In the 1993 comedy Dave, a small-town presidential impersonator is called on to pretend to be the actual President of the United States when the commander in chief takes ill. Dave steps into the White House, takes his new role too far, and with wide-eyed innocence promises America, "I'm initiating a program to try to find a decent job for every American who wants one."

This afternoon, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as Obamacare, is unconstitutional.

In 2010, seat belt use in the United States ranged from 72.2 percent in New Hampshire to 97.6 percent in Hawaii and Washington....

The entire press staff of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee is in Maui, even though a field hearing there won’t happen until next Wednesday....

Faleomavaega long has prided himself on being the voice of the Pacific in Washington (when he's there) and an influential senior policymaker. Apparently Hawaii's two House members bought this load of baloney because when the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to abolish the Hawaii-based East West Center, they turned to their Samoan colleague, a member of the committee, to save the day.

The Board examines, recommends and records applicants for admission to the Hawaii State Bar and gives written examinations to test the legal and educational qualifications and knowledge of legal ethics of each applicant.

On January 25, 2011, Winnipeg priest Father Bohdan Borowec arrived in Hawaii for the first time in his life....

First, the electromagnetic shock can disrupt electrical devices. The second effect is similar to lightning—a power surge that would burn circuits and immobilize electronic components and systems. The third is a pulse effect that flows through electricity trans­mission lines, damaging distribution centers and fusing power lines.

Hawaii shows the largest advantage for the Democratic Party over the Republican Party among U.S. states, along with the District of Columbia, in the first half of 2011. The most Republican state is Utah.

Building the Interstate Highway System created many construction jobs, but it would be a huge mistake to interpret that employment as the system’s contribution to the economy. Workers who drew salaries from the construction program benefitted, but far less than the travelers and shippers of goods who have used those facilities every day for six decades.

“Some years back a Greek finance minister, fed up with his country's waste and extravagance claimed that he could save money by shutting down the national railway and driving around its passengers in taxis.”

Yesterday in Wisconsin, Democrats tried to recall six GOP senators in an attempt to gain a foothold in the state's legislature—they lost in four of the races, failing to regain a majority in the state senate. Those losses came despite a $14 million effort waged by unions and liberal groups from across the country, including the AFL-CIO, UAW, AFSCME, MoveOn.org, Teamsters, UFCW, NEA, SEIU, and People for the American Way.

These results are consistent with recent research on managed care among the privately insured, which finds that HMOs and other forms of managed care achieve their savings largely through reduced prices rather than lower quantities....

“Negotiations via the media are not productive."  -- In other words, Abercrombie should have kept his mouth shut in Hilo....

"Unless students limit their debt burdens, choose fields of study that are in demand, and successfully complete their degrees on time, they will find themselves in worse financial positions and unable to earn the projected income that justified taking out their loans in the first place."

"With the new school year fast approaching and still no bill to reform the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind, the Obama administration will provide a process for states to seek relief from key provisions of the law, provided that they are willing to embrace education reform."

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...I have requested the deadline period for submitting comments be extended from August 13, to September 30 of this year....

Fox News and the Washington Examiner will sponsor a GOP debate this Thursday night. On Saturday, the Iowa State Fair straw poll will be held....

...the spending reductions in the deal negotiated by President Obama to raise the debt ceiling were inadequate, and S&P reacted as we predicted....

How could federal prosecutors “accidentally” debase their entire prosecution of crimes alleged to have occurred in 2004 by telling a Federal Grand Jury that the defendants’ collection of “recruitment fees” was a violation of a law which did not take effect until 2008?

A loud drinking party on county property brought to a halt by the police early May 1 included Mayor Billy Kenoi, state Rep. Jerry Chang and a host of other bigwigs celebrating the end of the Merrie Monarch Festival....

...the fact that the energy utilities and, to some degree the communications utilities, have to pay these additional taxes is not very widely known....

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The outlook on the long-term rating is negative....On Monday, we will issue separate releases concerning affected ratings in the funds, government-related entities, financial institutions, insurance, public finance, and structured finance sectors.

Click to view video....

To put an end to budget shenanigans the Institute has developed a budgeting system called “Full Accrual Calculations and Techniques”. FACT based budgeting would require governors and legislatures to recognize expenses when incurred regardless of when they are paid. This improved method of accounting is discussed in detail in this report.

This year’s revolt against the bemedalled despot will reduce Finmeccanica’s revenue by some €300m.

"Energy costs certainly are affected by public policy measures at the federal, state and local levels. When policymakers focus on reining in taxes and removing regulatory burdens, that works to reduce energy costs to the benefit of entrepreneurs, businesses and consumers. But when focused on increasing energy taxes, expanding regulations, and creating governmental obstacles to energy development, the economy suffers accordingly."

Lloyd Y. Kimura, 61, former president of Maui Industrial Loan & Finance Company and Lloyd Y. Kimura, Inc. in Wailuku, was sentenced today in State Circuit Court on Maui by Judge Joseph Cardoza to 20 years imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $8,093,907

During her 30-years of public service, Governor Lingle has always run issue-oriented campaigns. Should there be a future campaign, it too would be run on the issues, rather than based on personal attacks.

There is no place in Hawaii for these deplorable tactics by national partisan political staffers. The voters of Hawaii deserve better.

At yesterday's press briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney admitted: "The White House does not create jobs." As the Examiner's senior political columnist Timothy P. Carney (no relation) later noted, conservatives should greet this statement as "a true and long-awaited admission of government's limits."

Abercrombie gets rolling about 1:30 and keeps on rolling for the next ten minutes.  Starting about 6:50 you can hear Abercrombie's handlers trying to pull him away....

A Site Analytics report shows that Hawai`i Free Press has surpassed 1 million hits a month every month this year.

Americans are paying more for gasoline today than they were six weeks ago when President Obama released 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, 10 drilling rigs -- more than one-third of the fleet -- have left on Obama’s watch.

This incomprehensible energy policy is not only costing Americans more money at the pump. Bureaucratic delays in Washington are also stunting job growth and adding to the budget deficit.

On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Japanese high technology conglomerate Hitachi to end its business in Iran. Hitachi maintains an active presence in Iran, having provided Iran with gas turbines and induction motors used in its oil and gas sector.

The Hawaii Supreme Court recently completed a three-year evaluation of the progress made by the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission toward the goal of increasing access to justice in civil legal matters for low-income Hawaii residents.

"We are honored to have the sponsors we do to support the festival each year," says Representative Corinne W. L. Ching, "'I LOVE LILIHA' is nothing if not individual gems of the community arriving at one place and time, to remind residents why they should be proud to call Liliha home."

The boundaries pit two Big Island Democrats against each other: Jerry Chang, D-Piihonua-Kaumana, and Mark Nakashima, D-Hawi-Hilo. On Oahu, Rida Cabanilla, D-Waipahu-Ewa, would face Kymberly Pine, R-Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point; and Mark Hashem, D-Hahaione Valley-Aina Haina, would compete against Barbara Marumoto, R-Kalani Valley-Diamond Head.

The public is invited to attend the second and final Federal Section 106 PUBLIC HEARING Meeting on Thursday, August 4, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. which will be held at the Hale Pono`i Building at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) facility at 91-5420 Kapolei Parkway.

(Handy Tip: Deposit $100M and make OHA give you $400M. Not only will you prosper, but by bankrupting OHA, you will make Hawaii a better place.)

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...good government means more than just saying what people want to hear. It means identifying problems that concern our community and proposing constructive solutions....

• Senate: Confirmation of Robert S. Mueller III to be Director of the FBI
• Senate: Budget Control Act of 2011
• House: North American-Made Energy Security Act
• House: Budget Control Act of 2011

The Employer-Union Trust Fund (EUTF) has completed the periodic process of selecting providers of life, vision, dental, medical and pharmacy insurance—with significant savings for employers, active employees and retirees....

In a Washington Post article published this morning, the national Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee takes the unusual step of attacking a Democratic Senate Primary candidate--Ed Case....DSCC is working hand in glove with Sen. Dan Inouye. Even DSCC’s choice of words -- “not honest” -- echoes Inouye’s lengthy record of attacks on Case.

Americans are disappointed. They are disappointed that the debate over our debt limit was about the needs of politicians instead of the needs of the country. They are disappointed with a broken government that refuses to fix itself. And they are disappointed that the Budget Control Act that passed the House last night and is likely to pass the Senate today does not make the transformative changes this nation requires. 

The poll shows Ed Case ahead of Mazie Hirono in the Democratic primary 53%-37% and ahead of Linda Lingle in the general 48%-38%, and Lingle ahead of Hirono in the general 48%-43%. 

The Gordian knot that seems to be confronting public officials is how to keep the state and county governments solvent while avoiding either having to make deep cuts in public services or, on the other hand, raising taxes and fees that will infuriate the tax paying public.