Fact: Takai Voted for Pension Tax Twice
No New Taxes? Ige Broke Promise
Photo: Ige's Broken No New Taxes Pledge
David Ige Decries The Healthcare Disaster He Helped Create
ALEC: Hawaii Educational Progress Ranks 6th in USA
VIDEO: Hawaii National Guard Assists in Puna
Caldwell to host affordable housing town hall meeting
DoE Enrollment Drops Under New Kindergarten Plan
Hawaii Residents Have Coverage For Lava Flow Damage
Zombies, Vampires, and the Jones Act
Fact Check on Union's false education campaign claims
PBN: ...On Tuesday, I blogged here about claims being made about public education in Hawaii in mailers sent out by Hawaii Forward, which is the local face of two Mainland groups, the Democratic Governors Association and government worker union, AFSCME. That was inspired by a mailer I received Monday. Hawaii Forward has now mailed three versions of the same material, tripling down as it were.
Wednesday's example features Lunalilo Elementary School teacher Amber Tyndzik quoted as saying, "We can't forget what the Lingle-Aiona administration did: Furlough Fridays deep cuts to education [sic] we can't let Duke Aiona push his agenda again."
Back of the postcard: "As Linda Lingle's Lieutenant Governor, Republican Duke Aiona recklessly cut $100 million from our our public schools and implemented Furlough Fridays. Hawaii's schools were ranked 47th in the country because of Aiona's reckless policies."
On Tuesday, I explained how the Furlough Friday claim is false (nice to see the Star-Advertiser come to the same conclusion Thursday).
On the assertion that Hawaii's low rank nationally was "because of" budget cuts in 2009, as it's phrased in the latest mailer, I reminded readers that Hawaii's schools had ranked that poorly both long before, and after, the Lingle administration....
The Lingle administration began in December 2002, the first Republican administration since 1962, shortly after statehood in 1959. Here's a mailer I'd like to see from the Democratic Governors Association: Explain how 40 years of successive Democratic administrations resulted in a public school system that ranked fourth from the bottom by 2002. Please show your work.
read ... Union Propaganda Debunked
Donors Who Gave Abercrombie $5M Only Gave Ige $330K
SA: Many political donors and interest groups that had supported Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the past have gravitated toward state Sen. David Ige since the Democratic primary, a shift that has benefitted Ige's campaign both politically and financially.
Ige had his best fundraising performance after the primary, bringing in $1.2 million of the $1.9 million he has raised for the election. A Star-Advertiser analysis of state campaign-finance data shows that Ige received $330,625 -- or 28 percent -- since the primary from donors who had previously contributed to Abercrombie. $330K / $5M = 6%
Several labor unions and environmental interests that had stayed neutral during the primary have also since moved to Ige, including the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the United Public Workers and Sierra Club Hawaii. Several sources familiar with the deliberations said privately that the interest groups had lost faith in Abercrombie but were initially unsure about Ige as the alternative.
Donor Database: data.staradvertiser.com/govdata/govdata
read ... the 6% Solution?
NYT: Ige Not a Sure Thing
NYT: Mr. Ige beat out the governor with his low-key style, holding coffee hours around the state. He has the support of Hawaii’s two most powerful labor unions, opposes a proposal to put public money into private preschools, and plans to push development of the local tech industry. But a Democratic victory is not a sure thing, even in this traditionally blue state. It is not clear whether Mr. Abercrombie’s defeat will help or hurt Mr. Ige. At issue: the state’s troubled health exchange, rising homelessness and questions about how to balance tourism — the state’s economic engine — and sustainability....
Charles Djou, a Republican who served in the House from 2010 to 2011, filling Mr. Abercrombie’s vacant seat. (He was also a member of Honolulu City Council and the state House of Representatives). The outcome is uncertain: Mr. Djou has billed himself as a moderate in a blue state, a fiscally responsible candidate who aims to lower the state’s “crushing cost of living” and who already has a foot in the door in Washington.
read ... The New York Times
Borreca: Pension Tax is Defining Issue of Campaign
Borreca: ...the defining issue of this campaign season is something we don't do: tax pensions.
The federal government taxes pensions, 40 states tax pensions, and while Hawaii's general excise tax gets a piece of the action every time money changes hands, we do not tax pensions.
Still the threat of fulfilling the politically worst idea ever to come from Gov. Neil Abercrombie, the taxing of local citizens' pensions, reverberates through this campaign for governor. (Lesson for all politicians: Tax Hikes are Dangerous, Better Not Try)
Abercrombie has already been knocked out of the fight, he's on the canvas and isn't getting up, but the remaining combatants are still fighting about how much they won't tax your pension.
While former GOP Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona has been critical of Abercrombie and the pension tax, it is the mainland Republican operatives, trying to elect Aiona governor who have opened a new offensive....
read ... GOP Message Controls Debate in Hawaii Governor's Race
Hawaii taxpayers would spend millions on private preschools if amendment passes
HR: Rep. Gene Ward, R-Hawaii Kai, said he supports the amendment.
“I see there is a divide in our country between the educated and uneducated. I believe this program can pump up education and help close that education gap,” Ward said. “”Education is the key survival for this nation. We cannot afford to be so far left behind.”
If the amendment passes, the state would set aside $125 million a year to fund the program, and that amount could increase in future years.
Rep. Bob McDermott, R-Aiea, said he doesn’t support the amendment, in large part because the state can't afford it.
“There will be a huge tax increase to support the new program,” McDermott said.
“Campbell High School has not had air-conditioning on its campus for 50 years. At Nanikuli and Waianae High Schools, the dropout rate is 30 percent, 68 percent of who go to prison. This amendment is focused on the wrong things. It’s a baby-siting service as far as I am concerned.”
As Ballotpedia notes, Amendment 4 isn't a voucher program, rather, it's a direct payment to preschools. About 17,500 youngsters would be eligible.
Hawaii already provides vouchers through its Open Doors program, which subsidizes private preschool tuition for about 420 low-income families.
read ... Millions
Kauai Council to Vote on Repeal of Failed Anti-GMO Law
KE: Kauai Councilmen Mel Rapozo and Ross Kagawa will introduce a bill to repeal Ordinance 960 — the county's controversial pesticide/GMO regulatory law — at the first Council meeting after the election.
Proposed Bill 2562 calls for repealing the hotly contested law from the county code. It's scheduled for first reading on the Nov. 5 Council agenda, which was just posted this afternoon.
In their communication submitting the proposed bill, Ross and Mel thank the Council in advance for its "thoughtful discussion of the matter."
Though Ordinance 960 was overturned by a federal court order, the Council voted to appeal the decision in court. Meanwhile, the county is enjoined from implementing the law, which imposed buffer zone and restricted use pesticide disclosure requirements on four seed companies and Kauai Coffee.
Proposed Bill 2562 would wipe the law off the books, rendering the appeal process essentially moot.
read ... Repeal Prohibition
Billionaire Demands Peasants Be Forced to Participate in Gay Marriages
AO: In his essay coming out as gay, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook criticised an Arizona proposal that would have given private business owners the ability to deny services to gay people (refuse to participate in gay marriage ceremonies) on religious grounds.
MR: How activists can stop the ‘gay marriage’ steamroller
read ... About Your Gay Lords
Manoa Tranny Accused of Child Molestation
HR: The RICO investigator also asked Susott for more detail about a lawsuit filed against him by his brother, Paul Susott, in 2010, which among the many salacious allegations, claims the doctor sexually and financially abused their mother and caused her death, and sexually molested children.
Susott is under additional scrutiny by the DCCA because his business partner in a Cambodian child adoption organization he founded was convicted of visa fraud and money laundering in 2004.
In addition, a 1992 news article on Susott entitled “The man who sells babies” is now also part of Susott’s file with the DCCA. Susott said the article falsely “paints him as a child molester” and someone who “sold babies.” He said the article contains “some really yellow journalism.”
read ... A Story About a Tranny
Felony: Anti-GMO Activist Offers to Buy Votes
CB: Did a supporter of the Maui ballot initiative calling for a temporary moratorium on GMO farming offer to buy votes to help get the measure passed?
That’s what the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office is currently looking into.
Michael Lilly, a Honolulu attorney, sent an email to the AG and the state Offices of Elections on Oct. 17 asking them to examine what appears to be a Facebook post offering services in exchange for a “yes” vote:
I am forwarding the attached snapshot from a facebook page by someone called Luna Carlisle offering to pay anyone for voting “YES” on the Maui Farm Ban initiative in the upcoming election. The page concludes, “I don’t mind buying votes!!”
I am not an expert in election laws, but 42 USCS § 1973i(c) makes it a felony to offer to pay or accept payment for a vote. I assume Hawai`i has a similar law.
Please take whatever action you deem appropriate under the circumstances.
Lilly, who served as attorney general and first deputy attorney general of Hawaii from 1981 to 1985, confirmed for Civil Beat today that he sent the inquiry. He says a screen shot of the Facebook post was emailed to him from a Maui constituent.
“Merely offering to pay for a vote is a violation of Hawaii’s election laws, and it carries a prison term of not more than two years and a fine not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000,” he said, adding that it is a felony at the federal level, too.
Best Comment: "These people want laws, but only for others. They are narcissists with a messiah complex who are continually shocked when their illegal and/or immoral actions are called out."
read ... Headed for Prison
HUD: Hawaii Homelessness up 18%
CB: ...The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued its latest estimates on homelessness Thursday based on its annual point-in-time count.
And while many places throughout the country have watched their numbers dwindle, Hawaii’s continues to rise.
HUD estimates that the state’s homeless population increased by 18 percent from 2010 to 2014, from 5,834 to 6,918. Nationwide, there has been a 10 percent decrease, from 640,466 to 578,424....
read ... Homelessness
Housing law protects pothead renters
SA: Medical marijuana advocates are applauding a new law that aims to improve housing protection by voiding provisions in state rental agreements that had allowed a tenant's eviction based on their status as a registered medical marijuana patient.
Act 60, enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year, takes effect Saturday.
Background: HB1503: Prohibit Landlords from Evicting Marijuana Smokers
read ... Medicated
Who’s getting coveted school geographic exceptions?
KHON: A lot of parents want their kids to go to the best public school, but what happens when you live outside the district?
How do schools decide which kids get a geographic exception? It’s not that easy to find out.
KHON2’s Gina Mangieri has been digging into the geographic exception process for months.
One of the big discoveries is that the Department of Education doesn’t have the ability to track who’s getting them and why.
GEs are supposed to allow kids to go to a public school outside their neighborhood for reasons like academic programs or specific family needs. Sports and extracurriculars are not on the reason to switch list.
read ... School Choice
Apple Saved UH From Losing Even More Money on Basketball Payouts
SA: ...the public already has a glimpse at what's going on behind the NCAA curtain, and it doesn't look promising. Earlier in the investigation process, UH turned in a report to the association about an incident from Jan. 9. According to information obtained by the Star-Advertiser under the state's open records law, the university reported that "a men's basketball coach submitted an altered document that was essential for admissions purposes."
Looking beyond the impact on player Fotu and the rest of the team, the fact that UH is once again firing managers and paying off expensive contracts is simply galling. It seems former UH-Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple did everyone a favor by not signing off on Arnold's full three-year contract renewal before his own sudden departure in July.
Arnold, who was about to enter the fifth season as head coach, was re-upped only through June 30. His salary for the 2014-2015 season is $344,000, and he will be paid off in a lump sum. Both he and Akana will be officially employed through Jan. 26; Akana will get no compensation past that date.
SA: No matter who is to blame, UH has itself another mess
read ... Clear the air for UH basketball
Garden Isle Newspaper Continues to Help Bogus 'Foodbank'
KE: It's Halloween, a time when people hide their true identity, pretend to be something they're not and beg for treats under threat of tricks. Which provides the perfect opportunity to rip the mask off the Kauai Independent Food Bank.
I've been hesitant to divulge the gore, thinking surely folks would wise up. But I had to say something after seeing one too many newspaper fluff pieces, especially those that include ignorant quotes from people who should know better:
read ... Musings: Thoroughly Tricked
FCC Rules Changes to Address Hawaii 911 Outage
WSJ: The proposal also seeks to address technical challenges that have emerged in areas where phone networks have evolved. While the new technology can support more advanced 911 calling features such as text messages or video, the process of completing 911 calls has become more complicated. For example, some local 911 calls are often rerouted through other geographic locations, meaning outages in one part of the country can have unexpected effects elsewhere, the agency said. Even some software glitches have resulted in major outages.
The entire state of Hawaii, for instance, was unable to complete 911 calls for 20 hours this year as a result of such problems, the FCC said. The state of Vermont also lost 911 service for more than 40 minutes because of two equipment failures. Nationwide, more than 40 million people were unable to make 911 calls for about two hours during one wireless carrier 911 outage.
The agency’s five commissioners are likely to vote on the proposals in November. If approved, the proposals will go up for public comment before reaching a decisive vote by the commissioners sometime likely next year.
read ... The Wall Street Journal
Campaign News:
QUICK HITS: