Ethics

“This trip to China is another important component in our ongoing effort to expand long-term economic development and business opportunities for Hawai‘i in the emerging China market,” said Governor Lingle.  “It is vital that our state continue to build and strengthen relationships in Asia, especially China, that will position Hawai‘i businesses and residents to capitalize on future economic and investment opportunities and strengthen our cultural and educational partnerships.”

On Saturday, you can also drop your ballot off at the State Capitol near the Father Damien statue until 6pm. 

On Sunday, columnist Ross Douthat described the Dodd bill as just one example of "the real story of our time. From Washington to Athens, the economic crisis is producing consolidation rather than revolution, the entrenchment of authority rather than its diffusion, and the concentration of power in the hands of the same elite that presided over the disasters in the first place. ... If Robert Rubin’s mistakes helped create an out-of-control financial sector, then naturally you need Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers — Rubin’s protégés — to set things right. ... But their fixes tend to make the system even more complex and centralized, and more vulnerable to the next national-security surprise, the next natural disaster, the next economic crisis. Which is why, despite all the populist backlash and all the promises from Washington, this isn’t the end of the 'too big to fail' era. It’s the beginning."

Bob Wiesel is a pseudonym that has a long history in Honolulu and been passed around quite a bit.  I am one of many Bob Wiesels...collectively we amount to a poor man's Publius. There are blog entries that go back to before 2001 still online from Robert D. Wiesel, BobW, BWiesel and every other variant that you can dream up.  Some of the "Bob's" work for, or had worked for both the city and state at some point. 

Blog participation at City Hall tapered off after Dave Shapiro started publishing IP addresses in an attempt to suppress his critics.  Several individuals at City Hall asked Charles Totto (ethics commission) for a reading on whether it was "against the rules" to participate during our lunch hour, breaks etc.  He recommended that we play it safe and just not do it at all from the city network and it pretty much stopped at that point.  Bob Wiesels live on, however, on their own time and own internet connections. 

Savvy liberal political strategists and worried Democratic primary voters, moreover, have had ample time to adapt to the demands of an angry and increasingly conservative electorate. Few Democrats in swing or conservative districts will run as Pelosi or Obama liberals. Instead, expect their rhetoric to morph the populism of Joe Sestak into the conservatism of Mark Critz.  As Rand Paul said last night:

I have a message, a message from the Tea Party. A message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back.

We are reprinting excerpts from an April 23 letter to Honolulu Councilmember Ann Kobayashi from Honolulu Attorney John C. McLaren who wrote “on behalf of former Governor Ben Cayetano and other unidentified people” according to the May 6 Advertiser.  Kobayashi and Cayetano are key supporters of Neil Abercrombie.    The allegations contained in the letter have been forwarded to the State procurement office for investigation.  

  Obama doubles down on book burning....

On March 26 the White House released a fact sheet on the New START Treaty. It claimed that the agreement signed by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev "does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs."

But the Russians seem to have a different interpretation of the document they signed.

"Charles Djou is scared to death, desperate and knows his campaign is slipping. He's a fraud, a charlatan and the political equivalent of a 'Rick Roll' and the voters of the district can see that," said Jason Burke, Case's campaign manager....

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced this week that it was pulling out of the district after spending more than $250,000 on TV ads blasting Djou.

CBS News' Chip Reid points out: "Mr. Obama's been president for nearly 16 months. Does he get at least a little piece of the blame?" Pointing to President Obama's staunch defense of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Reid answered his own question: "Not a bit. ... He portrayed his administration as valiantly fighting the good fight against the oil companies from day one. ...So while the president is pointing the finger of blame, he's also working hard to make sure that over time the finger doesn't do a 180."

“It is no surprise that the three former governors would come out in full support of electing someone who would perpetuate Hawai'i’s broken political system since they are responsible for creating it.  Their encouragement to vote for any Democrat only illustrates that they want to continue the culture of wasteful out of control spending and high taxes in Washington D.C.,” stated Ka’auwai. 

“Charles has run a great campaign and his message bold, independent leadership is exactly what people want to hear," said Hawai'i Republican Chairman Jonah Ka’auwai.  “The state party has been an active partner with his campaign and the grassroots support has been tremendous.  It is this type of energy we will take into November and the state convention helped showcase the future of the Republican Party.” 

In the third and final broadcast debate of the special election in Hawaii’s First Congressional District, Charles Djou scored a resounding victory over his two opponents.  Highlighting his campaign themes of fiscal responsibility, job creation and government accountability, Djou clearly showed why the voters in the May 22 special election have a choice between the status quo in Washington, DC, or his fresh ideas and vision for Hawaii’s future. 

Ed Case has hypocritically taken more than a quarter million dollars from special interests groups. Case has taken $286,476 from political action committees (PACs) and $71,500 from labor industry PACs, as of May 2, 2010.

Votes are already being cast in the free-for-all special election in Hawaii's 1st Congressional District, and a Republican candidate has emerged with the most cash on hand in the campaign's final stretch.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) once said that the "most basic responsibility of governing is to pass a budget." Yesterday it became clear that Congress has decided to shirk that responsibility, as word broke that the House likely will not pass a budget resolution for the first time since the modern budget process was created in 1974.

...turnout has been high in the district with about 30 percent of ballots already turned in to the state elections office. According to an automated telephone survey taken May 6 and 7, 53 percent of voters had already mailed in their ballots and 45 percent of those folks reported they voted for Djou.

When it comes to HB 444--Gay Civil Unions—Honolulu Mayor and all-but-declared gubernatorial candidate Mufi Hannemann has consistently refused to stand in opposition.

Last September, Herb Sample of the Associated Press asked Hannemann’s campaign for a comment on HB444 and other hot-button social issues.  This is what he got...

The Treasury Department announced yesterday that the federal deficit for April soared to $82.69 billion, more than twice the $40 billion deficit that Wall Street economists had predicted. An April deficit is rare for the federal government (there has been a surplus in 43 out of the past 56 years) and the announcement marked a record 19th consecutive month that the Treasury has posted a shortfall. Like those who said there was no housing bubble, some on the left who crave an ever larger federal government are still saying that Americans have nothing to worry about--that we can borrow and spend forever.

Where I grew up — on Manhattan’s Upper West Side — nobody ever admitted to voting Republican. The real contests for Congress and the state legislatures occurred in early September, when the Democratic primary was held. And the people who won those races and who then took the November elections with some 80 per cent of the vote were real Democrats — not the closet Republicans that one sees so often these days but men and women committed to liberal principles and motivated by the ideal of an affirmative and compassionate government.

Honolulu has the fifth highest debt per capita of America’s larger cities (See list below).  Note that this debt does not include our inevitable shortfall in rail taxes, the $1.2 billion liability for secondary sewage treatment (the city lost both the suit and the appeal to EPA) or the funds needed for our roads which are some of the worst in the nation and will require billions for restoration (as opposed to the wasteful two inch overlays currently done in a hurry in order to “buy votes”).

"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it," Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told us just weeks before Congress passed President Barack Obama's health care plan. Well, the nation's post-passage Obamacare education continued yesterday when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the federal government will have to spend an additional $115 billion implementing the law, bringing the total estimated cost to over $1 trillion. . . .

81-year-old Robert Hicks passed away April 13, and is remembered for being, among other things, the last known surviving member of the Deacons for Defense and Justice.

KITV ran a segment in last night’s 10pm news where they picked apart the latest misleading ad from the Case campaign.  Political analyst Neil Milner called the Case commercial, “fancy political footwork in the sense that it suggests a more explicit link between Case and Obama than really exists.”  Milner goes on to say “I’m not making an ethical judgment here; I am just saying it isn’t what it says it is.”

“Hawaii families work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules,” said Djou. “During these tough economic times, the people of Hawaii do not need another representative who will fall prey to the demands of Washington insiders. Instead, they deserve a representative who will stand up for them in Washington and put Hawaii families first. In Congress, I will fight corruption, stop wasteful government spending and control tax increases so that the people of Hawaii may have a better tomorrow. ”

If you’re looking for a sign that Republicans’ message of fiscal responsibility and government accountability will win this November and Democrats will struggle to defend their reckless agenda, look no further than Obama's home district in Hawaii.  In the very-blue first district, a rising-star Republican candidate is leading two Democrats in a peculiar and enthralling three-way, vote-by-mail special election to fill the vacancy left by Congressman Neil Abercrombie.

Djou reported raising $525,150 in the month of April from 2,983 donors.  Since his entry into the race, Charles has raised $1,217,339 from 4,680 donors.  The campaign reported having $362,711 cash on hand at the end of the reporting period.  In addition to the tremendous financial support, the Djou campaign has 4,150 Facebook fans, 1,207 Twitter followers and a volunteer list totaling over 1,100 supporters.  The Djou team has assembled one of the largest grassroots efforts the State of Hawai’i has ever seen. 

On March 15th, appearing with labor and environmental leaders, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa unveiled a new alternative energy plan that he said would ensure the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would meet his goal of securing 20% of its energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar by December 31st. At the time, he claimed it would create 16,000 jobs and only raise consumer electric bills between 8.8% and 28.4%. But less than two weeks later those energy rate hike estimates had skyrocketed with the DWP saying it needed to raise rates by 37% in order to meet the renewable energy standards. Los Angeles' already shrinking business community revolted and by April Mayor Villaraigosa's plan had been soundly defeated.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats are abandoning efforts to win a special election in Hawaii as a party feud threatens their prospects in President Barack Obama's native state.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Crider today said the organization would stop spending for the May 22 contest to replace Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who left Congress to run for governor.

Most of the dbte on "net neutrality" is arcane, but one fact leaps out.  If the Federal Communications Commission grabs regulatory ovesight of the Internet, it will be able to begin subtly controlling content as it does with TV nd radio broadcasts.  The Internet equivalents of radio>>>satellite shock jock Howard Stern will not be their only targets.... 

As the Akaka Bill, S 1011, languishes before the US Senate, the Special Election Hawaii First Congressional District race marks the first time a Hawaii election has been fought between major candidates with differing views on the Akaka Bill. It is telling that the candidate who favors the bill's current version--Colleen Hanabusa--appears to be far behind.

The U.S. economy has now lost a net of 2.6 million jobs since President Barack Obama signed his $862 billion stimulus plan. We are 7.6 million jobs short of the 137.8 million he promised the American economy would support by 2010.

Complete details for Hawaii military and overseas voters....

For five and a half years, the US has hunted for Ahmed Hashim Abed--code-named "Objective Amber."  Abed is the alleged ring-leader of an Islamist mob which murdered four US military contractors--including Pa`auilo resident Wesley Batalona--in Fallujah, Iraq on March 31, 2004....After being tracked for five and a half years by US personnel, Ahmed Hashim Abed was captured by Navy SEALS at the beginning of September....Then the complaining began. 

“We have some of the best and brightest minds right here in Hawai‘i,” said Lt. Governor Aiona. “Our long-term economic diversity and growth will depend in part on our ability to transform Hawai‘i into an economy based on knowledge and innovation.”

Hawaii GOP Chairman Jonah Ka’auwai responded to the new television ad: 

“Ed Case will do absolutely anything to get elected.  In the course of this campaign, Case has described himself as an Independent, a strong Democrat, a moderate and a conservative.   During Monday night’s OHA, Honolulu Advertiser and Hawaii News Now debate, he told us he voted for the Bush tax cuts before he voted against them.  The truth is, Case has voted for dozens of tax increases and seems to have a hard time keeping his positions straight in his own head.

A recent study has found that global warming has impacted the nature of symptoms experienced by obsessive compulsive disorder patients. Climate change related obsessions and/or compulsions were identified in 28% of patients presenting with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

As Unemployment Rises, White House Waves White Flag On Creating Jobs While Pushing Job-Killing, European-Style Agenda--White House to allow high jobless rate to be 'new normal'

Asked if the committee would continue to spend money in the 1st District special election, Van Hollen responded: “We’ll have to re-evaluate based on the situation. The Democrats haven’t been able to come together and resolve this issue. Right now, it’s extremely difficult. So right now, we’ll have to re-evaluate that.”

A study by Edmunds.com, the premier resource for automotive information, shows that owning a vehicle in Alaska, California or Hawaii over a five-year period is about $10,000 more expensive than owning the same vehicle in New Hampshire, South Dakota or South Carolina for the same duration.

This is how the Dem media will spin a Djou victory.  It is not going to be acknowledged as an expression of changing voter attitudes, it is just Democrat infighting.  Yeah, right—liberals should just keep on believing that.  Their self-deception will prevent them from recalibrating their message as they go to their political demise.

 Twenty years ago, the liberal intelligentsia in Europe and the United States rallied around Rushdie and denounced the murder threat. That took real courage. One of Rushdie's translators was murdered and another stabbed. Several Norwegian bookstores were bombed, a British hotel was attacked by a suicide bomber, and more than 50 people were killed in anti-Rushdie rioting around the world.

Despite the danger, Berman writes: "A good many intellectuals reached out to their endangered Arab and Muslim counterparts and colleagues, and celebrated the courage of everyone who refused to be intimidated."

In contrast, today, the intellectuals' reaction often is to target the victim.

HONOLULU--Chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party Jonah Ka'auwai responded to the announcement by U.S. Rep. David Obey that he would not seek reelection this November:

“Today, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, the author of $862 billon failed stimulus, has announced he will retire from Congress.  Clearly an entrenched Congressman like Obey who has been in Congress for over 40 years is afraid to face his constituents because his hallmark bill failed to keep the national unemployment rate under 8 percent, like he promised.  Which poses the question: Why do Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa still support the so-called stimulus that failed to create real jobs and only drove our country deeper into debt?”

In April 2009 in Strasbourg, France, President Barack Obama was asked at a press conference if he "subscribe[d], as many of your predecessors have, to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy?" President Obama then responded: "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."

The Medicaid assistance, set to expire at the end of December, has become a critical component in many state budgets during a time of devastating deficits. So critical, in fact, that two-thirds of the states crafted 2011 budgets assuming that more of it would come through, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For a while, this looked like a safe bet. The House had included the states’ extension in its original version of health care reform. But by the time Congress produced a final bill for President Obama to sign in March, the aid to states had disappeared into the legislative ether. Now, with Congress ratcheting up its scrutiny of new spending, it’s not at all clear that the Medicaid assistance will ever materialize.

The live Talk Story event embraced by the Djou campaign falls within their new media strategy that has enabled them to communicate directly with thousands of voters throughout the district through digital means.  The results of their strategy have resulted in 4008 fans on Facebook, 9 times more than Ed Case and 5 times more than Colleen Hanabusa.   

Dennis Gonsalves, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo, Hawaii, and professor emeritus of plant pathology at Cornell, detailed to the 63rd annual meeting of the Western Society of Weed Science in Hawaii how Hawaiian agriculture has done what no other ag sector has; win approval to market a genetically modified food crop in the U.S. and Japan.