Is a bloc vote legal?

(1) "Is 80-20's advocacy of a bloc vote legal?" Absolutely!

80-20 not only advocates but also executes a bloc vote. Indeed, it informs, with pride, the elected officials that it can deliver a bloc vote.

(2) "Is a bloc vote too extreme?" Not at all!

Almost all Americans cast a bloc vote, although people cast their bloc votes for different reasons. See the following table which is shown in CNN's Exit Poll website , under "Vote by Party ID": http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#USP00p1.

                       Obama McCain Others
Democrats (39%)   89%   10%   1%
Republicans (32%)  9%   90%   1%
Independents (29%) 52%  44%  4%

Other types of bloc votes are a) blacks favored Obama by 95/4, and b) "conservatives" favored McCain by 78/20.

(3) "Are Asian Ams calling too much attention to ourselves, in boasting our success in organizing a bloc vote?" No!

In America, the more attention you get about your ability to influence the outcome of elections, the better it is.

(4) "Does a bloc vote work against democracy?" No. A bloc vote protects democracy!

David Broder, Dean of America's political columnists, describes a bloc vote as "one of the unnoticed glories of American life," Why? Because a bloc vote gives a small minority the power to get politicians' attention to their rightful concerns. Otherwise, when push comes to shove, Asian Ams' interests will be sacrificed first, as was the case prior to 80-20's existence.

Evidence? See Chart 1 of the picture.

Want to know 80-20's value to YOU? See the second picture here. [NOTE: If you can't see the pictures, it is because you've selected an email option of "text only." Undo that preference, the pictures will appear.]

(5) Does the above OPEN YOUR EYES to the reality of American politics? If so, join 80-20. 80-20 serves you in a unique & extremely significant way.

Using a credit card, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net. Click on the red button "JOIN 80-20." Or send you check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110.
Dues of NEW members are matched up to $3,500. THANK YOU.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. Woo
Acting Executive Director (a volunteer), 80-20 PAC, Inc.

Sotomayor & Identity Politics

Asian Ams often ask, "Is 'identity politics' necessary?"

Take a look at Chart 1 in 80-20's Washington Post full-page ad. Please see how Asian Ams' bars (at the extreme left) are shorter than those of all others? That means whether we practice "identity politics" or not, others saw a racial identity in us and discriminate against us.

Next, take a look at Pres. Obama's commitment to YOU through 80-20. It shows that when we practiced GROUP politics and spoke up as a GROUP for our rights, our grievances got addressed.

Another way to understand America's political reality is this. Ask yourself, "Will Judge Sotomayor be nominated as a Supreme Court Justice, much less confirmed, if it weren't for the Hispanic bloc vote?" Today, her confirmation is a certainty.

Is the answer to the necessity of "group politics" therefore obvious?!

Next, one may ask if "identity politics" is desirable? NO. Once equal citizenship is achieved, "identity politics" is neither necessary nor desirable.

Sadly, however, the days of a small minority like us, or the Arab Americans, to not suffer from the biases of the majority is still far far away, unless we nurture our GROUP political clout. Look at those very short bars describing the career destiny of Asian Ams., in Chart 1, again! Read Pres. Obama's commitment to YOU, shown in the last picture, again!

The "coolies" of the 19th century were not sufficiently educated to fight for their rights. Are we still in that stage? Fortunately not. 80-20 has achieved another record month in membership!

Using a credit card to join 80-20, go http://www.80-20initiative.net and click on the red button "JOIN 80-20." Or send a check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Dues from NEW members are matched up to $3,500. Thank you.

S. B. Woo (a volunteer)
Acting Executive Director, 80-20 PAC, Inc.

Concerned? Yes!

Should Our Community Be Concerned?

A glance at the table below will reveal:

In 1988, the paucity of Asian Am federal judges was already pitiful. We represented 2.73% of nation's population but only 0.67% of the 749 Article III federal judges. Only 4 District & 1 Appeals Court federal judges were Asian Ams.

18 years later, in 2006, our population % almost doubled to 4.91%; our nation's Article III judges has increased by 115; our % of lawyers has increased greatly, yet, still ONLY 6 life-tenured judges were Asian Ams, NONE at the Appeals court level!

That was an astounding regression. Just the increase in population & the increase in federal judges from 749 to 864 should have gotten us 10 such judges. It was sad in 1988, but 18 years later, the situation got sadder! If the proportion of such judges reflects the population ratio, there would be 42 such Asian Am. judges in 2006, not that 80-20 is arguing for a quota system. However, having only 6 Asian Am federal judges among the 846 in year 2006 was outrageous. Who is minding the store?

That was when 80-20 held a press conference to announce its goal to remedy the situation, in the presence of 4 of the 6 Asian Am. federal judges. Since then we greatly publicized our "legal eagles" and the paucity of Asian Am federal judges. In addition, 80-20 sent a questionnaire to all presidential candidates and obtained iron-clad commitments from 9 of the 11 for a dramatic increase of Asian Am federal judges, in numbers and in ranks, including those of President Obama and V.P. Biden.

NOTE: NAPABA stands for The National Asian Pacific American Bar Assoc.
** (1) - the number in red represents the number of Court of Appeals judges
References:
* http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/2008-nat-res.html
* http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1990s/nat-srh.txt
* http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1980s/80s_nat_detail.html

80-20 Deeply Regrets

that its quiet and repeated efforts since 2005 to engage NAPABA to work together has failed. NAPABA's expertise in the legal profession and 80-20's political know-how should make a good combination serving our community. Without that combination, 80-20 finally & reluctantly decided to invite public scrutiny of the table shown above to get 80-20 and perhaps its sister Asian Am. orgs. to be on our toes.

Invitation to Community to Scrutinize 80-20's Behavior

Many minority organizations, be they black, Hispanic, and Asian Am, limited by the glass ceiling, tend to perceive a "zero sum world" and engage in bitter turf fights. Is 80-20 behaving that way? We invite our community to be our boss. Let us know when we display a "king of the hill" attitude, or "big fish in a small pond" mentality, or are fierce in turf fights with Asian Am orgs but timid in fighting for our community's rightful shares in our great nation. Such behavior is demeaning to the noble purpose of any org. The community should remind us to stop.

NAPABA's Reply to 80-20 of July 7, 2009

It that letter, NAPABA deems 80-20's proposal to NAPABA and its faith in President Obama's signed, single-word-commitments (6 yeses to six questions) as politically naïve; impugns 80-20's motives; and said a number of other things. NAPABA wants 80-20 to publicize that letter. The request is hereby honored, since we respect NAPABA though we urge it to act with more gusto. Visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/action/napaba_070709.asp to read that letter.

Get The Job Done!

Whether it will be two orgs working together,or 80-20 & NAPABA acting independently for the shared goal, we must get the job done -- more Asian Am. Federal District and Appeals judges. America & our community benefit.

Forward this e-newsletter to your Asian Am. lawyer friends.

To join 80-20, go http://www.80-20initiative.net. Click on the red button "JOIN 80-20." Or send you check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Dues of NEW members are matched up to $3,500. THANK YOU.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. Woo
Acting Executive Director (a volunteer), 80-20 PAC, Inc.

Speak up, Asian Am. Lawyers

Paucity of Asian Am. Federal Judges

According to the 2000 census, 2.3% of nation's lawyers are Asian Ams, 4% blacks, and 2.9% Hispanics. That was 9 years ago, by now the guesstimate is that there are about equal %s of Asian/black/Hispanic lawyers, while the general population ratio is about 1/3/3.

However, there is a huge difference in the %s of federal judges -1% Asian Ams, 10.7% African-Ams, & 6.5% Hispanics . All Asian Am judges are at the lowest federal Court level (District), not a single one at the Appeals Court level, not to mention the Supreme court level. Why is our portion so small and rank so low, not that the other minorities' portions are too large or too high?

Why? Why? Why?

Could it be that Asian Am lawyers are NOT interested in becoming federal judges? NO. 80-20 started an Asian Am. Judicial Talent Bank this year for ones interested in federal judgeships. Many very qualified Asian American jurists poured in to join. So "no interest" is a myth!

Then again: Why so few & none in the higher ranks?

Lack of Group Clout Hurting Asian Am. Lawyers

Asian Am. lawyers told me that the paucity of Asian Am. judges has hurt their business and personal pride. When I asked, "how so?" a composite answer is as follows:

"The American public looks for lawyers who are capable of securing a client's equal opportunity and/or rights. If the public knows that we, the Asian American lawyers as a group, can't even secure our own equal opportunity to be federal judges,will they still seek us out to represent them?"

"What makes it hurt so much is that many of us went to nation's first-tier law schools; plenty of us graduated Summa Cum Laude or were editors of law reviews. The public probably will not doubt our book knowledge. But how do our potential client view our willingness to fight injustice and our effectiveness, if we don't even fight injustice against ourselves successfully? Why do you think many Americans prefer Jewish lawyers? Our group image hurts my business & pride."

80-20 likes to help remedy the sad & humiliating situation quickly. That is why it worked so hard to get Pres. Obama's iron-clad commitment to appoint more Asian Am district and Appeals Court judges. See Q4 to Q6 in the picture.

Speak Up & Act, Asian Am Lawyers

Besides speaking up, you can also support NAPABA (Nat'l Asian Pacific Am. Bar Assoc.) which has existed for 20 years. You may also urge it to represent you with more gusto, if warranted.

80-20 has proposed to work with NAPABA to remedy this sad situation many times, before and after Pres. Obama's reply to our questionnaire. The combined force will have more clout. NAPABA can be the leader, 80-20 offered.

A few months ago, Pres. Obama asked the senior senators of his party 
to nominate 3 names for each of the about 50 vacancies in federal District judgeship that covers 
the senator's state. 80-20 had proposed to NAPABA to jointly urge these 
senators to nominate qualified Asian Am lawyers.

Weeks passed, NAPABA has not agreed, while many senators have already submitted their lists of nominees. Consequently, with apologies to NAPABA, 80-20 will reluctantly send letters on its own for now, but still welcomes NAPABA to join us later.

Forward this e-newsletter to your Asian Am. 
lawyer friends. TOGETHER, we shall overcome -- a point that is not yet understood by enough Asian Ams.

To join 80-20, go http://www.80-20initiative.net and click on the red button "JOIN 80-20." Or send a check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110. The dues of NEW member is matched up to $3,500.

Respectfully yours,

S. B. Woo
Acting Exec. Director (a volunteer), 80-20 PAC, Inc.

July 4th & Naturalization

Miscellaneous Good news

1) Celebrate July 4th with a flag! Display one in your house/shop. What does becoming a US citizen mean? It means that one owes his/her primary allegiance to the USA. It doesn't mean one needs to stop caring for the people of his/her old country. One may of course continue to be proud of one's own heritage.

2) Thanks to you, for two consecutive months 80-20 has set the historic best record for membership. Thanks to you, our current number of members has already exceeded rosters for the ENTIRE year of 2007 or 2008. 80-20 is most grateful for YOUR expression of confidence in 80-20.

Ever wonder how 80-20 has spent your dues???? Go http://www.80-20initiative.net ; pull down "About Us," and click on "Meeting Documents." Then, click on Physical Meetings' dockets/minutes of each year from 2003 on. Our revenues, expenditures & Board decisions are there for the whole world to examine. 80-20 prides itself for its transparency. Even minutes of our Executive Comm. meetings were posted.

3) Professor Chenming Hu, an 80-20 PAC Board Member, and the TSMC Distinguished Professor of Microelectronics at the University of California, Berkeley, was honored by the IEEE on 6/24 in Los Angeles. In an IEEE press release, Hu was lauded as a "Microelectronics Visionary."

He was awarded the 2009 IEEE Jun-Ichi Nishizawa Medal. His con-tributions include greatly increasing the reliability of MOS devices and a promising field-effect transistor (FET) called the "FinFET."

Professor and Mrs. Hu are Honorary Family Life Members of 80-20.

4) Yuko Nakanishi, an 80-20 PAC Board Member, and VP of Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) recently represented her chapter to accept the Best State Chapter Award given by ITS America.

5) A nice Chinese poem, dedicated to 80-20, is shown below for those who read Chinese to enjoy. Thank you: Gary Tang, LEED AP. ☺ Short peoms in other languages are welcome.

To double our political clout, 80-20 needs twice the membership. Have you done your share for your children? If not, visit http://www.80-20initiative.net, click on the red button "JOIN 80-20" at the lower right corner of the page. Or send a check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110. The dues of NEW members will be matched up to $3,500.