Upcoming Events

Upcoming events

Suhail Khan will be chairing the next meeting of the Conservative Inclusion Coalition on Tuesday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m.  Suhail will also make a presentation on behalf of the Indian American Conservative Council on Wednesday, September 15 in Baltimore at the state’s monthly center-right meeting.

Many of our Washington, D.C. based members will be attending a young professionals event for Nikki Haley on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, September 22.

Summer Newsletter

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Member updates

Swadeep Nigam, our co-chairman from Nevada, was quoted in the August 20 edition of Politico (“Angle aims to correct course”) about the 2010 Senate race.

Swadeep also co-wrote an opinion piece in the April 8 edition of Nevada News and Views (“It’s time for Ensign to resign”) calling on Senator John Ensign to leave the Senate, which was noted in the April 8 edition of Politico (“John Ensign faces increased pressure to quit”).

Council Board of Director member Suhail Khan, co-chairman of our DC Chapter, had an op-ed published in the August 23 edition of Foreign Policy (“America’s first Muslim President”) discussing the role of Muslim Americans in domestic politics.

Raju Chinthala, a leader from our Indiana chapter, was quoted in the August 15 edition of The Indianapolis Star (“Indy hosts first-ever India Day celebration today”) and was recently appointed by the Mayor of Indianapolis to the city’s Public Safety Advisory Board.

Our national Chairman Dino Teppara was quoted discussing the candidacy of Council member and SC gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley in an August 19 Salon article (“For Indian American pols, the ’what are you’? test,”) in a July 17 article from India Today (“The Haley Comet”) and in a July 6 article from The Washington Post (“More Indian American seeking office this year”).

Council News

Insourcing letter

The Council was one of 36 organizations that co-signed a letter to the President urging him to stop insourcing government work.  Insourcing is the conversion of work currently performed by private sector contracting firms to performance by federal government employees.  This initiative was led by the Business Coalition for Fair Competition, a coalition of trade associations, businesses and organizations that is dedicated to free enterprise, relief from unfair government sponsored competition and smaller, more efficient government.  The BCFC works to prevent unfair competition to private businesses from the government.  The letter was cosigned by some of the largest trade associations and nonprofit organizations in the nation and was highlighted in several news articles, including the August 23 edition of The Daily Caller, which notes in an excerpt:

“Since taking office, President Obama has made insourcing a major piece of his agenda. A March 2009 memo, for example, directed all federal agencies to devise insourcing guidelines to be implemented by the summer. Then in July 2009, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed agencies to ‘consider on a regular basis’ how to turn jobs oftentimes performed by contractors into jobs for federal employees.

The BCFC’s letter comes on the heels of some very public statements made last week about the practice of the federal government taking over commercial jobs. In a briefing last week at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted insourcing had not produced results.

‘We weren’t seeing the savings we had hoped from insourcing,’ said Gates.

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who serves as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also expressed concerns about insourcing in June, saying said that the practice is ‘counter-intuitive to the President’s goal of creating opportunities in the federal contracting system for diversity.’

‘We already have a much more limited universe than we should,’ said Menendez. ‘And if [insourcing] is being pursued, then it is only going to erode what exists, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense. . . .’

Earlier this year, the federal government’s workforce expanded to more than 2 million employees for the first time since the Clinton administration. . . .”

Incourcing saves taxpayer monies by competitively bidding work to the private sector, where the work can be done at a lower cost.  It prevents the expansion of government bureaucracy, enables the private sector to create jobs and allows small contractors the opportunity to expand their business opportunities.  Under President Bush’s administration, the outsourcing of contracts to the private sector greatly expanded; in the current administration, they are rapidly declining, as liberals seek to greatly expand the reach of government and have it compete with the private sector.  Working with the BCFC, the Council will try and reverse this unfortunate trend.

Social Security/Biometric ID Cards

The Council was a signatory to a letter initiated by the Liberty Coalition, a coalition of liberal, conservative, libertarian and privacy organizations opposing a congressional effort to impose biometric social security cards on American businesses.  While we share concerns over privacy, our main contention with this proposal is the unfunded mandate on businesses, which will ultimately be forced to pay for this proposal.  The issue was also reported on in the Wall Street Journal.

Labor union memo

The Council signed onto the latest “Memo for the Movement,” circulated by the Conservative Action Project, which is chaired by former United States Attorney General Edwin Meese.  Members include more than 100 conservative organizations.

The latest memo discussed the excessive influence of labor unions in our society.  The memo points to Gallup polls, which show for the first time that the majority of Americans think “unions mostly hurt the U.S. economy.”

Past events

The Council was pleased to host a well-attended reception at the Capitol Hill Club to welcome to Washington, D.C. the 2009 Miss Louisiana, Katherine Putnam.  Katherine was most gracious with her time, and we enjoyed learning of her Indian heritage and time spent studying music in India.

Upcoming events

Suhail Khan will be chairing the next meeting of the Conservative Inclusion Coalition on Tuesday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m.  Suhail will also make a presentation on behalf of the Indian American Conservative Council on Wednesday, September 15 in Baltimore at the state’s monthly center-right meeting.

Many of our Washington, D.C. based members will be attending a young professionals event for Nikki Haley on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, September 22.

Liberal quote of the month..

“When I came in, I said we’re draining the swamp. And we did.” (Aug. 1, 2010), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Not yet a member of the Indian American Conservative Council?  Annual membership is only $25, please sign up here today.

Heritage Foundation Luncheon

The leadership of The Heritage Foundation has invited the leadership of the Indian American Conservative Council to a private luncheon on Friday, May 7 from 12:00 noon to 2 p.m.

This is an important meeting to begin a dialogue between our organizations on issues affecting the Indian American community and our nation as a whole.

There is no cost to attend but there is a cap on the number of attendees (25 total), so please RSVP as soon as you can.  If you RSVP and later discover you are unable to attend, please make every effort to secure the attendance of another member in your place.

Thank you,

Dino Teppara, Esq

Chairman

Liberals make false outsourcing claim

Today, the Indian American Conservative Council issued the following statement in response to false claims that the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, signed by thousands of successful candidates for office, promotes tax policies that encourage outsourcing.

“The taxpayer protection pledge signifies a true commitment to protect hard-working taxpayers across our nation,” said Dino Teppara, Chairman of the Council.  “Americans for Tax Reform and its President Grover Norquist should be commended for initiating the pledge, not vilified for it in an untruthful attack ad.

“The claims about companies outsourcing jobs are baseless.  The best way to ensure domestic job creation is to minimize the cost of doing business by reducing lawsuits, promoting right to work laws and eliminating duplicative regulatory and compliance burdens.  In a global economy, many American companies have made investments overseas.  Similarly, thousands of international companies from hundreds of countries around the world have done the same here in the United States.  These investments have created millions of jobs and enabled middle-class families to achieve the American dream.

“Investments made by Indian companies right here at home in just the past two years total approximately $10.25 billion with more than 65,000 jobs saved or created.  For example, a $1 billion investment by an Indian company saved more than 17,000 jobs at a steel mill in Minnesota.  That’s 17,000 people that didn’t have to file for unemployment benefits or risk losing their health care coverage or homes.  American companies have created jobs here and around the world and so have our international allies.  That’s how our global economy works.

“But liberals and their labor union allies continue to spread misinformation about outsourcing.  We responded aggressively when they did so in 2004 and will continue to expose the falsity of their statements.”

The outsourcing statement was made in an attack ad against congressional candidate Charles Djou, claiming the taxpayer protection pledge supports tax policies that outsource American jobs.  The nonpartisan Factcheck.org issued a detailed analysis and concluded the attack ad is clearly false.

See our past statements on outsourcing:

“Disappointed to hear Kerry, Edwards express opposition to outsourcing”
September 2004, News India-Times

Excerpt: “[T]he number of jobs outsourced is far less than the numbers of jobs insourced, that is, the number of jobs created by overseas companies in the U.S.  In fact, more than 6.4 million jobs have been created in the U.S. by overseas businesses, including major companies such as Nissan, BMW, Toyota and Mercedes Benz. These corporations pay taxes, salaries and contribute to our local communities in many ways. This shows many more jobs are coming into America than jobs leaving the U.S.”

Kerry opposes outsourcing to court unions
October 1, 2004, India New England

Excerpt: “[T]he Aug. 24 edition of The Financial Times notes that the outsourcing industry in India accounts for less than 3 percent of global outsourcing operations.  While there were more than 300,000 call centers worldwide at the end of 2002 employing around 18 million people, India has just 250 call centers, employing 33,800 people.

March Newsletter

Conservative Trivia: Which Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense failed to secure a congressional internship with another Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense?  The answer is at the bottom of the newsletter

Past Events

March 5 – IARC Chairman Dino Teppara attended the annual India Abroad “Person of the Year” gala in New York City.

March 13 – IARC Chairman Dino Teppara and IARC Vice Chairman Dr. Sambhu Banik were invited to the Embassy of India for a lunch briefing hosted by Ambassador Meera Shankar and Ambassador Arun K. Singh, Deputy Chief of Mission.

March 15 – IARC members attended the U.S.-India Business Council’s 7th annual U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) bilateral meeting at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

March 18 – IARC-Las Vegas cosponsored the 2010 Vaisakhi Mela and co-chairs Swadeep Nigam and Swati Singh hosted a booth at the cultural event, which drew more than 1,200 attendees.

March 25 – IARC members attended a reception in honor of the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council.

March 30 – IARC members attended a U.S.-India Business Council luncheon in honor of India’s Minister of State for Information Technology Sachin Pilot.

March 30 – IARC Board Member Suhail A. Khan chaired the monthly Washington, D.C. inclusion meeting, attended by diverse leaders of the center-right coalition movement.

March 31 – IARC Member Nikki Haley, candidate for Governor of South Carolina, had a 48-hour successful moneybomb, where she raised more than $50,000 from 511 donors from 44 different states, with the majority of donors giving less than $25 and the majority of donors coming from South Carolina.

April 1 – Governor Mitt Romney joined Nikki for several events across the state of South Carolina after recently endorsing her for Governor.

April 3 – IARC-Las Vegas hosted a luncheon meet and greet for Dr. Joe Heck, candidate for U.S. Congress.

Future Events

April 5 – IARC National is hosting a toll-free nationwide conference call this evening with U.S. Congressman Tom Price, MD (R-GA-6) to discuss the health care reform debate and the way forward for conservatives.

April 9 – IARC-Northern California is hosting a meet-and-greet for U.S. Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA-2), Ranking Member of the Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee.

April 12 – IARC-Florida is having a townhall meeting with House Republican Leader U.S. Congressman John Boehner (R-OH-8) in Ocala.  IARC Co-Chairman Danny Gaekwad is hosting the event along with U.S. Congressman Cliff Stearns (R-FL-6) and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives Larry Cretul.

April 15 – IARC-Florida is having a meet-and-greet in Sarasota for Former Florida Speaker Marco Rubio hosted by IARC Co-Chairman Harry Walia.

April 15 – IARC National is participating in an anti-tax press conference in Washington, D.C.

April 15 – IARC National is serving as a cohost for the Capitol Hill movie premiere in the Visitor’s Center of “Triumph of the Spirit,” one woman’s heroic survival of the Holocaust.  Many organizations are serving as cohosts and special guests include Members of Congress as well as award winners Mrs. Hadassah Lieberman, wife of U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman and Fred Zeidman, Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.  Participating Members of Congress include: Peter King (R-NY); Tom Rooney (R-FL); Joe Wilson (R-SC); Tom Price (R-GA); Frank Wolf (R-VA); Cliff Stearns (R-FL); and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC).  Please RSVP online here.

April 26 – IARC National is hosting a toll-free nationwide conference call with U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN-6), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to discuss international issues.

April 27 – IARC-Indiana is participating in a meet-and-greet with Governor Mitch Daniels.

Commentary Pieces

IARC Chairman Dino Teppara wrote two articles on the health care reform bill, one published in News India-Times on March 26 and the other in the Daily Caller on March 16 – He also wrote a commentary on the nationwide rise of conservatives in the March 12 edition of News India-Times

Conservative trivia answer:  Donald Rumsfeld, a former Member of Congress and Secretary of Defense, rejected Dick Cheney as an intern in his congressional office.  Cheney later worked for Rumsfeld in the White House, served in Congress and also as Secretary of Defense.  Both men also served as White House Chiefs of Staff.

Not yet a member?  Annual membership dues are only $25 and you can join securely here.

Capitol Hill Premiere of “Triumph of the Spirit”

The Indian American Republican Council is pleased to serve as a cohost of the Capitol Hill premiere of “Triumph of the Spirit.”

Join special guests U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (I -CT), Sam Brownback (R-KS) along with U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) for the Washington, D.C. premiere of the new documentary entitled, “Triumph of the Spirit.” This powerful and poignant film is based on the life of Holocaust survivor Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, an internationally renowned Torah outreach organization. This very special screening will take place on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at beginning with a reception at 5:30 p.m. The documentary begins at 6:00 pm followed by a program at 6:30 p.m. at the Capitol Visitor’s Center in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill.

“Triumph of the Spirit” is an original 20-minute documentary that serves as a testimonial to the resilience of the Jewish people and the power of faith in God during the Holocaust. The film demonstrates that the spirit of man is infinitely more powerful than Hitler or his mighty armies and that the flame of faith is more intense than the fires of the crematorium. While the vintage photos, music and the images are all captivating, it is Rebbetzin Jungreis’ personal story and voice that penetrates the soul and touches the deepest recesses of the heart.

The Hon. Fred Zeidman, Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and Mrs. Hadassah Lieberman will be accorded special tribute on this occasion, as many members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate will be in attendance for the screening. Senators Lieberman, Brownback and Rep. Carnahan will be “welcoming and honoring Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, the First Lady of the worldwide Jewish community” as she bears witness to the Nazi horrors – praying that it shall never happen again.

Special Guests Include: U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); E.B. Johnson (D-TX); Peter King (R-NY); Tom Rooney (R-FL); Joe Wilson (R-SC); Tom Price (R-GA); Frank Wolf (R-VA); Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL); and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Additional Co-hosts include: Alan Rechtshafen; Andrew Friedman; Andrew Langer, Institute for Liberty; Dr. Vinod K. Shah, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin; Barry Akrongold; Bill & Jill Roberts; Bill & Sheila Lambert; Chana & Simon Falic; David Roberts; Debbie & Jimmy Lustig; Dr. Patricia Cayne; Eli Gold, The Harbour League; Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform; Hudson Institute; Ilene Gordon; Dino Teppara, Chairman, Indian American Conservative Council; Inge & Ira Rennert; Janet Davis; Janie & Robert Fisher; Karen Davis; Mario Lopez, Hispanic Leadership Fund; Marissa Leifer; Michelle Blistein; Nathaniel Storch; Rachel Storch; Renee & Philip Pilevsky; Shalom USA Radio; Shannon & Andrew Penson; Sheila Levine; Sherry Cohen; Suhail A. Khan, Founder & Chairman of the Conservative Inclusion Coalition; Tammy & Carey Wolchuk; Tara Gordon; WCBM Radio; WVIE Radio

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Reception: 5:00 p.m.
Movie screening: 6:00 p.m.
Program & awards ceremony: 6:30 p.m.
Capitol Visitors Center, U.S. Capitol, Below the East Plaza
(Between Constitution and Independence Avenues)

Since the establishment of Hineni, over four decades ago, thousands of assimilated and alienated Jews have returned to a Torah true life through the innovative programs initiated by Rebbetzin Jungreis. “I am deeply honored to travel to our nation’s capitol for the screening of ‘Triumph of the Spirit’, said Rebbetzin Jungreis. It is my fervent hope that the positive and uplifting messages of hope and faith will continue to inspire those who will shape our future”, she said.

Founded in 1973 by Esther Jungreis Hineni International (a 501(c)3) believes that spiritual and philosophical guidance have an important place in today’s complex and turbulent world. Modern life is filled with conflict and constant stress. The pressures of everyday life weigh us down, and many of us have lost the strength that faith brings. Without always knowing it, something in us seeks the lasting joy, the inner calm and tranquility of a life linked to traditions and biblical values.

to RSVP simply fill out this form:

A different perspective on health care

Instead of a fully paid-for package that could pass with bipartisan support, Democrats created a liberal wish-list without key measures supported by doctors

March 26, 2010

News India-Times

Dino Teppara

Chairman – Indian American Republican Council

In a recent survey, nearly 63% of physicians stated we need health care reform but that it should be done gradually.  More than 70% of doctors stated they did not support a public option and 46% of primary care physicians felt that they will be forced out of medicine if the reform bill passes or they will choose to stop practicing medicine.

Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert once noted that in politics, Congress should always under-promise and over-deliver.  Democrats did the exact opposite, over-promising and under-delivering.  Even worse, they laid down timelines for legislative action, a big no-no when dealing with Congress.  Democrats became overconfident that their large majorities could pass a bill before the August 2009 recess and were taken off guard by the town hall meetings and tea party rallies protesting both the bill and the secretive process surrounding it.  The messy debate continued throughout the fall, with the Senate finally passing its version on Christmas Eve.

An unrelated student loan bill has now been attached to the package in an attempt to curry favor with Members of Congress.  This too, after the bill was stuffed with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of favors to Senators representing Louisiana, Florida and Nebraska.  Abortion dragged the debate out for weeks and continues to be a controversy, despite the fact that none of these issues have anything to do with the health care delivery system.

The key provisions that doctors needed addressed in the health care bills were the reformation of malpractice lawsuits, providing for a permanent fix to the Medicare sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) and addressing the future physician shortage.

The SGR formula affects the reimbursement rate for physicians treating Medicare patients.  With the baby boomer generation retiring, this patient pool plays an important part of a physician’s practice.  Assuming 50,000 Indian American doctors with average annual Medicare reimbursements of $50,000, you arrive at a figure of more than $2.5 billion.  With the pending 21% to reimbursements, Indian American physicians stand to lose more than $500 million just this year.  This means fewer doctors seeing less Medicare patients.  Even worse, doctors face tax raises in the bill, which means less money coming into their practices and more money going out.  With large tax raises and Medicare cuts, physicians and seniors are forced to pay for the majority of this bill when they are the ones most affected by its changes.  Yet, the health care bill does not address this issue at all.

By including some lawsuit reform measures, Congress could reduce the practice of defensive medicine and save billions of dollars annually.  This would acknowledge the enormous cost and domino effect litigation has on physicians, hospitals and other health care providers.  Addressing the rise of insurance premiums on families and small businesses would still be a necessary part of the reform package.  But when you do the math, assuming an average monthly premium of $750 for 30 million currently uninsured people, you arrive at a price tag of less than $300 billion, not $1 trillion.  This legislation should simply not cost this much.  Add a permanent fix to the SGR formula of approximately $200 billion, and the entire bill should have cost less than $500 billion.  It could have been fully paid for without tax raises by reducing wasteful spending, inefficiencies and fraud, especially in Medicare and Medicaid, and reduce overall health care and insurance costs by virtually eliminating the practice of defensive medicine.

Our nation is currently experiencing a physician shortage, which could be addressed if the health care bill added 15,000 residency slots.  Over ten years, this would create tens of thousands of new doctors to treat future patients.  However, due to the cost of all the other provisions put into the bill, this critical improvement was left out.

Average Americans are greatly concerned over the cost and massive expansion of government in this legislation.  The very messy legislative process has fueled suspicion that the bill may not be in their best interests.  Instead of creating a cap for how much key items would cost and providing a fully paid-for package that could pass with bipartisan support, Democrats created a liberal wish-list without key measures supported by doctors and then decided to figure out how to pay for it all later.

The American people handle their own finances exactly opposite to the process undertaken by our politicians.  We base our monthly spending on how much revenue we have, not spend first and then try to generate revenue to pay for our overspending.

The health care debate should serve as a wake-up call to Members of Congress on how not to approach future debates.

Dino Teppara is an attorney and serves as the Chairman of the Indian American Republican Council.

The Rise of Conservatives

News India-Times
March 12, 2010
By Dino Teppara, Esquire
Chairman – Indian American Republican Council

The Indian American Republican Council made history recently when it served as an official cosponsor of the 37^th annual Conservative Political Action Conference held in Washington, D.C.  It was the first time in CPAC’s history that an Indian American organization had cosponsored the event.  More than 10,000 people descended upon our nation’s capital, eager to show their renewed enthusiasm for the conservative movement.  I was honored to be the first Indian American to ever address CPAC, speaking to a live audience of more than 4,000 people in a nationally televised speech on illegal immigration.

What a difference one year makes!  A year ago, the center-right movement was deflated as our nation celebrated the historic election of President Barack Obama.  Democrats had increased their numbers in the U.S. Congress and now had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.  The mainstream media had written the obituary of conservatives and the future looked bleak.

Democrats found themselves in a similar situation in 2004.  Republicans had not only reelected President Bush, they increased the number of their Congressional members and held the majorities of Governorships and state legislatures.  There was talk of a permanent conservative realignment.  Yet, in the very next election cycle two years later, Democrats made dramatic gains across the country.  Republicans lost the House and shockingly lost the Senate.  Democrats needed a wave to take back Congress and they got it.  In all, Democrats won fifty congressional seats over four years and gained back their majorities in Governor’s Mansions and state legislatures.

But now the pendulum is swinging back in favor of conservatives.  Republicans have won 47 state legislative seats this cycle, including seats held by Democrats for decades.  Republicans won the mid-cycle Governor’s races in both New Jersey and Virginia, signaling the changing mood of the electorate.  Throw in the stunning win of Senator Scott Brown in one of the bluest states in the nation, and we are witnessing a political storm brewing that may dramatically change the political landscape heading into the Presidential election of 2012.

So what has changed?  For one, the very factor that helped elect Democrats in 2006 and 2008 is now benefiting Republicans: Independents.  While each Party has its own dedicated voters, there is a broad swath of voters unaffiliated with either Party that makes up the center of this country.

Upset by the Iraq war, congressional scandals and out-of-control spending, voters responded by turning over control of Congress to Democrats in 2006.  A similar phenomenon is occurring this cycle, as Independents are aligning themselves with Republican voters across the country.

This is indicated by election and polling results.  In Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell carried 28 counties that President Obama had carried just one year earlier.  McDonnell won 68% of Independents in 2009 while President Obama split them almost evenly with Senator McCain.  Governor McDonnell carried every region of the state, including the Washington, D.C. suburbs that President Obama handily carried in 2008.  In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie won solidly despite his opponent spending more than $100 million on the race.

Where did things change?  The new administration experienced a brief honeymoon period as Americans rallied behind their new President trying to turn around the economy.  But Democrats overreached by passing a massive $787 billion stimulus bill and then trying to force through an even bigger health care bill.  Last spring and summer, the American people began their revolt, holding jam-packed Town Hall meetings with their Members of Congress that had never been witnessed before and arranging Tea Party rallies.  The voters in 2006 became wary of one-Party control and are expressing their same concerns today.  Throw in nationwide anger about Wall Street and auto bailouts, record unemployment, cap-and-trade, partisanship and the lack of legislative transparency, and Democrats are now severely damaged in 2010.

This can be seen in the rising number of retirements of Congressional Democrats.  Republicans are poised to gain potentially eight Senate seats in Illinois, Delaware, Indiana, Colorado, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas.  There is an outside chance Republicans could win ten seats and take back the Senate.  Political Scientist Charlie Cook recently stated in an interview with National Journal that it was “very hard to come up with a scenario where Democrats don’t lose the House.”  The Cook Report lists 54 Democratic seats that could switch Parties, giving Republicans control of Congress for the first time in four years.  In the generic ballot, Democrats had a nine-point edge one year ago.  Now, Republicans lead by nine points, an 18-point swing in just twelve months.

President Obama’s approval rating declined faster than any other President in the last half-century.  Only 41% of Americans favor his health care plan compared to 56% who oppose it.  The President’s approval rating stands at 45% while his disapproval rating is 54%.  Combine the unpopularity of Congressional incumbents with a souring public, and Republicans may catch a political wave to put them back in power again.

If this happens, we may well see President Obama reelected again in 2012.  With Republicans in control of at least one chamber of Congress, the American people will feel that the appropriate checks and balances are in place to curb the executive branch.  Whatever happens this fall, the next few years will usher in a new political environment of divided government and sharpened ideologies, raising the political stakes on virtually every issue facing Congress.

The writer is an attorney and serves as Chairman of the Indian American Republican Council.

Health care reform and the Princess Bride

How they both came back to life after being “mostly dead”

In the classic romantic comedy “The Princess Bride,” the hero Westley is assumed dead after being tortured by one of evil Prince Humperdinck’s leading hit men.  He is later resurrected by Miracle Max, a magical healer played by actor Billy Crystal, who realizes that Westley was not completely dead, but only “mostly dead.”

Many conservatives thought that the health care reform legislation died upon the election of Scott Brown to the Senate.  But it turns out the bill was in fact only mostly dead.  The package has been magically revived with a new student loan bill attached to it, after being stuffed with kickbacks and abortion language that have absolutely no bearing to reforming our health care delivery system.  Meanwhile, provisions that address malpractice lawsuits and permanently fix the Medicare sustainable growth rate formula, which should be the primary focus of the bill, are absent.

Liberals have ignored the concerns average Americans have for the massive expansion of government in this legislation, and the concerns they have for the scope and cost of the bill.  The messy legislative process fuels suspicion that the bill may not be in their best interests.  Liberal leaders made the mistake of thinking that this debate was about those without health care insurance.  In fact, the debate was focused on whether those that are currently insured are willing to pay to cover the uninsured.  Since we are a country where the majority of Americans believe in self-reliance and do not believe in paying much of anything for other people, this was already a tough sell.  Throw in the fact that those with insurance may end up paying more for lower quality health care, and you end up with the result you see today, with liberal ideology clashing with our nation’s center-right values.

The critical mistake liberals made in the debate was violating an axiom I first heard from former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, when he stated in politics one should always under-promise and over-deliver.  Democrats did the exact opposite, over-promising and under-delivering.  Even worse, they laid down timelines for legislative action, a big no-no when dealing with Congress.  Democrats became overconfident that their large majorities could pass a bill before the August 2009 recess and were taken off guard by the town hall meetings and tea party rallies protesting both the bill and the secretive process surrounding it.

Instead of using the bill as a vehicle to promote core liberal beliefs, the President and congressional Democrats should have designed a bipartisan package focusing first on improving the delivery of our health care system.  By including a permanent fix to the SGR formula, Congress would demonstrate its commitment to Medicare to both physicians and seniors.  By including some lawsuit reform measures, Congress could reduce the practice of defensive medicine and save billions of dollars annually.  This would acknowledge the enormous cost and domino effect litigation has on physicians, hospitals and other health care providers.  Addressing the rise of insurance premiums on families and small businesses would still be a necessary part of the reform package.  But when you do the math, assuming an average monthly premium of $750 for 30 million currently uninsured people, you arrive at a price tag of less than $300 billion, not $1 trillion.  This legislation should simply not cost this much.  Add a permanent fix to the SGR formula of approximately $200 billion, and the entire bill should have cost less than $500 billion.  It could have been fully paid for without tax raises by reducing wasteful spending, inefficiencies and fraud, especially in Medicare, and reduce overall health care and insurance costs by virtually eliminating the practice of defensive medicine.

Instead of creating a cap for how much these key items would cost and providing a fully paid-for package that could pass with bipartisan support, Democrats created a liberal wish-list and then decided to figure out how to pay for it all later.  This meant primarily tax raises and Medicare cuts, neither palpable to the doctors and seniors who would bear most of the brunt of such revenue-generating provisions.

This type of spending is exactly opposite to how the American people handle their own finances.  They base their monthly spending on how much revenue they have, not spend first and then try to generate revenue to pay for that spending.

While the Princess Bride is a humor-filled Hollywood fantasy where the hero is brought back to life, the current health care reform bill is a nightmare that would be better of staying “mostly dead.”

Dino Teppara is an attorney and serves as the Chairman of the Indian American Conservative Council.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/16/health-care-reform-and-the-princess-bride/

Visit the Daily Caller here.

February Newsletter

Trivia question: Which conservative radio talk show host had a grandfather serve as special envoy to India in the 1950s?  The answer is at the end of our newsletter!

Past Events

February 2, Chicago: IARC-Illinois member Ashvin Lad ran for Congress in the fifth district of Illinois.  Mr. Lad was the Republican candidate endorsed by both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times and fell just short of winning the primary.  We congratulate him for running a positive race and wish him the very best should he decide to run for office again in the future.

February 3, nationwide: We hosted U.S. Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) for a nationwide conference call with our members.  Congressman Garrett discussed the President’s State of the Union address, pending legislation in the Financial Services Committee and spoke of the general outlook for Congress this year.

February 18 – 20, Washington, D.C.: We were an official cosponsor of this year’s CPAC, the largest in history, with more than 10,000 attendees.  IARC Chairman Dino Teppara spoke to a live audience of 4,000 people in a nationally televised speech opposing illegal immigration and supporting legal immigrants.  Watch the six-minute video here.

IARC Board Member Suhail Khan received the 2009 Young Conservatives Coalition’s (YCC) Buckley Award at CPAC, given to those exhibiting conservative leadership for grassroots activism.  The award is named after the founder of National Review, William F. Buckley, Jr.

February 18, Las Vegas:  IARC-Nevada Co-Chairman Swadeep Nigam helped co-host and organize a nonpartisan BBQ meet-and-greet for Brian Sandoval, candidate for Governor.

February 25, Washington, D.C.: We joined members of The Harbour League and Republican Jewish Coalition at the Embassy of India to view the HBO documentary entitled “Terror in Mumbai,” which detailed the November 26, 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai.  Nearly 100 attendees were hosted by Deputy Chief of Mission Ambassador Arun K. Singh.  Special remarks were made by Mr. Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate in the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Press Releases and Blogs

February 2 – IARC member Gautham Nagesh wrote a blog in the Daily Caller about the proposal in the President’s FY 2011 budget to reduce charitable tax deductions.

February 10 – IARC Board member Suhail Khan wrote a blog entitled “Trash the DC Bag Tax” in the Daily Caller about the new 5 cent bag tax in the District of Columbia.

February 22 – IARC Member Shayam Menon wrote a blog in the Daily Caller entitled “Demanding Education Freedom Now” about school vouchers.

February 25 – We issued a press release in defense of Marco Rubio, who was referred to in a derogatory manner by an MSNBC commentator on national television.

Trivia Answer: Rush Limbaugh’s grandfather, a prominent attorney, served as a State Department special envoy to India.  He was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to assist in establishing India’s judicial and legal system.

Liberal quote of the month: “A bill can be bipartisan without bipartisan votes.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

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