Gautam Dutta is Deputy Director of the Political Reform Program at the New America Foundation. In this capacity, he is an advocate for New America's signature reform proposals, including instant runoff voting, proportional voting, and redistricting reform. In his free time, Mr. Dutta serves as Executive Director of Asian American Action Fund, Publisher of the Asian American Action Fund Blog, and Board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (Southern California). A Yale and Georgetown-educated lawyer, Mr. Dutta has been Tax Counsel to California State Controller John Chiang, Enforcement Attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a commercial litigator at the Los Angeles firm of Buchalter Nemer, and law clerk to a federal judge in Washington DC. In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him to the position of Commissioner on the Los Angeles Industrial Development Authority, which he served in from 2006 to 2007. Mr. Dutta is fluent in Spanish, German, Hindi, and Bengali.

Blog Entries by Gautam Dutta

Kamala Harris & Asian Americans

Posted November 9, 2009 | 12:58 PM (EST)


Does California Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris care about reaching out to Asian Americans? Let's start with her campaign website:

In December 2003, Kamala Harris was elected as the first woman District Attorney in San Francisco's history, and as the first African American woman in California to hold the...
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A Hypocrite Bashes Immigrants

45 Comments | Posted October 30, 2009 | 07:02 PM (EST)


Remember David Vitter, the Louisiana pol who cavorted with prostitutes while proclaiming his strong family values? Well, it appears the Janus-faced Senator has returned to what he does best: bashing immigrants.

Vitter just introduced a bill that would ban millions of immigrants from being counted in the census....

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Howard Dean for HHS

Posted February 6, 2009 | 04:53 PM (EST)


Now that Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name, whom should President Obama pick for U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services? My vote is for Governor Howard Dean, MD.

The HHS Secretary faces a daunting goal: to get healthcare reform passed by year's end. Like Bill and Hillary Clinton,...

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Keep Him Honest

Posted December 1, 2008 | 01:24 PM (EST)


Over 15 million Asian Americans live in the US, and almost two-thirds of them voted for Obama. Yet only one Asian American leader is being seriously considered for his entire cabinet: Illinois Veteran Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

There are more than a few Asian Americans,...

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Marriage Equality: A Cup Half Full

Posted November 6, 2008 | 11:36 AM (EST)


In a shocking blow, Californians have voted to ban same-sex marriage: Proposition 8 has narrowly passed. How could voters nullify a courageous decision of the California Supreme Court, and leave thousands of married couples in legal limbo? Ironically, the answer may lie with Obama's victory.

As the Golden...

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John McCain: Citizen of the US?

Posted August 2, 2008 | 09:24 PM (EST)


Last week, the McCain campaign ridiculed Barack Obama for calling himself a "citizen of the world," during the latter's (extremely) well attended speech in Berlin.

Whatever your opinion of either candidate, McCain's broadside exposed two ironies. For starters, JFK used that very phrase nearly half a century...

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