Entries for October 2010

We couldn’t help but notice Obama's reference to the “Small Business Credit Card Act”—HR 3457 .  The bill was introduced in Congress by then-Rep Abercrombie on July 31, 2009.  But even with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate, and Dan Inouye’s seniority, Abercrombie’s bill has gone exactly nowhere. 

“Inouye backed Colleen Hanabusa in May’s special election for Hawaii’s first congressional district.  She came in second place and is still defying political analysts who believed the seat was a safe Democrat seat by polling behind Republican Charles Djou in recent polls.  Inouye also backed Mufi Hannemann for governor and Kirk Caldwell for mayor, both of whom lost their election."

Honolulu, Hawaii—An impressive 49 candidates from Hawaii in the November 2^nd election have have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, promising to “oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

It wouldn’t be an election without an October surprise, and sure enough, the 2010 cycle will not disappoint.  This time, it’s not some 11th hour accusation about unpaid taxes, illegal nannies or secret love affairs, but an appearance from the Mad Hatter of pollsters whose crazy talk in the final days of the election is making black sound like white and and Nancy Pelosi sound…sane. Well, almost.

Who is the Mad Hatter of the 2010 elections?  Friends, follow me on a trip down the rabbit hole…

From Cam Cavasso Campaign: Just two weeks ago, we sent you our roadmap to victory, analyzing the latest polling in the Hawaii Senate Race. At the time, our opponent, Dan Inouye, held a 36-point lead in the polls.  But in the latest poll released yesterday by Rasmussen Reports, Cam is closing the gap, narrowing Inouye's lead to just 13 percent!  The poll is also revealing because it shows several trends:

He voted against adopting the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, which worked for nearly two years to provide an accurate description of the September 11 attacks and identify the problems that led to the success of the attack.  

HONOLULU - The State is seeking nominations to the Commission on Water Resource Management.  A Nominating Committee will screen the applicants and send to the Governor the names of at least three individuals for one open position. 

Cam Cavasso focuses on addressing the chronic deficits faced by the U.S. Government by addressing Washington’s out-of-control spending and developing a fairer, simpler tax code that avoids the revenue volatility of the current income tax structure.

In 2004 Inouye won with 75% of the vote so this is quite a come down and a very good sign for Hawaii Republican candidates up and down the ballot.

Will we elect a leader like Neil Abercrombie who believes in pouring more money into an education system consistently ranked at the bottom of the states without investigating as to the reason why and where the money goes?

The release of the web series video comes on the heels of an admission by our opponent that he will stand in line with the leadership of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association (HSTA) by opposing a ballot proposition on whether Hawai‘i's next Governor should be allowed to appoint the Board of Education (BOE).

This is the first American Crossroads independent expenditure campaign ad.

In a shocking report, Neil Abercrombie denounces his opponents as Nazis and enemies of civil rights.  He points to ousted Broken Trust Trustee Dickie Wong as an example of “people coming together.” 

Abercrombie has now come out against an Audit of the BoE and against the fall ballot measure to amend the State Constitution to create an appointed BoE.  His minions in Hawaii’s pathetic excuse for a media are doing their best to cover the story up.  For instance the Star-Advertiser Friday FALSELY reported that Abercrombie and Aiona AGREE on an appointed BoE.  The SA did not mention Abercrombie’s clear statement that he will vote AGAINST the ballot measure Nov 2 in yesterday's coverage or today's. 

"Tonight she was unable to articulate anything the Congress had done in the past year that she would have voted against, she was unable to describe how she would encourage job creation and she continued to tout the success of the so-called 'stimulus' bill which has failed by the very standard its proponents set. The people of Hawaii deserve independent, fiscally responsible leadership, not a rubber stamp."

Hawaii CD2 Congressional Candidate featured on Dennis Praeger show.

UK Daily Mail, National Journal, Atlanta Journal Constitution, MSNBC First Read, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Daily KOS . . . .   

“These are naive idiots who’ve come out of academia and have never done anything real in their lives, and they are actually in power,” he said. “These are the people we never let in the room when we had serious business to do. Now they’re running the country.”

On October 23, 2009, a reporter asked Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): "Madam Speaker, where specifically does the Constitution grant Congress the authority to enact an individual health insurance mandate?" Speaker Pelosi shook her head dismissing the question: "Are you serious? Are you serious?" Pressed for a more substantive response later, Pelosi's press spokesman admonished the reporter: "You can put this on the record. That is not a serious question. That is not a serious question."

Yesterday, Roger Vinson, senior federal judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, found it to be a very serious question indeed.

An amendment that would replace the elected board with one appointed by the governor has the support of 54.2 percent of likely voters, according to the automated telephone poll. The survey of 1,151 likely voters was conducted Oct. 11 by Aloha Vote, a Hawaii subsidiary of Merriman River Group.

Citizens Against Government Waste named him “Porker of the Month” in August of 2009 for his constant reach into pockets of hard working Americans to fund useless, ineffective and sometimes even radical programs and ideas.” 

Worst of all, Abercrombie has consistently provided large taxpayer funded contracts to his friends in companies like Pacific Biodiesel, which also donate to Abercrombie’s campaigns.  

Former Democratic Congressman Neil Abercrombie and Republican Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona are now virtually tied in the race to be Hawaii’s next governor.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Aloha State shows Abercrombie picking up 49% of the vote, while Aiona earns 47% support.

"Mr. Abercrombie was asked point blank how he would find the $190 million he promised to government workers, but once again ducked the answer.

"This is consistent with our opponent's long-standing inability to specifically explain how he would fund his book of promises."

Abercrombie admitted that he does not support an appointed Board of Education, stating that it would not make a difference.

Duke Aiona, Governor Lingle and each of Hawai'i’s past living Governors - Governor Ariyoshi, Governor Waihee and Governor Cayetano - have voiced support for an appointed Board of Education. This bipartisan support for an appointed Board of Education shows that those who have been held responsible for education in Hawai‘i believe it would be a step in the right direction to improve accountability in our education system.

The Milken Institute rankings of 200 largest US metro areas shows that Honolulu has risen from 100th to 55th overall in the combined rankings based on eight measures of job growth used by Milken.  The brightest spot for Honolulu is its ranking of 30th in “short term job growth” comparing employment numbers for April 2009 with April 2010. 

PAYCHECKS HAWAII, the private, independent, non-partisan political action affiliate of Smart Business Hawaii (SBH) announced the following federal and state pro business candidate endorsements for the November 2, 2010 Hawaii General Election

The Taxpayer’s Perspective highlights two ballot measures in Hawaii, including a statewide measure that would give the legislature discretion to use property tax rebates intended for taxpayers and a local measure in Oahu that would create a transit authority to oversee a rail project.

"I am endorsing Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan because they will provide a hopeful, balanced vision for our island and citizens," said Annette Baptiste. "My family is fully supportive of their campaign for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. At this critical point, I feel that, under their leadership, Duke and Lynn are best suited to address the big issues facing the people of Hawai‘i."

"I do not believe the future of our economy is going to come from a bureaucrat," Djou said. "The future of our economy is going to come from an individual, an individual American who takes a chance, goes into the marketplace and creates a job."

Wall Street Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Hill

The Democratic Governors Association is fighting back with a new ad framing a vote for Mr. Aiona as a vote against President Obama. The ad quotes Mr. Aiona himself saying electing a GOP governor would be a "knock-out punch" against Hawaii's favorite son in the White House.

However, this may not be a risk-free strategy for Democrats. The Republican Governors Association has its own ad up that gently chides Mr. Abercrombie for being out-of-touch with the state. The ad doesn't clobber Mr. Obama, but says: "Maybe people in Washington don't care how you handle the federal budget -- by printing money, raising taxes, and increasing the deficit -- but in Hawaii, we do care."

In her own words, Colleen Hanabusa said in one of her recent advertisements that she is the kind of politician that, “What you see is what you’ll get.” Since she asked for it, let’s take a look at her record…

At one time, social obligations and services were carried out by community groups, family networks and even local governments. Now, an ever growing and ever more unaccountable federal bureaucracy undermines our spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement by making more and more Americans dependent on Big Government. In 2010, we witnessed a record-breaking surge in American dependence on the federal government including....

...in a hearing on the State’s motion for summary judgment, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. argued that the court should interpret “preserve in place” as used in the State burial law and administrative rules as prohibiting building over burials. There is no such prohibition explicit in the statutory language and the Court declined to impose such a meaning....

Myth: The U.S. Chamber is spending foreign money on political activities.

Fact: The U.S. Chamber fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations. No foreign money is used to fund political activities.

Attacks by the White House and the Democratic National Committee on outside groups like Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Collegio said, have helped energize their base and bring in more donations.

The first eight races in which Crossroads will run ads include two for incumbents — Dan Lungren in  California’s Third Congressional District and Charles Djou in Hawaii’s First Congressional District.

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.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan today unveiled their policy agenda for Native Hawaiian issues. First as a judge, and later as Lieutenant Governor, Duke Aiona has been instrumental in advancing Hawaiian causes and tackling issues that disproportionately affect the Hawaiian community.

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.