May 19, 2013

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Low & Lower, Dumb & Dumber

April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Ben Carson CPAC

As I cheered Ben Carson‘s implosion, I highlight the difference between merely dabbling in politics & being a credible political leader.

I work & live outside the political industry & sphere so I spectate the idiocy of political media which must never pass as alleged rhetoric much less political dialog. Talking points, soundbytes & other oversimplified regurgitated media cruft is far far below what our government professionals should ever do as their day job. Carson’s taking the low road continues the downward level of public discourse & political dialog, terms too flattering for the lost art.

I’ve been tempted for months to write about how politics is not just abused by others as justification for their personal flaws, a favorite topic of mine in posts past, but how now they don’t even need to hide their outright racism. Why should this Jesus-wanna-be hide his hate of LGBT people? He felt it publicly ok to spew hate speech (which is messed up as it’s no longer a crime thanks to the same perversion of the First Amendment that they did for the Second Amendment), but as societies liberalize over time, the extreme polarization will grow. Where will it end? Comment.

Thanks for listening to my day’s rant. Write for our blogathon or for this blog if you’ve got an opinion.

Filed Under: Education, Republican Party, Running for Office

For Rent: Cooking with Curry Not Allowed

April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: Welcome K.J. Bagchi to our blogteam! Read his excellent & informative first post “Fisher v. Texas: Exposing a Divided Community” yesterday.

STONEBRIDGE AT BEAR CREEK

Apparently not everyone is a fan of the smell of curry. The Department of Justice has filed suit against a property owner in Texas who is accused of violating the Fair Housing Act by denying housing opportunities to people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent because she found their odor offensive. According to the suit, the property owner gave instructions to her leasing offices to deny leases to South Asians for many reasons, one of which was the claim that they “left the walls smelling of curry after they moved out…”.

Filed Under: K.J. Bagchi, Social Justice, Texas

Fisher v. Texas: Exposing a Divided Community

April 9, 2013 By 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: Welcome K.J. Bagchi to our blogteam! K.J. Bagchi is currently a Legislative Counsel at the Council of the District of Columbia. He’s been active in the South Asian community during since his undergraduate years at UC Davis where was a writer for a campus-based South Asian focused publication, Awaaz, and during law school at the Seattle University School of Law where he was a board member of the South Asian Law Student Association. He looks forward to writing about issues that effect our community with an emphasis on younger generations in the APA community.

Students UCLA, Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.

On October 10, 2012, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in Fisher v. Texas, a case that could be critical to determining what role race will play in the admissions policies of public universities. The case came before the Court after two white college applicants were denied admission to the University of Texas at Austin. The women contend that their race played a factor in the denial because of UT’s admissions policy of considering race as one of many factors in determining who is admitted.

Many national groups whose focus includes representing the best interests of certain racial minority groups or racial minority groups in general submitted amicus briefs in support of UT’s affirmative action policy. These groups included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Organization for Mexican American Rights, Inc., Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, and Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). However, among the organizations that submitted briefs arguing for an end to UT’s affirmative action admissions policies, only one organization was founded specifically to protect and promote the civil rights of an ethnic minority group. That organization was the Asian American Legal Foundation (AALF).

Reading through the briefs on both sides of the case from the organizations representing the interests of the Asian Pacific American community, the distinct illustrations each side draws about the effects of abolishing affirmative action in admissions policies is unambiguously clear. Interestingly enough, the brunt of the arguments from each side do not focus on the effects of affirmative action on society in general, but specifically on the APA community itself. While AALF argues that affirmative action policies disadvantage APA applicants in the long-run and points to data to cement their point, AALDEF retorts AALF‘s claims directly by stating that UT’s individualized review allows for the consideration of many other indicators of a disadvantaged background that benefit subgroups that are frequently hidden by the aggregation of data into a single “Asian” category. AALDEF also cites supportive statistics.

Some have argued that diversity of thought within any group indicates growth. The fact that arguments on racial policies will no longer circulate only around considering the effects on white versus non-white populations shows that the APA community is beginning to change how policy effects on a populous will be analyzed. In due time, nine justices on the high court will determine which APA organization’s arguments contain more persuasive substance, ultimately effecting APA public university applicants all around the country.

— K.J. Bagchi

Filed Under: Education, Immigration, K.J. Bagchi, Texas

Rep. Takano Statement on FAA Delaying Tower Closures

April 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: The below is a follow-up of “Rep. Takano Sends Letter to FAA Administrator To Keep Riverside Air Traffic Control Tower Open and Operating” from our 2012 endorsed candidate Mark Takano (CA-41).

Congressman Mark Takano

For Immediate Release
Friday, April 5, 2013
Contact: Brett Morrow
brett.morrow@mail.house.gov; (202) 225-2305

Rep. Takano Statement on FAA Delaying Tower Closures

Washington DC – Earlier today, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) released the following statement regarding the FAA’s decision to delay tower closures until June 15:

“Today’s decision by the Federal Aviation Administration to delay the closure of all 149 federal contract air traffic control towers, including the Riverside Air Traffic Control Tower until June 15 to review risk mitigations, is a step in the right direction.

“The risks of closing Riverside Air Traffic Control Tower are clear, as it is critical to air safety in Riverside County. The Riverside area conducts nearly 80,000 flying operations each year and has four active flight schools. Additionally, the Riverside Airport is only 12 miles away from March Air Reserve Base, which is home to multiple flying missions and aircraft. At the same time, several arrival routes into Los Angeles International Airport fly over Riverside.

“The close proximity of military air operations, flight training activities, and commercial flights increases the likelihood that air space will be shared and poses a serious safety hazard.

“My hope is that by June 15, the FAA will reconsider closing the Riverside Air Traffic Control Tower and determine the risk too great to our community.”

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Filed Under: APA Officeholders, Economy Tagged With:

New Polling in CA-17 shows Congressman Mike Honda with commanding lead over possible challengers

March 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: The below is a re-posting of “” from
New Polling in CA-17 Shows Congressman Mike Honda with Commanding Lead over Possible Challengers” from our friends at Mike Honda for Congress. Mike is an AAA-Fund Honorary Board member and a 2012 AAA-Fund Endorsed Candidate. Read more about that race in the recent article Silicon Valley Congressional battle takes shape: Ro Khanna to challenge Mike Honda, using Obama campaign operatives” and this post’ poll at today’s article “Mike Honda’s Full-Bore Campaign Rolls On” and “Mike Honda’s poll shows few know Ro Khanna” (ith the poll source) and a HuffPo summary “Ro Khanna Announces Congress Challenge To Rep. Mike Honda“.

Mike Honda for Congress

New Polling in CA-17 shows Congressman Mike Honda with commanding lead over possible challengers

A solid base of support holds against possible Democratic and GOP candidates

Silicon Valley, CA – Today, the Honda for Congress campaign released a poll that shows Congressman Mike Honda has a commanding 52-point lead over potential challenger Ro Khanna in the field for the June 2014 open primary election.

Honda begins with 57% of the vote while Khanna has 5%. Republican Evelyn Li picks up 13% of open primary voters with 23% undecided. Honda’s lead remains strong, holding an absolute majority of votes, even after compare and contrast messaging is provided.

“Mike Honda is well-known and well-liked by the people he represents,” said pollster David Mermin, a partner at Lake Research Partners. “His potential challengers are unknown and will face a long road to persuade voters to choose them over the Congressman.” Mermin added, “Another noteworthy finding was that among voters who work in the tech industry, 56% support Honda, while only 6% support Khanna. Honda’s proven track record of supporting initiatives that benefit innovation, job growth, and an educated and diverse workforce have been noticed by the people he represents.”

This polling data follows on the heels of early endorsements from President Barack Obama, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, DCCC Chair Steve Israel, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, and former DNC chair Howard Dean.

Details found in the poll include the following:

  • According to the poll, Congressman Honda has earned widespread support across racial lines. He holds the support of 68% of East/Southeast Asians, 59% of South Asians, 63% of Latinos and 49% of white voters. Khanna only receives 3% from East/Southeast Asians, 14% from South Asians, 4% of Latinos and 6% of white voters.
  • Among voters who work in the tech industry, 56% support Honda, while only 6% support Khanna.
  • After positive and negative messaging on all candidates, Honda holds his absolute majority of the vote (54%). Khanna’s support remains weak at 10% of the vote, and Li reaches 17%. The vast majority of Democratic and independent voters are voting for Honda both before and after messages.
  • Honda is viewed very favorably by voters in the district. Honda has an extremely strong 6-to-1 favorable to unfavorable ratio with 66% saying they have a favorable opinion of him, and 11% unfavorable. Khanna, on the other hand, is unknown to 86% of voters, and would require a massive expenditure just to establish name identification in the district, much less persuade voters to choose him over Honda.
  • President Obama is viewed very favorably by voters in the district, with 76% saying they have a favorable opinion of him. This indicates that there is even room for Honda to expand his strong base of support, given that he is endorsed by and has a long track record of working with President Obama.

“I appreciate the support of the people I represent and I’ll keep working tirelessly on their behalf,” said Congressman Honda. “I’ll continue to advocate for solutions that help create jobs, grow our manufacturing economy, and give our students access to the best possible education.”
Lake Research Partners conducted live telephone interviews across the district surveying likely 2014 open primary voters. The margin of error is +/- 4.4%.

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns, APA Officeholders, California, Democratic Party, Running for Office

Seven Democratic senators push to maintain family visas

March 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: Below is a reposting of our former endorsed candidate Senator Mazie Hirono (HI)’s coalition “letter to a Senate immigration reform committee. Read “Seven Democratic senators push to maintain family visas” for context.

Dear Senators Bennet, Durbin, Flake, Graham, McCain, Menendez, Rubio, and Schumer:

We greatly respect and admire your perseverance and dedication in negotiating an immigration reform package that balances the demands of numerous competing interests, seeking to find solutions that create a pathway to citizenship, strengthen our economy, and protect the safety and integrity of our borders. As you work on your draft legislation, however, we urge you to prioritize clearing the backlog of family visas and ensuring that going forward the reformed system makes it easier for people to be united with their families, including their brothers and sisters and their adult children.

According to a recent media report, the proposed bill would eliminate family-based admission categories for the married adult children and siblings of U.S. citizens. This is very troubling. Different types of family members can play an important role in each other’s lives, and for some Americans a brother or sister is the only family they have.

Family based immigration is important not only to individual citizens, but to the social and economic well-being of the country as a whole. The available evidence suggests that family based immigrants add to the economy directly and through their support of other working family members. Family based immigrants bring vital skills and new ideas to this country, increase the likelihood of successful integration of new immigrants through family support networks, and over time show more upward mobility than any other immigrant group. In other words, family-based immigration should not be considered less important than employment-based immigration. Both are vital to our country’s future.

In fact, weakening the family immigration system will make it harder for employers to attract talented workers from abroad. Those foreign-born scientists and engineers have families, too.

It has been twenty-three years since Congress increased the total number of permanent visas available to family and employment based immigrants. The demand for those visas far exceeds the supply, leading to backlogs in processing that have kept family members separated for decades. The solution to the problem is not to cut existing categories of family-based visas, but to create a more flexible and generous system that focuses less on quotas and limits and more on opportunities and possibilities.

We are a nation of immigrants, and our immigration system must be responsive to the best of our American values and principles, honoring the drive, creativity, and determination that brings immigrants to our shores. Thus, you are not just negotiating over numbers, but over the people and the values and the loved ones we hold dear. Please keep this in mind as your negotiations continue and we urge you to include in your legislation a plan to keep family immigration strong.

Sincerely,
Mazie K. Hirono
Barbara Boxer
Sherrod Brown
Tom Harkin
Brian Schatz
Al Franken
Elizabeth Warren

Filed Under: Congress, Immigration

March 27: Rep. Mike Honda Fundraiser

March 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Mike Honda for Congress

Anil Babbar, Gautam Dutta,Dale Edmondson, Catherine Tran, Steve Ngo, Misha Tsukerman, Candace Yu, & Friends
(Host Committee in Formation)

Cordially Invite You to a Reception
In Honor of
Rep. Mike Honda (CA-17)
Appropriations Committee
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Chair Emeritus

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
5:30pm – 7:00pm
Cigar Bar
850 Montgomery Street
San Francisco

Requested Contributions:
$500 Raise/Write Chair * $250 Raise/Write Host* $50 Young Professional

Please RSVP to:
Madalene Mielke at Madalene@arumgroup.comor (202) 547-6656

Make contributions payable to:
Honda for Congress
625 3rd Street NE, Suite #2
Washington, DC 20002
FEC ID: C00351379

Or contribute securely online at: http://bit.ly/March27Anil

Contributions to Mike Honda for Congress are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. We cannot accept contributions from corporations, labor unions, government contractors, and foreign nationals who are not permanent residents. All contributions must be made from personal funds and may not be received by any other person. An individual may contribute a maximum amount of $2,600 per election (the primary and general are separate elections) to a federal candidate. Federal multi-candidate political action committees (PACs) may contribute $5,000 per election. Corporations and individuals are strictly prohibited from reimbursing another person for making a contribution to Honda for Congress.
Paid for and authorized by Honda for Congress.
Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns Tagged With:

Congresswoman Chu Opposes Misleading Immigration Hearing Hearing on Nuclear Families Excludes Many Family Based Immigrants

March 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: The below is a re-posting of “Congresswoman Chu Opposes Misleading Immigration Hearing Hearing on Nuclear Families Excludes Many Family Based Immigrants from our friends at CAPAC (Facebook, Twitter).

CAPAC

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Dan Lindner
March 14, 2013
202-225-5464

Congresswoman Chu Opposes Misleading Immigration Hearing Hearing on Nuclear Families Excludes Many Family Based Immigrants

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) submitted written testimony to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security criticizing their hearing on the Separation of Nuclear Families under U.S. Immigration Law. By focusing solely on nuclear families, the Republican-lead hearing left all other forms of family immigration unaddressed and vulnerable to cuts during reform negotiations. Rep. Chu released the following statement:

“Families are at the core of who we are as a nation, and have been since our founding. Family units are as unique as the individuals in them, so we should not pick winners and losers in our immigration system based on family structure. Every U.S. citizen deserves a path for their family members to join them.”

Reuniting immigrant families is particularly critical to the Asian Pacific American and Latino communities. Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and China rank among the top five countries with the largest numbers of loved ones waiting to join their American citizen and legal permanent resident families in the United States. Today, unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens from Mexico are forced to wait 20 years to be reunited with their families. Some family members from the Philippines have been forced to wait 24 years to come to the U.S. to join their loved ones.

Rep. Chu has been an outspoken advocate throughout the immigration reform debate to ensure family immigration programs remain intact. In her capacity as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), she sent a letter last week with 23 other CAPAC Members to Senate negotiators urging that family immigration be protected.

The full CAPAC letter can be found here.

Full text of Chu and Honda’s statement for the record can be found here.

Filed Under: 2011+2012 Campaigns

Job Posting: UCLA Asian American Studies Center Office Manager

March 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Editor’s Note: The below is from our friends at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

UCLA Asian American Studies Center

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Requisition Number: 18563
Job Title: Officer Manager
Salary: $19.70 – $28.23 hourly
Starting Date: Monday, April 15, 2013

Job Description:
Under direction of the Management Services Officer and Assistant Director, perform a variety of skilled duties in support of business services, center units, academic research affiliated projects, and contact with the public for the Asian American Studies Center.

Major duties include:

office management
purchasing and reimbursement
payroll
personnel
schedule and plan travel on behalf of the center
maintain various center filing systems
manage appointments of visiting scholars
manage parking & Center’s room reservations calendar
supervise front desk student workers
schedule meetings for the Director and Assistant Director

Qualifications:
Office management experience within an academic institution; Ability to evaluate and implement customer service and marketing strategies; Working knowledge of Microsoft office suite, web-based applications, e-mail, internet for correspondence, attachments and budgetary purposes, and social media tools; Strong oral and written communication skills to interact effectively with staff, faculty, visiting scholars and students; Ability to organize information, files, materials–for accessibility, administrative, and archival functions.; Knowledge of University financial and personnel policy; Working knowledge of PAC (Bruinbuy, PCARD, Express), PTR, TRS, EDB, and QDB preferred; Ability to prioritize heavy workloads, with attention to detail; Familiarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and fields.

Application must be received by Wednesday, March 20, 2013 via online only.

Filed Under: Job Postings

China Bashing Unlimited: No Taiwanese Is Safe

February 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The below is inspired by Politico‘s “Tweets on Mitch McConnell’s wife’s ethnicity condemned” and their email broadcast about it yesterday (no static web copy). The topic is too important & timely to ignore, part of the continuous China-bashing by all for years, especially during election seasons, but regardless now that every day is campaign season.

LIBERAL SUPER PAC APOLOGIZES FOR TWEETS ABOUT McCONNELL’S ‘CHINESE’ WIFE – Phillip Bailey reports for WFPL in Louisville: “Hours after being roundly condemned by Democrats and Republicans, a liberal super PAC is apologizing to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s wife for a series of controversial Twitter messages. The group’s Tweets accused former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan, of moving American jobs to China and that her ‘Chinese (money)’ was buying state elections. Critics slammed the comments as racially offensive, and a national backlash against the group was ignited. Progress Kentucky executive director Shawn Reilly says they remain dedicated to educating voters about McConnell’s record, but their messages ‘included an inappropriate comment on the ethnicity’ of the former labor secretary.

“‘We apologize to the secretary for that unnecessary comment and have deleted the tweets in question. In addition, we have put a review process in place to ensure tweets and other social media communications from Progress Kentucky are reviewed and approved prior to posting,’ he says. Reilly had initially balked at expressing regret despite a spokesperson telling WFPL an apology was forthcoming. But after Democrats such as actress Ashley Judd, who is the rumored opponent for McConnell in 2014, denounced the Twitter messages Progress issued the apology late Tuesday evening.” http://bit.ly/Y09Fly

– The Super PAC had also suggested in tweets that McConnell was gay, reports BuzzFeed:”In two tweets, both of which have since been deleted, Progress Kentucky accused McConnell of being gay, including calling the Senate’s top Republican ‘a gay-bashing gay senator.’” http://bit.ly/12aqXov

While Progress Kentucky apologized, the list of China-bashing is endless, we could never cease writing about it. I write this post to shine just 1 of countless examples, but their numerous nature shouldn’t desensitize you or make you feel that’s tolerable or impossible to stop. Just an idealistic note against the money machine that prizes political donations above all, China bashing being a very successful tool therein.

Filed Under: Anti-AA Violence, APA Officeholders, Republican Party, Richard Chen
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