ABERCROMBIE’S 100TH DAY, A BAD DAY FOR HAWAII

From www.GOPHawaii.com

In recognition of Governor Abercrombie’s 100th day in office, the Hawaii Republican Party released the following list of his 10 worst broken campaign promises. 

• Bad Day for Tax Increases - Governor Abercromie promised during the campaign, “We will not be raising any taxes, what we will be doing is utilizing state government in a way that brings the hope and change people want.” After taking office he quickly broke this promise and has proposed at least $500 million in new taxes for Hawaii residents over the next 2 years.

• Bad Day for Trust in Government- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” brochure said, “Politics has overwhelmed the process of bidding for and performing work for the government.”  Since taking office he has hired a “community liaison who does research on state contracts” in his office.  Coincidentally this “Liaison” previously worked for a contractor that was also one of Abercrombie’s largest campaign supporters.

• Bad Day for Justice- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” plan said he would, “rebuild confidence in a government that is transparent,” but since taking office he has immediately shut the door on transparency in the Judicial Selection process.  Despite an Office of Information Practices ruling that states that the names of Judicial nominees should be released, the Governor is refusing and will instead make his pics in secret and not allow the public to review his choices. 

• Bad Day for Seniors- Abercrombie said in his campaign literature that, “Caring for our Kupuna is a core value of Hawaii”, but shortly after taking office, he made it clear that a major part of this plan to balance his budget would be to impose a pension tax on our retired seniors.

• Bad Day for Transparency- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” brochure said, “There must be transparency in government so people know that their economic interests are being represented, not just the interests of a powerful few” but after his pick for Health Director stepped down nearly 2 months ago surrounded by rumor and speculation of misconduct, we still have no clear explanations.  

• Good Day for Patronage- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” brochure said, “I have made no decisions on political appointments, but when I do, all decisions will be based on merit.”  Now that we have seen his picks for Directorships and Legislative replacements, this promise is highly questionable.  He picked long time political friend Gary Hooser to head the Office of Environmental Quality Control and friends Dwight Takamine and Russell Kokubun to head up the Agriculture and Labor departments.  He then replaced them with another long time political friend, Malama Solomon and one of his campaign chairs, Gil Kahele.  Just to name a few.

• Bad Day for Fiscal Responsibility- Abercrombie said in his campaign literature that, “I have made it clear that I will work with the budget revenues we have and ensure that public funds are spent responsibly”, but in his first budget he is calling for a $700 million increase in State spending.

• Good Day for Retribution- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” brochure said “leadership begins with the appointments I will make” but after issuing an opinion that he did not like, Governor Abercrombie terminated the Office of Information Practices Director and will be exercising his “leadership” by appointing someone of his own.

• Bad Day for Bipartisanship- Abercrombie’s campaign literature said in regard to his political appointments that, “political party or personal familiarity with me has not been and is not a factor for me.” As far as we know, there have not been any Republicans appointed in his administration.  In fact, several department staff members have been fired for being Republicans.

• Bad Day for Public Safety- Abercrombie’s “A New Day in Hawaii” plan stated that he would, “stop the practice of sending prisoners out of the state,” and, “we will build secure prison facilities in Hawaii on the basis of cost effectiveness, safety, and benefit to the community,” but instead of keeping his word to stop sending prisoners out of state, his Administration is issuing a request to firms who want to house Hawaii prisoners on the mainland.