Indian American Voters Must Think of Issues that Will Impact Them, Their Children and Grandchildren
- The debate and subsequent events have clearly shown that the incumbent president had nothing to offer on the issues vital for the Indian American voters.
Growing up in India, I looked upon American democracy as an ideal for other younger democracies to follow. After immigrating and looking at U.S. democracy in action, my admiration only deepened. I discovered that elections (for all levels of government) are essentially run by local and state board of elections, these are almost always bipartisan, any differences in process are resolved through debate and discussion. Debate can be acrimonious, and election disputes are sometimes settled by courts, but no politician of any stripe has ever called out the U.S. election process a sham and a fraudulent exercise, in its entirety. No one, until Donald Trump, that is.
It is a matter of national shame that he repeated this false and self-serving claim in the first Presidential Debate which was seen across the world. For this and this reason alone, voters (and Indian American voters particularly) should reject him at the polls in November. The U.S., which used to send poll observers to other fledgling democracies and provide technical help in running elections, is no longer seen as the leader in promoting democracy.
But what about his other attacks on democratic institutions and long held traditions? Donald Trump’s campaign agreed to certain rules in the first debate (rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates) and then the candidate proceeded to rip apart those rules. This is not merely a matter of being rude or uncivil in a televised debate; it showed to any fair-minded voter that Trump does not believe in any rules, which cramp his bullying and hectoring style.
In the end, this election should be about character and values. It should be about which candidate will restore the vital institutions which underpin American democracy. American Democracy depends not only on the integrity of the election process (and the public’s faith in it), but also the rule of law, and the representation of the most underserved and vulnerable Americans.
In the end, this election should be about character and values. It should be about which candidate will restore the vital institutions which underpin American democracy.
In the debate, the contrast between the candidates was clear. Joe Biden agreed to abide by the results of the election, Donald Trump did not. Joe Biden condemned racist violent groups, Trump hedged and actually asked the Proud Boys to “…stand back and stand by…” Joe Biden reaffirmed that he would reinstate the Affordable Care Act, Donald Trump acknowledged that he had dismantled part of the Act, but had no alternative plan. On COVID and public health, Joe Biden emphasized that he would heed the advice of scientists and health professionals; Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden for wearing a mask, and most of his entourage did not wear masks at the debate event, even after being told so by the Cleveland Clinic staff.
As subsequent events unfolded, we all learned that the Trump White House had endangered top Republican leadership and his own staff by holding a mask-less event, with no social distancing during the introduction of his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, three days prior to the debate. We now know that Donald Trump, many of his staff and two Senators have contracted COVID, most likely at this super spreader event. After being admitted at Walter Reed, Donald Trump has continued doing political theater, by releasing staged photographs and video messages and by staging a car ride, while waving to his dwindling band of supporters outside the hospital.
Indian American voters must think of issues that will impact them and their sons and daughters and grandchildren. The debate and subsequent events have clearly shown that the incumbent president had nothing to offer on the issues vital for the Indian American voters. A botched response to COVID means that small businesses will continue to have a hard year or two, more restrictive immigration policies means family visas would take a long time to come. In contrast, the Democratic party candidate’s plan is to tackle COVID by following scientific consensus, to offer additional help for small businesses and bring in a compassionate immigration policy. The plan also offers free tuition at state universities to families making less than $125,000.
What about India specific policies? Although the debate topics did not include foreign policy topics, Donald Trump made two very unflattering claims about India: that India is not reporting COVID deaths accurately, clubbing India with Russia and China and that India is a big producer of green-house gases emissions and cannot be persuaded to reduce such emissions. Indian American voters, who care about the U.S. policy stance towards India, should take the hint and understand that Donald Trump is for Donald Trump alone, and for him surviving this election is paramount, given the looming tax and financial fraud litigation that may haunt him in the coming years.
Sonal Singh is a banking risk professional and emigrated to the United States in 1998. He lives and works in Cary, North Carolina, the best little town on the Eastern Seaboard.
The writer has eloquently written a Kahaani… (a fiction) devoid of facts and half lies as is expected from most all Democrat politicians now.
Here below are my point by point responses to the pure work of fiction,
1. Trump called the elections would be “quite a sham” as the infrastructure is not geared towards mail in ballots. Then also a difference between mail in ballots and absentee ballots. To top it off many ballots have already been found abandoned and dumped. That is the sham being spoken about. Odd that all Antifa demonstrators can step out to protest and burn down the cities but when it comes to going to vote Covid is the response. Hilarious.
2. To say that Trump does not support democracy is like the pot calling the kettle black… did the writer forget that in 2016 the Democrats railroaded Sanders in this democratic process. Further they continued to use various official machinery to spy on and discredit Trump long after he won the last elections and was on office. The Trump-Russian Collusion was proven false and it may seem (still debatable) that possibly it was Clinton colluding with the Russians.
3. While the Debate was not very gentlemanly, to put all blame on Trump is preposterous . Biden was the first to start interruption with his smart comments and then had to face the brunt thereafter. Then again what good is a leader who cannot face bullies , which he will when he deals with the Chinese amongst many others. Unless of course the writer here feels that all Heads of States will be fair when it comes to what is best for them.. once again Chinese being up in the forefront. Biden was happy to talk about Trump’s family but when asked about his own sons and their businesses… his response was.. I don’t want to talk about it.
4. For all the policies that Biden (and you Sir) say that Trump should not be voted in why did Biden not do anything in his 47 years in politics 8 of which were as VP. Why is it that still after Biden’s long career there are so many that are “underserved and vulnerable”.
5. Biden did not call out against the violent groups… he said that Antifa is not an organization. Please note that while not supporting those against Antifa , all recent (past 5 years) violent protests have been initiated by the Antifa followers. Retaliation thereto falls under right to self defense and to protect ones own property. That is what “stand back and stand by” meant. Biden and Harris have always stood by Antifa and stated that this is the need of the hour. To the extent that Harris has requested donations to causes to support bail and other legal expenses of those arrested. On the flip side… Biden said that he was the Democrat Party and when asked why he did not call any of the Mayors/Governors of the Democrat run cities/states to ask them to control the violence… his response was, I do not hold any position if office. So it seems that Democrats will only work when they are in power and not when they are not. If Trump has done so much without their support, then guess how much more would be possible if we they all worked together.
6. With regards to COVID, back in February Biden had said that Trump was being xenophobic for closing travel to and from China. If travel would have been open, the situation would have been far worse than it actually is now. The Republicans have been all about grants and support to the small and medium businesses from the first stimulation package. Democrats meanwhile decided to give $600 per week more than the unemployment benefits and forcing the small and medium business owners to submit and process the unemployment claims while many employees refused to work. With the unemployment benefits starting to dwindle you now can see many trying to find employment.
7. With regards to foreign policy, yes Trump did make unflattering claims about India. If one was to review and focus on this election as a heritage Indian, then one cannot forget where both Biden and Harris stand with respect to J&K and supporting the Separatists there. Not to mention Biden’s soft stand against China will be an issue if China is to continue their unprovoked aggressions in Ladakh, Doklam, and the North East.
8. He claims that Trump did not talk policy. Well nor did Biden… except his 300 Billion (if I recall) plan to invest in retrofitting existing buildings to be green. This without showing where he would get the money from. I guess raise personal taxes would be the way to go for him.
9. As far “him surviving this election is paramount, given the looming tax and financial fraud litigation that may haunt him in the coming years”, I am surprised that the writer (being in the finance industry) forgets that audits and litigation can happen up to 10 years after the tax returns have happened.
The writer is making a last ditch attempt to get the Indian diaspora to vote left as they are here one of the biggest swing voters .
Trump has pushed for the movement manufacturing out of China to areas that are at par and have and follow human rights. He has stood up against China when no other developed country did regarding currency parity and pushed for tariffs. Revamping the tax structure bringing back many businesses and cash back to the US.
Trump stands for one thing… USA. In doing so he gets the accolades from Americans. That it seems the writer is mistaking as caring for “Trump himself “as his actions are resulting in people supporting him, in return fueling him to do more.
If one was to read through all points and do a simple research one will see through the sham of an article by the writer in a bid to draw on the heart strings as a fellow Indian immigrant. This is a story full of fiction.
As a fellow immigrant from a town not far from the writer himself, I will not implore you to vote Trump. All I will say is please do your own research to find the truth and details.. away from the noise of the media and experts who have their own agenda at play. I am certain, you all know what I mean as the new world of social media has created havoc in the infowars.