As a candidate, Neil Abercrombie said over and over again, “We Will Not Be Raising Any Taxes."

But as Governor, Neil Abercrombie has a different message for many of Hawaii’s seniors—you’re not contributing, you’re escaping your responsibilities and, as Governor, I will force you to “make positive contributions in our community.”

In the years that followed a congressman's ascendancy to the chairmanship of a powerful committee, the average firm in his state cut back capital expenditures by roughly 15 percent, according to their working paper, "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?"

Hawaii's newly elected "DSA-er Democrat" Governor Neil "I am not a socialist" Abercrombie is the birthers' best friend -- and many commentators in Hawaii and across the nation are becoming increasingly annoyed by his antics. 

Location: Kalama Heights Retirement Home, Garden Room

Date: Friday, February 18th, 2011, 6:30pm

Cost: Free and open to the public!

This Sunday is President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday.

The Obama-style politics and the youthful 2010 class of freshmen Republicans in the U.S. House might be a passing fad or it might become a lasting trend.  Hawaii has sent a congressional delegation that is betting the modern movement toward a much quicker internet dominated system of governing, based on transparency rather than pork, is temporary and our nation will eventually return to the 20th Century seniority centric system of quiet machine based power-dealing.  The American people will render the verdict on Hawaii’s bet in the next couple of years.

Senator Charles Schumer and other congressional leaders have called on government safety agencies to investigate why such elevated levels of lead are coming into contact with our food and leaching into the environment. Perhaps even more alarming, a University of Arizona study found fecal coliform bacteria and E. coli in some of the bags.

EPA standard for lead in packaging materials is 100ppm.  Safeway tests 6.72 times the EPA limit.  Walgreens is 2.98 times, KTA Superstores 2.85 times, and Defense Comissary Agency tests 2.35 times the EPA standard. 

When the U.S. Supreme Court asks for a response from the side that had won the case in the lower court, that is a sign that the Court is thinking that it might possibly take the case. The response from Hawaii is due March 2.

... 200 people who filled the ballroom at the Ala Moana hotel to hear congresswoman Michele Bachmann speak .... 

Certain violations of S. 52 would subject a person to up to five years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.

With this energy efficiency bonus however comes the problem of disposing of fluorescent and CFL bulbs in landfills. Enter 2 more bills – which put mandates on disposing the CFL bulbs by retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Senate Bill 197 mandates companies that sell the CFL bulbs submit a plan to the Legislature by 1/1/2012 on how to manage the waste. And then there’s House Bill 1527 that requires retailers and wholesalers to accept used light bulbs for recycling from customers.

SB602 proposes an amendment to the state constitution to legalize slot machines and video poker machines that are not visible from the street in designated resort areas within Waikiki.

Amends chapter 37, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to include agency-wide technology and computer systems with an estimated useful life of greater than seven years as capital investments to allow all costs to be financed with bond funds and depreciated as capital investments.

Physician Assisted Suicide Bill (SB 803)  Scheduled for Hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee

Monday, February 7, 2011 2:45 p.m. State Capitol - Auditorium (bottom level of the capitol)

Governor Neil Abercrombie today announced the appointment of State Representative Hermina Morita as the chair of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Hopefully, every member of Congress will recognize by then that earmarks are a wasteful, unnecessary part of the budget process that should never be restored. CAGW will also be monitoring how members of Congress may attempt to circumvent the moratorium, through ‘phonemarking’ or other underhanded techniques.”

What would you call a health-insurance program that has worse health outcomes for cancer and heart disease than Medicare or private insurance, that pays doctors and specialists so little that they often refuse to see patients, and that’s driving state budgets into bankruptcy? If you’re the Obama administration, apparently, you call it a success and make it the cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act....