National News

HONOLULU – One hundred and twelve teams of middle and high school robotics students from Hawai‘i, California, Nevada and China put their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to the test for the past three days in a friendly, spirited competition that pitted robots against robots, and showcased students’ ingenuity, teamwork and ability to think analytically under pressure.

While BPC has focused primarily on federal policy issues – including energy, health care, national and homeland security, transportation and economic policy – during its first three years, it is increasing its efforts to draw upon the policy and political experience that exist at the state level. 

A press release from the University of Hawaii at Manoa on November 24, 2010 announced the results of a computer study by UH climatologists which portends greater global warming in the future.  Even though this was a computer study of other computer studies, the authors were correct in pointing out that there has been great disagreement between the many existing global climate models.  In most of these cases the computer models have consistently overstated future global temperatures.  We also know that estimates of future atmospheric CO2 have also been overestimated.

The world economy contracted in 2009 for the first time since the 1930s. This year, growth has staged a moderate rebound, but will ease off somewhat in 2011. Overall, the global recovery has been anemic by historical standards.

“Legislation as highly complex and divisive as the native Hawaiian bill requires vigorous discussion, debate, and amendments,” Kyl said. “An attempt to include it in unrelated legislation to keep the government operating is a breach of process and is an example of what the American people are tired of – back room deals that are inserted in secret packages written behind closed doors.”

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) issued the following statement reacting to the news that the United States and the Republic of Korea have reached a deal on the languishing free trade agreement. Congressman Djou has been a leading voice in the U.S. House, advocating for this agreement from the first day he was in office.

Hosting 112 teams from around the globe, the majority of which are Hawaii-based teams, Hawaii has topped the list as the largest VEX Robotics tournament in the world, outside of the world championships hosted in Orlando, FL.

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) issued the following statement after voting to censure Congressman Charles Rangel:

"...most importantly, this measure was not deficit-financed.  Moving forward, it is my hope that the United States Congress will continue to advocate for policies that do not add to our nation’s deficit.”

Nearly Half Of The Business Income That Is Reported On Personal Tax Filings Goes To Families And Businesses That Would Have Their Taxes Raised By Democrats.

...we are excited to launch Libertad.org, our new Spanish-language website. Libertad.org will communicate the message of conservatism to a Hispanic audience that prefers to read news in their first language. We are a country of opportunity, one where Hispanics have the opportunity to become the latest in a long list of immigrants from the world over who have realized the American Dream.

Less than 24 hours after declaring victory in his quest to vastly expand the regulatory powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—for the children—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is mired in a procedural misstep that may well kill the legislation.

Washington, D.C., December 1, 2010—This morning, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the Commission will vote on net neutrality rules during its December 21 meeting. Telecom policy analysts at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) urged FCC Commissioners to reject this unwise proposal, warning that mandating net neutrality would harm consumers and stifle network investment.

On November 30, Ralph Nader asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his ballot access case from Hawaii.  The case number has not been assigned yet.  The case originated in 2004, and challenges the Hawaii policy that requires six times as many signatures for an independent presidential candidate, as for an entire new party.

Activist, masquerading as academic, argues for his preferred changes in society....

The campaign to paper over President Barack Obama’s big government tax-and-spend record with symbolic political triangulation has begun.

A leading American Muslim charity routed millions of dollars illegally to Hamas. An international convoy and flotilla campaign to deliver aid to Palestinians supports the Hamas government in Gaza.

Their advocates insist they want nothing more than to ease the suffering of the Palestinian people.

A review of Hamas' actions since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, however, shows the group is creating suffering.

This has not been a good month for the Obama Doctrine: The President came home empty-handed from Asia, North Korea fired artillery at South Korea just days after revealing nuclear facilities no one knew they had, and Obama failed to get the G-20 to take any action limiting trade imbalances. It was not supposed to be this way. After apologizing for all of our nation’s sins, the world was supposed to swoon at President Obama’s unparalleled charisma.

...within five years, a tiny 15 percent of the unmarried couples had actually taken wedding vows, while a whopping 60 percent had split up. At the five-year mark, only 36 percent of the children lived with their fathers, and half of the other 64 percent hadn’t seen their dads in the last month. One-half to two-thirds of the absent fathers provided little or no financial support....

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

As described by Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford in his diary Of Plymouth Plantation, the first Pilgrim winters in America were tough. The colonists failed to produce adequate food and shelter, and as a result, many did not survive. But eventually the colony rebounded. The Pilgrims did build sufficient homes and did plant enough crops to feed the entire colony. So great was their bounty that they celebrated with a harvest feast that eventually became the Thanksgiving holiday that we celebrate today. But what was the key to the colony’s turnaround? What drove them from poverty to prosperity? The answer may surprise you.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that “cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.” The article goes on to report that while the rest of the public is still subject to either a body scanner or “an intimate personal pat-down,”....

At 2:43 PM local time today, North Korea fired artillery rockets at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong setting dozens of residential homes ablaze, wounding three civilians and fifteen soldiers, and killing two South Korean Marines....

November 22, 2010 Recent Congressional Votes:

• Senate: Cloture Motion; Paycheck Fairness Act
• House: Telework Improvements Act
• House: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Continuation Act 

When Hawaii became a state, the Department of Justice sent two attorneys to enforce the antitrust laws. I was one of them....

...if the Obama Administration keeps selling their GM stock at the IPO price, the U.S. taxpayer will lose $10 billion on the deal, and that does not include the loans GM still owes, cash for clunkers, the Chevy Volt subsidies, or the millions of unseen costs the unprecedented intervention has inflicted on our economy.....

Since 2005, at least 479,000 personal records have been breached in the state of Hawaii – records on one out of every three residents – according to a report by the Liberty Coalition.

Our long national nightmare is over. Phusion Projects, the makers of Four Loko brand caffeinated malt beverages, announced yesterday that it will remove the caffeine from its products. Phusion’s decisions came just one day after Senator Chuck Schumer (D–NY) pushed the Food and Drug Administration to ban “these dangerous and toxic drinks.” ...

A new version of the Akaka Bill was introduced yesterday in the US Senate by Sen. Dan Akaka (D-HI).  In accordance with Senate rules, the new bill, designated S. 3945, was read twice on the Senate floor and then referred to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.    A text of S. 3945 is not yet available.

So much for Neil Abercrombie’s “more federal funds” refrain, eh? If this holds, Inouye will no longer be able to buy off his cronies and the corporatist state will starve.  Hawaii Democrats will be relegated to peddling marijuana, assisted suicide, and gay marriage as substitutes for pork barrel projects.

President Barack Obama returned from Asia yesterday, and the headlines greeting him home are not kind. “Obama’s economic view is rejected on world stage,” reads The New York Times; “Obama, weakened after midterms, reveals limited leverage in failed S. Korea deal,” says The Washington Post; and ABC News declares, “President Obama Falls Short on G-20 Goals: Failure to Deliver on Key Trade Goals Reveals Limits of American Influence.” These headlines are only half-right: Yes, President Obama did fail to deliver on his agenda in Asia, but the culprit is not declining American influence. The problem is a losing agenda set by the President himself.

--A chunk of independent voters said they want the government to do less after two years of Democratic domination in the nation's capital. That's almost a direct reversal of how this voting group behaved in 2008. Majorities of independents in each state surveyed except Democratic-leaning Hawaii said the government is doing too many things better left to the private sector and individuals.

The state of Hawaii’s lawsuit against pharmacy benefit manager McKesson (MCK) and drug database manager First DataBank could signal the end of drug price manipulation, at least as we currently know it....

Facing a $25 billion deficit for their next two-year budget cycle, Texas lawmakers are considering closing the gap by dropping out of Medicaid. “This system is bankrupting our state,” State Representative Warren Chisum told The New York Times. “We need to get out of it. And with the budget shortfall we’re anticipating, we may have to act this year,” he said.

And Texas is not alone....

On this national holiday we also take a closer look at how Congress plans to provide for those who serve. Yesterday, President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released a report calling for $100 billion cuts to the defense budget. The Commission's defense cuts would make America less safe and are thus completely irresponsible.

The denial of cert by the U.S. Supreme Court means that until the Hawaii Supreme Court confirms or rules otherwise in a future case, the ICA's rule that "unvested" rights or "contingent future interests" are not property and are subject to uncompensated acquisition by the legislature, is the law.

Over the past week, Charles has received hundreds of emails from people all over the state and the nation expressing their sorrow and disappointment over Tuesday’s election results.  While we share your pain, we prefer to instead focus on all that we were able to accomplish together in the last year.

Guam Republicans Sen. Eddie Calvo and Sen. Ray Tenorio defeated Democrats former Gov. Carl Gutierrez and Sen. Frank Aguon Jr. by 583 votes in the General Election on Tuesday, but the results will not be certified unless today's recount confirms the victor.

I collapsed into bed at roughly 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, and awoke, groggily, some hours later to find that Rep. Charles Djou, Republican of Hawaii elected in a special three-way election earlier this year, had been defeated....

Republicans in Hawaii may have taken a drubbing Election Day, but the sudden reassertion of Republican control of Congress means that Hawaiians and Hawaii may be saved from the Akaka Bill.  

Aiona: "I congratulate our opponent on his victory, and will join all of you in supporting our next Governor by working to hold our government accountable to our citizens."

Everyone now knows that Americans remain a strong and free people, unbowed by adversity and unwilling to exchange their birthright of liberty for a perpetual stew of bureaucratic rule and government dependency.

But let’s be clear, now we must all get to work.  The new Congress has a choice: answer the call of renewal or betray the hopes of the American people.  It is time for conservatives to be conservative, and not backslide.

Links to national election results updated continuously...

Click a link and find out what the rest of Hawaii media has not been telling you....

Dennis Prager (radio) Show Today Tues. Nov. 2nd between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM

Janet Grace, executive director of Hawaii Right to Life stated, “We do not believe a person can be qualified for public office if he has no respect for the most innocent and vulnerable people in Hawai'i. Gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie’s voting record is crystal clear: as a U.S. Congressman, he consistently voted against every piece of legislation that would have protected innocent human life."

Our country may just need a Rally to Restore Comedy after this past Saturday's spectacularly unfunny Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall. But "The Daily Show" host and rally organizer Jon Stewart may have stumbled upon some truth in his closing remarks....

How tall will the Republican wave be tomorrow? Two leading political analysts for Gallup have gone through the House races and drawn up what they call the most pessimistic scenario for the GOP. Even so, Republicans end up taking 38 net House seats from Democrats, putting them one seat short of control. Their most optimistic scenario for Republicans is a GOP gain of 90 seats.