Indian-American Neera Tanden makes fervent pitch for Hillary

For presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, politics is all about fighting for people, not when the cameras are on, but when they are off, Indian-American Neera Tanden said today in her political debut at the national stage of the Democratic party.
So far, Tanden, 45, is the only Indian-American to have been invited by the Democratic leadership and the Clinton Campaign to address the ongoing Democratic National Convention.
Tanden, who is currently president of the Center for American Progress, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization based in Washington DC, narrated her personal story to make a strong case for Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States.

"It's truly an honor for me to address this convention. Because frankly, I would not be here without the policies of the democratic party," said Tanden, a close confidant of Clinton.
"My parents got divorced when I was five years old. My father left for a time, and my mother had to be on welfare. She worked hard to support me and my brother...We used lunch of vouchers at school and food stamps at the supermarket.
"After we moved out of our house, a federal subsidy let us to get an apartment and stay in a town with good public schools," she said recollecting her childhood days.

"It wasn't easy, but we eventually got back on our feet because of the investment democrats have made in struggling families like mine," she said amidst applause from the audience that had several thousand Democratic party delegates and party leaders in attendance.

Tanden, who is speculated as a potential cabinet appointee in Hillary's administration, said she knows firsthand that the decisions leaders make, makes all the difference in people's lives.
Pillalamarri said she was uncertain of what her rights
were when the officers stopped her.
"Police are training in dealing with people when they stop them on the street, but ordinary people are not necessarily training in interacting with the police," she said to the commissioners. "I did not know when I was stopped whether I had the right to remain silent, whether I was being legally detained or what information I was required to give."

Pillalamarri has since met with Moore, as well as Town Administrator Jesse Bane, who was formerly county sheriff and a career police officer, about the incident.
Moore said at the town meeting the police department could hold an open forum with the community.
"The community needs to be aware of what police are doing. They have to investigate fully," he said. "And on the officer's part, there has to be sensitivity, so it doesn't escalate to the point of being wrong, of things being said they way they're said.