October 13, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

October 13, 2010 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 3:02 PM :: 8851 Views

Merriman Robo Poll: Abercrombie, Aiona statistically tied

Hill Poll: Djou ahead 45-41

OHA debate Fact Check: Truth vs Abercrombie

Maui Hotel & Lodging Association Endorses Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan

Navy, Hunt Corp break promises to Save Ewa Dec 7 battlefield

Aiona Finnegan campaign unveils Policy Agenda for Native Hawaiian Issues

“Gall, spin, and breathtakingly misleading information”: Hanabusa on GM bailout debts

Leader Boehner Pledges Support to Secure Appropriations Seat for Charles Djou

Marc Hodges Endorses Alan Arakawa for Maui Mayor

How the Obama Tax Hikes Affect You

After 20 years in Congress, Abercrombie suddenly claims Hawaii not getting all the federal pork

Abercrombie, a Democrat, said public workers are among the state's best resources. He said the Lingle administration has not made enough use of federal money during the budget struggle….

Aiona, a Republican, said Abercrombie has not specified how he would find the money to end furloughs other than references to obtaining more federal dollars.

"Are you telling me that for 20 years you've been in Congress, and you haven't revealed to us where all the federal money is, Mr. Abercrombie?" he said.

KHON: Aiona and Abercrombie face off in live televised debate

HNN: Gubernatorial candidates debate Hawaiian issues and more

HFP: Abercrombie plan based on mystery money from Washington

Hanabusa has no response to facts presented in latest Djou ad

The ad's fine print cites numerous bills that Hanabusa voted on during her legislative career to back its claims. Hanabusa said yesterday she was still examining "the whole battery of bills" to determine how the ad reached its conclusions, but (in spite of not having any substantive response) said she believes the campaign should concentrate on substantive issues.

KITV: Hanabusa Blasts Critical Campaign Ad,

Volcanic Ash: Hanabusa’s critique of ad “not even close”

Political Radar: Photo opportunity (Photo comes from 2004 HA image of Hanabusa in Senate)

Thinking about retaliation.

Candidates Reinforce Campaign Themes Face-To-Face

Aiona’s political attacks have focused on portraying Abercrombie, a former congressman who won ten elections, as a Washington insider.

“That's one of the fundamental differences between myself and Neil,” Aiona told Khon2.

“He's bringing Washington politics to Hawaii and the people in Hawaii are well aware of what's happening in Washington - they don't want it. I'm about spending within your means.”

While the majority of registered voters live on Oahu Abercrombie and Aiona are also spending quite a bit of time on the neighbor islands. Both traveled to Molokai Saturday to campaign on the Friendly Isle.

Shapiro: Few votes in primary show appointed BOE is necessary

The primary election told us all we need to know about why we must pass the constitutional amendment to abolish the elected Board of Education and replace it with one appointed by the governor if we hope to fix our public schools.

Only 42.8 percent of Hawaii's registered voters turned out for the primary, and 51.1 percent of those left their ballots blank for the Maui BOE seat. In the Oahu at-large contest, where voters could make three choices, 42.6 percent of those voting opportunities were left blank.

Dismal voter participation has always blemished Hawaii's elected BOE, and it isn't likely to change….

Eva Moskowitz, founder of the Harlem Success Academy, a New York charter school that achieves 100 percent academic success with some of the most challenging students, says the education establishment wrongly blames inattentive parents and special-needs kids for failing schools.

"The problem is not the parents, the problem is not the students," she says. "The problem is the system that protects academic failure."

This is an opportunity to get the system pointed in a new direction -- and it's no place to leave the ballot blank, which is counted as a "no" vote.

GOP leader promises Djou key money post

"Charles would fight to curb government spending while working to ensure the Pacific Fleet, defense installations and military personnel in Hawaii have the resources they need to help keep America secure," Boehner said in a statement released by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party's political organization charged with winning seats in the House.

The Appropriations Committee controls the purse strings in the House. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Djou currently sits on the Budget and Armed Services committees.

WaPo: Hawaii 1st District Election 2010: Rep. Charles Djou takes on Colleen Hanabusa for reelection

Hawaii's 1st District features an interesting race between Rep. Charles Djou (R-HI) and Colleen Wakako Hanabusa. While Hawaii traditionally votes Democratic, its proclivity to return incumbents to office may work in Djou's favor.

POLITICO: Could Djou defy odds?

As they struggle to hang on to a House majority, Democrats have been counting on winning back Hawaii’s heavily Democratic 1st District — but new polls show Republican Rep. Charles Djou is in a stronger position than anticipated.

A poll from The Hill newspaper conducted by Penn Schoen Berland shows Djou leading state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, 45 percent to 41 percent, with 12 percent of voters still undecided. The poll, conducted Oct. 2-7, surveyed 406 likely voters and had a 4.9 percent margin of error.

RELATED: Hill Poll: Djou ahead 45-41

CB busts Hanabusa: GM Has Paid Off Its Bailout Debt FALSE

Hawaii's Democratic Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, who is running for Congress, says that federal bailouts aren't as ineffective as some critics say.

In an interview with KITV, Tuesday morning, Hanabusa said: "Reports are coming back that we may not be losing the kind of money that the people are saying. We may actually come out on the positive of some of the bailouts that was done. General Motors, for example, paid up their debt five years early." (Hanabusa's comments begin at 4:00.)

Abercrombie, Schatz, Hanabusa Agree on socialist health ‘care’

The Hawaii Primary Care Association, a non-profit organization with representatives from each member community health center and the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems that is supported by State and federal funds, sponsored a general election candidates’ forum at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu on Friday, October 8, 2010.

The forum featured Gubernatorial Candidate Neil Abercrombie, Lieutenant Governor Candidate Brian Schatz and Congressional District 1 Candidate Colleen Hanabusa – all Democratic candidates in the 2010 General Election.

Dooley: UH Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Involving Cancer Research Center Contract

Townsend Capital, a Maryland firm, was selected as developer by the regents in 2005 but filed suit last year after it was ousted as developer and replaced by Kobayashi Group, a local firm with “close personal ties to university administrators and regents,” the suit alleged….

Townsend alleged in its suit that its development contract was cancelled after the University hired former Kobayashi Group employee Brian Minaai in 2008 to oversee the project.

After the suit was filed, Alston said the University used a “secret political process” to select Kobayashi Group as the new developer.

Kobayashi Group has “close personal ties to university administrators and regents” and was named CRCH project manager “after the University gave a lead role in managing the CRCH project to a former employee of the Kobayashi Group,” the Townsend suit alleged.

Minaai worked from 2002-2005 as a Kobayashi Group project manager. He previously served as deputy director and director of the state Transportation Department in Gov. Ben Cayetano’s administration.

Jacking up your electric rates critical to cutting oil dependence

For 30 years now, our main electricity utility, Hawaiian Electric Co., has done the same thing over and over again under a system that allowed it to make money by selling more electricity generated from foreign oil. Hawaii needed to break or decouple the link between HECO's profitability and its electricity sales. (No. All we have to do is build non-oil power plants. And somehow this is impossible without jacking up electric rates, but building a $5B rail system is reasonable?) After thorough deliberation, the state Public Utilities Commission issued a historic decision in August to help do exactly that.

With decoupling, HECO is provided a target rate of return, set by regulators, that ensures the utility can maintain dependable service to all consumers; assure its investors will provide capital at lower rates to modernize and improve the electric system; and allow the electric company to fully support energy efficiency and renewable development.

In the long run, electric rates will stabilize because renewable energy generation does not rely on volatile oil prices.

(If you believe this, contact me about my ‘red hot’ deals on ocean view land at Kalapana. A river runs thru it!)

SA: Don't skip Laie planning steps

SA argues about how many hoops the Mormons have to jump thru before their plans to develop Laie are killed.

Hawaii joins nationwide effort to address practices by mortgage loan servicers

Hawaii's participation in the effort was announced Wednesday by Attorney General Mark Bennett and the executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, Stephen Levins.

Bennett's office says a number of mortgage loan servicers have submitted affidavits or signed other documents in support of foreclosures that appear to have procedural defects.

SA: Refinancing pains isle homeowners

IRS: 1,700 Hawaii nonprofits yet to file 990 forms

A law passed by Congress mandates that all nonprofits file either the 990-N, 990 or 990-EZ forms with the IRS. Government records show that 1,700 Hawaii nonprofits have not filed the forms for years 2007, 2008 and 2009, according to a prepared statement from the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations.

SA: Nonprofit groups in jeopardy

IRS info: http://hsblinks.com/2l2

NHLC and Hokulia attackers lead charge against Hawaiian Homelands

Their objective is to prevent DHHL from developing its commercial property so that the DHHL will become 100% dependent on the criminals in the legislature. This is necessary because the Lingle-Aiona administration has put far too many Hawaiians into homes. And unless Hawaiians are weak and wanting, they won’t need the OHA gang for anything.

Public funding labeled a 'success' by candidates

The latest progressive scheme….

Viewpoint: Maui Council Nishiki’s personal loan from Dowling is a current issue; questions about it remain

Among the unanswered questions:

* After missing the legal deadline, Mr. Nishiki received some half-dozen reminders from the secretary of the Board of Ethics before the final warning letter. The disclosure form is not complicated and Nishiki was familiar with it. So what exactly caused him to fail to respond each of those times?

* Since Mr. Nishiki states he does not meet with developers, what were the circumstances under which he became so close to Mr. Dowling that an unsecured personal note of $100,000 was provided upon request?

* What was the purpose of the loan? Mr. Nishiki has stated both that it was for his farmers market and that it was to give to his daughter for her business. And why did he need a loan, when his financial disclosure reflected that the year before he had received $200,000 cash back on a mortgage for his condominium unit, a condo that he reports was sold to him in 2007 for less than a third of its market value?

There is a reason that candidates and officeholders are required to disclose financial information. In his attacks against his opponent, Nishiki himself has emphasized the importance of monetary contributions. So why not step forward at this time and clarify his own financial ties?

Kauai Airport Embezzlement Case Widens

State airports officials said previously the supervisor admitted stealing about $13,000 in cash from payments for airport identity badges.

They said they have found more $2,857.82 in purchases that were definitely not authorized. They are reviewing boxes of documents seized from Kauai, but so far they have not been able to find any paperwork for hundreds of other transactions.

Kim said the list of transactions included inter-island air fare for the former employee, her fiance and his son. Kim blamed the situation on more than just the one employee.

"You have the people using the P-card and the people who are supposed to check on them. Who's going to check on the checker?” Kim asked.

Young Brothers squeeze consumers to defend monopoly: PUC ruling could hike rates, force service reductions

If the Public Utilities Commission allows a ruling that lets Pasha Hawaii Transport selectively service inter-island cargo routes stand, Hawaii residents will likely see a decrease in service and an increase in cargo costs, Young Brothers officials said Tuesday.

(Stick with the monopoly—or else)