Rep. Honda: LA Times Campaign Finance Story is Racist and Biased

Just Found this Press Release by California Congressmen Mike Honda. The post blasts the LA Times for their story from October 19th, "An unlikely treasure-trove of Donors for Clinton"
The story talks about the growing contributions from Asian Americans which Rep. Honda proclaims

“I am appalled by the irresponsible and biased portrayal of the Asian American immigrant community, published by the L.A. Times today. "

“Drawing a connection between the emerging political involvement of Asian Americans and individual cases of possibly suspect donations sends a strong message that the political participation of minority communities is undesired. Minority communities in America have been shut out of the political process through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other tactics throughout our country’s history. As leaders, we should be encouraging, not chilling, the legitimate involvement of underrepresented communities in our democracy." -Rep. Mike Honda.

I applaud Rep. Honda for this bold statement. Lately the names of a few sour Asian American donors have been used to make Indian American and Chinese American communities as illegal donors. Trying to brand all of these successful emerging communities to the likes of Norman Hsu and Sant Chatwal is just unfair, our communities have worked hard to become successful working towards the American dream. Almost every major newspaper has reported stories that hint at branding this and our friend Lou Dobbs (video below) has been the worst. It seems to me that they agree with Tom Tancredo's view that Immigrants are what is wrong with America.



-Varun

HR 747: Officially Recognizing Diwali in the US

Our Friends at Sepia Mutiny are reporting something that Congress's website officially confirms. The Bill labeled HR 747: Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali. This is continuing to show the growing role of Indian Americans in the political realm and that they will be an important community in the upcoming 2008 election.

The full resolution is below but with the US strongly pushing the 123 Nuclear Deal, Bobby Jindal winning as the first Indian Governor in the US, and IALI reporting almost a dozen Indian American Candidates nationwide. The community has a lot to be proud about but we need to move forward as a united community and issue strong responses when necessary. I still think the community needs to send a stronger message to Presidential Hopeful Fred Thompson for picking up George Allen as a national chair we reported a few days back.

-Varun

DNA India Reports on Diwali Resolution
NDTV Reports on Diwali Resolution

HRES 747 IH

110th CONGRESS1st SessionH. RES. 747

Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 16, 2007

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. MCDERMOTT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

---

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali.

Whereas Diwali, a festival of great significance to Indian Americans and the people of India, is celebrated annually by Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains throughout the United States and the world;

Whereas there are more than 2,000,000 Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains in the United States;

Whereas the word `Diwali' is a shortened version of the Sanskrit term `Deepavali', which means `a row of lamps';

Whereas Diwali is a festival of lights, during which celebrants light small oil lamps, place them around the home, and pray for health, knowledge, and peace;

Whereas celebrants of Diwali believe that the rows of lamps symbolize the light within the individual that rids the soul of the darkness of ignorance;

Whereas Diwali, falling on the last day of the last month in the lunar calendar, is celebrated as a day of thanksgiving and the beginning of the new year for many Hindus;

Whereas for Hindus, Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil;

Whereas for Sikhs, Diwali is feted as the day that the sixth founding Sikh Guru, or revered teacher, Guru Hargobind ji, was released from captivity from the ruling Mughal Emperor; and

Whereas for Jains, Diwali marks the anniversary of the attainment of moksha or liberation by Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankaras, who were the great teachers of Jain dharma, at the end of his life in 527 B.C.: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) during this time of celebration, in order to demonstrate support for Indian Americans and the Indian Diaspora throughout the world, recognizes Diwali as an important festival;

(2) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of the festival of Diwali;

(3) recognizes and appreciates the religious diversity in both India and the United States and throughout the world;

(4) acknowledges and supports the new relationship of collaboration and dialogue in international efforts between the United States and India; and

(5) in observance of and out of respect for the start of Diwali, the festival of lights, acknowledges the onset of Diwali and expresses its deepest respect to Indian Americans and the Indian Diaspora throughout the world on this significant occasion.

Everything You Need to Know About the Recent Updates on the US-India Nuclear Deal

If you have been keeping up this has been a long week for the US-India Nuclear Deal. There has been a great deal of press on the comings and the goings of the deal and I'd like to bring you a comprehensive update. I will also include a thorough list of Links of Stories I have compiled for all of who are interested.

On October 16th We brought you Breaking News on the Nuclear Deal coming apart for all that could be done with this current government. The problems lay particularly in India with the governments not being able to resolve their differences.

This sparked worry both in India and the US so USINPAC (our parent group) put together an Emergency Delegation to help lobby for the deal in India with major groups. On October 18thUSINPAC put out a press release

The USINPAC delegation intends to assess the perspectives of all stakeholders in the Indian system -- political and technical -- and to provide an Indian audience with the viewpoints of key Indian-Americans who were actively involved in the public discussion of the nuclear exemption for India in the U.S. The Indian-American community played a crucial and unique role in this public discussion.

and a You Tube Video (below).



The video is essentially USINPAC founder Sanjay Puri discussing the importance of the Delegation and how it all came together.

A great deal of press resulted from this effort from USINPAC and Indian American leaders to help lobby for this deal to have a positive end result.
Daily India, The Hindu, NDTV all had great stories highlighting the Delegation and Effort. They mentioned the goals of the delegation and how some Indian American leaders thought the delegation wasn't worthwhile.

Oct. 22nd: With the delegation beginning, USINPAC released another press release talking more about the delegation as it happens and how they plan to meet with the leaders of the BJP, Communist & Congress Parties, the Indian Ambassador, and the Prime Minister.


Oct. 23rd: The Delegation meets with the Prime Minister Singh
We met the Prime Minister who received us very graciously, and found him determined to take the U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement forward despite some opposition typical in a vibrant democracy like India, said Mr. Puri.

Very good news being that with the setbacks the PM was still on board and confident and optimistic that all parties will be able to meet in the middle. As you can imagine a great deal of very bold news stories resulted from this message the PM sent out after meeting with the delegation. Economic Times, Hindustan Times, Business Line, and many other media outlets reported this on the 23rd.

Oct. 24th: Delegation continues meetings. The PM delivered a message of assurance to a special nonpublic event with the Indian Military forces as reported by The Telegraph.

A source said Singh spoke “at great length on the deal and he talked about the necessity and the future of the deal”. -Telegraph Reports

Also on the 24th the International Media began to carry the PM Singh's message of confidence including: Reuters , The Hindu, Christian Science Monitor, India Daily, Business Standard

But sources from New Delhi says that PM office has officially told the Left parties that Indian Government has abandoned the implementation plan of the 123 agreement with US. It is up to the next elected Government to look into the matter and do what is necessary.
-India Daily Reports

"Many members of Congress are growing increasingly skeptical of what the Bush administration is negotiating," says Rep. Edward Markey (D) of Massachusetts, a longtime supporter of multilateral nonproliferation efforts. "It's heartening to see the members coming over to me and shaking their head at what the Bush administration went so far to accept." -Christian Science Monitors Report


While the PM riled the troops and the International media carried his message, another important player joined back in the diplomatic fight, Under Secretary of State Burns. NDTV reports Burns urges that Indian leaders sign on to the nuclear deal.
''The Indian Government now needs to make a decision. We do not intrude into the Indian domestic politics, but we do believe that the Indians need to make a decision at some time. We hope the decision would be positive to go ahead because this agreement has enormous benefit for us, " Secretary Burns said to NDTV.

All this was happening while the Delegation continued lobbying as CNN described it "Left-Right and Center". The delegation met with leaders of the BJP and Communist parties as the story describes in the video post below.

"We need to brief our constituency, the Indian-American community, as well as Capitol Hill,'' said Sachdev . He admitted that the purpose is also to “request, push and nudge the leadership to find a way forward”. He also added that what is needed is innovative thinking to reconcile differences. -DNA India

Oct. 26th: Sify does a story on the Delegation meetings, while Business Line editorial writer B.S. Raghavan talks about Why the US is pushing the deal so hard. Where he estimates the deal could rake in as much as $100billion for the US and “an increasingly powerful India represents a singularly positive opportunity to advance (the US) global interests”. Great piece I thought.

The Times of India also ran an editorial piece by Sumit Ganguly entitled "Save the Nuclear Deal". The piece gave great insight from a real scholar on US-Indian relations

The abrupt halt in the quest to move the nuclear deal into a safe harbour has now cast serious doubt about the willingness and ability of any government in New Delhi to act in a responsible, predictable and reliable fashion. -Sumit Ganguly

Oct. 27th: The Australian Reports that as the nuclear deal seems to go sour the worst reports are coming out that could be troubling for India's leading party and PM Singh.

REPORTS that India's redoubtable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seriously considered resigning this week are among the most disturbing recent developments in international politics. -The Australian

As the roller coaster of this deal and the Indian leadership continues it seems that the parties continue to value political destruction versus building whats good and right for the country. This report deeply saddens me as I agree with Mr. Ganguly, this could serious prevent strong relations between the US-India in the future.

Oct. 28th: And the roller coaster continued with Henry Kissinger being interviewed by CNN-IBN watch the video below where he pretty much proclaims a failing of the deal would be worse for the US.






The interview is pretty good as Kissinger really puts the deal into perspective, something Secretary Boucher and Congressman McDermott had assured to USINPAC at a briefing back on September 18th. The deal as important as it is to India is more important to the US and would just be a minor setback in the future of US-India relations.

The Hindustan Times also did a piece somewhat recapping the delegation, recalling how the Indian American leaders became Conduits between the opposition parties in India.
To sum up the delegation in one line is a quote from Sanjay Puri to the newspaper.

"We are taking the message back to Washington that the prime minister is committed to the deal, but it is in a delicate situation," said Puri.

Oct. 29th: Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronan Sen is going to testify before the Lok Sabha in India. CNN-IBN Captures it below.

I will try to brief on this as it happens.

He was concerned that with 2008 being the presidential election year, it would be difficult to shepherd legislation with congressmen and senators distracted by campaigning.

"Time is an enemy," stressed Puri, who was concerned that the next occupier of White House may not be as enthusiastic a backer for the nuclear deal as the incumbent.

-Hindustan Times October 28th.

Time is the problem as the future president won't care as much about this deal and presidential politics well can complicate things. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Below are some blog links as well to some interesting articles I found.

India Blitz: Nuclear Deal
E-News India
India Times

-Varun Mehta

USINPAC BU Students Active at Obama Rally

On October 23rd Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced his Support and Endorsement for Presidential Hopeful Barack Obama. This event featured a large rally with both Patrick and Obama in attendance and students from the USINPAC Boston University Campus Committee were volunteering and in attendance. Helping to promote the rally and getting there in attendance we were fortunate enough to stand right behind these two great leaders of today. A video is below where you can see us at the rally!

Over 11,000 showed up to this event in the Boston Common and it played to be a huge endorsement for Obama considering Patrick worked under the Clinton Administration and was endorsed and supported by former President Bill Clinton himself.

Jindal Wins Louisiana Governor's Race

Moments ago Indian-American Bobby Jindal was declared the winner of the governor’s race for Louisiana. Read the full article here.

Jindal, a republican, needed to win a 50% majority to avoid a runoff in November and won with 53% of the vote.

Clinton vs. Giuliani: "Hillary's already won it..."

Source: Real Clear Politics

As national media focuses even more on the top to candidates as the race gets closer to the early primary states, Hillary vs. Rudy seems to be the topic of every discussion. Giuliani seems to attack Hillary in almost every speech pretty much telling the republican base, I can beat her! As national polls continue to match up Hillary vs. Rudy, even most republicans believe that only Giuliani is strong enough to beat Hillary.

In what seems to be the first attack from the Clinton Campaign against her leading GOP competitor, Mark Penn, leading startegist for Hillary for President, says essentially Hillary has already beat Rudy.



"We started in New York about seven or eight [percentage points] behind; when he dropped out we were seven or eight ahead," Mark Penn said, referring to — and perhaps overstating — polls from Clinton's 2000 Senate race against Giuliani. "We have gone through a cycle with Giuliani."

From Politico Article

This is very interesting attack on the Giuliani as it makes Republicans remember this element of Giuliani's history that Rudy hopes they forget. Nothing would energize the Republican base more than Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Nominee, to them she represents all things Liberal. The Republicans though are in it to really win it, stick it to Hillary and in turn Bill as well, a vision that many conservatives I'm sure dream about. Rudy is suppose to be that guy, being the protector of NY, a vision for a safe terrorist free America and with lower taxes what Republican won't love him? Well as great as all those elements are if there is any light into the fact that the Republcian Nominee CAN'T beat Hillary they will lose hope.

This isn't good for Rudy, with Romney leading in the Early Primary States and Huckabee and McCain growing in popularity I think the schedule works against Rudy from the getgo. Then bringing light to the fact that Giuliani has already lost a battle to Hillary in NY will surely turn off many conservatives. As we continue to move forward what you see is that the Republican race is very much in the air. These next few months really will show if the strong national support Rudy has can translate into key state primaries and with republican heartland voters.


-Varun

Brownback Drops Out, Huckabee to Gain?

Several news sources are reporting that Senator Brownback of Kansas is dropping his bid for the Whitehouse. This is the the second recent GOP candidate to drop, the first being Former Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

The race is really starting to enter prime time as the money end of the game is really starting to take over. By Friday Senator Brownback isn't expected to have more than $95,000 cash on hand and although only plays 2% of the polls, really drummed up a great deal of the support with the Evangelical Christians. This foundation of the republican party has yet to find a solid candidate that aligns with their views and identity and it seems that Mike Huckabee is picking up from the demographic.

Huckabee has all to gain from Brownback dropping out in both votes and financial. He has consistently been second to Romney in Iowa polls, whose success is credited to the over 10,000 ad spots his campaign has purchased to raise awareness and profile for Mitt Romney. Huckabee appeals to the conservative voters and as governor of Arkansas can claim to have the executive experience needed to run the country.

Can Huckabee gain from this? What do you think?

-Varun

Common Ground - By Raj Verma

Back to Fundamentals

In response to last week’s USINPAC Quick Vote on whether the U.S. Constitution and American form of government was founded on Christian principles, the answer must be undeniably in the affirmative. What is remarkable to observe in our society is the degree of outrage and animosity displayed by some individuals and groups when a public official makes a statement affirming the idea that this country was founded on Christian principles. These groups find this assertion offensive and an affront to their own religious expression. More and more, we see an exaggerated sensitivity among various groups who deny the historical facts of this nation’s heritage. To say that this country was not founded on Christian principles and/or beliefs is tantamount to saying that the Apollo space mission to the moon was actually a bogus plot that was captured on film in the desert of Arizona. While the Constitution and American form of government was forged primarily out of a compromise among competing articulations of an effectively governed society and political expediency, nevertheless it is absolutely true that the Constitution rests on Christian principles. In turn, this is not to state that non-Christians in a democratic society cannot be leaders or stewards of democratic principles, nor does it imply that we are strictly a ‘Christian-nation’. It appears that we all too often are over-sensitive to public statements that simply iterate the historical truth about the nation’s heritage and foundation, which by all measures, has been eminently successful. Many times, we attempt to replace statements about faith, principles and values grounded in Christianity as remarks that condemn and submerge other religious groups. This should not and is not the case. Rather, by affirming the intellectual honest answer that the Constitution and American form of government possesses clear Christian principles, we can still have an ideologically diverse society, reconciled by the fact that universally-acknowledged values, albeit Christian values, drive our nation’s glory and not to the exclusion of other religious or non-religious groups.

The Founding Fathers of the American Constitution fully recognized, not by their own personal desire, but out of necessity, that a peaceful, organized, and enriched democratic society could not withstand the forces of divisiveness and depravity that exists as part of human nature unless a higher authority was invoked. In devising the Constitution, these ‘wise men’ did not simply grasp principles out of thin air. Rather, the Founding Fathers were entrenched in Christian intellectual thought (even though some of the Founding Fathers claimed to be Deists) and others were Christians themselves. The enormous pitfalls and political devastation in Europe prior to 1776 illustrates the perspective and context by which the American form of government and Constitution was crafted. Although the Founding Fathers were fully aware of the harm placed on a society that constructed government as a purely religious institution, unduly indoctrinating their constituents, the key issue that was to be addressed in crafting the document was recognizing the nature of humanity and what kinds of principles and beliefs accurately reflected human behavior. The Christian principles of human depravity and dignity were extracted from the Bible to influence the Constitution and American form of separate but equal government, precisely because these principles accurately reflected what was observed in the human condition. Furthermore, the written statements of James Madison, John Adams, and Daniel Webster, among others, evidence the principles of Christianity in the Constitution (although the term ‘God’ is not displayed in the Constitution itself, rather, the principles of Christianity are firmly exhibited). James Madison, considered the ‘architect of the Constitution,’ noted, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions on the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves, according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

Whether it be religiously inspired or culturally inscribed, the average and common citizen can agree on universally acknowledged values that the Constitution rests upon. The principles of human depravity and dignity, respect for authority and rule of law, among others, are favorably recognized among many other religious and non-religious citizens. As a result, citizens from any religious or non-religious faith can emerge as leaders of this country, whether it be as board member of the local school district, to President of the United States, as long as that person can be held responsible for safeguarding the democratic and Christian principles and values enshrined in the Constitution.

It is important, as a nation, not to become overly-sensitive to comments made by public officials or private citizens who remark about the foundation of this country’s heritage as ‘Christian-based’. Hindus, Mormons, Muslims, Sikhs, and atheists should not feel alarmed or threatened when a statement is made that ‘this country is founded on Christian principles’. The statement is a recognition of what is (a fact)-good or bad- and in that sense can only be good, because this country has progressed over the course of 200 years to fully accommodate the different views, perspectives, and beliefs of a variety of people, without compromising its foundational elements. Of course, it is entirely appropriate to condemn and exercise outrage when public statements about a particular people and their beliefs are made in condescending fashion, such as the case with political candidate George Allen’s reference to Indian-Americans as ‘Maccaccas’. But to smuggle in the course of discussion legitimate statements made about this country’s Christian heritage into the category of Allen’s reprehensible remarks is misguided and unworthy, because it debases the truth and historical facts to that of lies and half-truths. The interpretation of many non-Christian groups about public statements made about the country’s heritage as an assault on their own beliefs is quite odd, and sadly, unnecessary. In the final analysis, we need only agree that the principles of this country, whether or not one believes are derived from Christianity, are effective and have successfully produced excellent citizens, and that to continue on this positive trend, we need moral and virtuous leaders (Christian or non-Christian) to safeguard these principles and values- the very principles that make this country unique and enriched.

Raj Verma, JD/MPA
Blog Contributor

Raj Verma is the President of the Future Leaders Council for USINPAC. He currently resides in Washington DC.

Bobby Jindal – for President?

While the 2008 presidential election is just a few months away from primary season, the race for Louisiana’s governorship is coming to a close with Indian-American Bobby Jindal leading. If Jindal can pull off a 50% victory this Saturday, he’ll be planning his move to the Governor’s Mansion in Baton Rouge a little earlier than expected. If he fails to get 50%, the race will result in a runoff on November 17^th. Either way, Jindal is a clear favorite with the most recent poll giving him 50% of the vote and his closest rivals 9%.

Jindal has been a bright star in this rather low point of a year for the GOP. In some ways his political career is reminiscent of Barack Obama. Some conservative commentators have labeled him the Obama with actual experience. Could Jindal run for president? Well for one he was born in the US and two, he certainly has the resume having been a Rhodes Scholar, President of the University of Louisiana system, Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services, and most recently serving as a Congressman. All this accomplished by the age of 36.

Being elected governor would pay off significantly for a White House bid. There has been a trend of governors (southern state governor anyone?) winning the national election, the last person who was a Senator prior to President was JFK. Being a minority Republican candidate could also help Jindal gather more media attention and expand the party’s voter base.

Politics and race aside, the one issue that could make a presidential run successful for him is healthcare. With the first Baby Boomer applying for Social Security yesterday, 4 to 8 years from now healthcare for aging and retiring Americans will be a bigger issue than ever and Jindal who has spent much of his career focusing on public health issues will have a significant influence on policy. Perfect timing for a healthcare savvy governor looking for the next step in his career.

Anay Shah

BREAKING NEWS: Nuclear Deal Broken? Part II: Hope Remains

The Times of India just recently reported that the US has not given up hope. It seems that President Bush has expressed that he still has faith in PM Singh in getting the opposition on board and although it would be better sooner rather than later, it is more important that it just gets done!

"It's up to the Government of India to talk about their efforts. Again, I think we're going to continue to work on our part and we assume they're going to continue to work on theirs and it'll be done in a time that is appropriate for both sides," Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey told reporters after the two leaders spoke over phone.

That is great news for the Indian side showing the importance of India in future of US foreign policy.

As developments break we will keep you posted but word has come that the next major developments will be October 22nd.

Thanks,

Varun