Maui County

With unemployment at 9.5 percent and the national debt at an all-time high, the last thing middle-class families need is more of the Democrats’ reckless spending agenda. Instead of calling Congress back into session to create private-sector jobs, House Democrats have once again dismissed an opportunity to rein in runaway government spending and provide the fiscal discipline needed to create jobs.

(08/10/10) HONOLULU – A comprehensive settlement has been reached with the City and County of Honolulu that will address Clean Water Act compliance at Honolulu’s wastewater collection and treatment systems, the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Hawaii Attorney General’s Office, Hawaii Department of Health, and three environmental groups announced today.

The settlement which also resolves lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club, Hawaii’s Thousand Friends and Our Children’s Earth Foundation, includes a comprehensive compliance schedule for the city to upgrade its wastewater collection system by June 2020. Under the settlement, the Honouliuli wastewater treatment plant will need to be upgraded to secondary treatment by 2024. The Sand Island plant will need to be upgraded by 2035, but could be extended to 2038 based on a showing of economic hardship.

“The problem in Congress today is that it seems that the universal answer to every one of our nation’s problems is spend, spend, and—if that doesn’t work—spend some more. And this particular bill that we’re voting on today fits exactly in that genre—‘Spending can fix all of our nation’s woes.’

Editor's Note: For decades, Hawaii Democrats have based their power on their ability to get federal pork from DC.  Charles Djou is directly challenging the desirability of their pork.  This vote is probably the most direct challenge in decades to Hawaii Democrats' basic strategy.  Will it be a winning issue for Djou?  Election Day is Nov 2.

“I was honored to attend the mobilization ceremony today (Sunday Aug 8, 2010) for the 305^th MPAD/9^th MSC. It was a particularly special honor to be with a number of soldiers from the 1101^st GSU, my former unit in the Army Reserve, who will be deploying to Iraq with the 305^th."

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) appeared on MSNBC today with guest host Cenk Uygur to discuss the current economy, today’s disappointing jobs numbers and the need to create more private sector jobs by enacting pro-growth policies.

Here's the real reason: "Sen. Clayton Hee, in opposition, raised concerns about whether Leonard would be open enough to Native Hawaiian rights. A court that strictly follows the rule of law may not have led to the recognition of customary Hawaiian rights, he said."

Congressman Djou articulated his concerns about the impact of Micronesian immigration to Hawaii on the City and County of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii's social service programs. Congressman Djou and Ambassador George both acknowledge that the status quo is not working.

Washington- The Obama White House promised this would be a summer of economic recovery, but after another disappointing month of high unemployment it is evident that is simply not the case. Now, Hawaii families can add another false promise to their growing list of grievances against Colleen Hanabusa's out-of-touch Democrat friends, whose runaway spending addiction has led the economy astray. With unemployment standing at 9.5 percent and over 130,000 jobs lost last month, Hawaii families are feeling burned by Hanabusa's Washington friends, whose trillion-dollar stimulus has failed to bring them out of this jobless recovery.

“Democrats in the Senate have tried every trick in the book to prevent Governor Linda Lingle from appointing the next Chief Justice. They put a question on the ballot to change the retirement age for judges which was voted down by voters and now they are trying to vote down an obviously qualified judge, with Judiciary Chair Brian Tanaguchi telling the media after the hearing that the five men on the list were all qualified. This is height of hypocrisy."

Just two-and-a-half months after winning his special election in HI-01, a new poll from Rep. Charles Djou's (R) camp shows he starts the general election in a rather strong position. In the survey, Djou led state Senate Pres. Colleen Hanabusa (D) 50-42%.

Mainland gay activists are doing everything they can to make sure that Hawaii remains under the thumb of child-molester advocate Rep Joe Bertram (D-Kihei) and HB444 sponsor Rep Blake Oshiro (D-Aiea).  The multi-million dollar Washington, DC-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund names Oshiro as one of its “featured candidates” pumping mainland gay money into Oshiro’s campaign as he faces off against a strong Democrat Primary challenge from Honolulu Councilmember Gary Okino, a firm opponent of HB444.

Hawai‘i has become one of the least business-friendly states in America. Having served in the Hawai‘i State House and on the Honolulu City Council, I know that we cannot continue to punish businesses and still provide for a prosperous Hawai‘i.

But the anti-business policies that I fought in state and local government are dwarfed by the tax-and-spend agenda that I am battling in the United States Congress. It seems that for every problem facing our nation, the government’s answer is to spend and spend some more.

Hawaii state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, who split the Democratic vote with former Rep. Ed Case in the May special election, is the party's presumptive nominee against Djou.

"We now have sweetness and light in Hawaii — or at least we don't have a lot of darkness," Hoyer said.

Congressman Djou’s amendment would’ve restored, through offsets, the necessary funding to one of the largest movements of military assets in decades while helping to maintain a robust military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Congressman Djou’s amendment would’ve increased funding for military construction projects necessary to realign Marine Corps forces to Guam.  The funds would come from offsets within H.R. 5822....

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) gave the following speech today from the floor of the U.S. House, advocating for a stronger and deeper relationship with the Republic of Korea...

The Congressional Budget Office employs talented economists whose job it is to study every aspect of every bill and predict how much each will cost – or how much each will save – years into the future.

They are good, but they are not infallible soothsayers. Economic predictions that are off just a little in a year can become wildly inaccurate over the course of decades.... 

When costs are higher than or savings lower than predicted, the Truth in Spending Act creates a fast-track process to reduce excess costs through legislation.

“To stimulate the economy and help small businesses, I am proud to join my colleagues in co-sponsoring the Small Business Assistance and Relief Act. Whoever is in the majority—whether Democrats or Republicans—we need fiscal responsibility in Washington, D.C. and tax relief for every working family and small business to get our economy moving again.”

H.R. 5554, the Small Business Assistance and Relief Act, will help small businesses thrive by providing tax relief, reducing regulatory burden and boosting lending in the currently tight credit environment.

“After supporting a Democrat agenda that has buried Hawaii taxpayers under a mountain of reckless government spending and record-high debt, it looks like Colleen Hanabusa could once again support a job killing tax hike that would devastate the economy even further,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Small businesses are looking for some much-needed relief, but all they’re getting from Washington is the uncertainty that comes from the Democrats’ harmful agenda. If Hanabusa can’t finally stand up against the Democrats’ tax-hiking agenda, it will prove once and for all that her loyalties do not lie with Hawaii businesses and families.”

“Raising $3.8 trillion in new taxes at any time is a bad idea. Raising these taxes in the middle of an economic downturn is a terrible idea. The current majority in Congress has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to try and turn around the economy with the so-called ‘stimulus’ package. It has utterly failed.”

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today appointed Caroline S. Wong to the Board of Education to fill the seat vacated by Breene Harimoto, who resigned last month.  Wong will serve on a temporary basis until a new member is elected in the November General Election to serve out the remaining two years of Harimoto’s term.  Her appointment takes effect immediately.

The legislation penalizes entities that assist Iran in importing refined petroleum or in maintaining or expanding Iran’s domestic refining capacity. These sanctions penalize foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, aid Iran’s nuclear program or support Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism. I was proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in supporting these sanctions.  

The bill that I co-sponsored has now become law, signed by the President on July 1, 2010.  

Setting snark aside, there is a real issue here: Is it appropriate for a state to require parents to declare their races so they can be stamped on to their children’s birth certificates, where they will remain in perpetuity? As of 1993, only five states had such policies in place. Now, over 15 years later, we have a multiracial president in the White House. Is it still necessary to insist upon racial identification on birth certificates — or is it time to discard such policies as outdated and counterproductive?

What valid purposes are served by such policies? Don’t they just exacerbate the problem of excessive race-consciousness in this country? To quote the wise words of Chief Justice John Roberts, “[t]he way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” And the way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop knowing or caring what race a person is. [FN1]

The FTA has said that the City’s current financial plan is insufficiently robust to warrant entry into the next stage, Final Design. The Governor has said that she needs to see a plan that is robust enough to warrant entry before she will “accept” the Final EIS.

Mufi can continue this standoff by not having the City produce a new financial plan; Caldwell will do what he is told. Mufi can then continue to blame the Governor for holding up the project while deflecting blame from himself.

Bob Jones: Absent evidence otherwise, we have to take his word. It’s just hard for us skeptically-inclined old-timers in journalism to accept that a man with a City job and a history of doing “opposition research” didn’t even ask some high Hannemann campaign official if it was okay to portray Abercrombie as a brain in a glass jar controlled by former Gov. Ben Cayetano, as a “flailing gasbag” and his wife, the scholar Nancie Caraway, as “a witch.”

…And it’s just going to get nastier at least until the primary, perhaps beyond.

VIDEO of Djou interviewed on Fox News...

Hanabusa said that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's preference for former Rep. Ed Case (D) in the special election was based on "bum information" in an interview with the Fix Monday. "I'm president of the Senate. I'm not a neophyte when it comes to understanding political alignments and misalignments," she added.  (Is that why she "aligned" with Mehau against Bronster?)

The four politicians running for this office all have clearly represented their support of the status quo with even prosecutor/politician Peter Carlisle pledging to have rail all over the island and through the Koolaus. Is Peter's 30 Billion Dollar Rail Plan prudent fiscal policy for our Oahu?

I am the only candidate who is an engineer, not a politician, and I will stop the rail project, repeal its tax, and work with everyone who wants to make Honolulu the great city we all know it deserves to be.

Here are some questions for Abercrombie and Caraway:

At first blush, Hawaii’s First Congressional District doesn’t look like a potential Blue to Red conversion target. Obama did carry HI01 by a lopsided 70-28 percent spread, but that margin seems to be grossly distorted in favor of Honolulu’s Favorite Son. President Obama was born and spent some of his schoolboy years in this very district. 

Djou’s Honolulu-based district is historically Democratic, but it is not utterly inhospitable to Republican candidates. As the Washington Examiner’s senior Political Analyst Michael Barone mentions in his Almanac of American Politics, HI01 is home to “many military families in modest neighborhoods who may vote for Democrats but can be attracted to Republicans.”  

“Mr. Speaker, the American people expect Congress to act responsibly and to be trustworthy. But how can this happen when this Congress has no plan?

“No plan for a budget. No plan to create jobs. No plan to turn around our economy other than to spend, spend, and spend some more of the people’s money.

“We spent more than a trillion dollars to ‘create jobs,’ but as of yet our unemployment rate still languishes at over 9.5%. Our nation is plagued with debt and not creating a budget further amplifies the problem."

Despite having served for less than two months, Hawaii Congressman Charles K. Djou is influencing national policy in Washington.  He has rapidly become one of the most active and outspoken representatives in the U.S. today.

“After more than 10 days of political maneuvering, Hannemann must have reviewed his polls and discovered that taking a clear stance on HB444 was politically beneficial. 

"Is this the kind of pono leadership Hannemann promises in his latest television ad?  Hawaii deserves a principled Governor who is not afraid to make decisions and take positions on controversial issues.”

 Brian Schatz at 2006 Akaka campaign rally in Larry Mehau’s barn.

Thursday’s editorial in the Washington Post: “Wrong way in Thailand” highlights an issue of personal significance to Congressman Djou. He is the first Member of Congress of Thai descent and still has family living in Bangkok. 

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) appeared on the CNBC program “Worldwide Exchange” to discuss, among other things, the flawed financial regulatory reform bill that passed the U.S. Congress, the ballooning national deficit and debt, and Congress’ failure to pass a budget.

“The sewer fix and the EPA consent decree (these are two different things) are likely to cost about $4.5 billion.  Add $5.5 Billion for the rail and Oahu taxpayers face a $10 Billion fiscal liability.  For a city with a typical capital improvement program (CIP) of no more than One Billion dollars per year this spells mismanagement.

“The rail project and the mismanagement of sewer and water mains leaves Honolulu with record tax increases, chronic homelessness, crumbling infrastructure, and some of the worst roads in the country. 

“And let's not forget corruption....

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the so-called “stimulus,” was enacted in February of 2009 when the national unemployment rate was 8.2% and Hawaii’s unemployment rate was 6.3%. Today, unemployment is at 9.5% nationally and remains at 6.3% in Hawaii.

Congressman Charles K. Djou is entering the general election with a strong showing of support from 4,137 individual donors for the quarter that ended June 30, 2010. The Djou campaign raised $935,435 in the second quarter, receiving nearly $200,000 of that in the five weeks after his special election victory.  Djou has entered the third quarter with $379,046 on hand.

Washington, DC — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) today expressed his concern regarding the municipal waste buildup in Honolulu to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and received verbal assurance that the matter would be resolved as quickly as possible.

“If our nation continues down this fiscally reckless path, what is happening in Hawaii will be writ large, and that is an outcome that we simply cannot afford”

“I met with constituents of Hawaii’s First Congressional District while I was home this past week,” Djou said. “From town hall meetings to business visits to encounters on the street, the number one concern that constituents expressed to me was the reckless and runaway federal spending in Washington.”

"Having worked with Lynn for many years as part of the Legislative Minority Caucus, I continue to be impressed by her bold and yet compassionate leadership. Her work, characterized by her willingness to collaborate in a bipartisan way, has been an asset to the Legislature and to the people of Hawai'i. As our next Lt. Governor, I am confident Lynn Finnegan will continue the strong, balanced leadership we need on the 5th floor."

HONOLULU - At the close of three days of intense international competition, a team of five students from Hanalani School in Mililani were named the tournament champions of the International Botball Tournament held in Edwardsville, Illinois. 

Competing among 64 teams from around the globe, including Kuwait, Poland, and teams from across the United States, Hanalani’s team was undefeated as they entered the final rounds of competition and finished number one in the seeding rounds. 

“We made a pledge to fill every open seat this year and we are very close to it with just about seven days left before the filing deadline,” said Dylan Nonaka, Executive Director of the Hawaii Republican Party.  “We have a lot of people working on recruiting quality candidates and are making every effort to challenge every race.  This is going to be an exciting year for Republicans in Hawaii.”

Testimony will be accepted at the end of the Council calendar.  The meeting is this Wednesday 7/14/2010 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at City Council Chambers in Honolulu Hale (530 South King Street.) As this is the last item on the agenda, Council will probably not hear testimony until after 2:00 p.m.

Walid Shoebat, ex-PLO member, will be speaking at the Sunday, July 11, services at Calvary Chapel of Honolulu (8:30am, 10:45am, and 6:00pm).  The public is invited.

Calvary Chapel of Honolulu is located in Aiea, on Komo Mai Drive.  LINK>>> Google map

Holomua Elementary School, Mililani High School, Pearl Ridge Elementary School, Kawananakoa Middle School

The Finnegan campaign signs were hung near several Duke Aiona campaign banners, which were also taken prior to the start of the parade. Each sign was hung only after receiving explicit permission from the respective home owners or occupants. When one home owner was asked what happened to the signage, they responded that persons approached their door claiming to be from the Finnegan campaign and they would be taking down the banner.