July 29, 2011 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

Hawaii Daily News Read

Friday, July 29, 2011

July 29, 2011 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 11:13 AM :: 21636 Views

Default? Bankers, State pool money to keep Cash flowing to Federally Funded Cronies

Kaauwai salutes Past GOP Chairs: Lingle, Kane, Morioka, Aiona, Lee

Djou: Look forward to 2012

Nobody told Abercrombie that UPW government workers are voting to authorize strike

To date, the state and the four counties have held two rounds of negotiations with the UPW's Executive Negotiating Committee. Both meetings were handled by the Office of Collective Bargaining, which assists the governor in contract talks with public worker unions. The first meeting occurred in May according to Donalyn Dela Cruz, Gov. Abercrombie’s spokesperson. The most recent negotiating session was held last week.
Despite the recent talks the governor was unaware UPW was in the midst of a statewide strike authorization vote when asked about it on Thursday.
"I don't choose to concentrate on the negative and I don't threaten anybody so I can't comment on that kind of thing,” said the governor. “That doesn't sound like a very good negotiating point, but I'm not aware of anything like you just mentioned.”

SA: United Public Workers considers striking

HNN: Strike Could Be on the Horizon for UPW

Abercrombie gets it wrong: There have been two UPW negotiating sessions

Asked about news reports that the United Public Workers — another public sector union with an expired contract — might go on strike during the APEC conference in November, the governor said, "I don't know anything about that at all. ... We have not met with the UPW because they haven't chosen to ever meet. Everything has been from their point of view off the record. It's very difficult to negotiate when no one ever sits down to do it."

He added, "I'm concentrating on good-faith negotiations, so any speculation about worst-case scenarios is just that — it's speculation."

The governor said he hoped to agree to a contract similar in terms to the one accepted by the Hawaii Government Employees Association this spring.

What about the HGEA's most-favored nation clause? If UPW gest something better that HGEA, what happens?

The governor's response: "I have no intention of asking someone to do something that I don't ask from someone else."

Roll Call: Djou Eyeing Comeback

Former Rep. Charles Djou (R) is looking at his options to again serve Hawaiians, signaling in a Thursday email to supporters that he could be back in Congress, citing the need for a “balanced delegation.”

There are two open seats Djou can run for next year, as Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) is retiring and Rep. Mazie Hirono (D) is running for his seat. Djou won’t run for Senate unless former Gov. Linda Lingle (R), who is strongly considering a bid, decides against it.

Hanabusa Attacks … Abercrombie

In Washington, Hanabusa questioned the need for Abercrombie to announce his contingency plan publicly.

On Wednesday, during a "telephone town hall" conference call, Hanabusa sought to ease constituents' fears saying she was confident a deal would get done before Tuesday and that the president would place a high priority on making Social Security and Medicare payments on time.

"The governor is going to have to do what he thinks is in the best interest of the state," she said. "My issue is, Why would you make it something that would affect people and give them a sense of insecurity when you can prepare for it without making a public statement?"

News Release: Default? Bankers, State pool money to keep Cash flowing to Federally Funded Cronies

Djou: City Council should have oversight over Water Board budget

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is out of control.Over the past several years, BWS has had problems with overpaying management, vague workplace rules and lax fiscal standards.Now BWS seeks a rate increase totaling 70 percent over five years.

The time has come for the Honolulu City Council to re-examine the level of oversight it should be exercising over BWS operations.Currently, the mayor appoints and the City Council confirms the members of the board.Unfortunately, the mayor and Council have failed to hold the board accountable or carefully scrutinize its spending habits.

Today, BWS is asking the public to stomach a whopping 70 percent increase in water rates.If any other public body, whether it be the U.S. Congress, the Legislature or the City Council, were to seek a 70 percent increase in taxes, the response by the public at the polls would be swift and clear.

Shapiro: Is Water Board out of control?

Borreca: State-led development can be risky proposition (Act 55)

Magic Island, renamed Aina Moana or "land from the sea," was supposed to be the first of three big developer visions: islands from landfill.

The 1960s plan would turn living reefs into hotels….

This happened shortly after another Hawaii grand plan: filling in Salt Lake. It was once Hawaii's only natural lake. It covered 230 acres, it was mentioned as the one-time home of Pele and home to endangered waterfowl.

It was also fee-simple land that could be developed into homes and condos for Hawaii's newly emerging middle class. It pitted the Democrats against Hawaiians, who had not yet found their voice, as well as conservationists and even the ILWU.

To squeeze in the development and fill in the lake, construction on conservation land would have to happen…..

Today Democrats are looking to Act 55, signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in May. It creates a public land development corporation to launch "appropriate and culturally sensitive public land development programs."

The state corporation can buy, build and run "leisure, recreational, commercial, residential, timeshare, hotel office space and business facilities."

The purpose is to "make optimal use of public lands for the economic, environmental and social benefit of the people of Hawaii."

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz did the heavy lifting to get the bill passed. He says Hawaii is stagnant, something needs to be done to get us back in the economic game, to get jobs and move.

Homeless Sweep: City promises to develop sudden interest in cleaning Sidewalks, Parks during APEC

The city has no intention of moving homeless people from Waikiki for November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, but parks and sidewalks could be temporarily cleared for cleanup, a city official told a group of state legislators Thursday.

Bridget Holthus, deputy director of the Department of Community Services, sought to allay concerns that city officials will begin removing the homeless as the leaders of 21 nations, including President Barack Obama, gather on Oahu.

"If people are thinking there's going to be some form of roundup and people are going to be arrested and relocated because they're homeless … that is not something the city would do," Holthus told the Star-Advertiser after a House briefing at the state Capitol. "Even if we wanted to do that, which we don't, it's not something you can do in this society."

The city Departments of Parks and Recreation and Facility Maintenance, however, might need to clean up parks and sidewalks for APEC, Holthus said.

"When they do that, they often have to ask people to temporarily move while they clean. It's not APEC-specific, though," she said.

Unions Complain Bitterly about return to 50-50 on Health Care, EUTF hikes rates

Most state and county workers in Hawaii saw a $45 to $250 drop in take-home pay this month because they are now paying a larger share of their health insurance costs.

More than 36,000 workers in the Hawaii Government Employees Association, University of Hawaii Professional Assembly and Hawaii State Teachers Association are now paying 50 percent of their health insurance premiums, up from 40 percent or less.

The change took effect with a new contract on July 1. Even though it was announced earlier, it still came as a surprise to many when they got their July 20 paychecks….

The new premium-split does not apply to workers in the United Public Workers union, the HGEA's registered nurses unit, the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association or the State of Hawaii Police Officers Union, who are still negotiating new contracts. It also doesn't apply to Hawaii County workers. Hawaii island decided to continue to pay 60 percent of its workers' health insurance premiums.

But among government workers affected, employees with the lowest rates previously are seeing the biggest increases. That includes workers who opted for plans in which a worker pays a high deductible before getting coverage, but a lower monthly premium.

Rates have soared more than 150 percent on average for 325 workers covered under high-deductible plans and more than 70 percent for 1,100 employees in Kaiser Permanente Hawaii's basic plan, EUTF said.

HGEA, the state's largest public employee union, agreed earlier this year to a 5 percent pay cut and an even split between employers and workers on health insurance costs.

The Department of Education unilaterally implemented pay cuts, furloughs and health insurance increases this month for 12,500 teachers.

The EUTF, in an effort to inform affected workers of the change to employee medical premium contributions, emailed and posted the new premium contribution charts on its website July 7.

While government workers are paying a larger share of health insurance costs, premiums themselves did not rise on July 1. However, most premiums are likely to increase on Jan. 1, EUTF's Coriell said.

Remember this? $126M Giveaway: Abercrombie quietly boosts spending on Public Employees’ Insurance

Hawaii County Redistricting panel won't count military, students

Unlike its state counterpart, the Hawaii County Redistricting Commission has agreed to leave nonresident military families and students out of its population counts when drawing new political maps.

The problem is, those excluded populations haven't yet been removed from the state software the county is relying on, a factor that had the county board chafing Thursday as its deadline for community input approaches….

Hawaii County has only a handful of nonresident military families, so their number isn't expected to change boundaries. But the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Hawaii Community College have a combined 1,388 nonresident students, the vast majority of whom live in East Hawaii. (And the Kona faction is desperate to not count them!)

Even Without Challenger, Carlisle Rakes In Cash

Carlisle pulled in more than $280,000 in campaign contributions in the first six months of this year, according to a document filed with the Hawaii State Campaign Spending Commission last week. That's without an announced challenger — and the total might discourage contenders from taking him on.

The total — $282,728 — is more than Ed Case has collected in his run for the U.S. Senate so far this year. Without another 2012 mayoral candidate to compare it against, history can be instructive.

In the year between when then-Prosecuting Attorney Carlisle ramped up his campaign for mayor in the fall of 2009 and the special election he won last September, he pulled in about $580,000, according to the last filing covering that race. The new fundraising numbers mean he's kept up the pace from last year even though we're still 16 months away from the 2012 election.

But Carlisle's fundraising prowess is modest when compared against other mayors. In the equivalent reporting period for his 2008 reelection campaign, Hannemann raised $479,858 from January through June, 2007 — about $200,000 more than Carlisle's recent collections. And Carlisle was dramatically outraised by his main opponent last year, as Acting Mayor Kirk Caldwell collected about $1.2 million.

Appeal: Honolulu Ignored $700 Million in Extra Rail Costs for Taxpayers

A true cost analysis of the 30-year life cycle of the rail cars shows the city might spend an extra $700 million of taxpayers' money with Ansaldo, the company the city of Honolulu in March awarded a more than $1 billion rail contract.

That was the gist of testimony from an expert witness hired by losing bidder Sumitomo to bolster its appeal of the contract award. William Rennicke, a partner at the international consultant firm Oliver Wyman, performed the analysis and said Sumitomo would have won the contract if evaluators had properly interpreted the city's instruction to consider "life cycle" costs.

"If you don't look at the entire life of that transaction, and you focus your decisions or your evaluations on only a subset ... you can get very severe distortions from what is ultimately reality," ….

(Yes, but Ansaldo’s parent company may have that badly needed slush fund….)

CB: Rail Bid Judges Ignored Ansaldo's Past Problems

CB: Most Oahu Parcels Within Two Miles of Rail Station

Two More Board Members Resist Abercrombie

Two more Stadium Authority members say they’re staying on board — one of whom was previously reported to have said he was resigning….

Alexander Kane and Lawrence Tseu told Civil Beat Thursday that they’re staying put.

Earlier this month, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a blog post reported that the governor’s office had received verbal notification of Tseu’s intent to step down from his post. Donalyn Dela Cruz, Abercrombie’s press secretary, confirmed the report with Civil Beat.

But Tseu says he never even contemplated resigning, noting that he had been bent on declining the governor’s request since receiving the letter.

“I don’t intend to resign,” he said at the Stadium Authority’s board meeting Thursday. “There’s too much to do, too much to finish up. We’ve been very productive. I’m surprised the governor even thought about replacing us.”

When asked why Abercrombie’s office heard otherwise, Tseu was at a loss.

“I have no idea how it came about,” he said.

Stadium Authority appointee Kane had mulled over Abercrombie’s letter for weeks. It wasn’t until Thursday that he confirmed his decision to decline the governor’s request.

Kay Ahina, also of the Stadium Authority, told Civil Beat Wednesday that she was staying put. Like Kane, she had contemplated Abercrombie's request for some time before going public with her decision.

Political Radar: Staying

State homeless Czar: Homeless Tent Cities ineffective

State Rep. Rida Cabanilla said a safe zone would give people who are living in parks on sidewalks a place to stay, and it would reduce threats to public health caused by people living on the streets.

"One of the beauties of a safe zone as a temporary solution is that if you put a safe zone with a toilet and running water, it will be more attractive to those people who are just squatting outside," said Cabanilla, D-Waipahu-Ewa.

But Alexander also told lawmakers he didn't believe safe zones would help end homelessness.

He said the state was focused on what he sees as the three most effective ways to solve homelessness: increasing the availability of affordable housing, helping the chronically homeless move into permanent housing and supporting them after they do, and helping homeless get jobs.

HR: Trail of Tears: Homeless Advocates Struggle to Help Hawaii’s Homeless Families on Oahu’s West Side

Abercrombie Appoints Obamacare Czar

The governor chose Beth Giesting for the newly created position of Health care Transformation Coordinator.

Giesting has been the chief executive officer of at Hawaii Primary Care Association and was the executive director of the Kalihi-Palama Health Center and Services Administration. (Big supporters of Abercrombie’s Meidcal Homes scheme.)

Giesting's role is to improve the health of Hawaii residents and the health care.

"Health is one issue that affects everyone in Hawaii," Giesting said. "We need and can have a healthcare system that encourages healthy behavior and coordinates care for better outcomes, lower costs, and improved patient and provider satisfaction. I am so excited to be working toward these goals with Gov. Abercrombie and with the health care community."

The new coordinator's job also includes improving health information technology, collaborating with government agencies and health care providers, increasing quality and reducing costs for the state's employee health care system and Medicaid program.

HNN: Governor announces new state healthcare coordinator

KITV: Hawaii Caregivers Face Many Challenges

Musto: Governor’s Office does not ask our opinion or advice

However, Musto added, union members can't get everything they want through collective bargaining, which is why they campaign hard for political candidates sympathetic to UH interests to make sure the institution maintains a fair share of the state budget.

As for the union and the UH, he said, there doesn't have to be war.

"People see the world as a zero-sum game," he said, "so whatever the faculty gets, it comes at a cost to the university. I don't. I think it's a symbiotic relationship, frankly. They can't exist without each other, so we have to think in those terms, the long-term stability of the institution, and a stability to the faculty."

…In the long term, it is the institution that will survive, and you want it to survive. The worst thing would be to behave parasitically in any manner, which then causes the host to die. No one wants that….

…I know absolutely nothing about the bargaining with HSTA other than what I’ve read. I have no personal or even organizational direct contacts with HSTA. They neither seek our advice, ask our opinion or offer us information. Likewise on the governor’s office.

I am, however, extraordinarily worried about the resolution of this bargaining dispute taking place in a judicial setting, or an administrative law setting, the HLRB (Hawaii Labor Relations Board). That worries me a lot….

I am afraid that you can also, in the public sector, win the battle and lose the war. In other words, win in HLRB and the courts, only to have our state Legislature turn around and say, “The only problem is we just need to change this law, so we take away any advantage you might have had, or you gained through this process.”

What Degrees Native Hawaiians Are Earning

It turns out Native Hawaiians earn the same degrees their peers do, and in similar percentages.

Civil Beat obtained the number of degrees earned by both Native Hawaiians and the total student body at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and from which colleges. The numbers are from fall 2009 and spring 2010 graduations.

While the largest number of students chose the liberal arts and education, the data show that a higher percentage of Native Hawaiians earned degrees in engineering and medicine than among their peers. Fewer Native Hawaiians earned business degrees.

Keith Rollman, Council Candidates form Recycling Company

Three men active in local politics and a finance expert have come together to find ways to recycle Hawaii’s waste.

The newly formed Kokua Renewable Energy Inc. is the creation of Bob McDermott, a three-term state House representative; Matthew LoPresti, a member of the Ewa Beach Neighborhood Board; Keith Rollman, a former senior adviser with the City and County of Honolulu’s I.T. Department; and Dean Robin, a financial systems analyst.

CB March 21, 2011: Rollman, LoPresti, and McDermoitt lobby against Schnitzer Steel in the recent dispute over its tipping fees

Fred Blas takes to Radio Waves in Search of Leads on Papaya Attacks

Councilman Fred Blas is determined to help the victimized farmers, and is taking his plea to the airways… all in an attempt to get someone to come forward with information. At last count, a reward had passed $3,400.

Impatient with the state, man acts on his own to have log removed at Sandy Beach

The log is more than 40 feet long and weighs an estimated 6,000 pounds.

He called the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to have it removed. But when the DLNR didn't give him the answer he wanted, he decided to act on his own Thursday….

Bond said, "but what I didn't take into consideration was that by dragging it onto the beach, I removed it from the DLNR and I put it in the hands of the (city) parks department."

The city may be using the log now to block people from taking off-road vehicles onto the beach, but its future is uncertain.

78% of Hawaii Elevators have Expired Inspection Permits

The next time you’re in a building with an elevator, you may want to consider taking the stairs.

Of the state’s 6,700 elevators and related systems, 78 percent have expired operating permits, said Jennifer Shishido, an administrator for Hawai‘i’s Occupational Safety and Health Department. Elevators throughout the Isles must be examined and tested by a state elevator inspector annually as required by Chapter 397 of the state’s Boiler and Elevator Safety Law.

Yet, some Kaua‘i elevators — including at government facilities and a major hospital — hold permits that expired as far back as 2008, meaning the state has not inspected them in about four years.

“A lot of it is our fault,” Shishido said. “We’re just not able to get there.”

She attributed the shortcoming to departmental underfunding and a 20-year history of “chronic” understaffing.

Kauai Airport Manager is Fired

A month ago, a fired business services supervisor at Lihue Airport was charged by the Attorney General's office with three counts of 2nd degree theft. State transportation officials said Maycia-Rae Matsuyoshi, 36, of Kapaa, admitted to stealing about $13,000 in state airport funds over several months.

She was a former co-worker of Crabbe before being hired four years ago, sources said. A background check when she was hired found no criminal convictions, according to a state transportation official.

Lihue paid $75,000 to the Transportation Security Administration for 15 security lapses between March of 2009 and March of 2010. It was the only Hawaii airport to face security fines during that period.

In another incident, Crabbe lost track of two people he was escorting behind security checkpoints on September 11, 2009. That resulted in the Lihue Airport terminal being evacuated and shut down so passengers could be re-screened.

In late 2008, an airport operations controller frustrated with management at Lihue walked off the job and no one notified personnel officials to stop his paycheck for weeks, so he was overpaid about $5,000.

S Korean President to Koreans: Take two weeks off, but vacation in Korea, not Hawaii

Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s president, has called on his people to boost the domestic economy by taking their holidays at home rather than jetting off to traditional favourites like Cebu, Guam and Hawaii. His tourism chief has gone a step further and wants workaholic Koreans to take a full (and hitherto unthinkable) two weeks off.

The president’s exhortation comes rather late but reflects his growing concern that South Korea’s domestic economy is doing pretty poorly compared with mighty groups such as Hyundai and Samsung, who seem to be getting rich in their own cocooned, export-driven world.

Horizon Lines still making a profit on Hawaii, anti-trust Fine Reduced

Horizon’s $45M anti-trust fine reduced to $15M….

Herkes to pitch Foreclosure Law to Western States’ Lawmakers

House Consumer Protection Chairman Rep. Bob Herkes (D, Volcano-Kainaliu) will be part of a panel discussing the state's mortgage foreclosure reform law passed this year. The law prohibits lenders from holding nonjudicial foreclosure auctions until borrowers have an opportunity to participate in a dispute resolution program.

Herkes said the law has gained some attention nationwide, and he expects to have a frank discussion with fellow lawmakers about the difficulties in getting it passed. Hawaii's law was based largely on recommendations of a 2010 task force and expanded during the 2011 legislative session.

"I'm going to say to the other states, ‘Don't think it's going to be easy for you to pass a bill like this,'" he said. "Because I think there'll be widespread offshore bank opposition."

New Law clogs System, causes temporary decline in Hawaii Foreclosures

Honolulu's improved ranking was influenced by a state law enacted in May, according to local foreclosure attorneys.

The law primarily intended to force lenders to make better efforts at negotiating loan modification plans with borrowers through a mediation program overseen by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

But an unexpected result was a de facto moratorium on out-of-court, or nonjudicial, foreclosures because DCCA won't accept any new nonjudicial foreclosure filings until the mediation program is running. The program is expected to be running by Oct. 1.

Some lenders recently began funneling foreclosures through state court, which in recent years had largely been avoided because it costs more and takes longer than nonjudicial foreclosure. But it's clear that Hawaii's judicial system can't handle what industry officials say is still a growing volume of delinquent mortgages.

Many of Hawaii's foreclosure problems are concentrated on the neighbor islands, which have higher rates of foreclosure but fewer foreclosures because their housing markets are smaller than Oahu's.

RealtyTrac's metro foreclosure report included only metropolitan areas with populations of at least 200,000.

Seawater Project To Cool Honolulu High-Rises Advances

Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning has scaled the first major regulatory hurdle to constructing a $250 million system to help downtown businesses cut their electricity bills.

Engineering project manager Scott Higa said the system will use a thick pipe about five feet wide which will be placed in the deep ocean about four miles offshore.

“It will be able to withstand the stresses of deployment as well as over its life to withstand largest storm surf and hurricane waves,” said Higa.

The pipe will be in water close to 2000 feet deep. The cold water will be sucked up and transported through the pipe into a special system feeding into downtown.

The project is to create 1,000 construction jobs….

The company hopes to get all its permits by the end of the year with groundbreaking to take place in the early part of 2012.

The goal is to begin supplying ocean air conditioning by the end of 2013.

Nonunion contractors group sees fast membership growth

The Associated Builders and Contractors Hawaii Chapter has been around since 1989, but in 2009 membership had dwindled to just over 60. The organization provides training programs and legal assistance and represents nonunion contractors on regulatory and legislative matters.

Jonathan Young, who was hired as president of the organization in May 2009, said the chapter was in such bad financial shape that the national organization stepped in and took control.

“We were a chapter in trust, which was they had taken it over and were monitoring everything because it was just basically a social club,” Young said. “Mingle and drink, not what the intent of the association is.”

Former Hawaii official accused of wrongdoing in Washington

Raymond Jefferson, who headed the department’s Veterans Employment and Training Service since 2009, used his position to coerce or intimidate other employees to make the awards without open competition, according to a July 21 report by the agency’s acting inspector general, Daniel Petrole.

Jefferson resigned his post on Tuesday, Labor Department spokesman Carl Fillichio said….

The investigation was prompted after a whistleblower reported irregularities last year to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

In one case, the report found that Jefferson and a deputy pressured colleagues to hire Stewart Liff, an employee management author and speaker who specializes in boosting employee performance. When that didn’t work, Jefferson told subordinates to instruct other contractors to hire Liff as a subcontractor at the highest possible rates.

Liff ultimately received about $700,000 over 16 months, twice as much as other firms were paid for similar work, the report said.

Liff billed $275 an hour to prepare one consulting report “that talked about how you should light the work place and what color you should paint the walls and what the furniture should be,” McCaskill said.

“The irony in this particular management consultant report was the color he told them to paint the walls was not allowed under government regulations,” McCaskill said….

The report also found that Jefferson coerced employees into hiring Ron Kaufman, a consultant who conducted training seminars as part of his company, “Up! Your Service.” Kaufman and his wife traveled from Singapore to three U.S. cities to provide “customer service” training to veterans office employees. Kaufman has sought more than $100,000 for his services, but has not been paid.

Jefferson also violated procurement rules to hire Mark Tribus, a former West Point classmate, to provide a leadership training session, the report said. Jefferson tried to get a sole-source contract awarded to Tribus, but it was rejected.

Researchers alarmed by size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—But don’t find a single Plastic Bag

American scientist Marcus Eriksen and 12 other Sea Dragon crew members from around the world docked their sailboat in Vancouver Thursday after a 20-day expedition through the North Pacific Gyre — an area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii and east of Japan where circular ocean currents cause the collection of ocean debris.

The U.S. National Science Foundation's research estimates the patch is twice the size of Texas. Other estimates suggest it's much larger.

"It's like a soup that's very spread out," Eriksen said of the span of ocean filled with plastic bits. "When you drag your net through the water, that's when you really see the plastic." (But no plastic bags…. So sad.)

Hillary Clinton’s Birther Queen to Stage Press Conference at Honolulu DoH Aug 8

Computer scanning expert Doug Vogt and typesetting expert Paul Irey say they will accompany attorney Orly Taitz (a Hillary Clinton supporter and $1000 donor to the DSCC) when she presents to the Hawaii Department of Health a subpoena that should allow her to examine Barack Obama's original 1961 typewritten birth certificate.

Vogt and Irey both told WND they are making travel plans to join Taitz in Honolulu when she goes to the state agency at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, to present the subpoena in person.

"We will plan to hold a press conference late in the day of Aug. 8," Vogt said, "and if the document we see varies from the birth certificate documents the White House released, we plan to file criminal charges in Hawaii immediately."

(Orly Taitz, is a $1,000 donor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign committee. Her website has prominently featured the rants of 9-11 truther Devvy Kidd.)