• House: FDA User Fee Reauthorization
• House: Sex-Selective Abortion Ban
• House: Intelligence Authorization
• House: Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations 

HSTA President Wil Okabe finally releases the turnout data in this so-called “ratification vote.”

...There are several steps Congress can immediately take, and President Obama can immediately support, that will help alleviate the pain felt at the pump by American families and would create economic growth, and importantly, jobs....

...failure of the Legislature to check rampant abuse of Solar and Wind tax credits and shortfalls in projected income from last year's GE Tax hike may cost the General Fund as much as $721M over the coming seven years....

The Sierra Club is asking Legislative candidates to back fee increases on cars and trucks, agree to limit the size of homes on ag land to 1500 sq feet, start closing down HECO plants, and give lots of money to eco-make work projects....

those customers are us....

(Ray) was a long-haired haole hippie who worked at the Mama Mia Pizza Parlor not far from Punahou and lived in a dilapidated bus ....

The decision, a consequence of ongoing real terms cuts to the UK science budget by the Government, will almost certainly see the Hawaii-based UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) cease operations in the autumn of 2013 and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) do the same a year later, with the loss of around 40 jobs.

"If Hanabusa refuses to come clean, the HRP urges the appropriate law enforcement agencies and the House Ethics Committee to investigate Rep. Hanabusa for criminal and/or ethical misconduct."

if 5 percent of cars in Los Angeles County were to plug in simultaneously, they could place a 750-megawatt load on California's already strained grid, equivalent to the generating capacity of two midsize power plants....

...the city council claims it will attain a number of benefits that are direly wanted by its citizens. However, careful analysis of each supposed benefit shows that the ban is unlikely to provide any such value....

New Zealand established a total allowable catch (TAC) for the country, and then distributed quota permits based on compliance with the TAC....

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If you’d like to leave feedback on a particular bill, as I review and consider signing bills over the next month, please do so here....

Taxmageddon is threatening the U.S. economy and holding back growth, but strangely, President Barack Obama isn't doing anything about it....

the court’s ruling may contain a "poison pill" as a result of one part of the Defendants’ pleadings....

After nearly 40 years, NELHA has yet to achieve its potential....

The Pro Bowl will resume in Hawaii on Jan. 27, 2013, one week before the Super Bowl in New Orleans. But poor timing is the NFL's first mistake....

... even as professional protestors peddle scientific ignorance to frighten the public ....

The Hawaii Electric Light Company could meet this cap through conservation and already planned increases in the use of renewable energy....

One year ago, the state of Wisconsin adopted sweeping reforms that curbed collective bargaining rights among government workers, brought the state's pension system into line, and empowered those workers to choose whether or not to pay union dues.... 

According to OpenSecrets.com, over $123,000 has been diverted from her campaign to Hanabusa’s own accounts since 2011.

Hirono used her debate time to make the dubious claim that because of "her" VISIT USA Act, Korean visitors have increased by 50%. Not only is this inaccurate, it highlights Hirono's Johnny-come-lately approach to tourism and her nearly nonexistent record on issues....

Charles Alan Pflueger, owner of Pflueger Inc., Randall Kurata, the company’s chief financial officer, and Julie Kam, Pflueger’s executive assistant, pleaded guilty....

This report has state data separated into judicial vs. non-judicial foreclosure state categories....

Jay Carney yesterday lapsed into rambling rhetoric when asked to explain how President Obama can defend the failed Solyndra solar boondoggle, yet attack private sector investments that sometimes fail but oftentimes succeed....

In the 2012 Legislative Session alone, the Grassroot Institute discovered that approximately three dozen bills had been given the “gut and replace” treatment....

• Senate: FDA User Fee Reauthorization
• Senate: Student Loan Interest Rates – Republican Substitute
• Senate: Student Loan Interest Rates – Democratic Version

 Farrington HS: One photo summing up everything that is wrong with the DoE.

Perhaps the most interesting parts of the SG's brief are its recitation of Hawaii history (pages 1 - 3), and its noting of "recent and ongoing legal developments" (the State's recent legislation instituting a "process for the indigenous native people of Hawaii to reorganize as a sovereign government").

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For months building trades unions and the management-labor Pacific Resources Partnership have been putting union members to work—as pro-rail protesters.

Medicare spending is growing faster than the rest of the federal budget, and it's the main cause of America's long-term deficits....

...conservatives are against “big government,” so we must be for “small government,” right? Wrong. We’re for limited government. Here is the difference....

....

As part of my teaching duties at West Point, I took cadets on a study tour of the World War II battlefields....

National Moment of Remembrance at 3:00 p.m. HST Memorial Day. 

...lack of talent, expertise and grasp of the issues eventually catch up with you and it's only a short time before the public catches up with you, and you find yourself beat....

Satellite images of the Punggye-ri site and other data show that the tunnel that had been excavated for the test has been refilled, indicating that the nuclear device has been put in place....

Hawaii Democrats have once again decided that they are not running on a platform of issues. Instead, they launched into what was nothing more than a narcissistic tirade of personal assaults ....

HB 2328, CD-1: One legislator decided to add a special provision to take care of some unspecified constituent.

Greco, a 2004 graduate of the University of Hawaii Manoa, served as a Naval Aircrewman with the VP-4 Skinny Dragons at Marine Corps Base Hawaii....

Civil Beat’s latest “Fact Check” debacle May 17 involves taking three sentences from an hour-long May 1 Rick Hamada interview with Afghanistan combat veteran Rep. Charles Djou, twisting Djou's words into a pretzel and fact-checking statements Djou did not make....

Public Policy Polling survey of 600 Hawaii voters taken May 16 and 17, 2012....

In just the past four days, Ed Case has compared me to a “bowl of warm jello,”called me “pathetic,” and labeled me “sad.”

... it’s false to say that Hawaiians support the Akaka Bill ....

The Party rescinded its paid rally time policy today, offering Case an opportunity to address the Convention on Saturday afternoon....

"Nowhere in this exchange did any candidate or the party address how their agenda will benefit the people of Hawaii."

"We have seen this erratic behavior increase to an irrational level...."

...the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to penalize hospitals with "worse than expected" 30-day readmission rates....