Entries for January 2014

... why should an ever-expanding list of business risks be transferred from the utility to its customers? ....

...five bills aimed at recognizing the impact of hunting on Hawaii’s outdoor heritage and focusing on ways to help strengthen and improve hunting activities....

... National Journal has published an article titled “How Lobbyists Still Fly Through Loopholes” and it should not surprise anyone that our South Pacific flyboy is among the Members of Congress featured....

...high-income and low-income filers had large tax expenditures, while middle-income taxpayers had smaller expenditures....

In 35 states, welfare, housing assistance and other benefits pays more than a minimum wage job....

...prominent Democrats have expressed interest in joining our party and running for office as a Republican....

Sound financial management required making tough decisions and hard choices. All with NO furloughs** (this is a lie, Abercrombie continued Furloughs, renamed as DLWOP Days)....

... each year OHA submits a package of proposed bills to the Hawaii State Legislature, and the agency’s Board of Trustees also votes to take positions on a wide variety of legislation ....

This is the first combined House-Senate Majority package since 2008....

HSLDA advocates in state legislatures, at the invitation of state homeschool organizations....

Bumble Bee chief executive Chris Lischewski has called untrue the Delegate’s assertion that Bumble Bee tuna is processed by child labor....

...we have a handful of states that can only be described as the laughing stocks of Obamacare....

Recipients are automatically renewed for another year if they don't respond to the annual query....

...elect officers and delegates, submit platform proposals for consideration the 2014 State Convention this May....

One of Hawaii's least known very historic sites is the former Ewa Gate (Gate Two) of former NAS Barbers Point. It has a history going back to 1925....

AARP Hawaii will ask lawmakers to support a bill requiring hospitals to formally acknowledge a patient’s family caregiver at the time of admission ....

...any church or religious organization holding services at a state or county facility (such as a public school cafeteria or auditorium) could not deny services such as a same-sex marriage....

Rep Cynthia Thielen recently drafted and co-introduced HB1520, HB1521 and HB1542 which will change the way our judicial system punishes repeat offenders....

He broke the news in a call this morning to 95.5 the Fish with Dawn O'Brien....

You can use Hospital Compare to find hospitals and compare the quality of their care....

The Pentagon's top commander for Asia said outright this week that U.S. military dominance in the Pacific is on the decline and that Washington should get used to the idea of having its superiority challenged by China....

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid $33.2 billion as a result of fraud or mistake....

Thirty-six states (including Hawaii) require that health care providers seeking to offer or expand their services obtain what are known as Certificates of Need (CON)....

Today, riskier investments appear to improve public pension funding. Current accounting rules mean that riskier investments are given higher expected rates of return....

An explosive intelligence report made public this week revealed that officials knew it was a terrorist attack that killed four Americans on September 11, 2012—and they knew right away....

...Charge against John Doe, a maintenance supervisor employed by the Department of Education....

...although some funds have been repealed or are no longer active, their appropriation accounts have not been closed and balances remain....

Learn more about the DOE's budget, including budget breakdown and cycle, supplemental requests, per-pupil funding and more....

A total of 2,709 individuals have enrolled in a health plan and 350 businesses have applied for a health plan through the Hawai‘i Health Connector as of Jan. 11....

This morning, the House voted to approve HR2, which details changes to committee assignments as follows....

Perry Artates, a former Maui Hawaiian Homeland commissioner and prominent labor leader, will spend 45 days in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud case that left a Maui family homeless....

“I want my students to be effective public policy makers,” Lingle said....

...a proposed bill containing four components that will significantly improve the economic vitality of low and moderate income households....

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii will kick off National School Choice Week in the state with nationally renowned speaker Michael S. Medved on January 21....

AFP's federal legislative scorecard highlights the most important economic votes held every congress in both the Senate and the House....

“Hawaii’s gaps in hospital and treatment facility capacity lead to overcrowding, long wait times and an inability to respond to disasters,” said Dr. Ishida....

We're losing the bed bug race: Last year we were 33rd....

The relatively small, district-level pork projects are dwarfed, however, by the entitlement programs that are actually sucking away our money year after year....

... more than $744 million directly for Hawaii projects ....

Planned Parenthood’s noxious sex education rockets across the country at unprecedented rates—propelled by millions of dollars in Obamacare PREP grants....

Many of us are glad that 2013 is behind us, because the year did not live up to expectations of change or measurable improvement and was difficult for our local families and small businesses....

My fellow members and guests, aloha and welcome to the 2014 Regular Session of the Hawaii State Legislature....

Souki's call for a pension tax on older, well-off residents of Hawaii is like Governor Abercrombie's Pension Tax of 2011...

These include citizen participation in democracy and government, a high cost of living, educational opportunities, and the health of our people....

The Hawaii state legislature opens today at 10 a.m....

Here are a few big failures that need to be eliminated or seriously reformed—but instead are getting millions (or billions) of dollars....