Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these “unproductive” members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care.

"(The Department of Defense) is concerned about this -- we have enough on our plate," she said. "This could derail the buildup. That's how costly it's going to be. ... It's not going to sail."

“Statehood was a major turning point for our state, and 50 years later, we are proud of everything we have accomplished. I hope the residents of Hawai‘i will show their pride in our island home by attending local commemorations and learning more about our state’s history,” said Kippen de Alba Chu, chair of the 50th Anniversary of Statehood Commission.

Rhetoric: "Today, he opposes single payer health care, and attacks Sen. Clinton for proposing a plan that covers everyone"

Reality: Obama Has Consistently Said That If We Were Starting From Scratch, He Would Support A Single Payer System, But Now We Need To Build On The System We Have If Obama Were Starting From Scratch, He Would Support A Single Payer System.

Gallup found that more Americans believe the townhall protesters are motivated by their internal beliefs and not stirred up by “political activists” crating “organized opposition.”

There were 247 contributions from individuals and PACs. Of these 247 only 12 were for less than $1,000. 235 individuals and PACs donated more than $1,000 each. There were 33 contributions that were at the maximum of $6,000. There were numerous contributors who are in the same family that maxed out their contributions at $6,000 apiece.

State Government  cannot afford to look or be the same.  We need to find new ways to do the tasks that were once performed.  We want to explore with the Agriculture industry options such as third-party certification, self certification, and random sampling.

SB: "Most of the cuts would come from revision of reimbursements for doctors, discounts for prescription drugs and elimination of co-payments for preventive services — changes that would affect providers, not beneficiaries."

So with Hawaii already suffering an MD shortage caused in large part by low medicare reimbursements, Obama is going to cut them even more. And that won't affect beneficiaries, just providers???  It will when the MDs leave Hawaii.  And this isn't a "cut"?

Julia's mother was an early Obama supporter in Massachusetts during the presidential election, so she had previously met First Lady Michelle Obama, the Obama daughters Sasha and Malia, and Vice President Joe Biden.

Kathleen Manning Hall, Julia's mother, was shocked when her daughter said she wanted to ask a question. They wrote it down beforehand, and Julia didn't miss a beat when Obama called on her. 

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

(This applies to Indian Tribes as well, so if the Akaka Tribe is ever formed, Hawaiian families will find themselves inspected by US Government social workers with the power to remove children from the home.  "Sovereignty", eh?)

PHOTOS Left: Sun at peak of warming, 1998.  After 10 years of cooling, 2008.  NASA reports that the absence of sunspots continues today. 

More than 400 record low minimum temperatures and 1,300 record low maximum temperatures (lowest high temperature) across the nine-state area that make up the Central region.  Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania experienced their coolest July on record. Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Michigan each had their second coolest July on record, while Minnesota and Tennessee had their third coolest July on record.

Reviewing the month’s polling data, Gallup’s Frank Newport sums it up: “The bottom line is a sense that, while Americans apparently favor some type of healthcare reform in the long term, they are in no hurry to see healthcare reform legislation passed in the short-term on a rushed schedule. … A Pew Research poll released this week shows that those who are worried about new health care legislation are most likely to say it is because it involves too much spending and would increase the deficit.”

Wrapped in their liberal Washington cocoon, however, the leadership in Congress simply do not want to hear this message. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) have chosen to pen an op-ed in today’s USA Today calling those who want Congress to hear their concerns about health care “simply un-American.”

(And who are we to pass up the opportunity???)

... if you want to know how state enterprises really feel about competition, take a look at Obama’s home state of Hawaii ....

“I hope our employees adhere to the deadline we have set, because the possible consequences to them of ignoring the deadline could be the loss of any ability to bump into a different position,” Governor Lingle said.

“I am also very disappointed that the HGEA and UPW have failed to respond to the offer we presented on July 21, 2009. Unfortunately, the State’s deteriorating budget situation is getting worse, not better, and the amount the State can afford to pay in labor costs continues to decline. The unions’ failure to accept or recognize this is, in my opinion, not in their members’ best interests.”

You have only a few more days to enjoy the pause in the Gramscian War on the cultural and historic foundations of Hawaii Statehood.... So be sure to tune in tonight.

"Presidential" leadership:  In Tampa, Florida, protester Barry Osteen was pushed in the face by Democratic Club Treasurer Karen Miracle and union members allegedly assaulted another concerned citizen. Both of the events were organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Asked about the possibility of people concerned about Obama showing up at their event, in Tampa, SEIU spokeswoman Kim Diehl told the St. Petersburg Times: “We’re prepared. We have strategies to deal with it if it should come up.”

As this video plainly shows, one of those strategies is to lock out dissenters while letting in purple-shirted SEIU members. The desire to silence dissent on Obamacare goes all the to the top. At a Democratic rally in Virginia last night, the President told supporters: “I don’t want the folks who created the mess doing a lot of talking. I want them to just get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.”

 IMAGE: CAT 4 Hurricane Felicia takes aim at Hilo, but is projected to weaken before landfall.

(And here's what would happen if a CAT 4 hit Oahu....)

A powerful hurricane would shut down Hawaiian Electric's grid for 30 days. Streets as far inland as Beretania and the H-1 freeway would be flooded. Debris would block roads. And homes would be damaged across the island of Oahu, if a powerful hurricane struck Oahu, officials said.  The imagined scenario officials have been working with calls for a Category 4 hurricane -- meaning a storm with sustained winds over 130 mph -- to make landfall at Kapolei.

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has appointed Kaulana Park to serve as the new director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.  Park, the department’s deputy director since February 2008, succeeds Micah Kāne, who will become a Trustee for Kamehameha Schools.  The transition will take effect on Aug. 12.

UH Manoa professor Farideh Farhi, an advisor to the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a group that lobbies for better relations with the Islamic Republic, challenged me a couple weeks ago...for a column questioning Iranian sincerity in diplomacy.... Today Tabnak (website of accused Buenos Aires bomber) suggests why: In the course of discussing the controversy, it mentions that Farhi worked some years for the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Indeed, her work at the Foreign Ministry coincided with Holocaust revisionist conferences.