Entries for March 2012

“In my interview, they actually suggested I run for office as a Republican and then convert to the Democratic Party,” Thielen said.... “One person on the committee asked, ‘Would you bring your mother into the Democratic Party?’”

"The Ex-Im Bank is critical to help U.S. companies to access financing to support the exports of their goods and services abroad. In fact, 85% of Ex-Im Bank's transactions directly supported small businesses last year."

...he did not want to leave his medical colleagues at the hospital short-handed.  "He didn't eat (on shift), he didn't pee, he wasn't going to say 'I need to take an hour off to go to therapy,'" said Mrs. McCaddon....

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Honolulu Tea Party Rally Event, April 16, 2012, Monday from 4:00pm to 7:00pm ....

Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has selected a site across the street from the West Hawai`i Civic Center for the new judiciary complex in Kona....

Hawai`i Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald is seeking applicants for Chair of the Hawai`i State Elections Commission.

NRA instructor liability protection legislation has been scheduled for a hearing in the state Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor this Monday, April 2, at 10:00 a.m., in conference room 16 of the State Capitol....

Liberals put on an election-year show, with the personal encouragement of President Barack Obama, in which they attempted to impose higher taxes on the oil industry as punishment for their profits while gas prices are at an all-time high....

TARP, provided Central Pacific with a $135 million financial lifeline in the midst of the recession but will be collecting only about $74 million from selling its Central Pacific stock .... 

...actual growth was up 2.5 percent over a year ago (207,298 visitors per day in February 2012); and an adjusted total visitor spending of $1.061† billion would still be 4.7 percent above February 2011 levels....

Less than one year ago, Congress formally recognized that "the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped precipitate the deepest economic decline since World War II."

House Bill 679, important NRA instructor liability protection legislation, MUST be heard in the state Senate Judiciary Committee next week or it will die....

When the wheels start coming off this project, as they undoubtedly will, we predict that many fingers will be pointing at your agency....

And yet enviros are doing everything they can to stop fracking ....

On Sunday, the United States gets a distinction no nation wants -- the world's highest corporate tax rate....

For the past three days, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard a series of arguments on Obamacare -- what promises to be one of the most seminal decisions in the Court's history....

The bill "grants the State broad powers over project planning while simultaneously reducing county and community input"

While Washington's eyes are focused on the historic Obamacare hearings at the Supreme Court, work continues across the street in the House of Representatives where some Members of Congress -- though not all -- are doing their best to clean up Washington's budgetary mess.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue today urged lawmakers to better promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to put the welcome mat back out for international visitors ....

We have just released a new report providing island-specific solutions utilizing only commercially proven and available renewable energy resources.....

Scalia: 'We're not stupid'...

Heritage’s Robert Alt and Edmund Haislmaier have created a guide to the issues before the Court, potential rulings, and their effects ....

North Korea is preparing to launch yet another long-range missile, and Iran is in desperate pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies remain unprotected from the threat of nuclear missiles, and now it appears that Obama wants to cede even more ground to Russia....

...the incentive structure suggests that banks would prefer to write down more than double the amount of investor principal for the same credits while strengthening their own balance sheets and avoiding increased losses....

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the HRP ohana, Nacia Lee Blom....

The labor dispute is not to blame for all delays, however. The state has the ability to connect student achievement data to graduates of teacher-preparation programs, but it has not....

• Senate: Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act
• House: Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011

Rare is the occasion when the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather to hear three days of arguments.... 

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Kahuku is 3rd on this list of junk-grade US DoE loans and loan guarantees.

Ormat is Hawaii’s leading geothermal developer.... But a US House committee report shows that Ormat benefitted from its close ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and profited from a potentially illegal $98.5M bailout of an Ormat geothermal project in Nevada.

...no Hawaii governor can unilaterally furlough teachers or any Department of Education (DOE) employee since they are under the Board of Education’s (BOE) jurisdiction....

Determined to provide Hawaii residents and businesses with an alternative means of travel between the islands, Governor Lingle worked with Democrat House Speaker Calvin Say and then-Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, to convene a special session of the Legislature....

A funny thing happened on the way to doing state income taxes this year....

...$20,291 to husband's lawfirm, and an additional $10,310 paid to Hirono: Grand Total: $30,601....

"These teams were tough, but we came together and pulled through," Jandie Sabo, a member of Waialua's Robotics team. 

...a total of seven employment-based lawsuits against HDOT presently filed in state or federal court, at various stages of litigation, some involving workplace violence in one form or another. Also, there are Workers’ Compensation claims filed as a result of workplace violence at different stages of that process....

$8.5 billion for military construction, down 29 percent ...

After an intense day of qualifying rounds, the pits are closed and teams are preparing themselves for the final day of competition tomorrow....

in 2009, UHERO provided some rail jobs estimates that said employment will start with 300 jobs, and at the peak of construction, there may be 2,000 jobs, but at that time UHERO did not know that a $1.4 billion contract to build the rail cars would go to Ansaldo Breda in Italy....

On March 6, House Bill 679, an NRA instructor liability protection bill, was amended and passed in the state House by a 47 to 4 vote. This bill is now pending in the state Senate Judiciary Committee.

Fact v. Myth articulates the facts, with sources and references available through the campaign website, putting to rest six misconceptions and politically-crafted falsehoods about Governor Lingle

Two years ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law Obamacare, a 2,700-page bill that will radically alter America's health care system and wreak havoc on medical costs, quality of care, and fundamental rights ....

The state Department of Education is preparing for an on-site visit March 27-30 from the U.S. Department of Education.  During the visit, federal officials will examine the State’s Race to the Top progress ....

“Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) collected more than $31,000 in interest on a $125,000 loan….”

land devoted to organic farming produces 50 percent less wheat, 55 percent less asparagus and lettuce, and 23 percent less corn than conventionally farmed land....

Medicaid beneficiaries have more difficulty getting primary care and they visit hospital emergency departments more often than those with private insurance....

A heavily subsidized solar company received a U.S. taxpayer loan guarantee to sell solar panels to itself....

Mazie has accepted none because she fears any public exchange of views or comparison of our candidacies and has been instructed to remain behind a carefully scripted campaign front. That is conduct unbecoming a U. S. Senator."