National News

Families and businesses have budgets, yet Washington doesn't -- and it hasn't for the last three years.... 

...it appears that Brown successfully lobbied for California to get $6 billion in cash and siphon off a total of $18 billion from the $25 billion mortgage settlement with the five largest U.S. banks....

Attorney General David M. Louie on Thursday formally joined a landmark $25 billion joint federal-state agreement with the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses and fraud....

When John F. Kennedy was President, just over a quarter of federal spending went to fund programs paying for some 21.7 million Americans to be dependent on Uncle Sam. But as high as that spending and dependence on the federal government was then, it has exploded today, with one in five Americans -- more than 67.3 million -- depending on Washington ....

To correct the threats to religious liberty and rights of conscience by the Obama administration, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (H.R. 1179, S. 1467).

All indications are that the Middle East is crumbling, and President Barack Obama's foreign policy is collapsing right along with it. 

Clinton was planning historic reforms during his second term. These were to include private accounts under Social Security and vouchers for Medicare.

Americans who rely on government receive an average $32,748 worth of benefits, surpassing the average American’s disposable personal income of $32,446....

Sen. Rick Santorum won all three Republican Presidential caucuses February 7 ....

Beginning in 2013, a tax will be imposed on the manufacture and importation of medical devices in an attempt to offset a portion of the $1 trillion cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act....

It is a rare moment indeed when faith denominations of all stripes unite together in common cause, and it is rarer still when that cause is a political one, with a sole piece of legislation as its principal target.... 

...permission to spend up to $184.7M on rail design build contracts....

• Senate: STOCK Act
• House: Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act
• House: Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2011
• House: Baseline Reform Act of 2011
• House: FAA Modernization and Reform Act

Americans following the current GOP brawl witnessed a series of attacks on Mitt Romney for the low effective tax rate he pays on his personal income.

the geniuses running state pensions lost $4.33 for every dollar public workers "contributed." However, the geniuses did manage to pocket $36.6 billion in "Other Expenses" for themselves and their pals in the process.

Today marks President Ronald Reagan's 101st birthday....

Marshall, who oversees the think tank’s Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, took her presentation on the road. During a three-day tour of Hawaii she spoke to political science students at BYUH and to TEA Party groups in Kona and Hilo.

U. S. Senate candidate Ed Case (D‐HI) today called out his Democratic opponent, Mazie Hirono, for false and misleading claims in her current television ad.

... we can be 100% free of our dependence on foreign oil within 10 years if we set our minds to it, by using our most abundant renewable energy source, geothermal energy, for our base load energy, sun, wind, and ocean, but HECO keeps stifling these technologies, especially geothermal energy, so it can continue burning oil and bi-oil for another 20 years to preserve its profits ....

With 100% of the Vote in, here are the results from the Nevada Republican Caucuses....

...a small number of people spend most of the health care dollars. True. But the small number this year are not the same people as the small number last year, or the year before....

Hint to Hawaii: This is what happens when a PUC actually represents the consumers ....

The Obama Administration and the nation have cause to breathe a sign of relief as today’s monthly jobs report shows 243,000 jobs were created in January....

... the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has already filed a lawsuit on behalf of an interdenominational Christian college that objects to providing abortion ....

Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) is up with her first ad in her Senate race, and seeks to tie both her primary and general election opponents to former President George W. Bush.

Evidence is mounting that the Aloha State could offer the biggest surprise of the cycle. Former Gov. Linda Lingle flexed her fundraising muscles with a $1.7 million quarter....

 $500 million in green job training grants placed just 10 percent of trainees in jobs ....

According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released this week, federal workers are paid higher than their private-sector counterparts.

The greatest one year decline in Obama's approval rating is the 9.8% drop from 65.9% to 56.1% in Hawaii....

“We will be spending time in the caucus states.” -- Ron Paul 

6,796 of 6,796 Precincts Reporting....

George Soros, a billionaire investor and major backer of President Obama, stands to reap a windfall from legislation promoting natural gas-powered vehicles. The White House unveiled a proposal on Thursday that would do just that....

Upcoming Congressional Bills

• Senate: Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012
• House: Fiscal Responsibility and Retirement Security Act of 2011
• House: Pro-Growth Budgeting Act of 2011
• House: Baseline Reform Act of 2011

In Honolulu there's a four-bedroom home priced at $785,000 that has views of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. The beaches of Waikiki are 15-minutes away.  Starting this month, the property is available to buyers with a subprime credit score, limited cash reserves and a 3.5 percent down payment ....

Earlier this week, Stimulus beneficiary Evergreen Energy bit the dust. Then, Ener1, a manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles and recipient of Stimulus largesse, filed for bankruptcy. Amonix, Inc., a manufacturer of solar panels that received $5.9 million from the Porkulus, will cut two-thirds of its workforce....

Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, the company will pay a fine of $1.0 million and donate an additional $500,000 to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for environmental community service programs....

Tulsi Gabbard’s sudden election-season conversion from pro-life to pro-abortion and from pro-family to pro-gay marriage is more than some Hawaii Progressive Democrats can swallow....

Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the half-trillion dollars in defense spending cuts requested by the Obama Administration ....

• Radical Queer Parenting
• Princess Boys, Two Mommies, and You’re So Gay: Current Issues and LGBT Advocacy in Elementary Schools
• The Artifice of the Nuclear Family 

MRFSS information has been the basis for the regulations that govern recreational catch limits, sizes and seasons....

She filed with the Federal Election Commission on January 25, and she has fulfilled the requirements of the Green Party to seek the nomination....

How many times should your money be taxed? One time? Two times? Three times? Four? Sounds like a ridiculous proposition, but that's the true story of capital gains taxes in America.... 

Hawaii students have an average of $15,500 in college debts, ranking 49th in the nation. Hawaii has the lowest proportion of college students with any debt at 38%.

The President says the state of the Union is getting stronger, but he is doing very little to ensure that happens.

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, the Hawaii Republican Party's State Committee elected Ted Liu as our new National Committeeman.

You know that this President has run out of ideas. He’s run out of excuses. And, with your help, 2012 will be the year he runs out of time.

“In word and deed, the President and his allies tell us that we just cannot handle ourselves in this complex, perilous world without their benevolent protection. Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids; why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb!"

Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete....  

Read all the way down to the last paragraph where you will discover that this book review is really about ... Hawaii.

...“substantial concerns regarding the possible exercise of preferential treatment by a utility to its competitive affiliates.” That, in turn, could produce higher transmission rates and higher electricity prices ....