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Grassroot Institute of HawaiiGrassroot Institute of Hawaii GRASSROOT IN REVIEW

News, Opinion & Information from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

March 4, 2009

In This Issue: Transparency Tools, the "Leave Us Alone" Coalition, Pork Video, Grassroot Insights Podcasts, Family Brain Gain Nights, Hawaii Reporter's 7th Anniversary, Climate Change Watch Director Visits, New GRIH Team Members, Media Hits and More.

Transparency Tools
Ten Things You Can Do Today to Help Improve Government in Hawaii
By Tom McAuliffe

Transparency has been in the news lately both at the local and national level. For the current Hawaii legislative session, the Grassroot Institute provided model legislation calling on state government agencies to fully embrace transparency by allowing citizens to see how their tax dollars are spent via a searchable website. It's déjà vu as SB 659 sponsored by Senator Les Ihara, Jr. and HB 1840 sponsored by Representative Gene Ward make their way through the process because during the last session the legislature passed a very similar measure. According to the law, the state was to establish a website listing all transactions over $25,000. Unfortunately passing a law is not enough to get results, as two months after the deadline the web site has still not surfaced.
 
Luckily, the Institute has a secret weapon in award-winning investigative journalist Don Ray, who is on assignment with the organization searching for overlooked stories in Hawaii. In a recent presentation to GRIH members, Ray discussed some tools and techniques citizens can use to help pry open the doors of information within state and local government agencies.

(To read more, click here.)

GRASSROOT PERSPECTIVE

Curing the Common Cold
National Taxpayers Union, Grassroot Institute, Hawaiian Values and Small Business Hawaii Team Up to Take Unfair Taxes to Court
By Pete Sepp

Suppose executives from Company A, an over-the-counter medicine manufacturer, are told by their marketing team that their product, which they claim will relieve the common cold, is losing consumer appeal as well as money. Meanwhile, Company B, another firm in a similar line of business that has developed a different remedy, is winning over new customers and reaping additional profits as a result.
 
In a market-based economy where the laws of supply and demand rule, company A’s executives would tell their marketing team to come up with a better ad campaign, or tell their researchers to come up with a new and improved product that will recapture their market share from Company B.

(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.

-GIR-

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.

-GIR-

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 check out our News Conference videos from the recent Grassroot Institute / Citizens Against Government Waste press conference releasing the new 2009 Hawaii Pork Report: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

-GIR-

'GRASSROOT INSIGHT' PODCASTS

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 Hawaii education activist Lora Burbage talking about homeschooling in Hawaii and the GRIH Brain Gain Family nights, and Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Supreme Court Review at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., discussing his recent UH debate on the Akaka Bill and the Hawaii public lands case that recently came before the Supreme Court.

Click here to listen to Lora Burbage discuss education reform in Hawaii
Click here to listen to Ilya Shapiro discuss the Akaka Bill and public lands case.

As a special treat this issue we also feature an MP3 of the entire recent debate at the UH Richardson School of Law on the public/ceded lands case. (Broadband recommended)

Please check out our other recent podcasts with:

• Jack McHugh from The Mackinac Center and MichiganVotes.org
• Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, discussing his  book, Leave Us Alone
• Dr. Ken Conklin, author of Hawaiian Apartheid: Racial Separatism and Ethnic Nationalism in the Aloha State

-GIR-

LIBERTY 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 meetings on Oahu, Maui, The Big Island, and Kauai. Please contact our office for more details.

• Family Brain Gain Seminars
The videos of ABC News correspondent John Stossel were well received last time, as were special guests HPU Professor Ken Schoolland and his wife Li Zhao, who shared her incredible experience of living under Communist rule and during the Cultural Revolution in China. Mahalo nui loa to Ken and Li!
 
Please join us in March for "The Singing Revolution," an award winning documentary film that tells the extraordinary story of the non-violent path Estonia took to free itself from Soviet occupation. A very moving film you won't want to miss!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
6:45 — 8:45 PM (Please note the early start time!)
Trinity Presbyterian Church and School
875 Auloa Rd
Kailua , HI 96734
 
Dick Rowland, GRIH Founder and Youth Program Director, will be the moderator. You are welcome to invite friends and family. Please RSVP since space may be limited. Reservations: Please email Lora Burbage – lora@grassrootinstitute.org. If you have any questions, call Lora at 772-0787 or Dick at 864-1776. Donations to help defer expenses will be gratefully accepted.
 
Mahalo nui loa to Trinity Presbyterian Church and School for their support!

Foolish Things poster• Li Zhao's The Foolish Things Idea Exchange

Date: Sunday, March 8, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Speaker: Shota Mkheidze from the Republic of Georgia
Topic: The Russian invasion, Central Asian oil, and the New Cold War.
Cost: $5 monthly (or $40 annual) membership donation. Heavy pupus.
Location: The Schoolland's, 94-1072 Alelo St., Waipahu, HI
RSVP by March 7, 2009 to 808-676-0825 or lzs66@hotmail.com

-GIR-

• Second Annual International Conference on Climate Change
New York City
March 8-10, 2009
Visit the conference Web site: http://www.heartland.org/events/NewYork09/newyork09.html

 

• Gun Control Debate
The Student Chapter of the Federalist Society, the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and the UH Richardson School of Law present "Gun Control and the Right to Bear Arms: A debate on the impact of District of Columbia v. Heller" between attorney Alan Gura, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, and UH Law Professor Jon Van Dyke. Law School Dean Aviam Soifer will be the moderator. Guests are welcome but should RSVP to Loren Tilley at loren.tilley@gmail.com or call 271-1169.

Monday, March 9, 2009
12:45 pm to 1:50 pm
Richardson School of Law, Classroom #2
2515 Dole St. on the UH campus

• Heritage Resource Bank
 Los Angeles, California
 April 23-26, 2009
This year's event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza and features management and leadership experts providing strategies for advancing free markets and limited government. This is a valuable session for all grassroots advocates, policy leaders and think tank staff. The two day event features a State Think Tank Dinner, Atlas Liberty discussion forum and the SPN Leadership Development Breakfast. For more information please visit:
http://www.heritage.org/about/community/resourcebank.cfm.

-GIR-

LIBERTY NEWS

Celebration #7

Hawaii Reporter's 7th Anniversary Party on Feb. 20th at the Waialae Country Club was a gala affair featuring seven Hawaii 'Super Heroes' of the year including GRIH Founder Dick Rowland. Each was awarded a super hero name with Rowland being named Captain America. Other Super Heroes honored for their community activism included:
 
1. Batman Cliff and Bobbie 'Mrs. Incredible' Slater, HonoluluTraffic.com and Stop Rail Now, for their extraordinary effort to derail Honolulu’s costly rail system and for their advocacy for taxpayers.
 
2. Dale Evans of Charley’s Taxi and Hawaii Highway Users Alliance was named Wonder Woman, for her enthusiastic advocacy for better transportation options and facilities in Hawaii.

(To read more, click here.)

Aloha

GilCollinsWe'd like to welcome Gilbert Collins, who has joined the Grassroot Institute Board of Directors. He is currently Director of the Capital Research Center in Washington, DC and The Independent Institute in Oakland, CA, as well as a Grassroot Institute of Hawaii Board member. He lives in Hawaii and California. We look forward to fully utilizing his expertise and wisdom.

-GIR-

 

New Intern

Tina NewmanAloha to intern Tina Newman, who recently migrated back to the Islands after spending several years away on the mainland. A recent graduate from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, she now brandishes a BFA in Graphic Design. As the new Development Intern at the Institute, Tina will be flexing her abilities in both traditional graphic design as well as promotions, campaigns, and advertising. Welcome Tina!

 

-GIR-

 

Climate Warrior Visits

Director of Climate Strategies Watch Paul Chesser spent some time in Hawaii on Oahu and Maui recently as a guest of the Institute. He met with GRIH members, Hawaii state legislators, media and community VIP's.
 
“Hawaii is undergoing a climate policy development process similar to many other states,” Chesser said. “The recommendations the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force produce will, without a doubt, seek to raise Hawaii’s already expensive transportation and electricity costs even higher. Citizens should be aware of the effects of these policies, especially when legislators start trying to enact them into law,” he said.

(To read more, click here.)

Second Annual International Conference on Climate Change

Scientists, economists, and climate experts with a skeptical view of climate change alarmism will gather next week (March 8-10) to discuss why they believe the global warming crisis has been canceled – and whether a crisis ever really existed in first place. GRIH Policy Analyst Pearl Hahn will be attending the event in New York City and will provide GIR readers and members with a report upon her return. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is one of the co-sponsors of the event along with The Heartland Institute and other organizations. Approximately 1,000 scientists, economists, policy experts, elected officials, civic activists and business leaders are expected to attend the conference.
 
A special pre-conference audio podcast is now available. In it, Lord Christopher Monckton illustrates how a small, well-organized, politically active, and highly motivated group of individuals has managed to peddle the scientific fraud of global warming to gullible and opportunistic politicians. Monckton is Chief Policy Advisor to the Science and Public Policy Institute and former Science Advisor to the British Prime minister.
 
Listen to the audio by clicking on the link below: http://www.heartland.org/bin/media/podcasts/NewYork09/MoncktonChristopher.mp3
 
Visit the conference Web site: http://www.heartland.org/events/NewYork09/newyork09.html

-GIR-

Grassroot Media Hits

1.The Grassroot Institute recently released the 2009 Hawaii Pork Report and has made heads turn... some shake their heads 'yes' and some 'no'. One person who took issue was named in the report and featured in a Hawaii Tribune-Herald article by staff writer John Burnett. On February 6th, in "UH professor, former regent blasts Hawaii's Pork Report", Burnett wrote:

"Claims of favoritism, waste called 'defamation.' At least one target of a recent report criticizing Hawaii officials for what it called government waste is firing back. Marlene Hapai, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and former member of the UH Board of Regents, has come out swinging at the "2009 Hawaii Pork Report: The Report Hawaii's Government Doesn't Want You to Read." The report, published by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and Citizens Against Government Waste, a national think tank, described a two-year, $32,162 contract awarded to Hapai's Science FUNdamentals company with the headline 'University of Hawaii Board Member Rolls In the Dough.'"

The Tribune-Herald originally reported on the new Grassroot Institute / Citizens Against Government Waste study on Jan. 29th.
 
After negotiating with the editor of the paper we were given the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions. In her extended response, GRIH Policy Analyst Pearl Hahn gets right to the point:

"Favoritism was not a motivator . . . Hapai's contract, along with Dr. Gerard Luppino's, were the two most recently posted contracts at the time we were writing the report. We found it interesting that a board member was granted a $32,000 contract by the board, and most citizens would agree. Unfortunately, the Web site did not provide any of the details that were disclosed to the Tribune-Herald. Hapai, the university, and the public would have benefited from full disclosure of the process. This is one of the many reasons the Grassroot Institute advocates complete transparency in government."

Hawaii Tribune Herald
 

2. President Jamie Story was quoted in a Feb. 18th story in the Honolulu Advertiser. In "High Subsidies May Scuttle Hawaii's Ferry," staff writer Sean Hao wrote that more people are calling for TheBoat to cease operation as a way to help the city towards a balanced budget.
 
As most readers know the Institute published a brief last fall reaching exactly that conclusion. We are thrilled to see the Honolulu City Council considering taking action based on our research!

The Boat
 
 

3. GRIH Founder Dick Rowland was quoted in the Honolulu Advertiser's coverage on the Supreme Court case about Hawaii's ceded or public lands. In "'Hawaiians only' issue not raised at hearing by Supreme Court," long-time Advertiser reporter Gordon Y.K. Pang wrote:

"Opponents of Hawaiian programs also found reason to be pleased with the oral arguments before the court... 'We're pleased that it appears the Supreme Court will make a broad rather than a narrow decision with regards to issues in the apology,' said Richard Rowland, founder of the conservative Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, referring to the U.S. government's apology in 1993 for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii a century earlier. 'We feel that at the heart of this case is the constitutional principle that all citizens should be treated equally under the law, as well as the state's authority to manage public lands for the good of all of its citizens rather than one special racial class,' Rowland said."

4. Grassroot Institute guest speaker Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies and Editor-in-Chief of the Supreme Court Review at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., was on KHVH radio's "The Rick Hamada Show," the #1 morning talk show in the state, on February 13th discussing his debate at UH School of Law on the Akaka Bill and the Hawaii public lands case currently before the Supreme Court.  Click here to listen to the interview.
 
5. Hawaii Reporter recently published several news releases from GRIH and articles from Grassroot Institute members. Please visit their site at http://www.hawaiireporter.com.
 
6. The nationally recognized and popular site http://www.townhall.com has recently picked up and run many of the articles you read in Grassroot in Review for national distribution.

-GIR-

FAVORITE GRASSROOT BLOGS
Join the conversation and express your views! Use the links below to access these fascinating blogs.

The Mystery of Hawaiian History
http://historymystery.grassrootinstitute.org/

Hawaii Sunshine Chronicles
http://www.sunshinechronicles.wordpress.com

Read what others have written and add your own thoughts. See you there!

-GIR-

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.

-GIR-

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!

-GIR-

Grassroot Institute is a proud member of the State Policy Network, Townhall.com, Americans for Tax Reform, The Sam Adams Alliance and more.

 
 

 

 

GRASSROOT STATS

Only four out of 76 legislators scored higher than 50 percent on the 2008 Grassroot Institute's 2008 Legislative Scorecard.

(This) study cites Bureau of Labor statistics on average overall output per hour of work. Competitive forces have led to innovation in the private sector, increasing productivity by 41 percent since 1992. That means workers at the close of 2006 were on average producing 41 percent more goods and services per hour worked.
(Source: GRIH brief " Elementary Principles of Monopoly: Government-run Schools Get Less with More" by Harry Messenheimer, Ph.D)

Looking at the Portland light rail system, we found that the energy used in construction was 172 times greater than the estimated annual energy saved by moving commuters from cars to rail. According to the Honolulu Alternatives Analysis published by city consultant Parsons Brinkerhoff in November 2006, when rail is combined with TheBus, overall mass-transit ridership is projected to be 7.4% of total transit trips in 2030, instead of the 6.1% projected for 2030 if the commuter rail line is not built.3 From the same table of the report, in 2030, vehicle trips are projected to be 78.2% of all trips in 2030 if the rail system built compared to a projected 79.5% in 2030 if the rail system is not built. The city expects only 1.3% of commuters to be converted from cars to public transportation commuting."
(Source: GRIH brief "Debunking Myths of Honolulu Rail Transit")

A rail system would cost at least $5 billion to build, and reduce drive times from the H-1/H-2 merge to Aloha Tower by 3 percent, a drop of 34 to 33. In contrast, simply installing free-flowing underpasses at four of Honolulu's busiest intersections would have a similar effect on travel times, but for only $50 million— a 99 percent cost savings.
(Source: GRIH brief " Bumper to Bumper on H-1: Comparing Leeward Oahu Traffic Alternatives" by Brandon Bosworth, Policy Analyst)

It is informative to note that the 1978 Con-Con cost less than the $2.5 million budgeted for it. At $8.4 million in 2008 dollars, this cost is between the lowest and the highest cost estimate projected by the Con-Con Task Force, and at the low end of the LRB estimate.
(Source: GRIH brief " Price Tag of the Hawaii Legislature: Putting the Cost of a Constitutional Convention in Perspective" by Justin Rouzaud and Jamie Story)

In April 2008, the Senate signed off on a $1 tax rebate, reducing the requirement under the state Constitution to a mere formality. Had the full amount been returned, every Hawaiian resident would have been $569 richer the following year. This rebate would have gone a long way in a state where citizens pay one of the highest overall tax rates in the country.
(Source: 2009 Hawaii Pork Report)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"It is not an easy task that we undertake here. The idea of creating a sovereign government of this kind, within the boundaries of the United States, is unprecedented in American history. The closest example is the establishment of American Indian reservations. However, Indian reservations were established long ago on sparsely populated land for a well-defined population of Native Americans in exchange for the settlement of old disputes. The Akaka Bill, in effect, grants rights over the use of developed land to an arbitrarily defined group of Hawaiians who must only share a single drop of Native blood at the expense of all other Hawaiians not deemed, by virtue of their bloodline, to share in the same rights. It amounts to a confiscation of land rights by a small minority of ethnic Hawaiians to the detriment of a great majority of Hawaiian citizens and of the state economy."
(Source: "The Economic Impact of the Akaka Bill: Unintended Consequences for Hawaii" by Sarah Glassman, MSEP, Michael Head, MSEP, Paul Bachman, MSIE, and David G. Tuerck, Ph.D.)

"If it is true, as Crystal Kua of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs states in her letter to the editor, that the Beacon Hill Study's estimates of the Akaka Bill costs are "misinformation," then why not put language into the Akaka Bill that provides for reimbursement to the state of Hawaii and her citizens if financial losses are suffered due to the bill's passage? Shouldn't the U.S. government pay for the consequences of passing this bill?"
-- Grassroot Institute Chairman of the Board Jeff Crawford in a recent Honolulu Star-Bulletin Letter to the Editor

"After the (first) report was completed in 1984, Peter Grace joined with syndicated columnist and Pulitzer Prizewinner Jack Anderson to form Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) to promote implementation of Grace Commission recommendations and promulgate additional recommendations at every level of government. Over the past 25 years, CAGW and its 1.3 million members and supporters have helped taxpayers save $1.04 trillion."
(Source: 2009 Hawaii Port Report)

"...the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) wants more money for administrators' salaries, because $100 to $150 thousand per year is not adequate to attract talent but that one of the reasons costs are soaring is that bureaucrats never spend our money wisely. As an example, we have for 21 (count 'em!) of these underpaid school superintendents."
-- GRIH Board of Directors member Dr. John Corboy MD in a recent Hawaii Reporter op-ed "How Many Superintendents Does it Take to Run Hawaii's School System?"

"the DOE has shown that it is powerless and inapt and the legislature has proven over the decades that it does not have the political will to make the necessary changes."
-- GRIH Communication Director Tom McAuliffe in a Letter to the Editor in The Garden Island News on Kauai

"Half a year ago, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii began investigating government waste and corruption for its first Hawaii Pork Report. While newspaper headlines occasionally feature instances of government mischief, digging deeper into state agency records and budgets revealed many egregious abuses of hard-earned taxpayer dollars."
-- GRIH Policy Analyst Pearl Hahn in a Letter to the Editor in The Honolulu Advertiser

 

 
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