OPINION:
This week, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains in the United States are gathered to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights that marks the victory of light over darkness. These primarily Indian American communities have made great contributions to our country and have strengthened it in innumerable ways, including serving as entrepreneurs, tech innovators and military service members.
But over the last two years, Indian American families find themselves working harder to put less food on the table and less gas in their tanks. The Democrat Party has taken the Indian American vote for granted and abandoned middle-class families. The record is clear: Joe Biden and the Democrats have failed the Indian American community on every issue. Worse, they don’t care.
Many Indians immigrated to this country to make a new life because America is the land of opportunity. But thanks to Joe Biden, the American Dream is getting further out of reach every day. Real wages have fallen every month since Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful $1.9 trillion “stimulus.” Their spending fueled historic inflation, and as a result, over the last year, the price of food has gone up 13%, electricity 16%, gasoline, 18%, rent, 7%, and health insurance 28%.
The cost of running a small business is only going up. Under Joe Biden, wholesale inflation has been above 5% year-over-year for
eighteen straight months. This acutely affects entrepreneurial Indian Americans who have founded companies worth over $430 billion in the United States, according to a 2021 study.
Over half of American motels are owned by Indian Americans, and Indian-owned businesses are bolstering our nation’s economy and building flourishing communities. But instead of focusing on solutions to inflation like cutting spending, Biden is hiring 87,000 new IRS agents who will be unleashed to audit Indian-owned small businesses.
Democrats are also forcing working Indian American families to fund handouts to the rich. Joe Biden’s student loan bailout helps the wealthy and would worsen economic inequality as nearly two-thirds of all student debt is owed by the top 40% of households. Democrats couldn’t care less about the Indian American parents who worked extra shifts, took a second job, or made sacrifices to pay for sending their children to school.
Democrats have abandoned the safety of Indian American families by repeatedly calling to defund the police, gutting bail policies, and downgrading crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Many of those criminals released committed other offenses. These radical policies are causing a violent crime wave in Democrat-run cities. In just the past few months in New York City, an elderly Sikh man was
violently punched in the face, an Indian American delivery driver was stabbed by a career criminal with more than 100 arrests on his record, and a Sikh man was shot execution-style while sitting in his car. A Queens-area Hindu temple was vandalized not once but twice in less than two weeks. Democrats must be held accountable for their soft-on-crime policies that allow lawlessness and endanger Indian American families.
The stakes of the upcoming midterms could not be higher, and the choice could not be clearer. Democrat policies have caused economic pain, historic inflation, and a nationwide crime wave. Meanwhile, Republicans will champion policies that will lead to economic prosperity and safe communities.
The GOP is invested in meeting Indian voters and hearing what matters to you. The Republican National Committee has opened five Asian-Pacific American community centers across the country, including one in Coppell, Texas specifically placed there to engage the growing Indian American community. We’ve launched a new outreach initiative out of this community center called the Republican Civics Initiative which is designed to help lawful permanent residents prepare for the civics portion of the naturalization test. These trainings
are ongoing for Indian American lawful permanent residents at the Coppell community center.
Across the country, there is a new light rising as Indian Americans are embracing commonsense, conservative policies amidst the darkness of Joe Biden and the Democrats’ failed agenda. America owes so much to the Indian American community. Now, Indian voters have the power to impact the future of this great country. The choice is clear: another term of radical Democrat rule or commonsense conservative leadership with Republicans. The GOP stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Indian American families. Restoring the American Dream begins with voting Republican on Election Day.
• Ronna McDaniel is the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
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