从停止SCA5法案学到的教训


8020 PAC-1317  11/03   55896  
5.0/2 


Q: SCA 5 is old news.  Why is 80-20 rehashing SCA 5 a days before the general election?  

A: As the election approaches, 80-20 is increasingly aware that some of us have NOT drawn the right lessons from our magnificent victory in stopping SCA 5.  

     

Q: What are the proper lessons that we should have learned?

A: Two major lessons:

(1) Had there been a tradition of accountability by the AsAm elected officials to the AsAms, the 3 Ch-Am senators would not have voted for SCA 5.  Consequently, SCA 5 would have died in the Senate.  Conclusion? We MUST have accountability.

            

(2) Political parties have always known that the power of a party is small when compared with the power of an enraged constituent.  Hence, for reasons of self-preservation, political parties usually give their elected legislators a lot of leeway if a specific vote will cause the legislators to enraging his/er constituents.  Our victory in STOPPING SCA 5 testified eloquently to that fact.  None of the AsAm legislators has been punished by the Democratic Party in CA, to 80-20's knowledge.


Q: What qualification do you have to speak on such matters?

A:  I was the President of the Delaware Senatefor 4 years. I was in a position to know.


Q: Why is 80-20 so outspoken in wanting to defeat former Sen Leland Yee, and Assemblyman Paul Fong in his coming San Jose race?

A:  To establish a tradition of accountability by the AsAm elected officials to the AsAm community, by punishing those who have been unfaithful to our rightful interest.   


Q:  Why is such severe punishment necessary?

A: Political parties, for understandable reasons, want to exert party discipline, bearing in mind that the US is not China.  In the US party discipline is very lax.  

     

An elected officials who has bucked the party leadership too many times could be punished. Examples are striping a desirable committee assignment from that official, delaying the passage of his/her legislative proposals, and less election support. Hence, the AsAm community must let our elected officials know that if they betray us in a major way, then our punishment for them will be worse - the death of their political career.


Q: There are talks that establishing accountability is NOT enough.  AsAms in CA must vote for Republicans to deny the Democratic Party a super-majority in CA's 2 legislatures.  Do you agree with it?

A: No. No!  However, if I were a leader in CA's Republican Party, I'll certainly argue that way to fool the AsAms into voting for Republican legislators.  :-)   


80-20's goal is different from that of either the Republican or the Dem. Party.  We want AsAms to be politically knowledgable & strong. Hence, we always tell you the truth.   


80-20 is trying to use the 2014 election to establish the historic first tradition of accountability. Help vote against Paul Fong.  Tell your friends in San Jose how he refused to help us during our struggle against SCA 5, and how he shamelessly claimed credit as soon as SCA 5 was pronounced dead by CA senate.

       

S. B. Woo, a volunteer

President, 80-20 National AsAm Political Action Committee, Inc.