Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill (official sponsor of the new AIPAC bill) with Israeli leader Ehud Olmert.
Kirk is the 2008 top recipient of Israel stealth PAC contributions according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. He received $91,200 in the 2008 election cycle and more than $221,000 over his career. A US court is still debating whether to regulate AIPAC as a political action committee after it was shown secretly directing such funding in violation of US campaign finance laws in the 1990s.
IRMEP
AIPAC legislated restrictions on US businesses and workers already cost 100,000 American jobs per year. New AIPAC legislation targeting Iran could lead to further jobs loss.
An AIPAC effort on Tuesday seeks to cut off U.S. loans to some American companies doing business with India and Iran. US exports to Iran have boomed from $85 million in 2004 to $683 million last year as US grain and other foodstuffs find eager Persian buyers...
....Kirk was frank about the true backers of his plan: “Our amendment is a go because AIPAC supports it,” he said, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a leading pro-Israel lobby.
Grant Smith, research director at the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) was highly critical of Kirk's move and the legislation sponsor. "AIPAC has a history of pushing policies that ultimately harm US workers and the American economy. The flawed 1985 US-Israel bilateral trade agreement has cost the US 100,000 jobs per year over the last decade. Other legislative initiatives pushed by the Israel lobby have negatively impacted the US share in the $609 billion dollar Arab market, which dropped from 12.77% in 1997 to 8.55% in 2008. American workers no longer want to play victim to AIPAC's trade and foreign policy adventures." Full story
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