This session, 3 bills introduced by Republicans and Democrats, are seeking to not count blank votes, over votes or spoiled votes when it comes to the outcome of proposed amendments to the Hawaii constitution.

The civil unions bill (SB 232) was passed in the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 11 (yes) to 2 (no) while 3 were excused.

In the early stages of any campaign to reach straight America, the masses should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavior itself. Instead, the imagery of sex should be downplayed and gay rights should be reduced to an abstract social question as much as possible. First let the camel get his nose inside the tent--only later his unsightly derriere!

Honolulu – Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced appointments for the following positions:  Chief Negotiator, Department of Human Resources Development (DHRD) Deputy Director, and Director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control.

Pro-gay-marriage Senator Gary Hooser (D-Kauai), speaking on the Senate floor March 25, 2009 said:

“…it may very well be likely that this law would be challenged in court….”

Hooser invites readers to look at his campaign website www.GaryHooser.com. Listed on the right column of his site are links to other websites described as “Senator Gary Hooser’s Regular Reading Regime.” The 25 links include the Kailua, O`ahu-based anti-Semitic 9-11 conspiracy website www.WhatReallyHappened.com (WRH).

At WRH “Regular Readers” like Hooser may peruse an article from a Holocaust denier publication asserting: “(only) two to three hundred thousand Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, but none in gas chambers.” Another WRH article touts a 1928 communist scheme to send Russian Jews to Siberia. There are literally hundreds of such articles interspersed between a selection of articles about Jewish child molesters, Jewish swindlers, and any other—mostly Jewish or “Israeli”--wrongdoing.

• Bills to Decongest Traffic
• Bills to Cut Taxes & Make Government More Responsive to the People
• Bills to Solve Problems within Homeowner Associations
• Bills to Stop Elder Abuse
• Bills to Solve Problems for Our Schools

House Judiciary Committee Feb 1 acted on over a dozen election-related bills....

In what Politico is calling “the first whiff of the desperation inside the White House about the slowness of the economic recovery,” President Barack Obama spoke to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday, claiming: “I understand the challenges you face. I understand you are under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep your margins up. I understand the significance of your obligations to your shareholders and the pressures that are created by quarterly reports. I get it.” No. No, he doesn’t.

Steinmetz said: “This is the most outrageous comment eTN has ever received from a public official in our more than 10 years of being in business.

The Hill: Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) has said he will soon distribute to senators his definition of what he considers an earmark....

“The new pork mechanisms will depend on how Inouye has decided to define pork/earmarks,” Wheeler said. “The loopholes will be there; he and his staff know how to make them. Once the ‘definition’ is set, the workarounds will only be limited by the human imagination.”

Here's the long history behind the new anti-bullying policy being proposed for Hawaii schools. 

After Senator Josh Green stated that public sentiment was overwhelmingly opposed to the issue, he made a motion to hold the bill in committee.

Former Rep. Charles Djou (R-Hawaii) all but swore off elective politics in his recent farewell address, but the former congressman recently penned an article that is sure to ignite speculation among the state's political observers over whether a 2012 bid against Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) is in the offing.

Health Care Repeal - Vote Rejected (47-51, 2 Not Voting)

Candidates have until Friday February 18 to file nomination papers for Oahu’s upcoming Neighborhood Board elections.  Up for grabs, all 439 seats on 33 Neighborhood Boards.

As a candidate, Neil Abercrombie said over and over again, “We Will Not Be Raising Any Taxes."

But as Governor, Neil Abercrombie has a different message for many of Hawaii’s seniors—you’re not contributing, you’re escaping your responsibilities and, as Governor, I will force you to “make positive contributions in our community.”

In the years that followed a congressman's ascendancy to the chairmanship of a powerful committee, the average firm in his state cut back capital expenditures by roughly 15 percent, according to their working paper, "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?"