Akaka Bill Impact Revealed
New Study Shows Drastic Impact on State's Economy
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRIH) has released a new study from the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University. "The Economic Impact of the Akaka Bill: Unintended Consequences for Hawaii" estimates that the Akaka bill could cost the state up to $690 million per year in lost revenue. The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 (S.310 and H.R.505) in the 110th Congress, also known as the Akaka Bill after sponsor Senator Daniel Akaka, proposes to create a sovereign Native Hawaiian Governing Entity (NHGE) within the state of Hawaii. While the terms of the bill are vague, the most likely effect would be to vest this new Native Hawaiian government with the rights to land now owned by the state, to the detriment of non-Native Hawaiian taxpayers and, correspondingly, the state economy. This is the first study on the economic impacts of the proposed bill, which is expected to be re-introduced in the new session of Congress.
(To read more, click here.)
GRASSROOT PERSPECTIVE
Ray Gun Shines on Government
Grassroot Institute’s "hired gun" journalist is already shaking up things in the Hawaii state government with his new transparency blog, "Hawaii Sunshine Chronicles". ...
The new blog is in its early stages, but is already causing a stir. Ray has been documenting his attempts to arrange a meeting with officials in an unnamed (for now) state agency he believes is purposely trying to avoid disclosure of what seems to be relatively innocuous information — travel expense records for travel outside of the State of Hawaii.
"I have to believe that this is just a case of bureaucrats not fully understanding their statutory obligation to allow any citizen to inspect the documents they produce,” Ray said. "The agency in question is one of many that seem to be dodging efforts by the Institute to obtain and post the travel information on its Web sites.”
(To read more, click here.)
GRIH Member Offers January Donors Special Opportunity to Fly High
Longtime friend of GRIH John Carroll has a tantalizing offer for would-be donors: Donate $500 or more to the Grassroot Institute during the month of January, and Mr. Carroll will throw in a free glider ride for two!
"I've been a supporter since the beginning,” says Carroll. "I was invited to an event by [GRIH founder] Dick Rowland. One thing I noticed was how the Institute provided an open forum for thoughtful people to discuss different positions in a non-partisan setting. And the speakers are always excellent.”
(To read more, click here.)
FRESH PERSPECTIVE
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. Please contact tom@grassrootinstitute.org for more info.
The Case for School Choice
By Kristian Somi
What’s wrong with primary and secondary education in the United States? Despite double digit increases in spending on public schools, our students continually underperform compared to their peers at private schools. Every year, despite more and more tax money being thrown at the public education system, children appear to get less and less. Today, the cost per pupil in public schools is actually higher than the average cost in private schools!
(To read more, click here.)
Summer SPN/IHS/GRIH Internship
If you care about the future of Hawaii, come work at an organization whose mission is to promote individual liberty, free market economic principles, and limited, more accountable government. Interested applicants can intern at the The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii through the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program, administered by the Institute for Humane Studies and State Policy Network. In addition to an eight-week summer internship, the program provides a $1,500 stipend, housing allowance, travel reimbursement, and two week-long seminars in Washington, DC with other fellows interning at think tanks across the United States. Applicants should apply to this program through the IHS website: www.TheIHS.org/statepolicy.
Deadline is January 31, 2009!
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GRASSROOT REVIEWS
Have you read a good book or viewed a good DVD on liberty or a free market subject recently? Let your follow GRIH members know and share your views with 'Grassroot Reviews'. Please send your book or movie review
to tom@grassrootinstitute.org.
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GRASSROOT TV
Grassroot TV at YouTube.com features videos relating to public issues in Hawaii and beyond, as well as statements from the Institute on various concerns facing our communities. We've loaded the library at the online TV station with new videos from The Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, Americans for Tax Reform and more.
Please visit 'Grassroot TV' at http://www.youtube.com/user/GrassrootHawaii.
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'GRASSROOT INSIGHT' PODCASTS
In our "Grassroot Insight" podcast series, GRIH Director of Communications Tom McAuliffe interviews VIPs, community leaders and special guests from the liberty and freedom movement. The audio interviews are available for download to your iPod or for listening via the Internet. This issue features GRIH President Jamie Story's recent appearance on the #1 Morning Radio show in Hawaii, “The Rick Hamada Show” on KHVH-AM in Honolulu.
Click here to listen to Part 1 of the interview
Click here to listen to Part 2 of the interview
Click here to listen to Part 3 of the interview
Please check out our other recent podcasts with:
• Hawaii State Senator Sam Slom
• Paul Bachman from the Beacon Hill Institute on the new Akaka Bill study
• Senior Legislative Analyst Jack McHugh from www.michiganvotes.org
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GRASSROOT EVENTS
Information on the Institute’s upcoming events, research publication dates and speaking engagements are always available and updated via our website. The Grassroot Institute has regular 'Members and Invited Guests only' meetings as well as public meetings on Oahu, Maui, The Big Island, and Kauai. Please contact our office for more details.
GRIH Family Brain Gain Movie Nights
Our first movie night was a great success! We had 65 people in attendance, and the film, "The Birth of Freedom", was very well received.
Join us for our January Movie Night on Thursday, January 15 from
7:00-8:45 PM
at Trinity Christian Church and School,
875 Auloa Rd,
Kailua , HI 96734.
Our movie this month is "The Call of the Entrepreneur".
Entrepreneurs, whether those with small businesses or those with large corporations, are the backbone of all prosperous countries. They are the risk takers who are willing to create new wealth and employment for others, including those in need. America has the largest number of charitable givers in the world due to our free market system and entrepreneurs.
Join us as we view another excellent Acton film about three men who took incredible risks and succeeded. The film is one hour in length.
You may see a trailer of the production here.
We will have a few local entrepreneurs to comment and answer questions after the movie. Dick Rowland, GRIH Youth Program Director, will be the moderator. You are welcome to invite friends and family. Since space may be limited, please RSVP by emailing Lora Burbage at LLburbage@yahoo.com. If you have any questions, call either
Lora Burbage (772-0787) or
Dick Rowland (864-1776).
Donations to help defer expenses will be gratefully accepted.
Mahalo to Trinity Christian Church and School for their help and support!
 "Li Zhao's The Foolish Things Idea Exchange" invites you to our next monthly intellectual salon.
This month economists Daniel Brackins and Ken Schoolland will address "The Causes and Effects of the Current 'Economic Crisis'."
Cost: $5 monthly (or $40 annual) membership donation to cover heavy pupus.
Date: Sunday, January 11, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00 pm
Location: The Schoolland's, 94-1097 Alelo St., Waipahu, HI
RSVP by January 10, 2009 to (808)676-0825 or lzs66@hotmail.com
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LIBERTY NEWS
 Hawaii Reporter's New Look
Hawaii's independent news source Hawaii Reporter has a new look for 2009. The popular website, operated by GRIH Board member Malia Zimmerman, has been redesigned to provide faster and easier reader navigation. Please visit the site at www.hawaiireporter.com.
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2008 Top Econ Media Myths
The Media Research Center (MRC) launched the Business & Media Institute (BMI) in 1992, because there was no entity in America devoted solely to analyzing and exposing the anti-free enterprise culture of the media. Each year, BMI publishes “The Media's Top 10 Worst Economic Myths” of the year. BMI's collection of the most outrageous and biased media stories on the economy for 2008 has been released. This year's "media myths" include: "Alternative energy: All gain, no pain." (#6) and "The economy has a fever and the only prescription is more bailouts." (#5). And the number one worst media myth for 2008 is... "America needs a new, New Deal".
According to a survey by the National Council on Economic Education, 79 percent of Americans get the majority of their economic information from television. The study determined that an astounding 61 percent of the general public could not answer basic questions about economic concepts!
Please visit http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081210155357.aspx
to read more.
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Warm Truths
The Heartland Institute has just released "Ten Global Warming Truths to Keep Us Sane in 2009".
The climate change article by James M. Taylor
examines how sound science has put to rest numerous unsubstantiated global warming scares in 2008. Sensationalist predictions—the North Pole would melt, polar bear numbers would decline, hurricanes would run amok, devastating droughts would occur, and Antarctic ice sheets would flood the southern seas—proved inaccurate. Among the facts the piece highlights are that global temperatures are not rising nor causing more droughts, higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are not killing sea life, and climate warming is not causing more extreme weather. The article goes on to mention that more than 32,000 scientists have signed a formal statement, prepared by a past president of the National Academy of Sciences and co-authored by an atmospheric scientist at Harvard University, saying there is no global warming crisis.
Read "Ten Global Warming Truths to Keep Us Sane in 2009" at http://www.heartland.org/full.html?articleid=24445.
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Mahalo GRIH
We recently received this wonderful thank-you note from the
Kailua Forensics Club and The Hawaiian Heat Debate Club:
"Many thanks to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRIH) for bringing Greg Rehmke to Oahu. We were very fortunate to have Greg's expertise on this subject. He has already spoken to over 3,000 home school students on this year’s debate resolution: 'America's Foreign Policy Toward India'. During Mr. Rehmke's recent trip, besides speaking to students at public and private high schools and Hawaii Pacific University (HPU), he spoke at a seminar for the debaters of the Kailua Forensics Club and the Hawaiian Heat Debate Club. Professor Ken Schoolland from HPU also helped with the seminar as a guest speaker. Ken laid a strong foundation of free market economics first. Greg then used the rest of the day to give our students information on globalization, outsourcing, dumping, micro loans, and much more. He helped students see both sides of many of these issues through video clips and PowerPoint presentations. Greg also used the engaging DVDs by ABC News' John Stossel, which really gave our students food for thought. A topic of particular interest was the American verses Indian perspective on sweatshops. The information gained at this seminar was very helpful to the debaters as they prepare for the affirmative and negative side of their arguments.
Mahalo!"
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 Public Lands for All?
The state of Hawaii has been joined by over 30 other states and organizations, including The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (who filed an amicus brief), in the state's case before the Supreme Court of the United States. The case decides if the public lands, otherwise known as ceded lands, can be managed by the state for all of Hawaii's citizens as opposed to only Native Hawaiians. Please see the full story at the GRIH website.
The day after Christmas, a protest with approximately 50-75 people was held at the state capitol by various Native Hawaiian independence groups who exercised their constitutional right to free speech to urge that the State drop the Supreme Court case. GRIH and other organizations were mentioned.
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GRIH Founder and Board Honored
Our founder Dick Rowland was recently selected by the popular news site HawaiiReporter.com for two honors. Rowland was selected as one of the most influential people in Hawaii for 2008 as well as a "Hawaii Super Hero". The web-based news source will celebrate its seventh anniversary by honoring seven Hawaiian "Super Heroes" at a special event at the Waialae Country Club on Friday, February 20, 2009, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Attendees will learn how each honoree could be known by one of seven secret identities: the Green Lantern, Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Ironman, Superwoman, Wonder Woman and Captain America. The real identities of the honorees are Grassroot Institute founder Richard Rowland, Cliff and Bobbie Slater of HonoluluTraffic.com and Stop Rail Now, Dale Evans from Charley’s Taxi and Hawaii Highway Users Alliance, GRIH Board member Jack Schneider of JS Services Inc, Dr. Panos Prevedouros from the University of Hawaii, radio host Rick Hamada from KHVH 830AM, and Hawaii State Senator Sam Slom from Small Business Hawaii. Cliff Slater and Dale Evans are also board members of GRIH, Jack Schneider is a former chairman of the board, and Senator Slom serves on the GRIH Board of Advisors.
The event promises food, fun, and entertainment for all with a cost of $55 per person, which includes a buffet lunch and free parking. Please RSVP to Malia Zimmerman at Malia@hawaiireporter.com or 306-3161, or mail checks to Hawaii Reporter, PO Box 11664, Honolulu, Hawaii 96828. To charge your ticket, please call 524-4500 and speak to Jay McWilliams.
Congratulations to all!
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Grassroot Media Hits
• Grassroot Director of Communications Tom McAuliffe has a feature article in this month's Hawaii Business magazine. "The Best and Worst of Times - How small businesses strive despite bureaucracy" discusses the state of Hawaii's economy.
"When Charles Dickens wrote, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...' in 1859's A Tale of Two Cities he could have been talking about Hawaii today. On one hand we have significant public policy problems both locally and nationally and on the other we enjoy a standard of living unparalleled in human history. But whether the glass is half empty or full the consensus is that we're at a crossroads."
•GRIH Founder Dick Roland recently has had a Letter to the Editor in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and a op-ed in Hawaii Reporter. The op-ed, "Akaka Very Likely to Become Law in 2009, But Are We Ready for a New Hawaiian Nation?”, discusses the Akaka Bill, which is expected to be re-introduced in the new session of the U.S. Congress.
• GRIH Board of Scholars member Prof. Ken Schoolland had a Letter to the Editor in the 1/5/09 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser. In "Wasteful Spending Fuels Recession", Schoolland takes issue with a Dec. 24 letter by John Cheever which suggested that the government should increase spending as a stimulus to the economy. Can you guess what Professor Schoolland thought of that idea?
"There was no shortage of government spending under Hoover, Roosevelt, or Bush. Political spending did not and cannot "stimulate" an economy out of bad economic times. On the contrary, such spending causes bad economic times by redirecting wealth from productive investment to unproductive malinvestment."
• Hawaii Reporter recently published several news releases from GRIH and articles from Grassroot Institute members. Please visit their site at http://www.hawaiireporter.com.
• The nationally recognized and popular site Townhall.com has recently picked up for national distribution many of the articles you read in Grassroot in Review.
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OUR FAVORITE BLOGS
Join the conversation and express your views! Use these links to access these fascinating blogs.
NEW! GRIH Transparency Correspondent Don Ray's blog
http://www.sunshinechronicles.wordpress.com
Dash of Calabash
http://dashofcalabash.grassrootinstitute.org/
The Mystery of Hawaiian History
http://historymystery.grassrootinstitute.org/
Read what others have written and add your own thoughts. See you there!
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NEED A GOOD SPEAKER?
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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SUPPORT GOOD PUBLIC POLICY IN HAWAII!
Please help us continue to provide independent research on issues important to Hawaii! The Grassroot 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.
Will you please consider becoming a supporter today? Donations are tax deductible and it's quick, easy and secure. Click here!
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Grassroot Institute is a proud member of the State Policy Network, Townhall.com,
Americans for Tax Reform, The Sam Adams Alliance and more.
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