Aiming for Fast Failure

GRASS IN REVIEW

GRASSROOT INSTITUTE OF HAWAII

Nurturing the rights and responsibilities of the individual in a civil society.

WEEKLY GRASS IN REVIEW - September 5, 2007

Aiming for Fast Failure
A Message from Dick Rowland

Dick Rowland In conversation last week with my good friend and mentor Chris Derry of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, he revealed that his Board of Directors, displaying great insight, had told him that one of the major goals of the Institute was this:

"Make Bad Public Policies Fail Faster"

Isn't that great? Of course, it would be a lot better to not have the flawed stuff in the first place. But heck, hastening a bill’s mercy killing is a good thing.

The Hawaii problem is perhaps more daunting. Our bad policies seem to mate and reproduce at will. Take housing. A developer doesn't just have to jump through hoops, he has to dribble the ball while climbing a ladder. Then when he goes to return to mother earth, oops, no ladder. Every time someone says to me, "Those developers make obscene profits," I always reply: “Good thing that. If they did not so profit we would never see private development."

One result of excessive interference is homelessness. Another is horribly high prices. Another is home owners refusing to rent, leaving housing vacant because of the landlord - tenant code.

So here is a challenge to each of us. What can we do to help make these policies fail faster?

The devil is in the details... isn't it always!

May you Bluegrass guys be blessed with success.

Us too!

IN THE NEWS - HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTARIES
Grassroot Institute is regularly featured in news articles and broadcasts around the state. Here is a sample of some of our recent articles, research stories, and other articles of interest.

Lessons for Hawaii from Puerto Rico
By Randal O’Toole

The Honolulu City Council is determined to spend billions of dollars on a ridiculous rail-transit line in Oahu. State Rep. Marilyn Lee happened to visit Puerto Rico and came back gushing about that island’s new Tren Urbano in Honolulu’s leading paper.

“There are many similarities between Hawaii and Puerto Rico,” says Rep. Lee. “We must proceed with our scheduled plan to build transit -- our sister island state has shown it can succeed.”

There are so many fallacies in Rep. Lee’s column that it is hard to know where to begin.

(To read more, click here.)

Lessons from Massachusetts
By Sally Pipes

Health care reform is hot this election season and presidential hopefuls from both parties appear weekly with promises of reforms that will supposedly solve our system's problems with universal coverage at affordable costs. A recent overhaul in Massachusetts that expanded taxpayer-funded health insurance and requires individuals to purchase government-approved policies is proving particularly compelling to many, not the least because its architect, Mitt Romney, is a leading Republican candidate.

In reality, the Massachusetts mandate provides a poor model for the rest of the country - unless we are looking for an expensive expansion of government. It won't achieve universal care. It has increased government spending, bureaucracy, and regulation. It most certainly will prompt increased taxes.

(To read more, click here.)

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

Opportunity for Young Adults:
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii created the Fresh Perspective column exclusively to publish the work of high school and college students. In addition to work appearing on GRIH’s website, their work is also submitted to Hawaii Reporter. Submissions are welcome from any interested young adult, and we will publish work that is clearly written and grammatically sound. For earlier Fresh Perspectives please click here.

Contact: wendy@grassrootinstitute.org for more info.

TRY OUR BLOGS
Use these links to access various topics.

The Mystery of Hawaiian History>>>Blog Archives>>>Submit testimony on Akaka bill to civil rights committee during August

Dash of Calabash>>>Blog Archives>>>The Misuse of Taxpayer Money

Read what others have written or add your own thoughts. Click here for more blogs.

LIBERTY NETWORK

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is a member of an extensive international liberty network of organizations that promote more individual autonomy and less governmental involvement in human affairs.

GRIH joined the National Taxpayers Union and others in an August 21st letter to President Bush and members of Congress opposing any increase to the already 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal excise tax on gasoline. Read the letter here.
More than 110 organizations, including GRIH, signed onto a coalition letter sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which was delivered September 4th to Congressional leaders and Energy and Natural Resources Committee members. The letter called for the restriction of new heritage areas under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, asking that zoning and land use policy be left to local officials who are directly accountable to the citizens they represent. Read the letter here.
GRIH Board Member Dale Evans recently published the following articles on HawaiiReporter.com:
-- "'Cordon Pricing' Bad Idea for Honolulu", 8/31/07
-- "Robin Hood in Reverse, That Sums up the Proposed Honolulu Rail Project", 8/30/07
-- "With Rain Proposal, Council Leading City Taxpayers Into Financial Bottomless Pit", 8/13/07
GRIH Board Member Cliff Slater recently published this article on HawaiiReporter.com:
-- "FTA Proposes 'New Start Funds' for HOT Lanes - This Pending Rule Change Opens Up Possibilities for Honolulu", 8/23/07
(NOTE: More information about finding cost-effective ways to reduce traffic in Honolulu can be found at www.honolulutraffic.com.)
Bill Burgess was on the Honolulu Advertiser Hot Seat, August 27th. For those of you who missed it, some of the discussion will be published in September. We will let you know.
The Hawaii advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a briefing and planning meeting on September 5 at 2 pm at the South Pacific Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but no public testimony will be heard. Schedule for testimony:
-- Sept 12, 1:00 PM, State Capitol, Honolulu
-- Sept 13, 12:30 PM, Hilo state office building (NEW DATE)
-- Sept 14, 1:00 PM, Performing Arts Center, Kauai Community College (NEW DATE)
On July 31, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii cosponsored a 95th Birthday Celebration Luncheon in honor of Milton Friedman. The main speaker for the event was Doug Bandow, prominent author and commentator on economics and freedom. His talk will be shown on Olelo, Oahu Channel 52 as detailed below:

-- Monday, September 10th at 8:00 PM (Great time)
-- Tuesday, September 11th at 8:30 PM (Great time)
-- Monday, September 17th at 8:00 AM (For the early birds)
-- Tuesday, September 18th at 8:30 AM (For the early birds)

It is well worth watching.

UPCOMING EVENTS

All of the Institute’s events, research publication dates and speaking engagements are available on our website.

SAVE THE DATE!!! Saturday, November 3, 2007
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii Annual Meeting and Dinner
5:00 - 9:00 PM
Hale Koa Hotel, Waikiki

The keynote speaker for the evening will be Paul Jacob, a member of the GRIH Board of Advisors and Senior Advisor at the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation. An acclaimed multi-media commentator, Paul hosts an online, radio, and print opinion program, Common Sense, which reaches a growing list of over 15,000 e-mail subscribers and is aired daily by more than 150 stations in 48 states. For more information about Paul Jacob, click here.

Paul Jacob's article "Hide the Debt!" was featured in the May 2nd edition of Grass in Review. Click here for links to all of Paul Jacob’s Grassroot Perspective articles.

More information regarding the annual meeting and dinner will be available on the website shortly.

November 10-12, 2007
The 2007 Preserving the American Dream Conference
"Recovering from Smart Growth"
Wyndham Hotel, San Jose, Calfornia

Does the high cost of rail transit have you down? Are heavily subsidized, high-density developments infesting your city? Is utopian urban planning making housing unaffordable in your region?

If so, you need to attend the 2007 Preserving the American Dream conference, cosponsored by the Grassroot Institute. This conference will give you the opportunity to meet dozens of expert speakers and activists from all over the world. It will be held November 10 - 12, 2007 at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose, California. Click here to learn more.

How fast does the state spend your money?
State spending is out of control. Watch the dollars fly out the window.....

Have an Institute speaker at your next meeting!
From taxation to education, from health care to transportation, the Institute’s staff is ready to address your group regarding the important policy issues facing all citizens of Hawaii. Call (808) 591-9193 to check availability and make arrangements, or e-mail us at roz@grassrootinstitute.org.

Grassroot Institute is a proud member of the State Policy Network and Townhall..

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The Institute operates only through the generous donations of friends and benefactors from around Hawaii and the United States, and even the smallest of donations can be used to accomplish great things for the future of our beloved state.

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