Saving the Arts – Broadway Style

By Ilana Angel
Published on November 29, 2012

Obama’s proposed budget cuts concern Jewish groups

Published on February 14, 2012

Jewish organizations expressed concern at cost-cutting proposals in President Obama's $3.8 trillion budget for 2013. B’nai B’rith International and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs both released statements outlining their issues with provisions in the budget.

Congress looks to punish Palestinians, but cuts to security aid pose dilemma

Published on October 4, 2011

If the Palestinians don’t pull back from their statehood push, congressional cuts in aid are inevitable, U.S. lawmakers say. Just how comprehensive such cuts will be, however, could end up depending on Israel’s stance on the issue.

Budget cuts to community colleges could impact Jewish Studies

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on April 5, 2011

As reported in the Los Angeles Times on March 31, the failure of Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Sacramento to agree on a budget could mean cutting the spending on the state’s 112 community colleges by $800 million. In addition to an already-planned hike in student fees of nearly 40 percent, the additional cuts would mean eliminating courses from community college offerings, loading more students into the classes that remain and admitting fewer students.

Jewish leaders fast against budget cuts

Published on March 28, 2011

Leaders of two Jewish groups are joining an organized fast to protest proposed congressional budget cuts to poverty programs in the United States and abroad. The fast, initiated by HungerFast, a group led by anti-hunger activist Tony Hall, takes aim at proposed substantive cuts now under consideration in Congress that would target overseas food aid and domestic programs that provide food stamps, subsidized meals for preschoolers and their mothers, and subsidized heating for the poor.

Balancing the budget: Making the weak pay

Published on March 1, 2011

As a loyal Jewish Democrat and longtime advocate of social justice, she never thought she would find herself fighting Jerry Brown, a man she voted for three times for governor. Yet the 94-year-old is suddenly on the wrong side of Brown’s proposed budget cuts that would slash state spending by $12.5 billion, ripping a hole in numerous social service programs and eliminating others entirely.

Budget cuts require united front

Published on February 22, 2011

My in-box has been crowded these last days by requests that I sign on to this draft letter or that, all demanding that budget cuts proposed by House Republicans be restored. AmeriCorps fears it will be eliminated entirely. Federal help to states to defray some of the costs of special education would take a significant hit; so would the program that helps poor people pay for heating oil in the winter, a 66 percent cut. Mentoring for children of prisoners would be eliminated and Head Start cut by 15 percent. Community health centers would lose 46 percent of their current funding, and treatment of substance abuse cut by more than $200 million

Groups worry over domestic budget cuts

Published on February 15, 2011

Jewish groups expressed concerns about proposed Obama administration cuts in poverty assistance, but praised the U.S. budget for preserving aid to Israel. The White House's proposed budget, released Monday, projects cuts in programs such as heating for the poor and in blocs of money funneled to the states for social programs, and increases funding for education and for "clean energy" development.

Thanks, Cal State —thanks a lot

Published on December 3, 2008

When we hear that the one option that has always been guaranteed to us is now an uncertain variable, we can do nothing but doubt. When competition rages from all angles, and the safety we counted on no longer exists, we can do nothing but give up, right?

City Voice: Keep education in the spotlight

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on February 28, 2008

I write about education a lot because it's important for the Jewish community to have a strong public school system. Education is part of the Jewish culture. Many Jews can't afford private schools, and their kids deserve an education good enough to send them to college. Moreover, strong public schools are good for everybody, Jews and non-Jews.

Milken JCC bustling despite pool uncertainty

By Jane Ulman
Published on September 13, 2007

It's a typical bustling weekday at this Jewish center in West Hills, and it's a sharp contrast to the situation only a few months ago when the center was facing a deficit of $250,000, an uncertain future and a loss of nearly one-third of its members, following the abrupt closure of the pool on April 25 by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.