Environment

In 2003, Hawaii passed Act 73, which took past and future title to accretions (the slow build-up of sediment on beaches) from landowners and gave it to the State, changing a 120-year-old rule. While waterlines are unpredictable, the original rule — common to most waterfront jurisdictions — helped establish legal consistency. Indeed, without such a rule, beachfront property becomes beachview property in just a few years.

Hawaii Rep. Charles Djou may be getting the biggest prize: Boehner said Djou will get a seat on the Appropriations Committee if he wins re-election next month after winning the special election in May to replace Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D). Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye (D) chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, so the appointment would give the island state an outsized influence on Appropriations.

Neil Abercrombie says that people in Hawaii “are not interested in how politicians will balance the budget." 

Abercrombie leads 47.2 percent to 44.3 percent (that is a 2.9% margin, which is the margin of error), with 8.5 percent undecided, an automated telephone poll of 1,151 likely voters found.

New numbers out Wednesday from The Hill's midterm poll give Djou a four-point lead over Democrat Colleen Hanabusa, despite an Obama endorsement for the Democratic nominee. Djou leads 45 percent to 41, with 12 percent of likely voters undecided. 

The poll, conducted for The Hill by Penn Schoen Berland, surveyed 406 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

To make matters even worse for Democrat candidates like Hanabusa, President Obama recently admitted in an interview that he realized too late that “there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects,” confirming once and for all that the stimulus was a policy disaster. After leaving small businesses and hard-working families to suffer from Washington’s egregious miscalculations – how can Hanabusa possibly defend the failed trillion-dollar stimulus now?

MYTH: Our opponent said that the failure of Congress to pass the Akaka Bill was the fault of Republican Senators.

FACT: Our opponent didn't explain the fact that the 2009-10 Democrat Senate - part of the time with a super majority - has not only failed to pass the Akaka Bill, but has also failed to even bring it to the floor for a vote.

“I am pleased that MHLA’s Board of Directors has taken this action to publicly endorse Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan,” said MHLA Executive Director Carol Reimann. “The visitor industry is the largest employer of Maui County residents and we must have government cognizant of the industry’s needs.”

Never has there been a more gross example of the nation's heritage being mismanaged than at the Ewa Field battlefield, where US Marines died in defense of their country on a December 7 Sunday morning, where Navy Region Hawaii allowed this hallowed ground to became a totally forgotten GARBAGE DUMP - until Save Ewa Field brought this gross mismanagement to local and national attention.

The April 26 Denver Post agrees:

Exhibiting quite a lot of gall, General Motors is trying to spin the public with an ad campaign launched last week based on breathtakingly misleading information.

Abercrombie’s record as Congressman for more than twenty years unveils a troublesome pattern.  Abercrombie has voted consistently in favor of raising taxes, which hurt local businesses and contribute to the rise of unemployment.  Here are just a few....

Djou, a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, represents the First Congressional District, which is home to the U.S. Pacific Command, the U.S. Army Pacific, the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the U.S. Pacific Air Force, Pearl Harbor, Camp H.M. Smith, Fort Shafter and Tripler Army Medical Center. Ensuring that these bases and military installations have adequate funding is in the best interest of Hawaii and the United States.

"The fact is Colleen Hanabusa's handlers on the mainland have decided to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to lie about Charles' record and district voters from her own troubling record," said Dylan Nonaka, Hawaii Republican Party Executive Director.

"In this difficult economy, the last thing voters in Hawaii's first Congressional district want is a politician who has voted for just about every tax increase and government regulation imaginable, killing local jobs and paying off her union cronies."

...business leaders we all recognize there are some major challenges within in Hawaii’s public education system and it begins with who is accountable. Currently, there is a grass roots effort started by a wide cross section of people in Hawaii who are trying to make a fundamental change to public education in Hawaii.  The group is called “Hawaii’s Children First,” and they support a ballot initiative in the November election to allow for an appointed school board....

Hawai`i State Auditor Marion Higa's February, 2009 Procurement Audit of the Department of Education looked at only a small part of the DoE procurement budget and found millions of dollars wasted by what she termed "fraudulent unethical behavior."  In a single $160 million project, Higa’s auditors identified $21 million in waste.  But Neil Abercrombie doesn’t want anybody to dig any further.

Democrats and the AFL-CIO have been flooding the airwaves and the mailboxes with debunked claims labeled “false” by FactCheck.org and mocked by the Washington Post.  The leftist KOS poll and the Democrat poll would make up a polling trend which indicates that these Democrat lies are working.  But neither poll is independent, so it is impossible to know whether these poll numbers are merely atmospherics to go along with the barrage of lies.

HONOLULU - Dutch Hanohano, campaign manager of the Friends of Duke Aiona, today announced that the grassroots campaign raised more than $65,000 over the last 14 days of the primary election, from Sept. 4 to Sept. 18, and began the general election campaign with more than $400,000 cash-on-hand.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan today launched the second television ad of their general election campaign for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The new spot, "Retro," follows Duke and Lynn in a series of b-roll shots as they interact with a wide range of people, including small business owners and their respective families.

"It took brave political leaders to dismantle laws outlawing slavery…. Neil Abercrombie is the only candidate who shows that kind of brave leadership.”

HONOLULU – More than 2,000 grassroots supporters today joined Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan and their families for a pa‘ina in the park at Bishop Museum. Prior to the event, more than 400 supporters lined School Street and Likelike Highway to sign wave for the event.

• For 40+ years, we've had an elected Board of Education.
• The average term of office of the current elected Board is approximately 8 years.
• One member has been in office for 2 decades.  Three members have been in office for more than 1 decade.

Honolulu, HI — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) was joined by local Cub Scouts and volunteers at Mililani Waena Elementary School today to participate in the Hawaii Jaycees’ Third Annual “Adopt-A-School” Day, an annual day of statewide service to our local schools.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan today launched the third in a series of videos they are sharing online to discuss real solutions for all of Hawai‘i. The third spot, "Power," focuses on reducing the financial burden on Hawai‘i's working families and small businesses.

Despite all the negative ads saying Charles Djou voted against funding for schools, we know that actually no Hawaii schools were ever in danger of closing, nor were any teacher jobs at risk. Consider the following from the Washington Post's editorial board. They call this bailout for states a "boondoggle" and that "With schools in session, it's even clearer now than it was then that the numbers were exaggerated and that the measure was in no small part intended to motivate the powerful teachers unions for this fall's midterm elections."

An Aiona-Finnegan Administration will champion an accessible and impartial judicial system for all of Hawai‘i's citizens; focus the role of prisons and state law enforcement agencies; be a strong advocate for fair, consistent and swift, sure punishment for crime; and work to develop programs for restorative justice in our law school, courts and law enforcement community.

• WHO: Congressman Charles Djou and Honolulu Chinese Jaycees
• WHAT: Adopt-A-School Day at Mililani Waena Elementary School
• WHEN: Sunday, October 10, 2010, beginning at 9:00 AM
• WHERE: Mililani Waena Elementary School 

"The high unemployment rate at the federal level is a serious concern, especially because my opponent's plan for Hawai‘i depends on dwindling federal deficit-financed dollars."

... it was said that it was the first time anyone had been denied a chance to fill a vacancy on the Manoa Neighborhood Board. Zach Thomson a businessman, active civic leader, founder of the non-profit Lucent Film Academy, Eagle Scout and Active Boy Scout Den Leader, who is a husband and father that lives with his wife and child in the Manoa community was denied ....

...she claimed that the Hawaii Republican Party's gesture of support and goodwill was simply a 'stunt'....

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today named George Burnett, a Civil Defense telecommunications officer with the state Department of Defense, as State Manager of the Year, and Lynne Kazama, a social worker with the Department of Human Services, as State Employee of the Year.  The Governor also named the “Quarantine First Responders” with the University of Hawai‘i as the State Team of the Year.

WaPo: Below you'll find our rankings of the 50 House races most likely to switch parties in the fall....

John Willoughby is the GOP candidate for CD2 vs Mazie Hirono and Scott Henderson is the GOP candidate for State House Dist 7 vs Cindy Evans. 

Washington- After months of rubber-stamping reckless spending and job-killing legislation, reality finally caught up with Hawaii Democrat Colleen Hanabusa and her Washington friends. The final jobs report before Election Day showed another month of high unemployment at 9.6 percent, marking it almost a year and a half since unemployment has been under nine percent, signaling major problems for any Democrat on the ballot in November.

HONLULU—The Hawaii Republican Party stopped by Colleen Hanabusa’s headquarters this afternoon with moving boxes fresh off her statement and our video released yesterday indicating she would be moving into Hawaii’s First Congressional District.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona today issued the following statement in response to his opponent's proposal for the next Lieutenant Governor to control the process for obtaining federal funds. 

Charles Djou's stay on Capitol Hill was supposed to be brief....

...police reported the car was registered to my opponent, Rep. Jessica Wooley, and her husband. When police called her, she did not deny her car was there and said it must have been a volunteer, but that she didn't know who it was.  She also claimed to have only taken the signs down and left them in front of the house, but as we reported, the signs were stolen and thrown into her van.  Someone mysteriously returned signs at the place they were stolen with a note saying the property caretakers didn't want the signs up.  But these were not the same signs stolen from the property and we confirmed with the property caretakers that they indeed supported our campaign and wanted a sign in their home.

“Congressman Djou understands the importance of small business in restoring the nation’s economy,” she said, noting his willingness to fight growing federal regulations and stand firm against anti-business measures such as big labor’s “card check” legislation that would unfairly deny small businesses and their workers the right to secret ballot elections when faced with union-organizing campaigns."

"Jobs and the economy are unquestionably the two most important issues in the elections this November," said Ed Pinto, Chairman and CEO of Trust in Small Business PAC. 

"Small business is the key to jump starting the economy and creating new jobs America so desperately needs," Pinto continued. "Congressman Djou understands this. Djou stands up for small business."

Subsets of the 14-member Political Action Committee met with candidates to identify those who were friendly to businesses. To receive the Chamber's endorsement as a "business friendly" candidate, each candidate had to meet a minimum score equating to 60 percent of the total points possible.

Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan's opponents did not meet the minimum score to qualify for an endorsement.

"Our opponent continues to speak in platitudes, including an over-reliance on federal funding as the solution to Hawai‘i's economic issues.

"Duke Aiona addressed balance, integrity and fiscal responsibility in state government, while creating job opportunities, reducing the financial burden on our working families and small businesses and improving the quality of public education."

Naturally she withheld this magnificent announcement until encountering an amateur videographer on a Washington, DC street corner. 

Honolulu, HI — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) has selected local attorney Irene Anzai as a 2010 Angel in Adoption^TM  for her support of adopted children and their families. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which organizes the Angels in Adoption^™ program, will honor Anzai and other Angels at an awards ceremony and gala event on October 6, 2010 in Washington, DC. Congressman Djou will present the actual award to Anzai at a local ceremony on October 15....

Our internal polls now show us with a narrow lead, and a recent poll by a left wing blog shows our opponent with a razor thin lead.  In either case, our race is very close.

"Nothing in our opponents' latest plan would help bring about immediate economic recovery or create private sector jobs in 2011," said Duke Aiona. "Our opponents are finally admitting that there needs to be a down payment for their program, except that it now comes from "external" funds - which essentially means federal funds. If they fail to obtain these external funds, there will be no down payment and therefore no delivery on their promises."

"The Hawai‘i Restaurant Association is excited to be supporting Duke Aiona for Governor," said Chris Colgate, chairman of the Hawai‘i Restaurant Association Board of Directors. "Our industry believes he has always supported many of our positions and is committed to keeping down the high cost of doing business in Hawai‘i."

The leftist Daily KOS has released results of a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling October 2 and 3 among likely voters in Hawaii.  The poll shows Republican Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov Duke Aiona statistically tied with Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Neil Abercrombie. 

Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie has released his “Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.”  Here are some of the best lines....

  Congressman Djou, his wife Stacey, Stephan Edwards and his brother Ryan of Systemcenter