There
were two speeches given today that were of personal interest to me as both a
Pennsylvanian and an Israeli. The local and international mix that I heard
today was an interesting mix of “what are you thinking” and “what are we
thinking”. As Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (in sheep’s clothing) took to the
podium in Harrisburg I prepared for the former and as Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu approached the podium in Congress I couldn’t help but
consider the latter. In both instances I was left with the feeling that there
are too many people in this world and in politics in particular that are
completely out to lunch. But let’s take one speech at a time…
Wolf’s address to the commonwealth
was to explain the reasoning behind his 2015 budget. Specifically he stated that
the budget would achieve the following:
It is a budget that reflects my
conversations with many of you here today.
It includes democratic ideas,
republican ideas, and ideas that exist beyond party lines.
It is rooted in the values of fairness,
inclusion, and common sense.
It is a balanced budget, and it
eliminates our $2.3 billion deficit.
However,
his ‘rescuing’ of the middle class is not what it seems on the surface.
While he is supposedly proposing a decrease in the state income and real estate
taxes as well as the corporate tax rate, he is also looking to raise the sales
tax, pull $1 billion from the burgeoning natural gas industry, and increase
educational funding in the commonwealth from 35 to 50%. The last might be the
most crippling to his theoretical ‘balanced budget’ in that the system is
broken. We need to put the system in dry dock and find the cracks, holes, and
weak points rather than buying more duct tape and hoping we stay afloat. While
all this is supposedly going to save the average tax payer over $1000 per year
I am betting that the opposite will be true (if we are lucky).
As
much as Wolf’s declarations annoyed me, Netanyahu’s assertions inspired me. In
the face of a hostile political play which has been in production for weeks,
the Prime Minister took center stage and said what many of us were thinking…
the President’s policy, his deal, is misguided and dangerous. While this excerpt from his speech
doesn’t address the nuclear development in Iran, it does speak to the heart of
the matter:
America's founding document promises
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Iran's founding document pledges
death, tyranny, and the pursuit of jihad. And as states are collapsing across
the Middle East, Iran is charging into the void to do just that.
Iran's goons in Gaza, its lackeys in Lebanon, its revolutionary guards on the Golan Heights are clutching Israel with three tentacles of terror. Backed by Iran, Assad is slaughtering Syrians. Back by Iran, Shiite militias are rampaging through Iraq. Back by Iran, Houthis are seizing control of Yemen, threatening the strategic straits at the mouth of the Red Sea. Along with the Straits of Hormuz, that would give Iran a second choke-point on the world's oil supply.
Iran's goons in Gaza, its lackeys in Lebanon, its revolutionary guards on the Golan Heights are clutching Israel with three tentacles of terror. Backed by Iran, Assad is slaughtering Syrians. Back by Iran, Shiite militias are rampaging through Iraq. Back by Iran, Houthis are seizing control of Yemen, threatening the strategic straits at the mouth of the Red Sea. Along with the Straits of Hormuz, that would give Iran a second choke-point on the world's oil supply.
Just last week, near Hormuz, Iran
carried out a military exercise blowing up a mock U.S. aircraft carrier. That's
just last week, while they're having nuclear talks with the United States. But
unfortunately, for the last 36 years, Iran's attacks against the United States
have been anything but mock. And the targets have been all too real.
Those
who have opposed this speech and have questioned the opposition to Obama’s deal
should take note of those two paragraphs. Iran is a threat to my people,
Israelis and Americans alike, and we should recognize that reality rather than
allowing a rogue regime continue to run rampant throughout the region. Such
situations, when left unchecked or addressed without a firm resolve, can have a
dire impact on the world not just the countries and people surrounding them. We
should stand with our only true democratic ally in the region and prevent the
terror from overtaking the world.
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