Federal Audit Catches Takamine's 'Economic Opportunity Council' Misusing DLIR Funds
Pay to Play Mitsunaga Challenges White to Take a Fake Polygraph Test
Case: Hirono is Living in a Fantasy World
Saltchuck to Convert Alaska Ships to run on Natural Gas
Video: Randy Roth Clobbers Wayne Yoshioka
Hawaii Receives Tier 1 Status in State Rankings in Combating Human Trafficking With Legislation
Cayetano: Unions Unchecked Become Dangerous to the Democratic Process
CB: “Why spend so much against one person? It’s not just about rail, but about power and control,” a woman’s voice says in the ad. “Unions play an important role in our community and economy, but when they go unchecked become dangerous to the democratic process.”
Looks like Cayetano is picking a fight before he gets elected. Shouldn’t be a surprise considering his history of going head-to-head with labor groups.
We’ll see how far he takes it.
One of the more entertaining segments in the new ad is the comparison of Honolulu to two of the most notoriously corrupt jurisdictions in the country — Chicago and New Jersey.
You can listen for yourself here.
CB: Cayetano Released From Hospital
Shapiro: Cayetano is Eisenhower
Shapiro: Cayetano closed the July 17 televised debate with rivals Peter Carlisle and Kirk Caldwell by saying, "This campaign is not about rail; it's about the exercise of political power."
He argued, "There are people out there, a select few — big business, big labor — who have been running things for a very, very long time. They have their fingers in almost everything that we do, which affects our lives and our children's future."
Cayetano said he came out of retirement to "put the power back into the hands of the people" and promised "a transformational moment in Hawaii politics" if he's elected.
This is extraordinary coming from a former two-term Democratic governor who was elected with the support of many of the business and labor interests he's now taking on.
It's akin to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's warning at the end of his career about the dangerous accumulation of power by the military-industrial complex. (Not exactly, Eisenhower said that on his way out of office. Cayetano’s rhetoric is his ticket into office.)
Business and labor leaders have responded by boldly throwing their money and power around to derail Cayetano, and it appears to be backfiring.
Reality: Pay to Play: Will Cayetano Retaliate Against Hirono?
read … Corporatist State
36% of Rail reserve fund Has been Given Away to Contractors
SA: The rail project's total budget is estimated at $5.26 billion, and nearly $1 billion of that was reserved — as recommended by the Federal Transit Administration — to pay for unexpected costs such as contractors' delay claims, future contract agreements, design modifications and staffing changes.
That reserve was reduced to $815 million in April and has dropped since then to $644 million — about 15 percent of the overall budget. It includes increased payments that have been made and what have been recognized as spending increases to be owed in the future.
Daniel Grabauskas, HART's executive director, expects the contingency reserve to drop further as design and construction costs are finalized and the project progresses….
Still awaited are completion of negotiations with contractors, including Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., over how much more they will be owed in delay claims. HART agreed in January to pay Kiewit $15 million for delays in the first 6.4-mile segment of construction….
Related: Cost of Rail Jumps another $160M
read … Reserve Slush Fund
Political Insiders Detail Conspiracy to Control Your Health Care
SA: The Hawaii Healthcare Project (THHP), a public-private partnership between the state and health-care industry stakeholders — including a coalition of health plans, hospitals, providers, labor unions and business and consumer advocacy groups — has been convened to initiate a paradigm shift in the way services are managed, delivered and reimbursed.
THHP's primary goals include:
- » Transforming the health delivery system by putting patients' needs at the center of care, engaging them in the process and overcoming access barriers.
- » Changing payment strategies to promote efficiency and rewarding the right patient and provider behavior, such as paying doctors for quality, not quantity, of care.
- » Supporting change with health information technology and data by expanding use of electronic health records, sharing timely information with patients and doctors, and using information to address areas for improvement and measure outcomes.
- » Aligning government health care policy and leverage purchasing power to serve as a catalyst for change.
local health care organizations, which know better than anyone the urgent need to transform our system, have provided seed funding to launch this initiative. (Just like the wind scammers’ Blue Planet Foundation pays for all the PUC’s work) We believe our work has national implications and aims to serve as a model of transformation for other states. Therefore, fundraising efforts will now expand to national foundations and other sources….
THHP recently announced the completion of the first phase of the project. Four of its five committees have held 20-plus meetings (did you see any public notice? private funding has its benefits!) since April to identify strategies for transformation. One of the priorities is the promotion of "patient-centered medical homes," a concept that puts the patient at the center of a team of health care providers. Others include developing resources for "community care networks" to encourage better care coordination, and encouraging the effective and widespread use of electronic health records and health information exchanges. A fifth committee will be convened shortly to assess how best to reconcile the federal Affordable Care Act, recently affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court, and (destroy) the state's Hawaii Prepaid Health Care Act, the 1974 landmark legislation that has resulted in Hawaii having one of the nation's lowest rates of uninsured.
As the multi-year project moves into the second phase — implementation of the strategic concepts — a robust public and stakeholder (propaganda) outreach effort will occur to further develop the final implementation plan, to be released later this year. (Will they call it Imua Healthcare?)
What this is about: Health Insurance? No need: Abercrombie promises to dump Prepaid Health Care Act
read … Same Coalition as Rail
Obama Appointee: Need to Overcome Jones Act to Ship LNG to Hawaii
CB: Until renewables meet more of Hawaii’s energy needs, LNG imports are a cleaner-burning and maybe less-expensive option to oil.
But where to get the gas.
Alaska is one possible source. But federal law poses a big challenge to getting natural gas from Alaska. A provision known as the Jones Act — part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 — requires use of U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, U.S.-registered and U.S.-crewed ships when moving commercial cargoes between U.S. ports. The act was named for Sen. Wesley Jones of Washington state, who wanted to protect the shipyards and ports of his state.
No U.S. shipyard has built an LNG tanker since the 1970s, and those were subsidized by the federal government. Some industry estimates place the cost of a U.S.-built LNG tanker at double the price tag from South Korean shipyards, the world leader in the trade.
Options include pushing for congressional action to change the law, which could take years, or perhaps finding a tanker and an owner willing to petition for reflagging the vessel in the United States….
With just 2,700 miles between potential LNG plant sites in Southcentral Alaska and Honolulu, Alaska certainly has a distance advantage over the Mideast nation of Qatar, the world’s largest LNG producer, and even Australia.
Alaska is the same distance as between Hawaii and the LNG plants proposed for Kitimat and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. To Canada’s advantage, however, the Canadian proposals are further along than Alaska’s plans. Several of the Canadian projects’ proponents say they could have their plants in operation before 2020.
And there would be no Jones Act issues with Canadian LNG deliveries.
Another option for Hawaii might be to bring in LNG from the Gulf of Mexico. The advantage could be lower-cost U.S. shale gas. The disadvantage would be the 7,000-plus miles a tanker would have to travel to reach halfway around the world — and that’s after the expanded Panama Canal opens to traffic in 2014.
Still, shipments between Texas and Hawaii would trigger the Jones Act.
Related: No Natural Gas for Hawaii with Jones Act Ships
read … Article Written by Obama Appointee
Hirono Poll: Hirono 50, Case 33
NJ: In the survey of 500 likely primary voters, Hirono leads Case, 50 percent to 33 percent. Fourteen percent of voters said they were undecided between the two. Hirono has double-digit advantages among men and women, and those surveyed who said they already voted via absentee ballot favored Hirono 52 percent to 34 percent.
The internal poll results echo those of a survey conducted last month for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. In that poll, Hirono led Case, 55 percent to 37 percent.
Politico: Internal poll: Hirono crushing Ed Case in Hawaii primary
read … Real Poll Aug 11th
CB Poll Case 47%-Hirono 46%
CB: A snapshot taken 10 days before the election shows Case with the narrowest of leads and the momentum, but other data from The Civil Beat Poll indicates rival Mazie Hirono might have the inside track. Case's 47-46 edge is within the margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent, making the race a statistical dead heat. Case has more support from those who decided recently, but Hirono banked more votes in the first days of early voting. Seven percent remain undecided.
Civil Beat surveyed 1,227 likely Democratic Primary voters statewide between July 31 and Aug. 2.1 Hirono led among those who said they'd already voted, the poll found, while Case had the advantage among those who said they definitely planned to vote. The winner will advance to the November general election to face likely Republican nominee Linda Lingle, who led John Carroll 84-11.2
The poll's neck-and-neck results for the leading Democrats are consistent with two previous Civil Beat surveys taken in June and January. Those polls found a 46-46 tie and 41-39 Case lead, respectively. But all three of the Civil Beat results3 are far different from other independent polling of the race.
read … Somebody’s Pollster is going to eat Humble Pie in Three Days
WaPo: Hirono Doesn’t Capture Attention of Liberals
WaPo: The difference between the parties right now, in a nutshell? You all know all about Ted Cruz in Texas, and you probably know about Todd Akin in Missouri…but odds are that you don’t know anything about Mazie Hirono and Ed Case.
despite a clear issue split between them, with Case more moderate and Hirono more liberal, there’s been little talk of this contest that I can see. Not none — you’ll find some postings over at Daily Kos, for example. But certainly not what we saw in the Texas Republican primary, or in Richard Mourdock’s upset of Dick Lugar in Indiana.
…it sure doesn’t catch the imagination of liberals the way that similar challenges receive intense interest from conservatives. I’m not sure that I have an explanation for all of this, but I do think that anyone who wants to understand Congress needs to be aware of it.
read … WaPo
Case: Last Time I felt this Momentum was 2002
CB: Case 47%, Hirono 46%! That's the result of a brand new poll by independent Hawai'i news organization Civil Beat.
"Ed Case has the Democratic nomination for U. S. Senate within reach", concluded Civil Beat. "A snapshot taken 10 days before the election shows Case with the narrowest of leads and the momentum ...."
Wow! Talk about riding a rocket!
The last time I felt this kind of momentum was in the '02 Governor race against Mazie when we came back from 20 points down in the polls only two weeks out to just miss by 1%. (Mazie went on to lose to Lingle by 5%.)
CB: Hirono: Case Voted To Make Illegal Immigrants Felons, Ed Case's 2006 "felony" vote: Greens vs. Illegals
read … Message from Ed Case
Civil Beat Poll - Full Questionnaire and Results — August 2012
J Kalani ‘Powdernose’ English out of Touch With District
MN: Molokai natives Barbara Haliniak and Kanohowailuku Helm - both first-time political candidates - say the entire district needs more of a presence at the Legislature.
Haliniak, 70, a Democrat and past president of the Molokai Chamber of Commerce, says she wants to be a voice for Molokai.
"I've been consistently saying that I'm running because we have been underrepresented in our district, especially Molokai. He's been virtually nonexistent, as far as I'm concerned," Haliniak said of English. "If you're a lawmaker, you need to be in the district. You need to make yourself available. The people don't work for you. You are working for the people and carry their voice."
Helm, 31, who is running as a nonpartisan candidate, echoed some of the concern and said he chose to run in response to a "feeling in my gut."
"I never aspired to file for office. I just felt that it was kuleana that I needed to run for the sake of my home, Molokai, and for the rest of the state," said Helm. "I want to get people plugged in. I don't see that happening right now. The bottom line is that the connection between these rural communities and our government is not in place."
Although Helm doesn't have a nonpartisan opponent, under the rules for Hawaii's open primary, Helm will need at least 10 percent of the votes in his district to advance to the Nov. 6 general election.
read … Sniff, sniff
Elections office to delete duplicate registrations
WHT: Kawauchi estimated that there are 53 duplicate entries, which were discovered during an internal audit recently.
The duplicates led to four to five double votes during the 2010 elections.
Kawauchi, who oversees the division, said Monday she had contacted each of the voters registered twice and is requesting a “change order” form from the city and county of Honolulu, which she said handles registrations for the state.
WHT: Election worker is let go
read … Duplicate Registrations
How NCLB saved Hilo School
HTH: The state DOE has announced its intent to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education to avoid such sanctions, saying that No Child Left Behind takes a “one-size-fits-all approach” to education reform. The state would join 33 other states that have been granted waivers.
But for some schools, the process of restructuring has made a real difference in their performance. Here on the Big Island, Hilo Intermediate School had languished for six years on a list of those schools undergoing restructuring.
“At one time, we were known as the school in the complex that had been in restructuring the longest,” said Esther Kanehailua, Hilo Intermediate’s principal of two years.
But in academic year 2010-11, the school’s students met their requirements for adequate yearly progress, and then did so again last year, pulling Hilo Intermediate out of its restructuring status to “in good standing, unconditional,” the highest AYP status a school can achieve.
That remarkable increase in performance came about as a direct result of the school’s faculty shaking up the way they assess their own performance, in addition to assessing that of their students, Kanehailua said….
monthly benchmarks set up for the school by Edison Learning have helped to keep teachers focused on improving student achievement every day, not just before tests.
“We’re always asking ourselves how our children did, what we did or didn’t do, what we need to do next time, next week, or even tomorrow,” she said.
While No Child Left Behind and its sanctions have been criticized, Iwashita said that her school ended up benefiting from going into restructuring, coming out of the process a stronger school.
“I think that with No Child Left Behind, although people have said there were some positives and negatives, I think it certainly raised the expectations for everyone,” she said. “It made us focus on what was good for all the children and not just some of the children.”
read … So naturally the DoE wants to be exempt from this process
Bumbling Defense Lawyer gives Federal Judge excuse to Remands Deedy to be Hung in State Court
AP: U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi on Tuesday denied a request by lawyers for 28-year-old Christopher Deedy to have his case moved to federal court.
Deedy's lawyer Brook Hart has argued that Deedy should be exempt from prosecution because he was acting in his official capacity when the shooting happened.
Hart missed a 30-day deadline to request the move, but (insert excuse here) ….
read … Its an accident, of course
Open Letter to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison
CNBC: Please, please, please, please, please, please, don't leave California. I know you recently bought most of the Hawaiian Island of Lana'i, and maybe you're thinking of eventually retiring there. Don't.
For one thing, Hawaii is one of the only states with a higher personal income tax rate than California. Hawaii and Oregon both take 11 percent from top earners, compared to 10.3 percent in California. Think of the difference that .7 percent makes when one is a billionaire.
Now, I know you've heard that Governor Jerry Brown is asking Californians to approve a tax hike in November, one that will move your tax rate to 13.3 percent, the highest in the land. But we need that money. Need it. Don’t. Go.
Your salary and bonuses last year reportedly totaled $15 million. I’m going to guess you paid around $1.5 million in taxes. Of course, you were also awarded $62 million in stock options, which are taxed as regular income in California. At some point you'll cash those in and we’ll get more taxes from you. This may have already happened in order to pay the more than $500 million it reportedly cost to buy Lana’i.
read … Please don’t leave
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