On the Butcher's Block by Marlene Adler Marks Presidential politics this year seem to be turning into a run for the job of shochet, the butcher who can make the cutting of flesh kosher, if not painless. Bill Clinton's decision to sign a welfare reform bill that ends Aid to Families with Dependent Children and balances the budget, and deprives needy legal immigrants of health care and food stamps, is surely the low point in his term.
Cold steel meets cold hearts in America today.
Clinton's callous action, aimed at deflecting criticism during the upcoming presidential campaign, is only a hint of what might come. This week, Republican candidate Bob Dole announced his economic plan, which would cut taxes 15 percent and halve the capital gains. A Republican-controlled Congress and White House faced with the need to cut taxes and balance the budget would shred the safety net. I spoke last week with Carol Levy, the newly named director of the American Jewish Congress. The AJCongress is the last stronghold of traditional liberalism in the organized Jewish community, leaning left of the left.