Tandoori Democrats - Part 2
Tandoori Democrats - Part 2
Date: Saturday, January 03, 2004 12:41 AM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
In a recent newsletter titled "Tandoori Democrats" I explained that all
the Democrats, with the exception of Al Sharpton and Mosely Braun,
support the goals of India Political Action Committee (USINPAC). Those
goals include preserving H-1B and L-1 visas, and squelching all moves
to restrict offshoring to India.
So why, you may ask, are Indians so much more effective at influencing
U.S. politicians than the American public? The answer is simple -
Indians understand that Washington is run by money, while American
workers naively believe that politicians can be swayed by appealing to
their sense of morality or patriotism. Politicians aren't influenced by
the threat of votes because Americans tend to vote for the politicians
that can afford the most expensive PR campaigns. To win votes takes
money, and that's why USINPAC is more than happy to bankroll politics
in the USA.
The Washington Post reports:
According to the Political Money Line Web site, which tracks
campaign contributions, USINPAC has given $25,000 to Democrats
and $35,000 to Republicans for the 2003-2004 election cycle.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, is the largest
recipient so far, getting $10,000 from USINPAC.
Don't expect Grassley to pass legislation to restrict offshoring or
H-1B visas until the American public is willing to give him more money
or to mount a serious threat to boot him out of office on election day.
That's politics, like it or not.
While a handful of concerned Americans send emails to politicians or
post messages on internet gossip groups, USINPAC actively holds
meetings with US politicians to buy influence. Americans can gripe all
they want about their job losses, but the fact is that Indians have
learned the ropes of our political system better than most citizens,
and that's why they are getting their way.
http://www.usinpac.com/activities.asp
USINPAC's activities focus on strengthening a grassroots
network to work on issues concerning the community. These
activities include:
Developing and strengthening USINPAC through a diversity
of projects and initiatives.
* Breakfast on the Hill (View Calendar)Find a hotel in
Washington DC
* Monthly scheduled breakfast events on Capitol Hill with
policy makers like Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator Charles
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Grassley, Senator John Kerry, and others.
* Power Behind the Power Luncheons
Monthly scheduled luncheons with Chief of Staffs or
Legislative Directors of key committees on Capitol Hill, i.e.
International, Small Business Relations, Finance, Immigration
* Capitol Hill Days
* Quarterly visits on Capitol Hill to petition for/against key
issues and pending legislation concerning the Indian American
community
Hatch loves those USINPAC breakfeasts, and here is what he gives for
thanks:
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican and chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, met with USINPAC last year and asked the
organization to identify Indian Americans qualified for federal
judgeships. He applauded USINPAC's involvement in the U.S.
political process.
Look at who UNINPAC invites to breakfeast:
http://www.usinpac.com/both.asp#bch
Past Breakfasts
Tom Lantos (D-CA), Ranking Member, House International Relations
Committee on September 13, 2003
Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
on September 10, 2003
Breakfast with Congressman Tom Davis, Chairman, Committee on
Government Reform
Breakfast with Rep. Chris Cox, Chairman, Select Committee on Homeland
Security, US House of Representatives
Democratic Party Leadership Day, on May 20, 2003
Breakfast with Sen. Joe Biden (Democrat-Delaware), on April 9, 2003
Breakfast with Senator Sam Brownback (Republican-Kansas), on March 19,
2003
Breakfast with Representative Joseph Crowley (Democrat-New York), on
February 13, 2003
Breakfast with Senator Richard Lugar (Republican-Indiana) on January
28, 2003
Breakfast with Senator Chuck Grassley (Republican-Iowa) on December
18, 2002
Breakfast with Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican-Utah) on November 21,
2002
USINPAC and the 2004 Predidential Elections
USINPAC is way ahead of the ball game when it comes to buying
influence. They have a sophisticated fund raising campaign to pay all
the Democrats and Bush. That way no matter who wins the election, India
gets the jobs.
http://www.usinpac.com/2004PresidentialElections.asp
With the Presidential Election now less than a year away,
campaigning for the nomination among the Democrats is now in
full swing. On the Republican side, President Bush will be the
nominee for re-election. All of the candidates have been keenly
seeking the support of the Indian American community. Several have
reached out actively to our community.
Many Americans are angry that they are losing their jobs to the
importation of H-1B and L-1 visa holders but they don't put their money
where their mouth is when it comes to influencing legislation. USINPAC
backs up their rhetoric with money and that's why they are winning on
Capitol Hill. Click on the previous link and then click on the picture
of any of the presidential candidates. Then click the button on the
left hand side that says, "Make a Contribution". You will see the same
message with the candidate's name. The text will read like this:
The Indian American Support Group for
[fill in the blank with a Democrat or Bush]
welcomes contributions in any amount, howsoever small or large
(up to the legal limit of $2,000 per person). We will gratefully
bundle all contributions and forward them to [fill in the blank]
Campaign Committee. Pooling of individual contributions from
Indian
Americans will help ensure that our voice is heard in the campaign
and subsequently.
If you want to read the Candidates message to USINPAC, just click the
left hand button at:
http://www.usinpac.com/2004PresidentialElections.asp
Refer to "Tandoori Democrats" for excerpts of the messages. (The links
on Tandoori Democrats are no longer valid so use the new webpage in
order to read the text.)
Is Bush better than the Tandoori Democrats?
Don't think that Bush is any better than our Tandoori Democrats because
USINPAC is raising money for him too. Read what Sanjay Puri, executive
director of USINPAC has to say:
Asked if he had received a position paper from President Bush, he
smiled.
"Not yet. We are working on it. It's in the pipeline," he said.
In case you are curious about what USINPAC wants in return for their
generosity:
Next on USINPAC's domestic list of issues is immigration and
the controversial H-1B visas that allow foreign professionals
with special skills to come to the United States to work. Indians
currently are major beneficiaries of the program, obtaining 40
percent of the 65,000 visas issued annually. There are bills in
Congress to reduce or eliminate the H-1B visa program, but Mr.
Puri
said his organization has been working that issue hard, and he is
confident the program will remain in place, at least for the time
being.
American workers are definitely guilty of apathy and ignorance when it
comes to preserving jobs, but even if they wised up, the cards are
stacked against them. That's because the rules that regulate foreign
entities and how they can support political action committees such as
USINPAC are very fuzzy. The Indian government has already stated that
they support USINPAC, and you can bet their support is in cold hard
Dollars and Rupees.
If only our own president cared as much about jobs for it's citizens as
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee does, we wouldn't have such a bad
unemployment problem. Vajpayee made it very clear why USINPAC is
important to India when he said, "The mission you have started has to
succeed." So far, their mission seems to be quite a success story.
For more about Vajpayee, see this page:
http://www.usinpac.com/240903_nr.asp
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20031219-093705-9413r.htm
Indian Americans ascend the Hill
By Tom Carter
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published December 20, 2003
After years of sitting on the political sidelines, the
Indian-American community is organizing, lobbying Capitol Hill,
collecting campaign funds -- and U.S. politicians are paying attention.
"Howard Dean was the first to send us a position paper," said
Sanjay Puri, executive director of the Virginia-based U.S. India
Political Action Committee (USINPAC). "We sent Dean's comments out to
our members. It was written up in the Indian press. He was very good on
Kashmir and immigration. I'm told [that] after we sent it out to our
members, his Web site got a lot of hits and donations from Indian
Americans."
Mr. Puri, an information-technology entrepreneur and founder of
USINPAC, said Indian-American doctors, professionals and business
owners have been asked for money by politicians for years. They
donated, but rarely asked a candidate's position on issues of interest
to the Indian community.
"That has got to change," said Mr. Puri, whose lunch at Capitol
Hill's White Tiger was interrupted several times by Indians who
recognized him and wanted to say hello.
Just 14 months old, USINPAC has 27,000 members among the estimated
2 million Indian Americans living in the United States. It is an
affluent and educated population that is growing by 10 percent a year.
Mr. Puri said 40,000 Indian physicians are practicing medicine in
the United States. Some 60 percent of the small hotels in the United
States are owned by Indians. In addition, Indian information technology
(IT) specialists, who have created more than 1,000 IT businesses and
hundreds of thousands of IT jobs in the United States, are everywhere
in the U.S. computer industry.
"The Indian population [in the United States] will double by the
next census," he said. "And we are slowly taking over -- in a good way
-- the hospitality industry. Indians are hard-working people,
fulfilling the American dream. "
Mr. Puri said the idea for an Indian-American political action
committee jelled when a friend, Lane Forsythe, encouraged him to start
one. Mr. Forsythe had several years' experience with the pro-Israel
National PAC. He is now listed on the USINPAC Web page, along with Mr.
Puri, as responsible for "Capitol Hill Outreach."
"The Jewish lobbying groups work hard. They participate. They show
up. They are a successful model. We'll do the same. ... Our community
is on the move, so far untapped, but we are working our way toward
recognition," said Mr. Puri.
And USINPAC has become a force to reckon with.
The Indian caucus in the House of Representatives has more than 175
members. USINPAC held a very successful Capitol Hill reception on July
19, with several Jewish lobbying organizations, to raise awareness of
international terrorism.
"We have a consensus on terrorism, whether it is at the World Trade
Center, the Parliament in Delhi, or on the streets of Jerusalem.
Terrorism has to be addressed and stopped," Mr. Puri said.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican and chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, met with USINPAC last year and asked the
organization to identify Indian Americans qualified for federal
judgeships. He applauded USINPAC's involvement in the U.S. political
process.
Indian Americans should "continue to get involved in the process,
continue to break down barriers and reach out to political leaders in
both political parties," he told the group at a meeting on Capitol
Hill.
USINPAC also takes credit on its Web site for helping defeat the
candidacy of Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, who in January
sought the chairmanship of the House International Relations Committee
subcommittee on South Asia. "Burton has long tried to damage U.S.-India
relations," the Web site contends.
Mr. Burton's office, while acknowledging "some tension" with Indian
Americans regarding his positions on India, said this week that the
congressman took the chairmanship of Government Reform's human rights
and wellness subcommittee, precluding him from the South Asia post, one
that by seniority should have been his.
Asked if the organization has the breakdown of Hindu and Muslim
membership and how that might affect the issues USINPAC tackles, Mr.
Puri bristled.
"We are a political organization, not a religious organization. Our
members are Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Jain. We are a political
organization, addressing the issues that concern our community," he
said.
Next on USINPAC's domestic list of issues is immigration and the
controversial H-1B visas that allow foreign professionals with special
skills to come to the United States to work. Indians currently are
major beneficiaries of the program, obtaining 40 percent of the 65,000
visas issued annually. There are bills in Congress to reduce or
eliminate the H-1B visa program, but Mr. Puri said his organization has
been working that issue hard, and he is confident the program will
remain in place, at least for the time being.
USINPAC is also making its presence known internationally. It is
lobbying hard for the United Nations to admit India as a permanent
member of the Security Council. And in September, India's Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee met with senior officers of USINPAC.
"The mission you have started has to succeed," he told the group.
The Indian diplomatic community sees the organization as a
"positive," noting that USINPAC and the Indian government sometimes
work similar issues on Capitol Hill.
"The Indian community has reached a level of economic, social and
cultural stability that they are now confident and want to take part in
the political life of the United States. We see that as a positive
factor," an Indian diplomat said, speaking on the condition of
anonymity.
He said that while the embassy sometimes helps educate USINPAC
about issues by providing information that is not always readily
available or public, he cautioned that USINPAC should not be seen as an
arm of the government or embassy.
"They are independent. We do not jointly coordinate activities," he
said.
Mr. Puri said that a few years ago the majority of the
Indian-American community voted Democrat, but that is changing.
"We are definitely trending toward Republican," he went on.
"Doctors are concerned about malpractice insurance and trial lawyers.
There are many Indian small businessmen and entrepreneurs. Lower taxes
and less regulation is a message they hear."
He said that he expects the Indian-American community to vote
about 50 percent Democrat and 50 percent Republican in the next
election -- and this is reflected in USINPAC's donation record.
According to the Political Money Line Web site, which tracks
campaign contributions, USINPAC has given $25,000 to Democrats and
$35,000 to Republicans for the 2003-2004 election cycle. Sen. Charles
E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, is the largest recipient so far, getting
$10,000 from USINPAC.
The recent campaign of Republican Bobby Jindal for governor of
Louisiana brought a ground swell of support from the Indian community,
Mr. Puri said.
"Most of the support was from outside the state, from people who
had nothing to gain by an Indian being elected governor. It was a
matter of pride," Mr. Puri said.
While that campaign failed, Mr. Puri said his organization has its
eye on next November.
Shortly after Mr. Dean's comments were posted on the USINPAC Web
site, Mr. Puri said the other Democratic presidential candidates got
their own position papers to his office in Tysons Corner.
He said the Republican outreach to the Indian community, so far,
has been a little clumsy, focusing more on tapping the Indian wallets
on his mailing list, rather than addressing Indian issues.
Asked if he had received a position paper from President Bush, he
smiled.
"Not yet. We are working on it. It's in the pipeline," he said.
Support this Newsletter and ZaZona.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe send an email to
Back to archives