Rick Perry has tumbled by more than 20 percentage points over the past month among Republican presidential primary voters and is now second to Herman Cain, who leads the field with 28%.

His plan is to have the city's Committee on Transportation pass Resolution 11-249 this Thursday that would urge the Hawaii State Legislature to allow the City and County of Honolulu to raise the General Excise Tax a half percent to fund road and bike lanes.

"I hope everybody can come together and move forward to win elections," said Dylan Nonaka, the former GOP executive director under Kaauwai. "We've got a lot of big opportunities next year, and it's time to move on and focus."

Yesterday, with Reid on the brink of forcing a government shutdown, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced things aren’t so dire. The agency has $114 million on hand for the remainder of the week, enough to get through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

• Senate: Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011
• House: Short-Term Continuing Appropriations
• House: Cumulative Regulatory Analysis

My very best goes out to 1st Vice Chair Beth Fukumoto, who by Party Rules will be the Interim State Chair. As a candidate in 2010, Beth understands the importance of a grassroots-focused party for all candidates. My hope is that everyone will offer their support, guidance and assistance as this transition takes place.

EUTF Board Member Dean Hirata Quietly Slipped Away from his Appointed Position as Deputy Director of Budget and Finance on July 30th. 

In an "urgent" call to action distributed as a bulletin insert at Catholic churches across the country on Sunday, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that a new federal regulation proposed under President Barack Obama's health-care law "poses an unprecedented threat to individual and institutional religious freedom."

...on Friday, Obama doubled down, and did so by circumventing Congress and rewriting the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law unilaterally in the White House.

...federal and state tax credits behind Hawaii’s wind and solar development bubble are pushing even more money out of the pockets of Hawaii ratepayers and taxpayers and into the coffers of mainland hedge funds, banks, insurance companies, utilities, and even tobacco companies....

Initially set at a rate of 1.5%, it rose to a rate of 2% during the war years, and then just prior to statehood in 1959 to a retail rate of 3.5%. ...the retail rate was increased in 4% in 1965....

Both sides need to focus on the elections, not on their own factional interests....

(The UN) doesn't only cast Israel as the villain; it often casts real villains in leading roles: Gadhafi's Libya chaired the UN Commission on Human Rights; Saddam's Iraq headed the UN Committee on Disarmament. 

How many professional protesters will be flown in by the well-heeled socialists who fund this circus?

Perhaps this would be a good time for airlines to adopt strict body odor rules on Hawaii-bound flights.

This week there was discussion in the media concerning the Governor's use of emergency powers....

After blowing their first attempt to interfere in the Republican Senate primary, Hawaii Democrats are trying again.

Among the 20,000 Chinese with at least 100 million yuan ($15 million) in individual investment assets, 27 percent have already emigrated and 47 percent are considering it, according to a report by China Merchants Bank and U.S. consultants Bain & Co. published in April.

Disney must now submit updated consumer-disclosure materials to regulators and other states. The company will begin with Florida, California, New York and Illinois, its most-important sales markets....

“The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra.” – Barack Obama

Hawaii's, South Dakota's and New Mexico's sales taxes have broad bases that include many services....

President Barack Obama makes it sound as if there are millionaires all over America paying taxes at lower rates than their secretaries. The data tell a different story, says the Associated Press.

...federal health experts told them via email that CLASS would result in an "insurance death spiral." Congress passed it anyway.... 

• Saturday, September 24th, 2011
• 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• ‘Ewa Makai Middle School
• 91-6291 Kapolei Parkway, ‘Ewa Beach

A final decision regarding this case is expected within 30 days.

...authorize the City and County of Honolulu to impose a general excise tax surcharge — much like the one already in effect to fund the rail project — for highway and bikeway construction....

In a move highly anticipated since its initial announcement in April, public libraries and schools in the U.S. can now lend eBooks for the Amazon® Kindle.

Weekends at the Koko Head Shooting Complex (KHSC) are packed, and it is not unusual for people to be waiting for tables throughout the day....

President Obama proposes to pay for his $447 billion jobs bill mainly by limiting tax deductions for wealthy Americans. Unfortunately, if enacted, this policy will likely dampen charitable giving....

“(Under ACA) the price of individual health insurance coverage might rise about 55% to 85%, excluding the impact of medical inflation….”

The President's words yesterday come after nearly three years of being weak on Israel, failing to condemn those who threaten the country's existence, and failing to draw a distinction between a freedom-loving nation and those who seek to wipe it off the map.

More registered voters say they would definitely vote for Mitt Romney or might consider doing so (62%) than say the same about his two main rivals in the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama (54%) and Republican Rick Perry (53%). 

March 13 may be your best chance to participate in picking the next President of the United States.

See it here ....

“If something goes haywire, say so.” – Sen Dan Inouye, August 25, 2011

The Obama Administration is smack in the middle of several growing scandals: the Operation Fast and Furious gun-running debacle and the crony capitalism wrongdoing involving Solyndra and LightSquared.

Public safety and security are paramount. When an explosive is found on public land, we have an emergency situation that needs to be defused as soon as possible.

An email message calling for the removal of Hawaii Republican Party Chair Jonah Kaauwai was sent out to Hawaii Republican Party State Committee members yesterday. It is signed by eight members of the Hawaii GOP State Executive Committee....

Two years ago, as the United States was coming out of the last recession, President Obama was asked how raising taxes on anyone would help with the economy. The President's answer? "Normally you don't raise taxes in a recession, which is why we haven't, and why we've instead cut taxes."

Ed Case: "You may not like 100 percent of what you get from me….”

• Senate: Emergency Supplemental Disaster Relief Appropriations Resolution, 2011
• Senate: Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011
• House: Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act
• House: Protecting Jobs From Government Interference Act

Scandals involving cheating by teachers and schools to pump up ever-more-important student test scores swept the country this summer....

It's a "glut the beast" strategy the President has employed before--increase spending as much as possible, and then argue that the only answer to the massive deficits is to increase taxes.

When it comes to avoiding questions, even a Parisian Vacation is part of the strategy for Neil Abercrombie.

This is actually the fifth time in modern history that we've seen widespread fear that the world was running out of oil.

...all 5 official data sets show global cooling since 2002 while a third of all stations sustain a long term cooling trend for their entire history....

...people who would otherwise be considered at poverty level are paying Hawaii state income taxes on what little taxable income they receive. One would think that the Tax Review Commission would be the perfect venue for a discussion of that anomaly....

President Obama has tried to spin yet another one half billion dollar mistake but his own green friends won't let him: Solyndra bankruptcy was a disaster waiting to happen. Neil has been informed multiple times about Sopogy. What’s he going to do about it?

Hawaii has one of the healthiest economies in the country, bolstered by a large number of wealthy retirees and a robust tourism industry....

"[W]e can see the positive impacts [of the stimulus] right here at Solyndra." -- Barack Obama