Entries for February 2012

An examination of "administrative earmarks" around the time of congressional votes on key pieces of President Barack Obama's agenda suggests the White House used its power to fund local projects as a means to "buy" votes for major legislative efforts....

...Charles is on his way home from Afghanistan after many months of deployment in one of the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan....

The Hawaii Legislature is currently considering the “Hawaii Safe Schools Act,” which claims to target bullying and harassment at schools. In reality, it is a mechanism for imposing a pro-homosexual, state-mandated orthodoxy on students and teachers....

Poor George Washington. His birthday, spontaneously celebrated since the Revolution and formally declared a holiday in 1879, has slowly morphed into the insipid Presidents Day you'll hear about today....

...a mini-series of Hawaii answers to surveys on major issues which have been debated at The Economist.....

Lowering the compulsory attendance age will prevent parents from determining when their child is ready for school....

There are 10 new and increased taxes to watch....

...one of the biggest fears of government observers in Hawaii is the looming elephant in the room which is the unfunded liabilities of the state and county retirement system and the related health benefits for current and future public employee retirees.... 

Yesterday, House Bill 679 passed in the state House Public Safety and Military Affairs (PBM) Committee, with no amendments, by a 7 to 1 vote.

impending troubles to be faced by public-sector retirement funds....

• Reapportionment Public Comment Meeting
• Wednesday, February 22, 2012 6:00 p.m.
• Conference Room 329, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street

The bill prohibits minors under 16 from riding ATVs, bans ATVs from public streets, bans passengers and requires helmet use....

The 11 are Brian A. Costa, Paula Devens, Nelson W.S. Goo, Shirley M. Kawamura, James S. Kawashima, Stephen H. Levins, Linda S. Martell, Alvin K. Nishimura, Maura McDermott Okamoto, Kevin A. Souza and Paul B.K. Wong.

These appointments are subject to Senate confirmation....

in a year, DoE will be $75M richer, some teachers will be 20% richer, and right back to the status quo ante.

Abercrombie today announced the appointment of Heather Haunani Giugni to the state House of Representatives for District 33, which includes 'Aiea, 'Aiea Heights, Halawa Heights, Halawa Valley and Red Hill....

This is what happens to Hawaii legislators when they are so close to a tax increase that they can taste it....

"...only 9.6% of lower income citizens used transit to get to work. This is not very much higher than the 7.9% of all workers in the metropolitan areas who use transit."

The 9th Circuit heard arguments about whether to allow fishermen to intervene in the formation of a new federal regulation aimed at protecting endangered turtles.

Even with billions in US Tariff support, sugar just couldn't carry the ILWU in Hawaii....

• HB1848 EUTF
• HB2375 Mortgage Rescue Fraud
• HB2153 Toll Roads
• HB1683 Jr Kindergarten
• HB2567 Marriage Licenses

“HB 2358 would remove the building official, state fire marshal representative and the structural engineer from the Hawaii Building Code Council."

Three years ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law his trillion-dollar stimulus plan, a measure that he promised would save or create 3 million jobs by the end of 2010 and would prevent unemployment from ever going above 8 percent....

There are two conservatives for every liberal in America. That’s the message of a recent David Brooks column as well as a Gallup survey. I think the imbalance is much starker. I would guess there are four conservatives for every liberal. Maybe even more.... 

Yesterday, the Hawaii Senate Health Committee decided to shelve a beverage tax proposal – effectively killing this discriminatory tax for this year.

On Monday, the State House Tourism Committee “deferred” HB 2788. If passed, this bill would grant a twenty-year license for one stand-alone casino in Waikiki not in a hotel....

...opposition to Assad continues in the face of escalating attacks, with some indications that the military is losing ground as the army loses thousands of defectors....

Highlighted actions by the House Republican caucus for the week of February 6-10, 2012...

SB2696 would have abolished the Hawaii Building Code Council and effectively removed the state from active involvement in building design and construction standards....

What happened today was the result of a horrible lawsuit that sought to tell our brave men and women in the military that they don't matter to us.

House Bill 679, introduced by state Representative Ken Ito (D-48) and six other Representatives, is an NRA-supported bill....

Keep in mind that the average income of a Volt buyer is $175,000 per year. That means that middle-class taxpayers are helping the rich buy pricy, politically correct cars.  With his other hand, President Obama is taking from the poor....

Our Annual Report covers service improvements made within our office, the Hawai‘i Fair Share Initiative, the significance of hosting APEC, disaster relief, China trade and travel activities and initial efforts to make Hawai‘i the home for the Obama Presidential Center....

Would you borrow $3.2B and entrust it to Abercrombie, Louie, and Takamine?

The bill seeks to change the Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 343 ....

Mr. Fortuño wants to convert the island's oil-fired plants to cheaper, cleaner natural gas....

Last week, America erupted in protest against one of those actions -- the White House's determination to force all insurance plans to cover, at no charge, contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization as part of Obamacare.

The management team at Nicolites announce their delight at the passing of an amended electronic cigarette bill in Hawaii, which will ensure that e-cigs are not taxed similarly to tobacco products yet will not be sold to minors.

The sales tax in Hawaii ... has a base that includes many services, and as such are not strictly comparable to other sales taxes.

For 2011, Hawaiian averaged a 92.8 percent on-time performance ranking #1 in 11 of the 12 months and exceeding the industry average for the year by 13.2 percentage points....

...the damage and loss of documents or information is not nearly as severe as has been reported....

• Senate: FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act
• House: Budget and Accounting Transparency Act
• House: Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011
• House: STOCK Act

Hawaiian Airlines has earned the first-ever aviation based carbon credits, having reduced its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 22,000 metric tons over the past six years using an innovative, eco-friendly engine washing technology developed by Pratt & Whitney.

Retired Fire Chief Donald Chang, the President of the Honolulu Fire Department Retirees Association, announced today that the organization of more than 800 members is endorsing Governor Linda Lingle for Hawaii's open U.S. Senate seat....

The HSTA Board has voted to take these immediate steps in response to what we believe that consensus is....

Nearly 3 out of every 10 workers in Hawaii (29.7%) work for federal, state, or local government.... 

... the six states with the highest percentages — Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Vermont and California — also skew Democratic. In each of these states the percentage of childless women exceeds 55%....

Yesterday, the newest White House chief of staff, Jack Lew, took to the Sunday talk shows to get a head start on promoting President Barack Obama's FY2013 budget....

• DATE: Monday, February 13, 2012
• TIME: 1:15 p.m.
• PLACE: Conference Room 229, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street

in order to either scare Togiola to the sidelines or bolster his own popularity, Faleomavaega made his next and even more cynical move: promise citizenship to nationals and national status to aliens....