WASHINGTON (TIP): A controversial Republican memo that accuses the FBI of political bias has primarily been written by Indian American lawyer Kashyap “Kash” Patel is ruling the news as according to a media report.
The “Kash memo” portrays the FBI in a negative light, alleging that the agency helped the Democratic party and its presidential candidate Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump, the eventual winner of the 2016 presidential elections, The New York Times reported.
The report said the explosive memo was primarily written by Patel, a committee staff member for Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.
The office of Congressman Nunes where Patel works has refuted the report that he is the author of the memo which they assert is a collective and team effort.
“The problem is the lack of facts. Kash being the ‘driving force’ behind the memo is not a fact. Kash being the ‘pusher of the memo’ is not a fact. Unnamed people referring to ‘the Kash memo’ is not a fact,” Jack Langer, a spokesperson for Nunes was quoted as saying by the Daily Beast.
Patel did not immediately respond to a PTI query on this.
In an email to The New York Times, Damon Nelson, staff director of the House Select Committee on Intelligence said that no single member was responsible for the memo and that its creation was a “team effort” that involved investigators who had access to source material.
“The clamor to identify ‘an author’ is indicative of an alarming trend by opponents of our investigation which is to promote spurious allegations against committee members and staff. They will not impact the committee’s focus and commitment to continue this investigation,” Nelson was quoted as saying.
At the same time, he praised Patel, saying, “We value Kash’s dedication and his contributions to the committee’s oversight efforts”.
Patel did not immediately respond to a PTI query on this.
According to media reports, Patel attracted media attention early this summer when he travelled to London along with another staffer in search of Christopher Steele, author of a controversial dossier on Trump.
However, he could not succeed in his effort.
Patel, 37, who grew up in New York, graduated from the University of Richmond in 2002. He is the chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. He is senior counsel on counter terrorism.
Before joining the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Patel was a trial attorney in the National Security Division of the Justice Department.
“With his constant tirades against immigrants, particularly from what he calls “shithole countries”, Donald Trump is giving many countries the greatest gift of all: causing the trickle of returning talent to become a flood”.
By Vivek Wadhwa
“At the same time, I also realized that protectionist demands by nativists were causing American political leaders to advocate immigration policies that were (and are) choking US innovation and economic growth. The government would constantly expand the number of H1-B visas in response to the demands of businesses but never the number of green cards, which were limited to 140,000 for the so-called key employment categories. The result? The queues kept increasing. I estimate that today there are around 1.5 million skilled workers and their families stuck in immigration limbo, and that more than a third of these are Indians”, says the author.
“Thank you for what you are doing for America; your successes have put India in very positive light and shown us what is possible in India” said Atal Behari Vajpayee to me in a one-on-one meeting during his visit to the White House in September 2000. He added that he would love to see Indian-American entrepreneurs return home to help build India’s nascent technology industry.
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush granted him his wish with their flawed immigration policies. The U.S. admitted hundreds of thousands of foreign students and engineers on temporary visas but did not have the fortitude to expand the numbers of green cards. The result was that the waiting time for permanent resident visas began to exceed 10 years for Indian and Chinese immigrants. Some began returning home.
Now with his constant tirades against immigrants, particularly from what he calls “shithole countries”, Donald Trump is giving many countries the greatest gift of all: causing the trickle of returning talent to become a flood.
For India, the timing could not be better. With hundreds of millions of people now gaining access to the Internet through inexpensive smartphones, India is about to experience a technology boom that will transform the country itself. And with the influx of capital and talent, it will be able to challenge Silicon Valley—just as China is doing.
This is the irony of America’s rising nativism and protectionism.
When I met Prime Minister Vajpayee, I was the CEO of a technology startup in North Carolina. Later, I became an academic and started researching why Silicon Valley was the most innovative place on this planet.
I learnt that it was diversity and openness that gave Silicon Valley its global advantage; foreign-born people were dominating its entrepreneurial ecosystem and fueling innovation and job growth. My research teams at Duke, the University of California at Berkeley, New York University, and Harvard documented that between 1995 and 2005, immigrants founded 52% of Silicon Valley’s technology companies. The founders came from almost every nation in the world: Australia to Zimbabwe. Immigrants also contributed to the majority of patents filed by leading US companies in that period: 72% of the total at Qualcomm, 65% at Merck, 64% at General Electric, and 60% at Cisco Systems. Surprisingly, 40% of the international patent applications filed by the US government also had foreign-national authors.
Indians have achieved the most extraordinary success in Silicon Valley. They have founded more start-ups than the next four immigrant groups, from Britain, China, Taiwan, and Japan, combined. Despite comprising only 6% of the Valley’s population and 1% of the nations, Indians founded 15.5% of Silicon Valley startups and contributed to 14% of US global patents.
At the same time, I also realized that protectionist demands by nativists were causing American political leaders to advocate immigration policies that were (and are) choking US innovation and economic growth. The government would constantly expand the number of H1-B visas in response to the demands of businesses but never the number of green cards, which were limited to 140,000 for the so-called key employment categories. The result? The queues kept increasing. I estimate that today there are around 1.5 million skilled workers and their families stuck in immigration limbo, and that more than a third of these are Indians.
Meanwhile, I have witnessed a rapid change in the aspirations among international students. The norm would be for students from China and India to stay in the US permanently because there were hardly any opportunities back home. This changed.
My engineering students began to seek short-term employment in the US to gain experience after they graduated but their ultimate goal was to return home to their families and friends. Human resource directors of companies in India and China increasingly reported that they were flooded with resumés from US graduates.
For students, the prospect of returning home and working for a hot company such as Baidu, Alibaba, Paytm, or Flipkart is far more enticing than working for an American company. You cannot blame them, especially given that delays in visa processing will lock them into a menial position for at least a decade during the most productive parts of their careers.
This has been an incredible boon for China. One measure of the globalization of innovation is the number of technology start-ups with post-money valuations of $1 billion or higher. These companies are commonly called “unicorns”. As recently as 2000, nearly all of these were in the US; countries such as China and India could only dream of being home to a Google, Amazon, or Facebook.
Now, according to South China Morning Post, China has 98 unicorns, which is 39% of the world’s 252 unicorns. In comparison, America has 106, or 42%, and India has 10 unicorns, 4%. An analysis by the National Foundation for American Policy revealed that 51% of the unicorns in the US have at least one immigrant founder. It is clear how shortsighted the US government has been.
With the clouds of nativism circling the White House, things will only get worse. America’s share of successful technology startups will continue to shrink and Silicon Valley will see competition like never before.
America’s loss is India’s gain.
(The author is a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University at Silicon Valley and author of The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Our Technology Choices Will Create the Future)
WASHINGTON (TIP): Despite objections of Democrats and the FBI, President Trump is expected to make public Friday, February 2, a classified memo about the Russia investigation, which was written by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which is bound to result in a political storm.
The impending release of the memo has touched raw nerves in Washington. Throughout the day on Thursday, February 1 the White House batted down rumors FBI Director Christopher Wray was going to resign in protest
Releasing the information, which is based on classified intelligence, would be unusual.
The memo covers events during the 2016 campaign, when the FBI and the Department of Justice went to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to get a warrant to monitor then-Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, who was suspected of having illegal contacts with Russian operatives.
The four-page memo, authored by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, outlines alleged surveillance abuses. It has deepened a severe partisan divide.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, says the document presents a distorted and unfair picture of how the FBI behaved, and jeopardizes the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
“They ought to be sending the message instead to the White House that were the president to fire Bob Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, that would be considered obstruction of justice and it would bring down the administration,” Schiff said, referring to the special counsel and the deputy attorney general, who is overseeing the Russia probe.
House Speaker Paul Ryan denied the memo is politically motivated.
“The memo is not an indictment of the FBI, the Department of Justice,” Ryan said at a GOP retreat Thursday. “What it is, is Congress’ legitimate function of oversight to make sure the FISA process is being used correctly.”
Thursday evening, former FBI Director James Comey — who was fired by the president — weighed in:
James Comey
✔
@Comey
All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.
5:51 PM – Feb 1, 2018
That is a reflection of how tense this controversy has become.
WASHINGTON (TIP): All Indian Americans in Congress, much like their Democratic congressional colleagues, strongly criticized Trump’s State of the Union address.
Reiterating his position on immigration and young Dreamers, Trump said the $25 billion border wall that he proposed in the immigration framework released last week will be the only solution for ending the DACA crisis.
DACA, or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), allows individuals who entered the United States as minors and remained undocumented to get a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation. Those participating in the DACA program are called Dreamers.
Forty-five minutes into his highly stretched first State of the Union address, Trump said the open borders have resulted in the inflow of “drugs and gangs” into the country.
Trump said that slaying of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, two teen girls in Long Island by MS-13 gang members, is the result of unchecked illegal immigrants crossing the national border. The parents of the victims were also present during the event.
Ironically, Sunayana Dumala, the wife of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian American tech professional who was shot and killed by a white supremacist in Kansas, was present during the State of the Union address as the guest of Rep. Kevin Yoder when Trump said immigrants were spreading violence in the United States.
Sen. Kamala Harris, who has been a strong advocate of Dreamers and immigrant, reacted strongly to the speech. “As the attorney general of California, my main area of focus was going after transnational criminal organizations involved in trafficking guns, drugs, and human beings,” speaking to MSNBC, she said. “MS 13 is one of the worst examples of criminal behavior. To equate that with dreamers and DACA was completely irresponsible and it was scapegoating, and it was fear mongering and it was wrong. It was wrong technically in terms of the nature and character of this populations and in terms of who they are and how they love their lives and that is wrong also because it not how leaders are supposed to do. We are not supposed to convince the American population a policy because we make them afraid and that is exactly what this president is doing.”
During the President’s speech, Harris tweeted, “Dreamers should not be used as a bargaining chip or held hostage in exchange for anti-immigrant policies.”
Indian American Rep Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, who boycotted the State of the Union, also ridiculed Trump’s rhetoric on immigrants and hosted their alternative State of Our Union address at the National Press Club on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the president’s comments on the immigrants Jayapal tweeted, “the president’s rhetoric was absurd and more of the same. He wants to slash legal immigration and conflate immigrant families with terrorists and criminals and drains on our economy.”
Speaking to MSNBC she said, “I came to this country as a 16-year-old and now I’m a United States Congresswoman, one among a dozen members of the Congress. But it is so insulting to see him (Trump) continually scapegoating immigrants, trying to make us the division, when we know that all of our ancestors have come here and helped build this county. For him to start with the MS 13 gang and that story and use that story in a way to say everybody is a criminal and therefore, we should cut family immigration to half and even safe family immigration. Even though he didn’t say family migration and said chain migration, what he really means is family reunification – the corner of immigration in this country for the last fifty years. It was outrageous and I’m so glad that I was not there.”
The Democrat also said that, by holding Dreamers in a hostage-like situation, Trump is asking for ransom, which is to end the legal immigration by half. She also pointed that Dreamers were enjoying legal status and were not deportable until Trump ended the program.
Another Indian American Democrat, Rep, Ro Khanna of California, after listening to Trump’s State of the Union address tweeted, “Tonight, Trump talked about immigration. His perception is flawed. Real lives are at stake, and I will not stop fighting for the 800,000 DREAMERs who deserve nothing less than a clean DREAM Act.”
“I will continue to be a voice for jobs and equality, full funding for CHIP, a clean DREAM Act, and necessary disaster relief funding, as well as long-term economic solutions for working families,” he wrote in another tweet.
A press release issued Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi said: “I wish President Trump governed with the same tone of promise and cooperation that he used at times during his speech tonight. If only the first year of his presidency had focused on infrastructure, investments in workforce development, and career and technical education, what a different political moment we would all be living in today.”
Voicing his support for the immigrants, Rep. Ami Bera invited a special guest for the State of the Union, Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian immigrant who has made groundbreaking discoveries in caring for brain injuries. “We are a nation of immigrants and that should be celebrated,” Bera tweeted before leaving for the address. “I’m honored to have him join me at the State of the Union to reaffirm our American values,” he said in another tweet.
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (TIP): Two Indian American CEOs were among the delegation of business leaders who attended a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump in Davos, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, on Thursday, January 25th.
Vas Narasimhan, Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer for Novartis, and Punit Renjen, CEO of Deloitte, were among the 15-member European business delegation that attended the dinner.
Narasimhan has been Global Head of Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer for Novartis since February 2016. He is a member of the Executive Committee of Novartis. One February 1, 2018, he will become Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Narasimhan previously was Global Head of Development for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, overseeing the entire general medicines pipeline.
He has also served as Global Head of the Sandoz Biopharmaceuticals and Oncology Injectables business unit, Global Head of Development for Novartis Vaccines, North America Region Head for Novartis Vaccines, and United States Country President for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. Before joining Novartis in 2005, he worked at McKinsey & Company.
Renjen is in his 31st year with the Deloitte organization and became the CEO of Deloitte Global in June 2015. He is also a member of the Deloitte Global Board of Directors. He has also served as Chairman of Deloitte LLP (US member firm) from 2011-2015.
Outside of Deloitte, Punit is a member of the boards of directors at United Way Worldwide (chairman), U.S.-India Business Council (vice chairman), and Japan Society; and is a founding member of the Lincoln Center India Advisory Council.
Rajeev Suri, who is the CEO of Nokia, was also present at the dinner.
The US delegation was attended by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, and Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council.
Trump thanked all the business leaders and urged them to invest in the US. The guests praised Trump for passing the GOP tax cut bill.
Lawyer Parthiv Patel was administered the oath of office on Jan. 24by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh to hold this position in the United States. Patel was earlier denied membership to the bar because of his immigrant status.
NEW JERSEY (TIP): Lawyer Parthiv Patel, an Indian American recipient of the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals Act (DACA) became the first such individual to be admitted to the New Jersey Bar Association. He had come to the United States from India at the age of 5 years.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the first Sikh to hold this position in the United States, administered the oath of office on Jan. 24 to Parthiv Patel, who had passed the bar exams of New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2016. He was initially denied membership to the bar but was admitted later after a successful appeal with the help of American Civil Liberties Union.
“We’re making it absolutely clear today that we will use all of the tools of the attorney general’s office to protect the rights of ‘Dreamers’ like Parthiv, to enjoy that American dream, and to ensure the safety and well-being of all New Jerseyans regardless of their immigration status,” Grewal said at the inauguration attended by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Murphy announced that New Jersey would be joining a multi-state lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to end the DACA Act.
“Today I stand here with one message: Dreamers are Americans. We are fifth-graders alongside your children in the school play. We are your friends and your colleagues. And we are your doctors and your accountants and now in New Jersey, your lawyers,” Patel said, according to PTI. “The process of getting admitted to practice law has been daunting, but today’s ceremony is a reminder of the reason I’ve strived so hard to become a lawyer: to use my training and abilities to uplift others. In a climate of anxiety, it’s a comfort to know that we ‘Dreamers’ are not alone in this fight.”
ACLU-NJ Senior Supervising Attorney Alexander Shalom said: “Parthiv’s long wait for bar admission shows the type of obstacles that ‘Dreamers’ are up against, and at the same time, his determination and altruistic spirit in the face of uncertainty demonstrate the best that New Jersey and America have to offer.”
The DACA or Dreamers program protects around 800,000 people from being deported. It covers people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. In New Jersey alone, there are around 22,000 DACA members who could lose their employment and homes if the program is ended. Corporations, tech lobbies, and several states in America have appealed towards continuing the Obama-era program.
Trump recently said, “Tell them not to worry. We are going to solve the problem. It’s up to the Democrats, but they should not be worried. We’re going to morph into it. It’s going to happen.” Trump added that DACA recipients could become citizens “at some point in the future, over a period of 10 to 12 years.”
After a federal judge ruled that applications should be renewed until the litigation is continuing, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed the renewal process. However, those who have never applied still have no reprieve.
European finance ministers express concern about trade war
DAVOS (TIP): President Donald Trump arrived in Switzerland on Thursday, January 25, to attend the World Economic Forum where he will push his “America First” agenda and seek more fair, reciprocal trade between the United States and its allies, amid concerns of the European finance ministers about an imminent trade war.
Trump, never invited as a businessman, will be the first US president to attend Davos since Bill Clinton in 2000, giving him a chance to mingle with the same elite “globalists” he bashed in the 2016 election campaign.
Meanwhile, a day after sending the dollar reeling with comments supportive of a weak US currency, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration was not seeking a trade war but would defend its economic interests.
At a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mnuchin played down his comments on Wednesday, January 24, that a weaker dollar was “good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities”, saying they had been “balanced and consistent”.
The remarks were seen by markets as departing from traditional US currency policy and elicited thinly veiled warnings from European finance ministers, as US President Donald Trump arrived in Davos to promote his “America First” agenda.
“I thought my comment on the dollar was actually quite clear yesterday,” Mnuchin told reporters. “I thought it was actually balanced and consistent with what I’ve said before, which is, we are not concerned with where the dollar is in the short term.” Mnuchin said there were “both advantages and disadvantages of where the dollar is in the short-term” and stressed that the US wanted fair economic competition.
“We want free and fair and reciprocal trade. So, I think it’s very clear. We’re not looking to get into trade wars. On the other hand, we are looking to defend America’s interests.” But the finance ministers of France and Italy expressed concerns about Mnuchin’s remarks, which pushed the dollar down to multi-year lows. A stronger euro, hovering at a three-year peak against the dollar, could hurt the European economy by making its exports less competitive. It also risks complicating the European Central Bank’s exit from years of ultra-loose monetary policy.
“We want currency levels to reflect economic fundamentals,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in Davos. His Italian counterpart Pier Carlo Padoan said Mnuchin’s comments reminded him of American policy in the 1970s and expressed concern about a trade war.
QUEENS, NY (TIP): Borough President Melinda Katz will deliver her annual State of the Borough address on Friday, January 26, offering a report on Queens’ recent milestones and her vision for the future of the borough. It will be her fifth address, since her first term election in Nov. 2013. She got re-elected Nov 2017 for another 4-year term.
According to a press release issued by Sharon Lee from Borough President’s Press office. Pre-registration from the public has been robust, and the venue is anticipated to reach capacity quickly. Doors will open at 9:00 AM. Members of the media seeking to attend the event are kindly asked to email in advance to press@queensbp.org.
Arriving guests will enjoy music performed by a jazz quintet and a string ensemble, both from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. The program will begin with the presentation of colors by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Ceremonial Unit, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Faatiha Aayat, a first grade student at P.S. 16 in Corona and resident of Elmhurst. Wendy Lin, a student at the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (CUNY) and resident of Elmhurst, will sing the National Anthem. Gideon Frankel, Principal of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, will deliver brief welcome remarks. Following the program, a brief reception will feature music by the string ensemble and catering by DelishNY of Corona.
WHAT: Queens Borough President Katz Delivers 2018 State of the Borough Address
WHERE: Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (in the Tony Bennett Concert Hall), 35-12 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens
WHEN: Friday, January 26, 2018 at 10:00 AM (doors open at 9:00 AM)
The program will be live streamed via the Borough President’s website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Official photos will be available on the Borough President’s Flickr following the event.
NEW YORK (TIP): another two Indian Americans are among the more than half a dozen Democrats vying to unseat GOP Rep. Dan Donavan in New York’s 11th congressional district.
Omar Vaid and Radhakrishna Mohan are seeking their party’s nomination from the only New City congressional district that is currently held by the Republicans. The primary in New York is scheduled for June 26th. The 11th district is one of the least demographically diverse congressional districts in Big Apple. Nearly three fourths of the population is white.
It is also the second congressional district in the country where at least two Indian Americans are running against each other in the primaries. In the Illinois 8th, two Indian Americans are running for the GOP nomination to take on incumbent Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is also an Indian American.
Vaid, whose parents came to the United States from Gujarat, is a strong advocate of the rights of immigrants and unions. He believes “that both immigrants and unions make America stronger,” according to his website.
He grew up in Illinois and Florida and moved to New York City after earning a bachelor’s degree in business management to launch his career in the movie industry.
Vaid works on both props and set decoration for New York productions. So far, he has worked on TV shows such as “Luke Cage” and “The Get Down.”
He has been a union member since joining the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 52, in 2009.
Information technology specialist Radhakrishna Mohan, who moved to the United States from India in 1989, has been an employee of the state of New York for the past 28 years. The New York State Insurance Fund employee also serves as an executive board member of chair of workers’ compensation statewide committee.
He has a master’s degree in economics and a degree in mathematics and statistics and an associate degree in computer science.
Like Vaid, Mohan is also a union activist and leader.
He says on his campaign website that he successfully introduced telecommuting in the workplace and had his joint motion passed at the PEF convention to mandate equal time off for NY State female employees, which is now awaiting passage in the state legislature.
Mohan advocates workers comp benefits and opposes privatization of state government jobs.
Issues
Vaid proposes affordable education, better transportation, stern action to fight climate change, quality Medicare for all, more union jobs and greater workers’ rights.
“It is no secret that today in America the top 0.1% own as much as the bottom 90%,” he writes on his website. “To make matters worse, 99% of new income goes to the 0.1%. People rightfully feel the economy is rigged, jobs don’t pay what they used to, and unionizing efforts are in decline. It’s time for the billionaires to pay their fair share.”
Vaid believes in a free-market system but regulated to protect the average citizen from corporate overreach and abuse. “I won’t accept so much as a free meal from a corporate lobbyist,” he says on the campaign website.
“We have the power to change all of this,” says Vaid. “I don’t believe there is any other way forward. We must recalibrate our economy, so the pie begins to grow for everyone. Unity is our way forward. America is the greatest nation on Earth.”
So far Vaid has been running a campaign largely focusing on social media. He has more than 20,000 Twitter followers.
‘Ask not, what your country…’
“Today, I want to serve as your voice on Capitol Hill: a voice that echoes your concerns; a voice that matters; a voice that cares,” Mohan says on his website. “I strongly believe in the famous quote of President John F Kennedy, ‘Ask not, what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.’”
He adds that he wants to play an active role in making the “community, state and country a safer, better place to raise my children, run my business, render service to the community and forge a future filled with unlimited promise and realized potential.”
Other candidates running for the Democratic nomination are Michael DeCillis, Paul Sterling, Max Rose, Zach Emig, and Michael DeVito Jr.
MARYLAND (TIP): The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) and national Trump resistance organization Run For Something have endorsed Indian American educator Samir Paul, who is running for the Maryland House of Delegates from District 16.
“In a chaotic political environment, we have to reaffirm our commitment to public schools as a place where we give every young person a shot. Samir is the perfect steward of that bold vision,” MCEA President Chris Lloyd said in a statement issued by the Paul campaign.
These are the first organizational endorsements of any challenger for the District 16 race, according to the campaign.
Run For Something, a leading Trump resistance group that launched in early 2017 to support young, progressive candidates for office, also extended their support to Paul.
“Young people aren’t the future; we’re the present. I’m proud to be part of a nationwide tidal wave of millennials claiming a seat at the table. I see this as an opportunity to show my students that they’re never too young to make a difference,” Paul said about Run For Something’s endorsement.
The district, which is in the affluent Bethesda area of the Montgomery County, are currently represented by Democrats C. William Frick, Ariana B. Kelly and Marc A. Korman.
Kelly and Korma are running again, while Frick is running for county executive.
In the most recent filing, Paul reported having $108,000 cash on hand—most by a challenger vying for the open seat.
“We’re off to a strong start, and we have the resources to run a robust campaign,” he said. “These fundraising numbers are validation that our efforts to knock on doors and talk to voters are making an impact. This community wants to protect and strengthen our schools, transportation, economy, and environment, and I’ll never stop fighting for that vision — no matter what’s happening down the Red Line in Washington.”
Paul’s parents came to the United States in the early 1980s.
“My family’s American story was made possible by great public schools, and I’m eager to join with teachers, parents, and the wider community to renew that promise for my students and for a whole new generation of young people,” he said. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work. It’s a great honor to have the support of educators across the state,” he added.
Paul, who left a lucrative job in the private sector to teach computer science at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, his alma mater, was named Montgomery County’s “Rising Star Teacher of the Year” in 2016. Last year, the National Education Association recognized him as one of its “30 Under 30” educators.
Paul started the STEM Talent Pipeline program for young for giving science education to 40 young, low-income, and underrepresented minority 3rd-grade girls.
According to his campaign website, Paul was a teacher representative at the 2016 White House summit on expanding computer science education and led his students to the highest average AP Computer Science Exam scores in five years. He is also a leader in the Montgomery County Education Association, where he helps organize the county’s 13,000 teachers.
“I want to be a voice for public institutions that make stories like mine possible for families across Maryland,” he said on his website. I want to make it easier to raise a family, move around the region, start a business, and age with dignity and comfort. That’s why I’m running to represent District 16 in Maryland’s House of Delegates this June.”
Paul earned his bachelor’s in computer science from Harvard University. He also holds a Master’s degree in teaching from American University.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Noted Indian American lawyer Manisha Singh was sworn in to a key administration position in the State Department on January 20th, becoming the in-charge of the US economic diplomacy.
Ms. Singh, 45, born in Uttar Pradesh, is the first woman appointed as the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.
She was sworn in by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
She is currently the highest-ranking Indian American official in the State Department.
“My honor and privilege to be sworn in by Secretary Tillerson,” Ms Singh said in a tweet
“We will promote American growth and secure our future!” she said.
Confirmed by the US Senate on November 2, Ms Singh formally joined her duties at the State Department on November 28.
“She comes to the department with a wealth of experience that will benefit our economic and business efforts abroad,” said State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert.
She previously served as chief counsel and senior advisor to US Senator from Alaska Dan Sullivan. He was himself a former assistant secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.
Ms Singh, who is fluent in Hindi, also previously served as the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs.
“We’re pleased to have her back again at the State Department as she will now lead our efforts to promote prosperity for Americans at home and abroad,” Ms Nauert said.
Ms Singh’s private sector experience includes practicing law at multinational law firms and working in-house at an investment bank.
She earned an LL.M degree in International Legal Studies from the American University Washington College of Law, a JD. from the University of Florida College of Law and a BA from the University of Miami at the age of 19.
Ms Singh, who also studied at the University of Leiden Law School in the Netherlands, is licensed to practice law in Florida, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
“As a society, it is our responsibility to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. Pluralism is a development of an attitude of respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us. You are who you are, and I am who I am; let’s figure it out how to make life easy for both of us”, says the author.
President Trump does not care about anyone but himself; he is reckless and insensitive with his words which cause unwanted social hostility between people and nations. He will be gone when his term ends, but we the people will have to live with the consequences of his words and actions.
I stumbled across an article in Times of Israel with the actual title, “When Jews came from ‘shithole’ countries.” What caught my attention was the following sentence, “Sarna and Diner both said that similar fears animated the nativism of the 1920’s and today. In both cases, they said, these derogatory comments were based on a few of the other from a foreign culture, who will disrupt white American society.”
Teresa May, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom expressed the same fear in her speech in Philadelphia to Republicans upon her visit a year ago. She said, “I believe it is in our national interest to do so. Because the world is increasingly marked by instability and threats that threaten to undermine our way of life and the very things that we hold dear.”
Times of Israel wrote, “While congressmen in the 1920s may not have used Trump’s language, they were also opposed to letting in people from so-called undesirable countries — like Italians, Slavs and Jews from Eastern Europe. Chinese immigrants were banned altogether. Senator David Reed, for whom the 1924 law was named, also wanted to let in more immigrants from “Nordic” countries.”
“This prejudice had been around for decades before the 1924 law. A report from 1891 prepared by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge lumped Jews, Italians, Poles, and others into “races most alien to the body of the American people.” Times of Israel.
Recognizing this inherent phobia of a group of people from among the majority of the population, any population for that matter, we wrote at the Center for Pluralism, “The Center is committed to reassuring each other, including the disconnected ones among the White Americans, that together as Americans, we are committed to safeguarding the American way of life. No American needs to worry about losing his or her way of life. As Americans, we uphold, protect, defend and celebrate the values enshrined in our Constitution.
Although no minorities have made any attempt to change the way of life of the majorities, they need to make extra efforts to reassure the concerned group within the majority that they live their lives, and have not, and will not make any attempt to change the Majoritarian lives. Together let’s preserve America’s greatness that we all cherish.
The following speech was written for Hillary Clinton hoping she would deliver it; the full speech is at Huffington Post dated November 6, 2016, two days before the elections.
My priority is to reach out to my fellow Americans who had it good until the disaster from wars brought misery to them; the white Americans. We are going to find ways and means for them to recover from the difficult times they have endured while other Americans have prospered.
You have two stark choices in front of you; one makes the decisions from the seat of his pants. He does not listen to anyone, does not have the support of a single former President nor does he have the advisement of the sane voices. He can bankrupt the nation and walk away with no consequences, but you may be the one who gets stiffed. Your job and your life is an experiment to him, and the safety of our nation will be subjected to his whims.
Believe me, the Black Americans, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, immigrant Americans, and all other Americans want each one of us to prosper, particularly the disaffected White Americans. Our prosperity hinges on the prosperity of people around us and prosperity of nations around us. None of us will succeed if some of us are left behind.
I am committed to restoring justice to my fellow Americans who lost their jobs in manufacturing, Americans who live on farms, Americans who do not have an education or technical skills, men and women who are plumbers, electricians, repairmen, drivers, janitors and small business owners, and taking care of them is a priority of my administration. We will restore our glory days, and in the end, no American will be left out.
Pluralism is the panacea
As a society, it is our responsibility to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work on mitigating it. Pluralism is a development of an attitude of respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us. You are who you are, and I am who I am; let’s figure it out how to make life easy for both of us.
The Center for Pluralism will become the energy to give a solid cohesive social structure to our nation. By the year 2025, there will not be an office, school, playground, college, restaurant, theater, train, bus or a workplace where people of different faiths, races, ethnicities, and national origins do not work, interact, play, live and marry together. This is bound to create conflicts in airports, public spaces, boardrooms, and in bedrooms as well as places of worship, workplaces, politics, eateries, and schools.
We have a responsibility to shape the future of our society, and we will continue to focus our energies on ensuring a safe America, where no one including your kids, grandkids or yourselves has to worry about his/her faith, ethnicity, race, gender or other God-given uniqueness and live his or her life without apprehensions.
The Center for Pluralism will be an antidote to Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Hindu phobia, Xenophobia, Misogyny and other phobias. Through research and activism, we are establishing a respectful space for the ideals of pluralism with the policymakers, interfaith groups, Republicans and Democrats and of course the media and you!
(The Washington based author is an Indian American, committed to building cohesive work places, societies and communities and offers pluralistic solutions. He is the founder and president of the Center for Pluralism. He can be reached at mikeghouse@gmail.com)
WASHINGTON (TIP): The House, on Thursday, January 18 night, approved, 230 to 197, a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open past Friday, but “Senate Democrats — angered by President Trump’s vulgar aspersions and a lack of progress on a broader budget and immigration deal — appeared ready to block the measure”, said a New York Times report.
In the Senate, at least about a dozen Democratic votes would be needed to approve the measure, and there was little chance that those would materialize. Democrats are intent on securing concessions that would, among other things, protect from deportation young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, increase domestic spending, aid Puerto Rico and bolster the government’s response to the opioid crisis.
The Senate held only a procedural vote on the stopgap bill late Thursday night, leaving for Friday a more consequential vote when Democrats are expected to block the measure.
CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Washington Post, Time among the awardees
WASHINGTON (TIP): Announcing the much-awaited Fake News Awards, US President Donald Trump declared ‘The New York Times’ as the winner of the ‘Fake News Award’. Others in Trump’s unique award were ‘ABC News’, ‘CNN’, ‘Time’ and ‘The Washington Post’. Trump announced the award in a tweet January 17 night.
The website GOP.Com where the winners were listed crashed soon after Trump announced the awards.
“2017 was a year of unrelenting bias, unfair news coverage, and even downright fake news. Studies have shown that over 90 per cent of the media’s coverage of President Trump is negative,” it said.
Topping the list was The New York Times’ Paul Krugman story which claimed on the day of Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover.
ABC News’ Brian Ross was positioned second. It “CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report,” the website said.
‘CNN’ received the third prize for reporting that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J Trump Jr had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks.
Time was placed fourth for reporting that Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office.
The Washington Post was laced last for reporting Trump’s massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty.
Below is the full list of winners of the 2017 Fake News Awards.
1) The New York Times’ Paul Krugman claiming markets would ‘never’ recover from a Trump presidency
2) ABC News’ Brian Ross’ bungled report on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
3) CNN falsely reporting the Trump campaign had early access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks
4) TIME report that Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office
5) The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel tweeting that Trump’s December rally in Pensacola, Fla., wasn’t packed with supporters
6) CNN’s video suggesting Trump overfed fish during a visit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
7) CNN’s retracted report claiming Anthony Scaramucci-Russia ties
8) Newsweek report that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake Trump’s hand
9) CNN report that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim he was told he was not under investigation
10) The New York Times report that the Trump administration had hidden a climate-change study
11) In Trump’s words, “‘RUSSIA COLLUSION!’ Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION.
New York entrepreneur and lawyer aims to represent the wishes of New Yorkers in Congress
NEW YORK, NY (TIP): Indian American Suraj Patel has announced his candidacy for US Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional district.
“I didn’t plan to enter the political arena myself until after this last Presidential Election when many of us realized we can’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” said Patel.
‘My family moved here from India searching for opportunity, and they seized it when they got here. They worked their way up from security guards and store clerks to building a business and raising four unruly boys to adulthood. Their story and our stories need to be told so that we all remember how wonderful this country already is and what truly makes it great. So much about this country is inspiring except for its politics right now, and we have an obligation to change that.”
Patel hopes to make voices from all over New York heard. “We need to fight to make our people’s lives better, to push for what’s possible, to elevate voices that have been ignored, and to finally give people a choice for who represents them.”
Patel and the Committee to Elect Suraj Patel hope to encourage fellow New Yorkers to take initiative and vote for one of their own. It has been 8 years since the last serious Democratic challenger ran for Congress in NY-12, and Patel aims to break this streak while aiming to raise the number of total voters. With strict voting laws, turnout in New York City is among the lowest in the nation, with only 8% of voters participating in the 2016 congressional primary.
With new voices, ideas, and energy, Patel aims to reach New Yorkers who want to make a difference and build a new electorate.
Through his website, visitors can make their voices heard by completing a brief survey to tell Patel’s team what matters to them. The website also offers a link where New York residents can register as Democrats.
Patel is a New York entrepreneur, lawyer, activist, and ethics lecturer at NYU Stern. He is also a founding team member of The Arena and the founder of Creative Caucus, working to find and support great new candidates in their run for office. Patel is a board member at Atlas: DIY and served on the Obama White House Advance Team.
WASHINGTON, DC (TIP): Following historic wins at the ballot box in November 2017, a group of Indian American philanthropists, community leaders, and political operatives have come together to formally launch the Indian American Impact Project (“Impact Project”) and Indian American Impact Fund (“Impact Fund”), collectively known as “Impact.”
Co-founded by Raj Goyle, CEO of Bodhala and former member of the Kansas State House, and Deepak Raj, Chairman of Pratham USA and founder of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies at Columbia University, these bold new initiatives will help talented and patriotic Indian Americans run for office, win, and lead. Raj Goyle will chair the Impact Project, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization focused on leadership development and training, while Deepak Raj will chair the Impact Fund, a political action committee that will endorse and support viable candidates who reflect the Indian American community’s values.
“Despite rapid growth and professional success, for too long Indian Americans have been underrepresented in elected office from state capitols to the U.S. Congress,” said Goyle. “As a result, our needs, concerns, and priorities often go unheard in the halls of power. At a time when our community and our values are under attack by xenophobic rhetoric and regressive policies, it is more critical than ever that Indian Americans build and wield political power to fight back.”
“This is our time,” added Raj. “Across the country, a record number of Indian Americans are running for office. We can’t leave it to chance that they will win on their own. We owe them our support — and we have a plan to help them run, win, and lead.”
As of January 2018, five Indian Americans currently serve in the United States Congress: Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Representatives Ami Bera (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-CA). Impact is also tracking an additional 60 Indian Americans currently serving in state and local office as state legislators, mayors, city council members, judges, and other elected positions.
The Impact Project Board of Directors includes Priya Dayananda, Managing Director of Federal Government Affairs for KPMG LLP, Vinai Thummalapally, former U.S. Ambassador to Belize and former Executive Director of SelectUSA, and Mini Timmaraju, Executive Director of External Affairs at Comcast and former National Women’s Vote Director for Hillary for America. The Impact Fund Board of Directors includes Ravi Akhoury, former Chairman and CEO of MacKay Shields LLC, and Raghu Devaguptapu, Partner at Left Hook Strategies and former Political Director for the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) and Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC). Vikas Raj, Managing Director of Accion Venture Lab, will serve as a non-voting observer on both boards.
Both initiatives are led by Gautam Raghavan, who previously served as Vice President of Policy for the Gill Foundation, as an Advisor in the Obama White House, and in various roles for the 2008 Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee.
TRENTON, NJ (TIP): Gurbir S Grewal, a prominent Indian-American lawyer has become the first Sikh attorney general of the US State of New Jersey after the State Senate approved his nomination unanimously.
“I never imagined that my life’s journey could bring me here today,” Grewal, 44, said during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, January 16. “I’m extremely humbled, and I’m looking forward to getting started,” he said. “My first order of business is to introduce myself and get up to speed.”
Grewal, became the nation’s first Sikh state attorney general after the Senate approved his nomination with a vote of 29-0. He was later sworn into office at a private ceremony, NJ.com reported. Grewal, a registered Democrat, was made Bergen County’s top law enforcement official by Governor Chris Christie in 2016.
Before that, he worked as chief of the economic crimes unit at the US Attorney’s Office under former federal prosecutor Paul Fishman, the report said. Grewal told lawmakers he would continue the Attorney General’s Office’s efforts to stem the opioid crisis and improve relationships between police and the communities they serve. He said he would direct the Division of Criminal Justice, the office’s prosecuting arm, to work with prosecutors in the state’s 21 counties to coordinate response to the heroin epidemic.
He has run the 265-employee Prosecutor’s Office since January 2016, working to combat opioid abuse with strategies such as pairing recently hospitalized or arrested suspects with addiction counselors. He also focused on improving relationships between police and the community. Grewal was nominated in December to serve as the next attorney general of the US state of New Jersey. He was named by New Jersey Governor-elect Phil Murphy.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has announced that she would skip President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, in protest against his policies and rhetoric against immigrants. Jayapal, 52, joins more than half a dozen Democratic lawmakers, including the legendary Congressman John Lewis, who will give a miss to the January 30 event.
Other lawmakers who have announced to boycott the event include Frederica Wilson, Maxine Waters, and Earl Blumenauer.
“I would not be attending the State of the Union this year. I join other distinguished members, including Rep John Lewis, in refusing to dignify a president who has used the platform of the Oval Office to fan the flames of racism, sexism and hatred—most recently with his vulgar condemnation of Haiti and other African countries,” Jayapal said in a statement.
Jayapal said she disagrees with Trump’s approach which is “narrow and self-serving”.
“This president has consistently indicated that he has no interest in leading a unified country. He has gone out of his way to play to a small and shrinking base of voters by using language that diminishes and demeans vast swaths of people in our own country and around the world,” Jayapal said.
“His path is dangerous. His path is destructive. His path cannot be normalized. I will not normalize it. This is our own form of non-violent resistance,” she said.
According to Jayapal, her constituents and people across the country are “heartbroken, terrified and demoralized”.
“He does and says things that none of us, as parents, would condone for our children. He consistently uses language that is outright racist. He actively uses the highest office of the land to promote hatred as a political tool for his own benefit,” said Jayapal.
“As a brown immigrant female member of Congress, I feel the impact of these words personally, as well as collectively,” she said.
Jayapal is the only Indian American lawmaker to have announced boycotting Trump’s State of the Union Address, which is a customary annual address of the US President to a joint session of the Congress.
Other Indian American Congressmen are Dr. Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi. Senator Kamala Harris from California is of mixed African and American heritage.
WASHINGTON (TIP): An Indian American educator has announced to run for the US House of Representatives. Deep Saran, 45, is one of almost a dozen Democrats in the fray for the primary to earn the right to challenge the two-term GOP congresswoman Barbara Comstock from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia.
“I’m a teacher, school founder, technology entrepreneur, lawyer, and child of immigrants from India,” Saran says on his campaign website. Saran said he would champion a national commitment for improved quality of public education both in terms of accessibility and affordability.
“As the child of immigrants, I would push back against intolerance and hatred,” Saran said. Saran’s parents emigrated from India over 50 years ago. His father was a refugee during India’s partition. He founded and runs a school, ‘Loudoun School for the Gifted’
Saran holds a degree in political science from the University of Maryland and attended law school at Georgetown University. He was previously a corporate attorney for large firms in Baltimore and Chicago but left private legal practice to study how children learn and to work on a Ph.D. in Human Development at the University of Maryland.
MANSFIELD (TIP): Former Ohio State Rep. Jay Goyal of Mansfield, has decided he will not run for the U.S. Congress. He announced his decision after some leading Democrats pressed him to consider doing so. The Columbus Dispatch reported Jan. 17, that Goyal had ruled out the run.
“Public service is something that has always been important to me. However, I have certain commitments that I’ve made to my family business and I need to make sure I’m fulfilling those commitments,” Goyal is quoted saying in the Dispatch.
According to the Dispatch, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty, Ohio, from Jefferson Township, and Franklin County Commissioner John O’Grady had approached Goyal and urged him to run in a bid to send a Democrat to Congress. They hoped that Goyal, 37, could help their party turn a red seat into blue as the district comprises of areas where Goyal had name-recognition from the time he served in the State House. Republicans have held the seat on Capitol Hill since 1982.
Goyal was just 26 when he was first elected in 2006 and served three terms from 2007-2013, in the State House, including some of those years as Majority Leader.
He left the political arena in 2012 to help run the family business, Goyal Industries, a manufacturing concern that produces metal fabrications. He has been leading the company for several years now.
Goyal graduated with a degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University, he also has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
WASHINGTON (TIP): House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-NY) issued the following statement on the funding request from President Trump to build his border wall:
“President Trump has no interest in keeping Americans safe or overhauling our nation’s fundamentally flawed immigration system. He is solely focused on building an illogical and unnecessary border wall to appease the anti-immigrant voices in his party.
“Spending $18 billion on a useless border wall is a non-starter for House Democrats. We need to fund the government, extend health insurance programs for children, protect DREAMers, secure Americans’ pensions, put forward a comprehensive overhaul for our broken immigration system that addresses border security concerns, and get back to work for the middle-class. We should not waste time on a completely impractical obsession that the President exploited for crass political reasons.”
WASHINGTON (TIP): Indian Americans today welcomed the Trump Administration’s decision of not blocking extensions to H-1B visas, saying the “devastating” move would have caused “unprecedented” brain to drain and hurt American businesses.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services had yesterday said it was not considering any proposal that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the country.
The announcement came days after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering tightening H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of 7,50,000 Indians.
“I welcome the decision by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service to allow H1-B visa holders to continue to apply for visa extensions while awaiting their green cards,” Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said.
“While we must continue to invest in developing the skills of our domestic workforce, this decision avoids hurting American businesses and workers, while keeping families together in the process,” he said in a statement.
Krishnamoorthi said when a proposal to terminate H1-B extensions arose from within the Trump administration, his office and others opposed it because it would have hurt American businesses, American workers and the American economy, as well as tear apart families.
“In short, that proposal was un-American. I am glad that the Trump administration listened to us and others,” he said.
Suhag Shukla, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) executive director and Legal Counsel, said, “the results would’ve been devastating. Devastating to these law abiding, tax paying workers and their families who have made America their home. Devastating for America by causing an unprecedented brain drain of skilled workers and potential entrepreneurs.”
He said soon after US President Donald Trump began raking up the H-1B visa issue, the HAF lobbied and asked members of the Congress to ensure they voice their concern with the administration.
“We’re grateful for the swift response by Representatives Tulsi Gabbard and Kevin Yoder in expressing to the administration the detrimental impact the proposed changes would have on the American economy and credibility, US-India relations, and families of skilled workers,” Shukla said.
“It is a welcome relief for hundreds of thousands in our community,” he said.
The dawn of November 9, 2016, was one of great disbelief for the world’s oldest democracy as the news was just beginning to sink in among Americans of Donald Trump’s astounding victory in the presidential polls. A year on since that win, here’s a look at Trump in the White House:
BY THE NUMBERS
Approval rating: 37% Lower than any previous president in over 70 years
Economy: 2.6% up in 2nd quarter of 2017. Trump had set a 3% target for long-term economic growth
21% rise in S&P 500, fourth largest 12-month gain following a presidential election since 19363.
Jobless rate: 4.3% in July, lowest since early 2014
Tourist flow: 4.3m decline in overseas tourist numbers to US, represents loss of $7.4 billion revenue
Terror cases/ mass shootings: 362, including the October 1 Las Vegas shooting, the worst such in US history, and the October 31 New York van attack
Trump on Twitter
Around 2,400 tweets since November 8, 2016. That’s about 7 tweets a day
Key words used in tweets: Great – 456, Fake news/media – 167, Jobs – 94, Obamacare – 77
Some interesting tweets:
Donald J. Trump✔ @realDonaldTrump My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again! 5:41 PM – Jul 1, 2017
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer! 10:08 PM – Sep 23, 2017
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump CHAIN MIGRATION must end now! Some people come in, and they bring their whole family with them, who can be truly evil. NOT ACCEPTABLE! 6:03 PM – Nov 1, 2017
Forbes said Trump’s wealth dipped by $600m to $3.1bn in Sept 2017 since 2016
He fell 92 spots on the latest list of the richest Americans
The drop was put down mainly to a tough real estate market and an expensive poll campaign
PM Modi and Trump have declared ties between Washington and New Delhi have “never been stronger”. India is a key component in US plans to contain China. The White House has also pushed Pakistan to combat terrorism.
“After more than three decades, Congress under President Trump, finally passed much-needed and long-overdue tax relief for millions of individuals, families and businesses. While the new tax bill is still not perfect, but it will go a long way in helping individuals, families, small to medium businesses as well as big corporations practically in every sector to be more competitive domestically as well as internationally. Consumers will receive much-needed tax relief and therefore, increase discretionary income. This Tax Bill will create still not too perfect but some what a fairer tax code that will trigger reinvestment in practically every state of America to create more jobs and better wages. This will boost the spending power of consumers and take America on the path of more prosperity”, says the author.
Personally, I have failed to understand the logics of Democrats that the Trump Tax Bill is anti-growth and anti-common person. The fact is this bill is pro-growth and pro-people. There is no doubt that the residents like me of high property and state tax states like New Jersey, New York, California etc. will be affected to a certain extent because of the $10,000 cap on property tax and state tax deduction but not a whole lot because of the doubling up of standard deduction.
As an resident of New Jersey since 1996, I can simply say if the property taxes are exorbitantly high; it is the residents that are to be blamed for allowing unionized politicians posing as Republicans & Democrats to govern 8.5 mil people in 8,000 sq. miles with 588 governments with over 10,000 elected/appointed politicians and 660,000 employees with no or little work. Unless the residents revolt to cut down the number of governments, elected/appointed politicians as well as the employees; they will see every year their property and state taxes going up to financially feed the monstrous size 588 governments of New Jersey.
Democrats are ignoring the fact that about70 percent of Americans take the standard deduction. Trump Tax Bill has doubled that deduction to $12,000 for individuals, 18,000 for heads of household, and $24,000 for joint filers combined with some more generous 7 tax brackets and rates. It would mean less tax taken from most individuals’ and families’ paychecks. Child tax credit has been increased from $1,000 to $2,000 per child. A portion $1,400 would be refundable. That is, taxpayers could get up to $1,400 back from the government, even if they owed no tax. The Bill also raises the income limit for child credit, so families with higher incomes can qualify. Families also could claim a new, $500 “family” tax credit for non-child dependents. That credit is non-refundable. The Bill would increase the amount that could be contributed to tax-favored ABLE savings accounts, designed to save for the needs of disabled adults and children. Contributions could also make the beneficiary of an ABLE account eligible for the saver’s credit, intended to supplement savings for lower-income people. This Bill also provides a temporary break to low-earning people, applying the lowest, 10% rate to more of their taxable income (individuals would get an additional $200 in income taxed at 10 percent; joint filers would get an additional $400 taxed at that rate). For Tax payers subject to the alternative minimum tax, for individuals the exemption from current first $54.300 has been raised to $70,300. For married couples filing jointly the limit from $54,500 has been raised to first $109,400 of income. Under the new Tax Bill by one estimate, a family of four with an income of roughly $73,000 would save $1,500 each year in taxes. In nut shell under this Tax Bill, it would mean less tax taken from most individual’s and families’ paychecks.
Lower Property & state taxes deduction: A maximum $10,000 deduction for state and local taxes could be split between property taxes, and either state income or sales taxes. That’s compared with an unlimited deduction in the current tax code is certainly a setback for residents of high property & local tax states. This $10,000 cap applies to both singles and married couples filing jointly, though married people filing separately could deduct a maximum of only $5,000 each. People who run home businesses could still deduct the portion of state and local taxes, including property tax, that applies to that business. Interest on up to $750,000 in mortgage debt on a newly purchased primary home could be deducted; that’s a drop from the $1 million allowed now. The interest on home-equity loans and line of credit would no longer be deductible, regardless of what it’s used for.
Upper-Middle Class Tax payers/investors with passive income. Will get a significant tax break on a portion of qualifying income. According to a research paper authored by 13 tax experts notes, certain wealthy individuals might be able to incorporate themselves and pay tax on interest income at the corporate rate of 21 percent, not the top 37 percent they’d pay as individuals.
Coming to the rich, the heirs of wealthy people’s surviving spouses would continue to pay no estate tax. The estate tax exemption would double; currently non-spousal heirs would avoid a 40 percent tax on the first $5.49 million inherited from one individual and $10.98 million inherited from two.
The main villain for the Tax Bill critics “The Corporations”:Their tax rate would drop to 21 percent from a top 35 percent rate; decline of a whopping 40 percent! Also allows fully allowable deductions for capital expenses and lower levies on repatriating overseas profits.
Real Estate Businesses: can claim a new tax break that’s planned for partnerships, limited liability companies and other so-called “pass-through” entities.
Technology: U.S. Tech companies are sitting on $3.1 trillion in overseas earnings, according to an estimate from Goldman Sachs. The largest stockpile belongs to Apple at $252 billion – 94% of its total cash. Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Oracle round out the top five, data compiled by Bloomberg show. One caveat is that the repatriation provision could generate a large tax bill. In Apple’s case, a 14.5 percent rate would equate to $36.6 billion in taxes, or about $7 a share, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Banks: The earnings of big U.S. banks will be boosted by an average of 13 percent, according to Goldman Sachs. Leading the way will be Wells Fargo (17%) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (15%).
Autos: The industry’s biggest companies, including General Motors and Ford, will benefit from the rate cut and the reduction on levies for repatriating overseas profits, according to UBS.
Consumer products/retail: Retailers are big winners from the rate cut because many generate all, or at least an overwhelming majority, of their income in the U.S. and pay the highest tax rates of any industry. Most tax breaks and loopholes are not applicable to retail. Total sales from the nearly 3.8 million retail establishments in the United States reached about $2.6 trillion in 2016. Retailers employ almost 29 million, and support more than 42 million jobs in the U.S. That increases the prospect for better wages for existing employees in this sector and more jobs.
Full and immediate deductions on capital expenditures could allow at least one retailer to not owe any federal taxes the next two years. Aaron’s Inc., which leases televisions and refrigerators to consumers at more than 1,700 stores, will be able to use deductions on buying inventory, which are considered capital investments, to wipe out its tax bill in 2018 and 2019, according to Stifel Nicolaus & Co.
Chains and consumer brands also expect the tax bill to boost demand for their goods and services. Many of those companies rely on middle- and low-income shoppers for the bulk of their sales, and changes to individual taxes — such as doubling the standard deduction — will increase discretionary income.
Industrials: In machinery, trucking is likely to see the biggest impact, according to Jefferies. The corporate rate cut would give U.S. transportation companies of all sizes more money to upgrade their fleets with fuel-efficient vehicles. The bill’s increased deductions for capital spending would add another incentive to buy new 18-wheelers, a potential boon for truck makers like Paccar Inc. and Navistar International Corp.
Energy: oil-and-gas companies will be big winners because they pay the second-highest effective tax rate of any sector, at 37 percent, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. But a number of oil explorers and equipment providers won’t benefit because their operations are unprofitable.
Hospitals and insurers: The bill is estimated to boost insurance companies’ profits by as much as 15 percent because they pay high rates, according Ana Gupte, an analyst at Leerink Partners.
Pharmaceuticals: U.S. drug makers will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the repatriation portion of the bill. They’ve been sitting on billions of dollars in overseas earnings and can now bring home that cash at a reduced rate. Biotech and pharma companies will get a smaller tax credit for developing drugs for rare diseases. Under current law, they can deduct 50 percent of the cost of testing drugs for rare or orphan diseases that affect only small numbers of patients. The revised bill cuts that amount to 25 percent, raising government revenue by $32.5 billion over a decade.
Chris Martin in his article “Hidden Benefit to U.S. Corporate Tax Cuts: Lower Utility Bills” in Bloomberg wrote that there’s one place where every American may benefit from lower corporate income-tax rates: utility bills. Regulated utilities may pass tax savings on to ratepayers, consumers may get share of estimated 15% cut to utility tax. An average consumer could see a reduction of about 5 percent off their monthly bill, according to Rhame.
After more than three decades, Congress under President Trump, finally passed much-needed and long-overdue tax relief for millions of individuals, families and businesses. While the new tax bill is still not perfect but it will go a long way in helping individuals, families, small to medium businesses as well as big corporations practically in every sector to be more competitive domestically as well as internationally. Consumers will receive much-needed tax relief and therefore, increase discretionary income. This Tax Bill will create still not too perfect but some what a fairer tax code that will trigger reinvestment in practically every state of America to create more jobs and better wages. This will boosts the spending power of consumers and take America on the path of more prosperity.
If we want sustained and continuous economic growth and prosperity for all with low levels of poverty, the corporations must come up with a solution for equitable distribution of nation’s economic prosperity by voluntarily defining what should be the maximum or reasonable pay, perks and retirement packages for its executives. Corporations must stop creating high levels of economic inequalities by fraudulently defining the minimum wages for its workers that have if not equal; at least equitable contributions in creating the wealth for corporations and the nation. An Economy of exclusions, gross economic injustice with very high inequalities cannot continue forever because it can bring down the country with a massive class war between the “Haves” and the “Have Nots”.
(Data Compiled from various sources)
(The author is a social activist and is a regular contributor to The Indian Panorama. He can be reached at davemakkar@yahoo.com)
LONG BRANCH, NJ (TIP): NJ Senator-elect Vin Gopal, Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Joann Downey were joined today, January 5, by Senator Menendez, Congressman Frank Pallone, Governor-Elect Phil Murphy and members of the shore community to speak out against a renewed effort by the Trump Administration to expand offshore drilling off the coast of New Jersey.
Legislators Houghtaling, Downey, and Gopal spoke fervently against the proposal, citing high risk for catastrophe and the severe impact an oil spill could have on New Jersey’s $44 billion tourism industry.
In August, Assembly Members Houghtaling and Downey submitted a letter in opposition of the plan to the Department of the Interior.
“We’ve seen environmental disaster over and over again, and so many of these catastrophes are directly linked to decisions like,” said Houghtaling (D-Monmouth), “We have a multitude of energy options available. The federal government needs to invest in our infrastructure, not put our environment and our economy at risk with dangerous moves like this.”
“The risks are clear and so is the public’s opposition,” said Downey (D-Monmouth), “Year after year we’re seeing oil spills around the country. As recent as April, thousands of gallons of oil were spilled in a once pristine bay of Alaska. Tens of thousands of New Jerseyans have voiced their opposition to this policy and the Trump Administration needs to heed those calls before they put us in danger.”
“Not only could an oil spill be an environmental catastrophe, but, in New Jersey, it could be an economic catastrophe as well,” said Gopal (D-Monmouth), “Thousands of small business owners and their employees rely on New Jersey’s beaches and tourism for their livelihood. This is how they put food on the table and this policy puts that $44 billion industry at risk.”
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