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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.
— 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 to 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 the 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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Republican Jewish Coalition | 50 F Street, N.W., Suite 100 | Washington, DC 20001
202.638.6688 | [email protected]
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