Is Rep. Wexler getting payoff from Obama for his support?

By Ed Lasky

When Barack Obama's campaign experienced turbulence last year over qualms regarding his stance towards Israel, Congressman Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who is Jewish, rushed out to defend him. Wexler dismissed, and ridiculed concerns that Barack Obama's public statements, associations, and views might lead him to take a harsh and unbalanced stance towards Israel.

Wexler appeared throughout the nation and produced one op-ed after another to vouch for Obama regarding Israel. Those who were concerned have been proven correct.

Iran continues its march towards the bomb. Obama was shown to have hidden information regarding a secret Iranian nuclear installation while being willingly led through the bazaar of negotiations with the Iranian regime. He ignored the uprisings of the Iranian people while the regime solidified its hold on Iran. He needlessly insulted and picked fights with Israel, trying to abrogate previous agreements, pressuring Israel to make concessions while ignoring Palestinian violations of previous agreements..

There is a reason only 6% of Jewish Israelis consider Obama to be a friend of Israel's. He has caused great damage to the American -Israel relationship and damaged Israel's image among Americans.

What of Wexler? How is he making out quite well apparently. He is resigning from Congress to take a plum job at a think tank founded by a very liberal supporter of the Democratic Party S. Daniel Abraham, according to Politico's Scorecard:

The Miami Herald's Beth Reinhard is reporting that Wexler's new job will be as director of the Washington-based Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation.

The Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation was founded and funded by Abraham - a man who made a fortune with the Slim-Fast company. He is a long-time donor to the Democratic party and was a major funder of so-called 527 groups that are de facto partisan activist groups.

Now there may not be an explicit quid pro quo that Wexler's support for getting Barack Obama elected led to his job offer from Mr. Abraham (Wexler represents the district where Abraham resides) but this is the same type of actions that has the appearance of being a sinecure arranged as a reward for a job well-done.