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Friday February 18, 2005

Tackling U.S. domestic policies: Jews grapple with best approach

by matthew e. berger
jta

washington | The Bush administration’s plan to slash domestic spending and transform major institutions such as Social Security, Medicaid and the tax code has sharpened a debate already under way about the role of the organized Jewish community in tackling domestic policy issues.

On one side are longtime liberal activists who believe Jews must maintain their historic role in promoting domestic programs that provide a safety net for those in need.

On the other is a growing chorus of Jewish communal leaders and donors who suggest that it is time to abandon the longtime Jewish advocacy for social welfare programs, and focus exclusively on Jewish needs.

The Jewish federation system, in particular, is especially concerned about sustaining current levels of state and federal support — between $5 billion and $7 billion — that is funneled annually into the federation system.

In unveiling his budget, Bush called for a 1 percent cut on domestic spending not related to security, and proposed that 150 programs be greatly reduced or cut entirely next year.

The $2.57 trillion budget proposal also called for additional belt-tightening for many Jewish programs that aid the community’s poor and elderly.

Morton Plant, chairman of the executive committee of the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella body for North American federations, questioned whether lobbying efforts should be spent on issues that don’t specifically concern the Jewish community, like health care, senior issues and immigration care.

“I think we try to do too much,” said Plant of Baltimore. “We are servicing such a mixed group and their interests are not the same. My personal feeling is we ought to concentrate on several things and really do a great job on it.”

Others believe that while the federation system should be fighting for the Jewish piece of the budget pie, other policy organizations should continue to focus on issues that affect others as well.

Martin Raffel, the associate executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said, “We need to harmonize our two Jewish impulses — to take care of the tribe and to take care of the broader world.”

One line of thinking is that the Jewish community should rethink some of its priorities, if only to avoid being marginalized by an administration that has different priorities. There is always concern when Jewish groups take positions opposing White House policies. That can hurt access, especially in an administration known for sidestepping opposing viewpoints, and could hamper efforts to lobby for other priorities, including Israel.

There are already signs that some groups are tamping down their positions on issues.

While many Jewish professionals who deal with the elderly and the poor oppose Bush’s proposed reforms to Social Security and Medicaid, some lay leaders and donors share some of Bush’s economic policy perspectives.

As Jewish demographics shift, look for more such “diversity of opinion,” say community leaders.

Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, says there is a growing dialectic between what he dubs “particularism” and “universalism” in the Jewish community.

Jews still care about broader issues such as battling poverty, he said, but some prefer to channel those energies into general, non-Jewish organizations.

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