugs to combat coronavirus… Pittsburgh team makes progress on possible
COVID-19 vaccine… Israeli scientists: Coronavirus
vaccine to be tested on humans by June 1… Australian scientists
begin tests
of potential vaccines…
Todd McMurtry is challenging Rep. Thomas
Massie in the GOP primary in Kentucky.
RJC
PAC Announces Support for a Republican Incumbent’s Primary
Challenger
The RJC PAC announced last Friday that it
will endorse and support Republican Todd McMurtry
in his race to defeat Congressman Thomas Massie
(KY-4) - the only anti-Israel member of the House GOP caucus. It is
almost unprecedented for the RJC PAC to support the primary challenger
of an incumbent Republican.
In January, Massie voted against the Never Again Education Act
that expanded the US Holocaust Museum’s education program. Last week,
he recklessly held up the stimulus bill intended to help Americans
struggling because of the coronavirus. In addition, Massie has cast
numerous votes against bills that supported Israel. The RJC PAC
believes that Rep. Massie does not deserve another term in office and
is happy to support Todd McMurtry, who will be a strong pro-Israel
voice in the House in 2021.
The Hill noted that McMurtry has “won the endorsement
of the Republican Jewish Coalition PAC, an
influential group that rarely weighs in on primary
races.”
President Trump has used his daily briefing
to communicate directly and effectively with the American people about
the coronavirus crisis.
The
Mainstream Media Falls
Short
This week, RJC Leaders had a conference call with RJC National
Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and former White House
Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. The topic was White
House communications management during a national crisis and the role
of the mainstream media. Ari Fleischer said that in a time of crisis,
the president’s job is to be realistic and
reassuring. He said that President Donald
Trump is fulfilling that role by conveying to the American
people both updated and informed guidance and messages of hope.
Coleman and Fleischer gave the President high marks for his daily
briefings. (To upgrade your membership to the Leadership Council
tier or higher and participate in future calls like this one, click
here.)
The mainstream media have sadly continued their war against
the President. They have used edited quotes, “gotcha” questions, and a
daily barrage of negative and alarming reports to try to hurt the
President. In reality, they are losing what remained of their
credibility and making the situation even tougher for the American
people. Eddie Scarry writes
at the Washington Examiner:
I understand critical reporting, but if anyone is guilty of
scaring the public, it's the national media. They have reported on
this pandemic and the administration’s response to it as though it
were something out of the Book of Revelations. Every single death is
characterized as an avoidable tragedy — something that we should have
been able to stop if not for an inept president.
Epidemiologist
Dr. Joshua M. Epstein, writing
at Politico, warns that there are two contagions sweeping the
planet. One is the coronavirus, and the second he calls, “ancient,
more intractable, and more contagious: human fear.”
It’s not just a metaphor. Fear changes human behavior, for
better and worse. As scientists and doctors fight the virus itself,
the biggest challenge for government will become managing this second
epidemic—the spread of fear and also its retreat, which can sometimes
be even riskier.
If only the
media would emulate President Trump and become realistic and
reassuring!
The RJC
is committed to reelecting President Donald Trump,
keeping the Senate, and winning back the House. We encourage
our members to participate in our outreach phonebank project to help
Republicans win in November. It's easy and you can do it from
home! Here's how YOU can help:
- Sign up to
call Jewish voters from home by clicking HERE.
-
Fill out all of the fields.
- Listen to the instructions and write
down your username and password when a member of the RJC Victory Team
contacts you.
- Make as many phone calls as you can. Everyone you
speak to is a potential vote for President Trump and the
GOP!
Sign up now and you could be the next RJC
Volunteer of the Week!
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The
Republican Jewish Coalition is hiring field staff for our advocacy
efforts in support of President Donald
Trump’s reelection in various battleground
states. CLICK
HERE for details and application
information.
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The RJC PAC
has endorsed a terrific slate of House and Senate incumbents, and we
need them to continue their work on Capitol Hill!
CLICK
HERE to donate through the RJC PAC portal and show your support for
our great candidates!
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And
don't forget your RJC/Trump kippah!
Our extremely popular
red Trump kippah is now for sale for just $18. This includes shipping
and handling. Supplies are limited.
BUY YOUR KIPPAH HERE.
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China
concealed extent of virus outbreak, US intelligence
says
Bloomberg: China has concealed the extent of the
coronavirus outbreak in its country, under-reporting both total cases
and deaths it’s suffered from the disease, the US intelligence
community concluded in a classified report to the White House,
according to three US officials. Dr. Deborah Birx,
response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has
suggested that the
US was slow to respond to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic because of
faulty data reported by China.
The
coronavirus is absolutely no excuse to lift sanctions on
Iran
Iran’s clerical dictatorship cares more about its
own survival than it cares about the welfare of the Iranian people.
But you wouldn’t know it from the chorus of Americans and Europeans
exploiting the coronavirus crisis in Iran to push the Trump
administration to lift sanctions against Iran. This is fundamentally
dishonest—the sanctions do not restrict medical supplies and other
forms of humanitarian aid—and plays into the hands of a brutal
regime.
SEE ALSO: Joe
Biden calls on Trump to help Iran, which rejected US
aid.
Israel
gives Palestinians desperately needed COVID-19 aid, gets bizarre blood
libels in return
Israel has been providing the
Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza with crucial aid against
the coronavirus. The aid and cooperation have prompted even the United
Nations, known for obsessive and severely disproportionate criticism
of Israel, to sing the praises of the Jewish state. Yet even in this
situation of a shared emergency and vital Israeli assistance, harsh
and even bizarre Palestinian anti-Israeli propaganda continues
unabated.
— Events —
RJC Victory Team National Day of
Action
Join us for our next scheduled RJC Victory Team
National Day of Action on April 22 (all
day). Click
here to sign up and join in!
We look forward to scheduling in-person grassroots events and
resuming our chapter activities around the country as soon as
possible. Don't forget to check our
web site for updates.
We also encourage you to check out the terrific content and
virtual events of our sister organization, the Jewish
Policy Center.
If you like the work we’re doing, consider joining us on
Facebook and Twitter, and renew or upgrade your RJC
membership. Ensure that your voice is heard in our party
and our community!
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