2 HAPPY News Items

The building of a community's political muscle in order to protect itself from exploitation has 2 stages. 1) Building the muscle, and 2) having the muscle recognized by the general public. Thanks to you, the second stage has arrived. See the 2 happy articles below, all within 1 month:

1) 8/13/09 article: Latino and Asian Clout in the Voting Booth
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-13-2009/0005077137&EDATE=

"Census Bureau data released late last month confirms . . . . In six of the nine states that went from "red" to "blue" in the election (Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Carolina), the number of Latino and Asian voters significantly exceeded Barack Obama's margin of victory over John McCain."

2) 8/17 article: Asian American Community Flexes Political Muscle in Fight for Immigration Reform 
by Seth Hoy
http://immigrationimpact.com/2009/08/17/asian-american-community-flexes-political-muscle-in-fight-for-immigration-reform

"In North Carolina, which went from “red” to “blue” in 2008, the number of Asian Voters was three times greater than President Obama's margin."

To appreciate the true significance of the above 2 articles, answer the 2 questions below please:
o If our votes had been split 50/50, will we still be recognized as having the political muscle ???
o Which Asian Am organization advocated and led our community's bloc votes ?

Join 80-20. It'll be the best investment for yourself and your children. Visit http://www.80-20initiative.net/membership/payment.asp. Or send a check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110. The dues of NEW members are matched up to $3,500.

Hundreds of YOU sent life blood - e-mail addresses - to 80-20. THANK YOU. THANK YOU!

Respectfully,

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

80-20's Life

THREE vital factors enable 80-20 to serve you effectively:

1) A huge email list (Unfortunately, decreasing in size! ),
2) About 2,000 members (May set a record high this yr. More later)
3) The quality and dedication of its Board (The best in 80-20's history)

Just when we need to inform more and more Asian Ams. about a final push to become equal citizens, our email list has become smaller and smaller -- a decrease of 10 to 15% each year in the last few years, owing to a combination of e-addresses becoming obsolete and laws prohibiting traditional ways to find new e-addresses.

Obviously, we need to, TOGETHER, boost the size of the e-mail list -- a cyberspace organization's life !

We, the undersigned members of the Board, jointly appeal to you to help RECOVER & ENLARGE our email list. YOU can help in two ways:

a) E-mail the following info. about 80-20 to Asian Ams who care about the future of our community, while copying in 80-20 via AsianAmericanUnity@80-20.us. Modify the suggested version, as you see fit.

"80-20 is a national, Pan-Asian, non-partisan political organization that is very effective in serving our community's needs. Please consider receiving its e-newsletters. I've known this org. for years. I highly recommend it. Upon receiving 80-20's e-newsletters, if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe easily. 80-20 does not abuse its email list.

Your friend,
(yyyyy -- your name)"

b) Just email us your friends' e-mail addresses. 80-20 shall invite the owners of those e-addresses to get on our e-mail list.

If you value 80-20's services to our community, then please help feed us our life - email addresses. Do step a) or b) NOW!

A little gusture from you will help win equal citizenship for 14 million Asian Americans, including you and your offspring.

Sincerely yours (titles are for identification purposes only),

Fel Amistad, San Mateo County Commissioner; Analyst (Finance)
Dr. Beverly Hong-Fincher, Linguistics; currently teaching at the Univ. of the District of Columbia
Dr. Laura Hsu, retired university administrator
Dr. Chenming Hu, Distinguished Chair Professor, Univ. of CA, Berkeley; US National Academy of Engineering; Chinese Academy of sciences; Academia Sinica
Dr. Alice Huang, President-elect, Am. Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, retired professor, Harvard Medical School, retired Dean, NYU, Univ.; Administrator, Caltech
Frank Lee, former President, Organization for Justice and Equality
Dr. Edward Lin, CEO, Ingenious Technologies Corp, Co-Founder, Gulfcoast Chinese Am. Assoc.
Dr. Yuko Nakanishi, MBA, Principal & President, Nakanishi Research & Consulting, LLC.
Linden Nishinaga, Calif. licensed professional engineer & Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design Accredited Professional
Dr. Roy Saigo, Two university presidencies (Auburn Univ. & St. Cloud St. Univ)
Dr. Kim Song, Assoc. Prof., Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis
Lena Tam, Vice Mayor, Alameda, CA; MPA, licensed Engineer
Kathleen To, Honorary Texas Commercial Attache (1991-93); President & CEO, KATO Foundation
Joel Wong, President, APAPA-Bay Area Chapter
Hon. S.B. Woo, Lt. Governor of Delaware (85-89), retired Physics prof., U. of Del.
Dr. David Yang, Associate Political Scientist, Rand Corporation
Jing-Li Yu, 3rd yr. law student, Univ. of Chicago; Operation Director, 80-20 (05 -06)
Charles Zhang, President and Managing Partner, Zhang Financial, the only advisor in the nation selected as a top advisor by BOTH Worth Magazine and Barron’s each year from 2004-2007.

PS WHENEVER you receive emails with many e-addresses apparently belonging to Asian Ams., please forward it to sbw@udel.edu. Make it a habit please. :)

CALL TO ACTION

YOU responded in the past, when the challenges were stiff. YOU courageously faxed then presidential candidates, Senators Clinton and Obama, urging them to share our concerns about equal opportunity in workplaces and having more Asian Am. federal judges.

Because of YOU, our political leaders shared our concerns. Just this year, Pres. Obama nominated 3 more Asian Am. District Court judges. More are on their ways including Appeals Court judges, we like to think.

Now, there is a pleasurable job for you. Please fax or call Senators Feinstein and Boxer of California for placing the names of those 3 Asian Am candidates in their lists as potential District judges, submitted to Pres. Obama.

Please keep your message short. Do include your name, city, state, & perhaps title. Copy me in, if you like. Please do it today.

Senator Diane Feinstein:
Fax: (415) 393-0710 ; Phone: (415) 393-0707
Senator Barbara Boxer:
Fax: (202) 228-3864 ; Phone: (559) 497-5109

Along this line, on 8/4, 80-20 faxed all Senior Democratic Senator urging them to "search and place qualified Asian Am. jurists in your state on your short lists of 3, to be submitted to Pres. Obama," when the next vacancy in District judges occur. 80-20's 18 Board Members have followed up and placed personal phone calls with the senate offices. We got very positive responses from many senators, including Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Sen. Arlen Specter PA, & Sen. Dick Durbin of IL who announced on 8/6 recommending Edmond Chang, among others, to Pres. Obama.

Why is 80-20 lobbying the senators? See Sen. Durbin's action. Note that the President normally selects from the list of 3 names submitted to him by a Senior Senator of his party, so far as District Judges are concerned. The President exercises a larger degree of selection when it comes to Appeals Court Judges and the Supreme Court justices.

Forward this message to your friends in California. Urge them to send a "thank you" too. If you copy your forwarding emails to 80-20, we will make sure that your friends receive future 80-20 newsletters like this one.

TO THANK our political leaders is as important as urging them to share our concerns which YOU have done so admirably. Do it now!

Respectfully,

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

Feedback from YOU, the readers

Many readers commented on the news. They congratulated 80-20 for having helped cause the increase of Asian Am. federal judges from 6 to 11 in its 4 years -- adding 3 just this year. We again thank Pres. Obama, Sen. Feinstein and Sen. Boxer of Calif. Some of readers' feedbacks are shared with you below. None of emails were solicited.

(1) I really appreciate all your work and dedication to make history, one after another, for us Asians. Two days ago, I visited Angel Island, as part of the OCA Annual Convention activities. The bitter stories of Asians' immigration made the progress 80-20 has achieved seems like reaching the moon. I know our struggles are not over yet. Thank God we have committed and courageous leaders like you to carry on the torches. . . . . Marisa Chuang Ming

(2) Congratulation! for your exclusively calculated organizing strategy it's beginning to bear fruits. Ed Ma

(3) Congratulations on your tremendous advocacy and persistence! This is fantastic news. Ted Lieu, California State Assemblyman, Chair of the California API Legislative Caucus, & a candidate for California's Attorney General

(4) Thank you for the great news. How do members of 80-20PAC email Feinstein for the nomination and Obama for making good on his promise? . . . . .LeLeng Issac

(Comment: In response, 80-20 provided Leleng with Sen. Feinstein's fax number. Indeed, partially owing to this reader's comment, 80-20 will soon ask the entire Asian Am. community to express our thanks to both Sen. Feinstein and Sen. Boxer, who has played a role in the appointment of one of the 3 additional judges.)

(5) Thanks for your efforts. Job is well done. W. T. Sha

(6) I am grateful to your work. As a member, I will continue to try my best to support your efforts. Sherman

(7) Grrrreat work!! Thanks for your amazing fore-sight, leadership, and efforts. Astrid

(8) I certainly appreciate the efforts of 80-20. . . Thanks for your efforts, Gene

(9) Thank you very much for your message and for your outstanding work. William

(10) Great Job! I hope you will do the same thing for New Jersey governor election as you did for Obama. Helen

(Comment: 80-20's NW Ohio chapter indeed sent a questionnaire to all mayoral candidates of Toledo and received positive and speedy responses. An 80-20 chapter is the best way to achieve political impact in your own locality. For more information, write Helen Wang, 80-20 Special Assistant helen.wang@80-20initiative.net.)

We like to urge our supporters to remember that "Success has a thousand fathers." We encourage them to spread the credit around -- the only way to forge the grand unity of the Asian Am. community. Unity is much more important than which organization deserves the credit. UNITY 2d9 is OUR quickest path to EQUAL CITIZENSHIP.

Join 80-20. This will be the best investment you've ever made. Can you afford $35/$50 per year for your children's equal citizenship? 80-20 is the ONLY Asian Am. NGO working for you on the political front. You've seen how hard we've worked and how effective we have been. Visit http://www.80-20initiative.net. We need NEW members, that probably means YOU. Thank you.

Respectfully yours,

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

EXTRA! Great News

Extra! Extra! Great news.

Pres. Obama has just nominated 2 more Asian Am. Federal District Judges, totaling 3 just this year. The new nominees are Edward Chen of Northern CA, and Dolly Gee of Central CA.

The significance of the news is NOT just in having 2 more Asian Am. federal judges. It is the worth of Pres. Obama's promises to YOU through 80-20! (see his reply to 80-20's questionnaire.) We thank Pres. Obama again. We also thank Sen. Feinstein, who as the Senior Democratic Senator of CA, submitted the names to Pres. Obama.

Look at the Table below. Witness the effectiveness of 80-20. "NAPABA," seen in row 2 of the Table, stands for National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

When 80-20 sets out to increase the number of Asian Am. judges, there were only 6. See the 4th row form the bottom of the Table. Now the number has increased 83% to 11. The number [8 + (0)] in the last row, should now be changed to [11 + (0)]. 80-20 also has a feeling that the (0), meaning having NOT a single Asian Am. Appeals Court judge, will soon change also.

80-20 fought for YOU, and won commitments for YOU. The commitments are now being fulfilled by Pres. Obama.

If not now, when will you join 80-20 as a dues-paying member? Using a credit card, go http://www.80-20initiative.net. Or send a check to 80-20 PAC, PO Box 22509, Philadelphia, PA 19110 . We need NEW members -- YOU!

We need your help to get us a RECORD membership, because one important commitment by Pres. Obama is yet to be fulfilled -- the enforcement of E.O. 11246 in workplaces for ALL ASIAN AMERICANS. We aim to win for YOU "equal pay for equal work," and equal opportunity to rise to as high a level as your ability and ambition will take you! YOU need to help 80-20 achieve that.

The fulfillment of that promise POSITIVELY impacts ALL Asian Americans.

"Success has a thousand fathers." We gratefully thank all Asian Am. orgs. which have worked on this issue, including NAPABA and AAJC.

Respectfully,

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

Pres. Obama's promise

YOU've seen the following table 2 weeks ago. Now a breakthrough!
.
Soon, the [8 +(0)] in column 2 above will be [9 + (0)] i.e. 9 Asian Am. federal District judges! Pres. Obama has delivered the first of many Asian Am federal judges that he has promised to YOU through 80-20. We thank Pres. Obama.

Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, currently a Superior Court Judge for the County of Los Angeles, has been nominated by Pres. Obama to be a US District Judge for the Central district of CA. She is yet to be confirmed, though 80-20 does not anticipate difficulty.

Whose credit is this? "Success has a thousand fathers." If the Asian American community is to unite, all community leaders need to have the capacity to positively affirm the contribution of many other Asian Am. orgs. in almost every success that comes our way. 80-20 wants to thank all Asian Am orgs, including NAPABA, which have worked on the issue of the paucity of Asian Am.federal judges. Let's work together to maximize benefits for our community.

A Congressperson Is An 80-20 Member

80-20 now has a Congressperson as one of its dues-paying members, thanks to YOU who helped Judy Chu win her election. Don't be too elated, however. In comparison, The American Israel public Affairs Comm. (AIPAC) has about 50% of the senators and representatives as its members.

Another Historic Membership Month

In July, 80-20 has another month of highest membership in its history.

Do your share to help your own destiny

Join 80-20. This will be the best investment you've ever made. Can you afford $35/$50 per year for your children's equal citizenship? 80-20 is the ONLY Asian Am. NGO working for you on the political front. You've seen how hard we've worked and how effective we have been. Visit http://www.80-20initiative.net. We need NEW members, that probably means YOU. Thank you.

A movie scene satirizes our opponents

A scene in the movie "The American President" succinctly describes the attitude of some politicians who oppose or want to forget 80-20's push to have Executive Order 11246 enforced for Asian Americans.

Here is that scene, if I recall correctly:

In a White House Christmas Party, a fat lobbyist walked up to the President (a liberal).

He asked, "Have you heard of Title IX*?'
"Yes, what about?" asked the President.
"It's about woman having equal rights to play basketball, volleyball, football and all that other stuff in education programs."
"That law was passed years ago," the President commented.
"Yeah, but now they want it enforced!" exclaimed the lobbyist.

I laughed and cried at that scene. Fellow Asian Americans: Please bear in mind that EO 11246 issued in 1965 is NOT YET enforced for us, otherwise the bars for Asian Ams will not be so much shorter in Chart 1 in the picture. Although its enforcement has been promised (see the picture), we are still waiting for its enforcement.

Are you indignant that the law is, even today, not yet enforced for some American citizens -- Asian Americans? Are you doing anything about it? The least you can do is to join 80-20 to help us push for the enforcement of EO11246. Go http://www.80-20initiative.net . However, 80-20 wishes that you'll do much more. Voice your indignation to your elected officials. Ask them why the bars for Asian Ams are so short in spite of our highest educational attainment as shown in Chart 2?

Respectfully,

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

* Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that men and women should enjoy equal opportunity in education whether it is math or science or athletic programs.