Ethics

...the East-West Center is under fire again, as Congress is looking at completely eliminating the center. The House Foreign Affairs Committee recently voted to wipe out the UH based facility. The center might again be saved in the U.S. Senate, but these difficulties will continue as long as Hawaii continues to send a one-sided and unbalanced delegation to Congress that is unable to speak with the new GOP majority in the U.S. House.... 

Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.

Americans tuning in last night to watch President Barack Obama's primetime address from the East Room of the White House might have thought they stumbled upon yet another re-run from the networks.

 [T]here's a certain element of waiting for the markets to weigh in and show Congress that they have to get serious here...You see the Administration almost kind of, almost daring the markets to respond, yesterday saying that the Congress had to act by 4:00 yesterday afternoon before the Asian markets started to open.

• Senate: Military Construction-VA Appropriations, FY2012
• Senate: Motion to Table; Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011
• House: Cut, Cap, and Balance Act
• House: Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011
• House: Legislative Branch Appropriations, FY2012

Kaiser Permanente announced today that the Honolulu Clinic and Kihei and Lahaina Clinics on Maui, and their primary care providers have received the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Physician Practice Connections Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition....

In the early 1990's Eric Ryan was the first student in Chaminade history to be convicted of forging student signatures and election ballots thus beginning his career of graphic design so he continue forging documents. He later took Chaminade to court for defamation of character.

Details about the 1941 Ewa Field Battlefield history and Section 106 process will be presented by the US Navy on August 4th at the DHHL Building in Kapolei. 

• Question: What religion produces the most terror attacks in the USA each year?
• Answer: Environmentalism

After years as the Congressional chief of staff for Rep Wu (D-OR), Julie Tippens this January quit to take a job as chief of staff for Rep Colleen Hanabusa (D-Oahu).

Residents of California and Hawaii are the most indebted individuals in America, but they’re also among a group that are making the most progress in paying down the amount they owe, according to a MoneyWatch analysis of state-by-state debt statistics....

The time has come for parents to think about their children’s future plans and decide if the university system is a viable option.

National Right to Life has released candidate comparisons on life issues for the 2012 Presidential Primary races.

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act, Obamacare is just over one year old, it has been more than 800 days since the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a budget, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened its doors on Thursday--the first new federal agency in nearly a decade. You'll notice that no one is celebrating any of them.

We are still suffering from the bursting of the housing bubble created by low interest rates, lowered mortgage standards and subsidies to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now some people see signs that another bubble is bursting -- the higher education bubble.

The new draft reverses agency protection recommendations for many bird species and adds unrealistic deadlines that would lead to “rubber-stamping” of wind projects. ABC expects millions of migratory birds to be harmed by poorly-planned wind energy.

 a CNN poll completed yesterday showed 66% of Americans support the Cut, Cap and Balance plan to “raise the debt ceiling only if a balanced budget amendment were passed by both houses of Congress and substantial spending cuts and caps on future spending were approved.”

A Sound Balanced Budget Amendment Must Require Two-Thirds Majorities to Raise Federal Taxes.... 

Eric Ryan wants to save Honolulu from the waste, fraud and corruption that he seems to find wherever he goes. Eric see’s himself as some sort of crusader fighting a lonely battle to expose the rampant misuse of power that only he is capable of seeing.

Almost everyone else see’s Eric as a garden-variety malcontent, angry about being fired and hell-bent on retaliation. 

...Abercrombie last week alerted the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services that the State of Hawai'i will be applying for the new ”Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge” grant competition....

All of the clever rhetoric and recasting of history is designed to distract from the reality on the ground. The U.S. government has racked up $14 trillion in debt. For more than 800 days, the U.S. Senate has failed to pass a budget. President Obama continues his calls for "compromise" and "shared sacrifice," all while insisting on tax increases to fund spending.... 

Today, join us in making history when the first, all-Twitter Presidential Debate is held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. (9AM-10:30AM HST)

The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, their holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman....

Today, the U.S. House is set to vote on a Republican-sponsored plan known as "Cut, Cap, and Balance" that "would cut spending by $5.8 trillion over 10 years, cap future spending and require Congress to approve a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget before raising the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion," as The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Researchers at the Beacon Hill Institute have conducted a cost-benefit analysis of 1,100 MWs of offshore wind power for New Jersey. The findings are as follows.

EIRs are required for plastic bag bans by (i) “larger” cities and counties and also (ii) small cities based on the cumulative impacts. Save The Plastic Bag Coalition has legal standing to enforce that requirement.... 

On July 14, 2011, we filed a cert petition, which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship....

 Recent Congressional Votes

• House: Better Use of Light Bulbs Act
• House: Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011
  • House: Energy-Water Appropriations, FY2012

As Congress struggles to find a way to cut spending as part of raising the $14 trillion debt ceiling, they should take a close look at the more than $1 trillion spent every year on welfare....

Convicted cocaine dealer Chad Tsuneyoshi is taking over as Honolulu Council Chair Ernie Martin’s Campaign Treasurer.

...it was a pleasant surprise to see the leading radio news organization, Radio States KHJ-FM raise questions about some of the campaign money he has raised, based on our report, even if the story was centered on Faleomavaega's condemnation of us for our report....

Do the math. Sai and Gumapac have 300 “customers”. Perfect Title had 400 victims. The Maui-based Ventura-Oliver sovereignty mortgage scammers now on trial had about 300 alleged victims. That is 1000 native Hawaiian households who have allegedly fallen victim to these three alleged scams. ...amounting to 2.3% of all native Hawaiian home-owning households.

“Mazie Hirono and Ed Case batter each other in a contested Democratic primary, then the survivor meets and loses to Lingle in the general election."

Using results in legislative districts from the past three presidential elections, the two most recent gubernatorial elections and the last legislative election, he predicts margins of victory for Democratic or Republican candidates based on the districts’ political preferences.

(See complete Index for Hawaii House and Senate)

Borreca's column today is an interesting one but we do quibble with his following conclusion:  "... the anti-rail contingent has yet to show its own alternative traffic solution. Honolulu's real traffic jam is the city's inability to move a plan that has overwhelming public support."

This bill would authorize the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to compensate residents of Guam and their descendants who were injured or killed in World War II.

Despite the fact that the state has the fourth highest median household income in the country, Hawaii actually had a larger portion of its Medicaid bill covered by the federal government than poorer states like Illinois, Virginia and Nevada. Compared to most wealthy “blue” states, the group of islands spends very little on Medicaid. 

Washington remains embroiled in debt limit negotiations as Republicans and Democrats stand apart on how to best go about increasing the amount of money the government can borrow and spend. But on the sidelines, another debate simmers over one amendment to the U.S. Constitution that could have averted today's spending debacle: the balanced budget amendment (BBA).

Almost all discussions about Medicare reform ignore one key factor: Medicare utilization is roughly 50 percent higher than private health insurance utilization, even after adjusting for age and medical conditions....

For those with short memories, Fannie, Freddie, and government policies aimed at making it easier for people to purchase homes is how the housing market wound up in its current state.

The White House on Wednesday declined to challenge an account in a new book that suggests that President Obama, in his campaign to overhaul American health care, mischaracterized a central anecdote about his mother’s deathbed dispute with her insurance company.

...there has actually been an increase in emergency room use by people with incomes below 300% of the poverty level....

Over the past several weeks, America has seen on grand display in Washington a singular mindset emanating from the White House: We must raise taxes so that we can keep on spending.

Most states that have approved same-sex marriage or civil unions have not lost the services of faith-based child welfare providers, but the recent conflict between Illinois and one of its largest religious partners suggests those losses might occur as more states pass such laws.

It was a simple and powerful story, one Obama would tell many more times as president during the national health care debate. But now we're learning the real story of Ann Dunham's health coverage is not quite what her son made it out to be.

The president explained that if it were not for the scholarship he received to attend a prestigious private school in Hawaii when he was ten years old, he would not be president today. Lindsey Burke, education analyst at The Heritage Foundation, says she was astonished by the remark.

Some politicians in Washington don't think you're all that bright. They believe that you can't make wise decisions in your day-to-day life, so they have taken it upon themselves to impose regulations to protect you from yourself. And there's no better example than Congress' ban on the incandescent light bulb, which is up for repeal in the House today.

Last night, President Barack Obama and U.S. congressional leaders failed to reach agreement on a deal to raise the nation's debt limit. Meanwhile, it has been more than 800 days since the U.S. Senate passed a budget, liberals in Washington are pushing for higher taxes, unemployment is soaring, the deficit keeps growing, and America is careening toward an economic future as the Europe of the West.

 Recent Congressional Vote: House: Fiscal 2012 Defense Appropriations

Honolulu is still completing the paperwork for its heavy rail, but preparatory construction has already started. This irrational project needs to be stopped.