HONOLULU – For the second time in two weeks, the Waialua High School Robotics team has won a national regional robotics competition.  The Waialua team, also known as The Hawaiian Kids, led a three-team alliance with teams from California and Arizona to win the 2010 Arizona Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics) Competition held this weekend at the Arizona Veterans Coliseum in Phoenix.  Waialua was among three Hawai‘i student robotics teams out of a field of 56 that featured teams from the U.S. and Mexico.

Today, we’re just about at the half-way point of the legislative session and we’ve done marijuana stores, gambling, foie gras and now is a great time to get re-focused on what this legislative session has to be about and that’s getting our economy back on track and creating new jobs all across the state.

If a Republican can win in the district representing Obama's birthplace, "then no Democratic seat in the U.S. Congress is safe," Djou said in an interview on Tuesday at a gathering of reporters in downtown Washington, trying to emphasize the significance of his race.

“The statement by Save Our Schools that 'All that is required now is for the governor to approve (an emergency appropriation),' is not true.

“While the Legislature may be exploring various funding mechanisms to address the furlough situation, at this point, no funds have been appropriated by the Legislature, therefore the Governor cannot approve or release any funds. 

The non-partisan research group, www.Congress.org, measures 15 criteria to rank "demonstrated power and the ability to be effective in Congress.”  By the end of his time in Congress, Case’s ranking for legislative activity was zero.  Case’s “influence” was –2, two notches below zero. 

Neil Abercrombie has gotten a lot of financial backing from the defense industry, especially since his rise to Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces. This has required him to modify the radical anti-war positions he espoused during his happy, hippie days on the U.H. campus. However, his wife, Nancie Caraway has undergone no such metamorphosis....

Once Abercrombie quit, the whole House of cards fell down….

“While there is reason to be optimistic, we also need to be realistic and accept the fact that actual revenues are still significantly lower than earlier projected, and it will take several years before general fund revenues return to pre-recession levels.

“For this reason, the focus of our entire state must be on job creation.  The fact is, we cannot successfully revive our economy unless our residents get back to work.  My Administration is working with the Legislature to pass laws that will help businesses create new jobs, while also ensuring that any legislation that would hinder job creation does not pass.”

HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today signed a new law that will lower unemployment insurance (UI) taxes paid by all employers. Act 2 (HB2169 HD2) will save businesses an estimated $77 million in unemployment insurance tax payments over the next four years.

“While this law helps businesses get some tax relief as they struggle to keep their doors open and retain their employees, it falls far short of what is needed to grow our economy,” Governor Lingle said. “I urge the Legislature to take up this matter next year and pass a bill similar to the one I proposed that would have saved employers $497 million and kept close to a half billion dollars in our local economy.”

Federal bureaucrats, possibly the FDIC, will be given new "resolution authority" powers backed by a permanent $50 billion slush "resolution fund." If this new power is given to the FDIC, it would be the first time the FDIC's authority was extended beyond the banks that it directly insures. But more importantly, these provisions would establish a permanent TARP - the radioactively unpopular $700 billion Wall Street bail out slush fund.

“The vested interest shared by the People’s Pulse Survey co-sponsors Hawai‘i Business Roundtable and Pacific Resources Partnership resulted in a poorly worded and misleading survey question.

“Also, the question failed to identify the Governor’s legal obligation to review and approve the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

“Under the law, the Governor must review the final EIS....

While Democrats are trying to create the legislative text for President Obama's "new" health care proposal, Senate Democrats are also pushing to include student lending provisions in the reconciliation bill. What does student lending have to do with health care you might ask? Nothing. But the Senate routinely attaches seemingly unrelated matters to must-pass legislation.

That is what makes Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) refusal to honor Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) request to offer an amendment funding the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) to the American Workers, State and Business Relief Act so transparently hypocritical.

Hawaii can’t figure out how to kick drug addicted homeless people out of the parks and sidewalks in order to force them into shelters where they can get help, but apparently induced sterilization is now an option.  Today’s SB Editorial, “Voluntary (sic) sterilization can serve good purpose”, reveals that an eugenics group has been quietly working in Honolulu.... 

State House and State Senate members from across the islands are meeting at the State Capitol right now. The majority of these 76 elected officials are seriously considering increasing our already high cost of living in Hawaii by approving massive tax increases which will make everything you need to buy even more expensive.

Why? Because they refuse to tighten their belts like the rest of us.

The timetable for rail to continues to move into the future and there is much uncertainty that now appears unlikely to be resolved before Mayor Hannemann has to resign if he wants to run for Governor. If Mayor Hannemann resigns as Mayor to run for Governor while the future of rail hangs in the balance, the rail project will be put at risk. 

As we pointed out last week, there is one not-so-minor difference between the Senate bill and the President's new proposal: the Senate bill actually exists. Now, Democrats may be telling their conservative counterparts that they will have reconciliation legislative text in front of the Budget Committee by tomorrow, but don't hold your breath.

Ed Whelan, a one-time clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and now president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, echoed those concerns.

“Liu believes that judges have the authority to impose their views … using clever verbal camouflage to disguise what they’re doing.”

State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA): This is the agency responsible for the Certificate of Need program, and in years past, we have advocated for its demise, the program and the agency. 14 states have repealed this outdated program, and more are debating its demise. Because of our health care market, I would believe that private entities would apply just as much scrutiny, if not more, when it comes to the purchase of new medical technologies and equipment.

Eliminating SHPDA would save the state approximately $670,741 in FY 2011, and every year beyond.