If I am only for myself...

Again, I’ve been away from this website. But I have been getting some work done. Here is the link to my September 26, 2023 talk at the annual meeting of the International Center for Ethno-Religious Mediation.
Love to know what you think.
https://icermediation.org/the-power-of-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/

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Hi everyone.

I left this website fallow for years. But now I'm back, basically to share ideas about best political practices to move our country, and the whole world, to a more caring and compassionate place.

The original title of the website was obamaandacongress.org. The idea was to urge people to vote for congresspeople who support the Obama agenda.

Lots happened since then. (I write this on February 12, 2023). Our country has become much more bitterly divided and a large group of voters is set against anything that sounds like progressive legislation--like policies to insure that no one goes bankrupt because of medical bills.

My idea is to change the website title to "If I am only for myself..." That's from the great Talmudic portion, Pirkei Avot, quoting Hillel: "If I am not for myself, who can be for me? If I an only for myself, what am I? "If not now, when?"

(And yes, I know that the second sentence can be translated without the "only." I myself thought to add the Hebrew word for "only" in the sentence, to make it clear. But many translations treat the world "only" as what Hillel originally meant by the phrase.)

I have not revised the rest of this website yet. I'll be working on it.

Hope to change the name soon.

Art L

Below are some of my earlier posts for this site:

Here is the flyer I used in my election district for Cory Booker's election--and the flyer I used for the NJ Democratic ticket for November 5th, 2013.

Cory Booker for Senate
Vote this Wednesday
October 16 (6 a.m.-8 p.m., Teaneck High School, 100 Elizabeth Avenue).
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Hi,
It’s us again, Art and Sabrina Lerman, your local (District 18) Democratic Party
Municipal/County Committeepersons,
urging you to come out and vote.

The New York Times:
“...Cory Booker…a moderate Democrat…is far and away the better candidate…he
would be the kind of open-minded, moderating voice Washington so desperately needs.”

His opponent “could only add to the senseless partisanship that has now taken the
economy to the brink of disaster.”
His opponent “once said he believed it was a mistake to create Social Security and
Medicare…He opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. He opposes
same-sex marriage…”

The Record:
“Cory Booker has the skill set to be a formidable U.S. senator. He will be a
legislator committed to social justice, to a strong America…”
_________________________
Over for November elections.
November Elections
  Tuesday, November 5:
Our Candidates:
Governor: Barbara Buono
(Needs support, Many so-called Democratic  leaders accused of selling out to Christie.)
Lieutenant Governor:   Milly Silva
State Senate:  Loretta Weinberg (Teaneck’s Own, Now Majority Leader)
State Assembly: The great Gordon Johnson/Valerie Huttle team.
Freeholders: Christopher Tully/Lorraine Waldes/James Tedesco
Sheriff: Jim Mordaga
Paid for by Art & Sabrina Lerman, [email protected],
http://progressivefutureusa.com/,
http://www.obamaandacongress.org/.

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Art's Door-to-Door Election Flyer": 2012 Presidential Election

Hi. Haven't had much time for this website. I put most of my electioneering time into voter registration--until October 16th, the last day of registration for the coming election in New Jersey. Then I began working on a flyer and going door-to-door in my election district; I'm the district's municipal/county committeeman. (My wife is the committeewoman.)

And the storm is taking it's toll. We're staying with the in-laws, since we have no electricity. I'm driving back to my district each day to finish knocking on doors--and I'll have to knock, since all the electric doorbells are not functioning.

(Yes, I did manage to take the sukkah down before the storm.)

But the point of this post is to share the flyer. I'm still revising it, but the following is what I have now:

Some of Obama's Accomplishments

Prevented a Depression.
Stimulated the economy (as much as possible in the face of an obstructive Congress).
Affordable healthcare.
Kept student loan interest rates low.
Troops out of Iraq & bin Laden out of business.
Most advanced technologies to Israel (Iron Dome, etc.) to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge, while actively encouraging Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement.
Transportation/infrastructure bill passed. (More jobs.)
Immigration reform--a path for "child illegals."
LGBT civil rights.

Some Reaction to First Debate

Ineffective economic path?

Romney complained about the ineffectiveness of the economic path we are on.
Sure, the economy is not in great shape. But, that's because the Republican Congress did all it could to prevent Obama from stimulating the economy. He managed some, but with a supportive Congress, we'd be in much better shape.

Should not increase taxes on big business?

Big business already has plenty of money. But it will not invest and hire more, unless the rest of us have enough money to buy things from it. That means we have to follow the ideas of John Maynard Keynes--when the economy is down, the government spends money (and properly, if necessary, goes into deficit) to get money into the pockets of the general consumer, so that they can make demands on business--which will then respond with more hiring to meet the demand.

Once the economy is roaring ahead, then the government can begin to cut deficits--and to control inflation. The U.S. Republicans and the German government in Europe have got it wrong--demanding less government spending and deficit reduction now. In Europe, that has sent the economies into a tailspin. Obama has managed to keep our economy healthier than that, but it's hard, given that the Republicans are standing in the way of further remedial action.

An illustration: Is it really better for teachers, police and fire fighters to remain unemployed--eking out a temporary living on unemployment insurance, instead of doing their jobs of educating our children and protecting us from crime and fire--and spending money to stimulate the economy as well?

Bypassing state creativity with domineering federal controls?

Does not the Affordable Healthcare Act allow the states to shape their own healthcare insurance exchanges?

Obama is not bipartisan enough?

Come on! His Affordable Healthcare Act is based on Republican Mitt Romney's Massachusetts plan.

From the beginning of his presidency, Obama has tried to work with the Republicans. But, from the beginning of his presidency, the Republicans have explicitly said they would not cooperate with him, doing everything to make sure he fails, so that he will not be reelected for a second term.

The Republicans had two choices:

1. To oppose Obama at every turn, even if his policies were good for the country, so that the country would vote for them in the next election, or

2. Work with Obama. If so, sure, he'd have a better shot at being reelected. But the Republicans could also run a positive campaign against him--saying that his success was due to their cooperation and ideas. And, of course, with this second option the country would be better off.

Romney as Etch-A-Sketch

Hard not to notice that all-of-a-sudden, Romney was all over himself caring about the 47% of Americans that he had earlier written off. There's a lot of political science literature on this kind of candidate. Play to the extreme primary voters to get the nomination and then turn over a new leaf for the more moderate voters who only come out for the general election.
Will be back for more
Have to run and reinforce my sukkah before sundown. I’m afraid of a wind blowing it away. It’s sort of built exactly like a box kite.