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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

May 5, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:20 PM :: 11200 Views

Aiona: “We have the resources to end furloughs”

Aiona campaign debunks Advertiser poll

Djou “Tele talk story” reaches thousands

Abercrombie missed 136 votes: Congress’ 18th-worst attendance record

State Budget: Time running short for Medicaid help

GM papaya wins approval in Japan

Hawaii Republicans are pinning big hopes on a Djou victory

Despite his fiscally conservative stance, Djou said he would be able to work well with the other three members of the Hawai'i delegation, even if they are all Democrats.

Saiki, who is Djou's honorary campaign chairwoman, said it was beneficial for her not to be another Democrat in the delegation during her tenure in Washington.

Her presence in Congress meant Hawai'i finally had a representative in the Republican Caucus, Saiki said. That gave her access to Republican powerbrokers whom she was able to lobby successfully to see issues from a Hawai'i perspective, she said.

One example, she said, was legislation giving reparations to Japanese-American internees. Saiki said she was able to convince Republican lawmakers of the wisdom of granting the reparations.

Djou said Saiki also was able to explain to Republicans that the return of Kaho'olawe to Native Hawaiian interests was the right thing to do.

As proof that he can work in a bipartisan manner, Djou pointed out that more bills he's introduced during his nearly eight years on the City Council have been approved than any other council member with the exception of one his colleagues.

This is despite being the only card-carrying Republican on the nine-member panel, he said.

"For me, it's about problem-solving and getting things done."

Democrat Borreca: 2 candidates' split vote puts Democrats in a bind (Mufi for Congress???)

"Clearly there is a whiff of change in the air and Djou is a symbol of the most change."

According to several recent polls, Charles Djou, the Republican city councilman, maintains a slight (8% is ‘slight’?) lead over Ed Case, the Democratic former representative. Colleen Hanabusa, state Senate president and the other major Democrat in the race, appears to be trailing in all polls.

Hanabusa appears to be a spoiler, because even with the "undecided" added to her column she could not win, but if her votes were added to Case, he would beat Djou. (Key word: “if”)

(Anyone who thinks Djou’s victory is temporary is deluding themselves. Anyone who thinks all the Case and Hanabusa votes will unify behind whichever one wins the Dem primary is deluding themselves. “1986”)

The consultant raises an interesting question of what mainstream Inouye-Democrats should do in a general election.

Do they actually support Case, suffer a GOP victory or do they find another candidate?

"There is only one person that could do it," the consultant said, referring to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

(Mufi for Congress. 1986 redux. Boy are they desperate in this, their time of Brezhnev-ian decrepitude.)

Aiona calls on gov to halt furloughs

Garrett Toguchi, school board chairman, said he is glad that Aiona "recognizes that the money is there," adding, "I hope he will urge the governor to release all $67 million."

Lingle had previously said she would release only $57.2 million. Lingle has said that only essential workers need to be called back on furlough days, while the union and the school board had agreed to call back all school personnel.

"He (Aiona) is right. The money is right there. The agreement is made," Toguchi said. "It is a matter of committing to release the whole thing."

Clare Hanusz, with the parents group Save Our Schools Hawaii, expressed concern about the funding gap.

"I am fearful that this $10 million difference is going to be a major sticking point," she said. "Before there is any call for compromise, we need some clarification on Lingle's offer, or it's just going to go on and on and on --- and this needs to happen fast because teachers, parents and students need to plan for the next academic year."…

Wil Okabe, HSTA president, said the Legislature approved taking the money from the Hurricane Relief Fund, and it is up to Lingle to sign the bill.

"The governor cannot undo the agreement reached between the BOE and HSTA or change the legislation that funds it," Okabe said. "Since the funds would not come from the state's general fund, the governor cannot claim that a revenue shortfall is reason to release less than the full amount appropriated."

(They all desperately hope Lingle will not give up the $67M ransom so they can keep this issue alive into the November elections and use it to elect Abercrombie.)

FULL TEXT: Aiona: “We have the resources to end furloughs”

Atheists, Democrats coordinate media attack on Aiona

VIDEO: KITV dredges atheist websites for smears against Aiona

Interviews Carroll Cox, Democrat hack, proven false in earlier attack on Djou for wearing uniform in advertisements. And complain filed by hack also names Dem Sen Sakamoto who is running for LG. What a surprise that Sakamoto is barely mentioned in this Democrat ‘news’ story.)

SB: Lt Governor denies desire for State faith (Atheists, Democrats, hand in hand)

Article names names of atheists targeting Aiona.

SB: Let's end bias over same-sex unions

More commentary from the atheist lobby in their favorite paper.

President Obama sends phone greeting to thousands of voters

Phone Recording: "Aloha, this is President Barack Obama on behalf of the Democratic Party..."

That was the President greeting tens of thousands of registered voters heard Tuesday evening.

"As you know, there is an election for congress taking place and your support for a Democrat is crucial..."

The president recorded the message for mass distribution known as a robocall.

"I need a Democrat that will support my agenda in Congress..."

Colleen Hanabusa's ads have outright supported Obama, yet the call comes just one day after the White House teamed up with national democrats to make sure an internal poll and memo backing Ed Case were made public. The poll's overall numbers showed Charles Djou with 36%, Case with 34 and Hanabusa with 20….

(Notice the word “overall” – that is the number if “all voters” are counted in the poll. If only “likely voters” are counted, then Djou is ahead by 8% as reported here>>> New National Democrat Poll Confirms 8-Point Lead For Djou)

Dilemma: hating oil but fearing the wind

In Hawai'i, Castle & Cooke plans to erect wind turbines on the north shore of Lāna'i to take advantage of some of the world's most consistently powerful gusts. The project, in the works since 2007, would use 100 to 200 turbines to provide clean power to O'ahu via an undersea cable.

While some people are already lining up against the Lāna'i plan championed by David Murdock, they are amateurs compared with the anti-wind coalition that formed to fight the Cape Cod project 10 years ago. Until his death, U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Cape Cod resident, was one of the project's biggest opponents, arguing that allowing the construction of 440-foot-tall wind turbines in Nantucket Sound constituted an unconscionable giveaway of a national resource to a private company.

Kennedy had lots of company, including environmental advocates, commercial fishing interests and Native American tribes.

But among those who supported Cape Wind were powerhouses Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, which have recognized that they cannot be advocates for a cleaner world without occasionally getting behind environmentally intrusive projects like Cape Wind. (Who are bought and paid for by the backers of Big WInd.)

Greenpeace hailed the federal government's approval of Cape Wind as "an enormous step forward toward America's clean energy future and the fight to solve global warming."

(Dilemma: Accepting a false dichotomy presented by the Advertiser—or just waiting until it ceases to exist.)

REALITY: Wind Energy's Ghosts

State GOP platform controversial

The panel approved the document Saturday, and it is to be considered at the state GOP convention on May 15.

The one-page proposed platform centers on five principles, pegged to the acronym "LLIFE"—liberty, limited government, individual responsibility, fiscal accountability and equality of opportunity.

According to a copy provided by Eric Ryan, each principle includes two or more brief explanatory sentences. But no specific issues, such as abortion, gay rights, health care reform or the native Hawaiian legislation, known as the Akaka Bill, are mentioned.

Eric Ryan-related websites--click the links and all will be revealed: www.citizensforcarroll.com, www.changehawaii.com, www.firepanos.wordpress.com

Minority Report: GOP and the 2010 Hawaii Legislature

House Republicans call it the "death wish," by which they mean when Democrats take what they like in a Republican bill and make it their own.

That's the way things work in a state capitol where barely 10 percent of the legislators are Republicans.

Hawaii homelessness still rising in wake of recession's job cuts

Shelters islandwide report a steady flow of people coming in who are direct victims of the recession, after losing their jobs or seeing their pay or hours cut.

And preliminary results from the state's annual homeless point-in-time count, conducted in January and to be released this month, show homelessness rose 10 to 15 percent from last year in parts of O'ahu, advocates who oversaw the survey said.

(This can either lead to more shelter construction and more affordable housing or it can lead to a policy of encouraging the homeless to live out doors—your choice.)

OPTIONS: Kapiolani Park: Homelessness industry takes Hawaii tourism hostage, Defeating the "homelessness industry" before it gets a grip on Hawaii

Nonprofits Can't Escape GET, Despite "Tax-Exempt" Status

Charity balls, fairs, concerts and road races that benefit a particular cause — events involving a ticket or admission price — are all subject to the GET, a tax on gross revenues for business activities in Hawaii….

"That is not normal," said David Thompson, vice president of public policy at the Washington, D.C.-based National Council of Nonprofits.

At Harvard Law School, a tax policy specialist agreed.

"I've never heard that before. It's certainly a surprise to me," said Professor Daniel Halperin. "The income for fundraising is tax free at the federal level."

But Rep. Marcus Oshiro, chair of the House Finance Committee, defends the approach.

(Feed the HGEA, not the hungry or homeless.)

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Honolulu Advertiser employees receive notice

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - More than 500 Honolulu Advertiser employees got their layoff notices last night. It came one day after HA Management took over daily operations of the Advertiser.

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Hawaii bankruptcies soar 56 percent

Bankruptcy filings jumped 32 percent over the previous year to 357 in March after climbing 29 percent year over year to 291 in February and 33 percent to 276 in January.

Hawaii wise to tap China

Gov. Linda Lingle traveled last November to six Chinese cities, addressing travel writers, tour wholesalers, travel agents and tourism officials.

"We can't just sit by and muddle through these very difficult times," she said.

Maui Budget with job cuts, furloughs OK’d

On the revenue side of the budget, Tavares initially proposed increasing property tax rates to levels that would be close to "revenue neutral," meaning the dollar amount most landowners would pay would be about the same as or a little bit less than this year.

But after hearing from hotel operators, bed-and-breakfast owners and other taxpayers who objected that the proposed property taxes would still be too high for them to pay in a year when their own incomes are also down, council members agreed on a smaller rate increase for some categories.

Overall, taxpayers would pay about 8 percent less in property taxes for 2011 under the council's budget proposal, although final property tax rates will not be set until a special hearing on May 17.

On Monday, Council Budget Chairman Joe Pontanilla reported that over the weekend his staff had identified a $1.1 million error in the council's budget calculations. The council had moved money from the General Fund to the Highways Fund to pay for the Maui Bus pass system and countywide road improvements. But the amount was not deleted from the General Fund balance, he said.

To correct the issue, the committee agreed to take several infrastructure projects that had been budgeted with cash, and add them to the county's bond issue instead.

‘Why do we need a furlough?’ Kauai Councilman asks

Several bills — including Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.’s proposed $146.29 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2011, which starts July 1 — are on the Kaua‘i County Council’s public hearing agenda this week.

But as this year’s budget work wraps up, some council members are airing their concerns over the proposed county furlough component and the overall process itself.

The budget includes a two-days-per-month furlough plan, which would directly impact most county employees and indirectly the local economy due to the millions of dollars taken out of circulation.

(John Maynard Keynes is alive, well, and subsidized on Kauai.)