March 17, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

March 17, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 12:28 PM :: 9992 Views

LINK>>>VIDEO: Djou files for election, releases first commercial

LINK>>>Senate Committees vote to hike GE Tax 22% to 25%

LINK>>>Military voting law could affect Hawaii primary date

LINK>>>Taxed Enough Already: No new taxes rally in Kona April 15

LINK>>>VIDEO: Hawaii Senate Committee considering retroactive 55% Death Tax

WSJ: Tide Turns for GOP Candidate in Hawaii--Bickering Between Democrats in a Special Congressional Race Might Give First Republican in Decades a Chance at Victory

HONOLULU—One of the important elements of Hawaiian culture is ohana, which means family. But two Democratic candidates running in a May special congressional race here aren't feeling like ohana right now, giving island Republicans a chance to win in this longtime Democratic stronghold.

The Aloha State has an unusual special-election structure in which the candidate with the most votes wins without a primary or runoff. The two bickering Democrats in the race—former Congressman Ed Case and Hawaii state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa—might split the vote and give a Republican a rare shot at victory in this state. If GOP candidate ...

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ADV Polls GE Tax Hike

Key Senate committees have approved raising the general excise tax from 4% to 5% (it would be 5.5% on Oahu). You think:

4,152 votes (results not scientific)

The So-called "Oil Tax" Bill is up for a Vote in Hawaii Legislature

Life of the Land: Coal and palm oil biodiesel are far worse in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and Asian palm oil biodiesel practices are causing cultural genocide and ecosystem destruction….HB 2421 instead promotes the first phase of a multi-billion-dollar inter-island cable that will not be ready for use for 5-10 years. This diverts money away from building renewable energy alternatives now and instead focuses on costly infrastructure. Moloka`i and Lana`i residents object to 41-story wind towers on their islands to power O`ahu….Would raise taxes during a recession. Working class people who live in Kapolei and work Downtown or in Waikiki and people who live in Hilo and work in Kona would be impacted the most….

BIG BROTHER: The bill supports planning for "Smart Grid" infrastructure improvements where your local utility can monitor moment-by-moment energy use for each ratepayer. With computers the utility would be able to determine when different appliances are turned on and when you are not home.

HU HONUA: The money raised would finance planning for the Hu Honua, a Hilo biofuel facility, which should not be built.

ADV: Saving jobs but not making them

Even with that reset, unemployment insurance taxes paid by Hawai'i businesses remain the highest in the nation, costing the average business about $630 a year per employee. And the reset is only temporary. Like so many other "until the economy improves" measures, the tax will rocket up to $1,500 per average worker in two years, so we'll be having this discussion again before too long.

Gov. Linda Lingle and business interests had sought an even lower unemployment tax to take effect immediately. That would have certainly helped businesses trying to maintain their financial footing and maybe even encouraged some of them to do some hiring.

But the bottom line is that businesses got a break and the Legislature gets points for understanding what was at stake.

(Wrong. The anti-business mentality of most Democrat legislators is what prevents Hawaii from solving this problem. They ARE the problem.)

Matson Campaigns for Hanabusa

Matson, in its solicitation, calls the Jones Act “The single most important piece of legislation to Matson” and adds “It is important that whoever is elected to take Neil Abercrombie's place in the House understands the importance of the Jones Act to Hawaii. Colleen Hanabusa is the only candidate who understands the importance of the Jones Act. The other two candidates, Ed Case and Charles Djou, want to exempt Hawaii from the Jones Act. When Case was in Congress before, he introduced three bills in Congress that would have amended or repealed the Jones Act. Matson was able to galvanize support from other Members of Congress to defeat the bills.”

See the corporatists’ letter here: Letter to Matson employees

Neil’s First TV Ad is an Ode to the “Old Boy Network””

Watching this thing got me thinking about Walter Heen and the other “old boys” that have glomed onto the Abercrombie candidacy. Ben Cayetano, Dickie Wong and Walter Heen were part of an era when Hawaii politics had pretty much sunk as low as it could get.

Albatross: Hanabusa wins HSTA endorsement

The Hawaii State Teachers Association on Tuesday endorsed state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa in the special election for the Congressional seat vacated by Neil Abercrombie.

Democrat Borreca pretends to argue State school system ripe for major change

(Deceptive headline. Borreca’s bottom line is that the DoE needs more money. While Borreca speaks of “responsibility” and “action” he steers any uninformed readers away from the real debate which is over placing the DoE under the direct control of the next Governor. Informed readers simply laugh at this cheap HSTA/BoE/DoE propaganda effort.)

Honolulu rail route too close to runways, may have to shift: City, state, federal officials will discuss options today

The delay "could be anything from probably a week from now to getting delayed three to six months," said City Council Chairman Todd Apo…

Council members Romy Cachola and Ann Kobayashi, who also met with the FTA last week, said their impression was that the runway protection zone encroachment remains a major, unresolved issue.

"It's a big issue in the sense that we were told that without the FAA signing off, nothing will happen," said councilman Romy Cachola. The city "has to do something to correct it."

The airport issue as well as mitigation of the train's impact on mauka to makai views and historic sites still need to be addressed, Kobayashi said.

"For the (environmental impact study) this airport thing has to be settled," she said. "It'll be awhile. You can't just rush into things."

SB: Ban tobacco from the mail (But but but the Akaka Tribe might want to sell it)

(The SB Editors have bumbled onto the reason the Akaka Tribe would destroy Hawaii—but they are too dopey to recognize it or too cowardly to mention it.)

A bill that would ban the shipment of cigarettes and certain tobacco products through the U.S. Postal Service was approved unanimously by the Senate last week. A companion bill was approved by the House last year by a 397-11 vote. The House is now expected to approve the Senate version and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

"So it comes down to Obama," Lance Morgan of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska told Indian Country Today. "He is an adopted Crow and he says all the right things, but this is real and not the campaign trail."

Indian tribes, which have built a lucrative industry by selling tax-free cigarettes, are asking Obama to send it back to Congress for an amendment exempting Indian tribes, but that would defy present law. (What Indian Tribes can do the Akaka Tribe can do as well.)

(Another day, another ban—this one will be a boon or UPS & Fedex. BTW--Wasn’t the SB editorializing for marijuana legalization last week?)

Sac Bee: Hawaiians, mountain in 'Avatar'-like struggle (Na’vi are now scamming $50M/year for OHA?)

Embarrassingly stupid Gramscian drivel published by Sacramento Bee.

Historical errors deconstructed: Hawaiian Observatories

REALITY EXPLAINED: Telescope: The Shakedown begins, Thirty Meter Telescope Selects Mauna Kea -- Let the looting begin

State hearing to consider Maui wind power plant

First Wind LLC plans to develop a 21 megawatt wind farm on about 143 acres of state conservation district lands in West Maui. The site is southeast of the company's first Kaheawa wind power plant.

The plan outlines steps the company plans to minimize, avoid, and mitigate impacts on four threatened or endangered species: the ua'u or Hawaiian petrel, a'o or Newell's shearwater, the nene and the 'ope'ape'a or Hawaiian hoary bat.

Will legislature allow “Brewpubs” more than 10,000 Barrels of Production a Year?

Currently a brewpub is limited to 10,000 barrels of production in a given year. We are fortunate as a State that brewing has been successful to the point that we must raise the limit. In today's economy we must nurture businesses that are contributing to our growth and not stifle them.

Musicians union slams the symphony's 'brass'

The Honolulu Symphony Society's management is "incapable" of reorganizing, alleges a U.S. Bankruptcy Court filing yesterday by the Musicians' Association of Hawaii.

The union is asking the court to either appoint a trustee for the case, convert it to a Chapter 7 liquidation or dismiss it outright.

The symphony's lawyer, Jerrold Guben, said he will file motions to extend the period of time to file a reorganization plan and to consider whether to assume or reject the collective bargaining agreement in place.