Today, the city and county of Honolulu stands at a crossroads between being stuck in the paralysis and gridlock of the past, and taking assertive, responsible steps to propel this great city into the future.... 

Heritage Senior Legal Fellow Robert Alt gives an example of how a “weaker” Congress leads to a “stronger” judiciary involving the very law at issue in Citizens United....

"Five weeks from now, the Supreme Court is taking up the most important case it's had since Brown vs. Board of Education."

...

HB1707 and SB2089 will require "nonresident" property owners who rent their property for thirty days or less (transient vacation rentals) to use a licensed real estate broker to rent the property, and to employ a property manager to operate it....

...federal involvement in education, reaching their peak during the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, have yielded minimal returns....

Hawaii can learn a great deal from European countries' experiences....

The President's best friends get access to second trap door leading to even lower rates. Who slides on through? Those who qualify for tax incentives designed to "encourage investment in clean energy."

House Bill No. 2417 (HB 2417) will limit the availability of the Hawaii Renewable Energy Technologies Income Tax Credit from one credit per system to one credit per property for both residential and commercial projects.... (GOOD!)

According to Mr. Heu's message, KPD Chief Perry may be held restrained on leave--refused ability to return to duty as our chief of police any where from 60-90 days, and without any further explanation whatsoever

House Bill 679 passed in the state House Public Safety and Military Affairs (PBM) Committee with no amendments, and is now pending in the state House Judiciary Committee. For this bill to survive, it must get a hearing by next week!

Obviously the purpose of BOTH Hawaii responses is to present the weakest possible defense while still preventing outside pro-marriage lawyers from taking control of the defense ....

Health care spending increased continuously since the 1970s, consistently outstripping inflation and economic growth…. However, this trend has since turned negative with the rate dropping almost every year since 2002, reaching a low of less than 4 percent in 2009....

This week, two more Christian colleges joined other religious institutions in fighting back against that attack when they filed lawsuits against the Obama Administration for imposing an anti-conscience mandate under Obamacare....

Strike at Tesoro's refineries still negotiating contracts could shut down 500,000 barrels a day of refining capacity ....

• Senate: Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act
• House: Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act
• House: Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act

An examination of "administrative earmarks" around the time of congressional votes on key pieces of President Barack Obama's agenda suggests the White House used its power to fund local projects as a means to "buy" votes for major legislative efforts....

...Charles is on his way home from Afghanistan after many months of deployment in one of the most dangerous provinces in Afghanistan....

The Hawaii Legislature is currently considering the “Hawaii Safe Schools Act,” which claims to target bullying and harassment at schools. In reality, it is a mechanism for imposing a pro-homosexual, state-mandated orthodoxy on students and teachers....

Poor George Washington. His birthday, spontaneously celebrated since the Revolution and formally declared a holiday in 1879, has slowly morphed into the insipid Presidents Day you'll hear about today....

...a mini-series of Hawaii answers to surveys on major issues which have been debated at The Economist.....

Lowering the compulsory attendance age will prevent parents from determining when their child is ready for school....

There are 10 new and increased taxes to watch....

...one of the biggest fears of government observers in Hawaii is the looming elephant in the room which is the unfunded liabilities of the state and county retirement system and the related health benefits for current and future public employee retirees.... 

Yesterday, House Bill 679 passed in the state House Public Safety and Military Affairs (PBM) Committee, with no amendments, by a 7 to 1 vote.

impending troubles to be faced by public-sector retirement funds....

• Reapportionment Public Comment Meeting
• Wednesday, February 22, 2012 6:00 p.m.
• Conference Room 329, State Capitol, 415 South Beretania Street

The bill prohibits minors under 16 from riding ATVs, bans ATVs from public streets, bans passengers and requires helmet use....

The 11 are Brian A. Costa, Paula Devens, Nelson W.S. Goo, Shirley M. Kawamura, James S. Kawashima, Stephen H. Levins, Linda S. Martell, Alvin K. Nishimura, Maura McDermott Okamoto, Kevin A. Souza and Paul B.K. Wong.

These appointments are subject to Senate confirmation....

in a year, DoE will be $75M richer, some teachers will be 20% richer, and right back to the status quo ante.

Abercrombie today announced the appointment of Heather Haunani Giugni to the state House of Representatives for District 33, which includes 'Aiea, 'Aiea Heights, Halawa Heights, Halawa Valley and Red Hill....

This is what happens to Hawaii legislators when they are so close to a tax increase that they can taste it....

"...only 9.6% of lower income citizens used transit to get to work. This is not very much higher than the 7.9% of all workers in the metropolitan areas who use transit."

The 9th Circuit heard arguments about whether to allow fishermen to intervene in the formation of a new federal regulation aimed at protecting endangered turtles.

Even with billions in US Tariff support, sugar just couldn't carry the ILWU in Hawaii....

• HB1848 EUTF
• HB2375 Mortgage Rescue Fraud
• HB2153 Toll Roads
• HB1683 Jr Kindergarten
• HB2567 Marriage Licenses

“HB 2358 would remove the building official, state fire marshal representative and the structural engineer from the Hawaii Building Code Council."

Three years ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law his trillion-dollar stimulus plan, a measure that he promised would save or create 3 million jobs by the end of 2010 and would prevent unemployment from ever going above 8 percent....

There are two conservatives for every liberal in America. That’s the message of a recent David Brooks column as well as a Gallup survey. I think the imbalance is much starker. I would guess there are four conservatives for every liberal. Maybe even more.... 

Yesterday, the Hawaii Senate Health Committee decided to shelve a beverage tax proposal – effectively killing this discriminatory tax for this year.

On Monday, the State House Tourism Committee “deferred” HB 2788. If passed, this bill would grant a twenty-year license for one stand-alone casino in Waikiki not in a hotel....

...opposition to Assad continues in the face of escalating attacks, with some indications that the military is losing ground as the army loses thousands of defectors....

Highlighted actions by the House Republican caucus for the week of February 6-10, 2012...

SB2696 would have abolished the Hawaii Building Code Council and effectively removed the state from active involvement in building design and construction standards....

What happened today was the result of a horrible lawsuit that sought to tell our brave men and women in the military that they don't matter to us.

House Bill 679, introduced by state Representative Ken Ito (D-48) and six other Representatives, is an NRA-supported bill....

Keep in mind that the average income of a Volt buyer is $175,000 per year. That means that middle-class taxpayers are helping the rich buy pricy, politically correct cars.  With his other hand, President Obama is taking from the poor....

Our Annual Report covers service improvements made within our office, the Hawai‘i Fair Share Initiative, the significance of hosting APEC, disaster relief, China trade and travel activities and initial efforts to make Hawai‘i the home for the Obama Presidential Center....

Would you borrow $3.2B and entrust it to Abercrombie, Louie, and Takamine?