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LIBERTY NETWORK
Institute Selects New Analyst
Georgetown Grad to Tackle Public Policy Issues
 The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii announced that Pearl Hahn has joined the organization as a Policy Analyst. Hahn is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with additional coursework in Government. She has also held positions at the Department of Homeland Security and the Public Diplomacy Council.
"We're very excited to have her join us," said Grassroot President Jamie Story. "Pearl brings experience, insight and a great skill set that will help us analyze local and state government operations. She'll work on a variety of projects including our government transparency and accountability initiative."
Hahn served as a policy intern at the Grassroot Institute over the summer and after a brief trip to the mainland has returned and begun her new duties with enthusiasm. She helped create the Institute's 2008 Hawaii Legislative Scorecard and has continued work on a statewide pork report on government waste. "I'm thrilled. It's an honor to have been selected. I look forward to using my skills and efforts to promote freedom and prosperity for all citizens of Hawaii," she said. "It's an important time in the state's history and more important than ever that the principles of liberty, free markets and government accountability be kept at the forefront."
-GIR-
"Being An American"
Essay Contest Open To High School Students
High school students nationwide are invited to participate in the 2008-2009 "Being an American" Essay Contest, which explores the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship. Administered by the Bill of Rights Institute, a non-profit educational organization in Washington, DC the contest offers cash prizes totaling more than $189,000 to both students and their teachers. Top prize winners and their teachers also receive all-expenses paid trips to our nation's capital.
(To read more, click here.)
Grassroot Media Hits
Akaka Bill
On September 30, 2008, American Spectator Magazine and its website published "Trouble in Paradise", an article by Joseph Lawler, the Collegiate Network Fellow at the publication. A portion of the article is below:
In order to keep the handouts coming, the originators of the (Akaka) bill aren't afraid to inject racialism into Hawaii's famously harmonious multiculturalism. Furthermore, the bill's premise -- that the U.S. is a foreign force oppressing a marginalized ethnic group -- is shaky.
Jamie Story, president of the Grassroot Institute, a Hawaii-based public policy center, thinks so. She told TAS, "The Kingdom of Hawaii was never purely native Hawaiian." Rather, "it was created by a multi-racial coalition and finally unified in 1810, and the United States remained completely neutral throughout the Hawaiian Revolution of 1893."
Nor are native Hawaiians a tribe. "Assigning all native Hawaiians to a single tribe would be similar to combining the Navajo, Cherokee, Sioux and Crow tribes into a single governing entity," Story noted. The Native Hawaiians wouldn't have anything in common with the tribes of Native Americans recognized by Congress. They would share the same corrupt basis as casino tribes, without any of the legitimacy.
Instead of restoring a usurped nation, Story says, the bill is "an unapologetic attempt to undo the holdings of the Supreme Court of the United States."
(To read more, please visit The American Spectator.)
Liberal Q&A?
Honolulu's most liberal weekly newspaper, The Honolulu Weekly, recently featured a full page Q&A with Institute President Jamie Story. "A Likely Story", by Editor Ragnar Carlson, is the first time in collective memory when conservative free market ideas have been included in this widely read publication. Among the exchanges were:
The Weekly: "You’ve released a report on the cost of the proposed constitutional convention, to the effect that it costs less than a legislative session…what’s the significance of that?"
Story: "What we learned, through our government transparency initative, is that the Hawai’i State Legislature is the only one in the country that does not use fiscal notes when looking at legislation. All other legislatures as well as the U.S. Congress use them–they’re not called fiscal notes everywhere, but it’s the same idea–to inform legislators about what the bill’s fiscal impact will be on taxpayers. Lawmakers are then able to make an educated decision about how much money they’re spending. Here, they’re voting on bills without knowing how much they’ll cost. So now they’ve commissioned a study on the cost of the con-con. When it comes to a con-con that will give more power to the citizens, suddenly they care how much it costs!
And it turns out that what the Legislature spends every session is almost equal to the highest estimate of what the con-con will cost."
(To read more, click here.)
In Addition...
Hawaii Reporter recently published several news releases from GRIH and also featured our recent video of the DOE press conference announcing budget cuts. Please visit the site at www.hawaiireporter.com.
On Sept. 25th, GRIH Communications Director Tom McAuliffe was on the Rick Hamada morning radio show as a call-in guest asking why DOE isn't looking at more than $60 million in possible fraudulent Workmen's Comp claims as a way to trim the department's budget.
The nationally recognized and popular site http://www.townhall.com has recently picked up for national distribution many of the articles you read in Grassroot in Review.
-GIR-
"Flunked"
New Movie Examines Who Will Win the Battle of Education Reform
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation is pleased to announce the release of Flunked, a new movie narrated by Joe Mantegna. With over an hour of special features, including interviews and an in-depth look at education in America today, Flunked is sure to enlighten, educate, and provide hope to families across America.
(To read more, click here.)
How fast does the state spend your money?
State spending is out of control. Watch the dollars fly out the window.....
Need a good speaker for your next meeting?
From taxation to education and health care to transportation, the Institute’s staff is excited 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 tom@grassrootinstitute.org.
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