Some democracy. Israel allows ethnic Jews to freely emigrate to Israel, but won't allow non-Jews to return to the homes they had before 1948 and 1967. Israel is a racist state that practices ethnic cleansing and continues to steal Palestinian land.

If people want a full stop to all of this undue influence of lobbyists, there needs to be public financing of the campanigns. Untill that day comes, we are going to see more wars, misery, violence etc perpetrated against innocents across the globe.

AIPAC is an organization that lobbies the Congress on issues related to Israel. Both Jews and Christian (I am sure that there other are involved) work within the group. As was mentioned by other people, there are other lobbing groups. Frankly, I thought that it could have been either AARP or the NRA that could have been labeled the most powerful lobbing group on the Hill. One of the reasons why AIPAC has been seen to be supporting the war was that the attitude the Bush administration had (has) is that you are with or against us with little if any middle ground. It was seen as better to be connected than on the outside at the beginning of the Bush administration since the Republicans controlled Congress.

There are several reasons, now and then, that the US supports Israel. One is that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East. I don't consider Turkey a part of the Middle East. There is also an independant judiciary that enforces the rule of law including freedom of speech. How many Arab/Muslim countries have that? During the Cold War when the Arabs were receiving aid from the Soviet Union, Israel was the counter point. Israel has also been a source for technological advancement that has benefited the US as well as Israel. These are some of the reasons why the US supports Israel.

Ask yourself this, why do (most if not all) the Arab countries that surround Israel refuse to accept's right to exist? What have the Arab countries done for the Palestinian Arabs living in their country as well as the West Bank and Gaza? Refugee camps and weapons to make suicide bombers? Is this constructive?

AIPAC is aligned with the Bush administration??? AIPAC stays close to both parties–that way AIPAC is never out of favor and always able to influence. For example, go do an Internet search on "Pelosi" and "AIPAC".

Thanks for the clarification,, Congressman Waxman.

To even question whether AIPAC exerts an undue influence on the direction of United States foreign policy earns one a quick and unsubtle slam as an "anti-Semite."

Personally, I'm tired of being Israel's bully-boy in the Middle-East and around the world.

Does Israel exert too much influence on American policy? Yes, yes and yes.
Guess I'll now be attacked as anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and whatever else these people feel like saying.

Par for the course.

"A spokesman for Moran told CNN Tuesday, "It is not the Jewish people, but an organization aligned with the Bush Administration… that he critiqued."

AIPAC is aligned with the Bush Administration??? Oh really? AIPAC is smart enough to stay close to both parties–this way Israeli interests will never be out of favor.

Nancy Pelosi is close friends with Amy Friedkin, a former AIPAC president. There is a soccer field in Israel named after Pelosi's father.

AIPAC was implicated in trying to get Jane Harman (D-CA-Jewish) appointed as chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

And I could go on.

Moran's lame attempt to backpedal only proves that AIPAC wields undue influence over U.S. politicians.

Oh right. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the formation of Israel and displacing millions of Palestinians, right?

It's like saying they hate us for our freedoms. A teenager in Syria doesn't give a damn about our freedoms or Israel's wealth; he might give a damn if we're bombing his neighborhood or Israel is sending tanks into Palestine.

Seriously, would you blow yourself up over petty jealousy? "Israelis have better TVs, I can't live with that!" Or maybe it's, "Israelis just killed [X] people, someone has to do something about that!"

He's facing heat from AIPAC.

Moran's assertions, if true, only sheds more light on how business is conducted in Washington and how badly we are in need of a serious change and desparately need people to serve this country in a decent and honorable manner for the benefit of all our citizens....not just a privileged few. That's not "liberal" or "conservative" thinking.....that's just right thinking. When will we ever get this thing right?

I am shocked and a little disheartened with the number of people expressing such a viewpoint on this web site.

One thing I don't understand about the entire conspiracy theory: Aren't there limits to how much one lobby can give a particular candidate? Therefore, how influential can they really be? Maybe I'm ignorant.

I, like most Americans, oppose the war in Iraq, and don´t like to be called "anti-American" for doing so. Get it?

AIPAC is a symptom of the Israeli-defense complex in the US. We send billions to "defenseless" Israel for weapons, they buy weapons from our defense industry, and the defense industry spends money to reelect congresspeople who vote to send billions to "defenseless" Israel.

It has nothing to do with religion or ethnicity. Israel is just a handy excuse to keep the cycle going, and war is a handy way of ridding the customer of excess inventory.

If you dispute the influence of AIPAC in the media, look at Wolf Blitzer's previous job. He was a paid lobbiest for AIPAC, and is now a top correspondent at CNN. When I first heard this, I thought that it was just some antisemetic ranting but it is in fact true.

AIPAC does not control everything in politics, but to deny that it is incredibly influential is just as delusional as asserting that we are winning the Iraq war.

Why no uproar over the incredible influence the oil or pharma lobbies have?

These and other similar corporate interest groups exert FAR MORE influence with far more impact to the average American, yet no one seems to worked up about them?

That's why the rest of us believe that you're biased, because you single out a specific group that really doesn't even rank in the real world of beltway influence pending.

The report misstates the issue when – in the headline – it says he is taking heat for comments on the "Jewish Lobby." Rather, it was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee he was taking on. He wasn't taking on Jews – heck, he was writing in Tikkun, which is a Jewish magazine, as noted, and a leading voice in the interfaith peace movement.

Tell us about the billions wasted off budget. Tell us about the true deficit. Tell us why Democrats won't even discuss Social Security and Medicare and the huge tax increases our children face . Tell us that tax revenues are at record highs and that tax cuts work. Tell us that spending is the real reason behind deficits.

Tell the Iowa farmers that the farm bill is a colossul waste of billions of dollars on unrelated pork. Tell us why the highway bill will fund a museum in Las Vegas but not repair bridges.

Yeah right Obama, tell us the truth. But, I'll guess your version of truth will be alot different from mine!

And the racism...seriously with that much white hair you would think he'd have grown up by now.

Obviously, most of you are ignorant of the history of Israel. It's not only the Holocaust, it's 2000 years of persecution. Israel is surrounded by hundreds of millions of Arabs (and Iranians) who would be happy to see the Jews wiped off the face of the earth. Israel was created so the Jews don't have to put up with all the crap they've been putting up with all those years. And the world can't stand it.

There is condemnation and boycotts of Israel but it's funny that countries like Sudan, Cambodia and Rwanda can get away with genocide and the world does blink twice.

Jews (and Christians for that matter) don't walk into pizza places and discos and blow themselves up killing innocent people.

The US supports Israel because it's a democratic country in a sea of 12th dictatorships and monarchies. And because it's close to the oil.

Does AIPAC exert influence on the US government? Of course they do. Just like any other PAC. But wait. It's the Jews. They shouldn't have so much influence. They run the government, banks, commerce, THE WHOLE WORLD.

Was AIPAC in favor of invading Iraq? Probably but then so was the majority of the American people.

Jews have been instrumental in civil rights, fair labor practices and charities.

I personally don't like what's going on in Israel but it take two to tango. Terrorist Hamas and the corrupt Palestinian authority are responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian people a whole lot more than the Jews.

And to all you people who have used this issue to spout your ignorance, find out the facts before you babble.