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In This Issue: HawaiiVotes, Government Transparency, SuperFerry Supreme Court Decision, Akaka Bill, Book Review, Media Hits and more!
A Time for Transparency
Why Hawaii Needs a New Transparency Web SIte ASAP
By Jamie Story
It's really very simple. It is our tax money and we want to see how it is being spent. Since its founding eight years ago, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has led the fight for government transparency and accountability by educating the voters, citizens, and taxpayers of Hawaii. In particular, we support efforts to shed greater light on awards made by the State of Hawaii.
Over the past year, we've been pursuing a major initiative to this end. Like other states, Hawaii has seen the need and advantage of having a transparency Web site. In 2007 the Legislature passed Act 272—which became law without the Governor's signature—calling on the Department of Budget and Finance to create a publicly searchable Web site showing all state contracts above $25,000. The site was, by law, supposed to be operational by January 1st, 2009. Yet today, no site is available nor, according to officials, is one planned. This session, legislators filed SB 659 in an attempt to address the Governor’s and others’ concerns about the implementation of Act 272.
(To read more, click here.)
GRASSROOT PERSPECTIVE
Silver Lining
Could the Recent Hawaii Supreme Court SuperFerry Decision Lead to the
Akaka Bill and Public Lands Case Being Pau?
By Tom McAuliffe
With Hawaii’s citizens left reeling by the Hawaii SuperFerry’s forced shutdown, many may have missed some profound statements in the Hawaii Supreme Court’s recent decision. When it comes to both the Akaka Bill and the Supreme Court Public Lands case Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court James Duffy hit the nail on the head when he wrote in the Court’s opinion:
"This constitutional limitation on legislative power was enacted by the framers of our Constitution, and approved by the people, to protect against the dangers inherent in special legislation intended to favor a specific individual, class, or entity. Indeed, this constitutional prohibition of special legislation intended to favor a specific individual, class, or entity is the corollary of the constitutional prohibition against the denial of equal protection rights when the government unreasonably discriminates against a person, class, or entity.
That our Constitution prohibits laws which provide disparate treatment intended to favor a specific individual, class, or entity or to discriminate against a specific individual, class, or entity is a fundamental principle of the democratic nature of our government: equal rights and treatment for all persons under the law."
(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.
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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.
Meltdown
A Book Review by Tracy Ryan
Author Thomas E. Woods’s new book about our current financial woes, Meltdown- A Free Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse, presents a systematic overview of the Austrian Economic School’s analysis of the problems now facing the U.S. Mr. Woods, a senior follow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, explains how the Federal Reserve System created an inflationary bubble that destabilized first the housing and then the stock market. He includes chapters about the Austrian theory of the business cycle as developed by von Mises and later by F. A. Hayek. He dismisses the common mythology of the 1930’s Depression and alleged wartime recovery with short, simple examples.
This book is blessed by brevity of language and clarity of example, making it one of the most effective books on complicated economic topics since the days of Henry Hazlitt. In just over 160 pages, all the important points are put forward with irrefutable logic. As such, it is a must-read for anyone aspiring to federal office in the next election. These points of wisdom will become increasingly obvious to voters as the damaging policies of stimulus and bailout continue to wreak havoc in the coming months.
Available from Amazon and elsewhere, the book also has a nice forward written by Congressman Ron Paul.
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Tracy Ryan is a past Chair of the Libertarian Party of Hawaii and was their candidate for Governor in 2002. Active in the community, she has been involved with issues as diverse as fighting the van cams and the reform of drug and prostitution laws. She is also a former member of the Makiki Neighborhood Board and past president of her condo association.
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 videos at www.youtube.com/user/GrassrootHawaii
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'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 an interview with David Williams, VP for Policy at Citizens Against Government Waste on the release of the first ever 2009 Hawaii Pork Report. Also available this issue is an interview with Assistant to Programs and Operations Ana Lightle with The Young America's Foundation at the Reagan Ranch. The Young America's Foundation stepped in to save President Reagan's Western White House in the spring of 1998 to preserve it as a living monument to Reagan's lasting accomplishments and to make it the centerpiece of the Foundation's student programs. Lattle was involved with the Young America’s Foundation as a student activist for three years.
Click to listen to CAGW's David Williams, VP for Policy at Citizens Against Government Waste
Click to listen to Ana Lightle of the Reagan Ranch
Please check out our other recent podcasts with:
• Jack McHugh from The Mackinac Center and MichiganVotes.org
• Lora Burbage, GRIH Youth Coordinator, discuss education reform in Hawaii
• Ilya Shapiro, Cato Institute Constitutional Scholar, discuss the Akaka Bill and Public Lands case
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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
 Please join us for Expelled-No Intelligence Allowed, an award-winning documentary by Ben Stein that uncovers a dramatic exposition in persecution of educators and scientists who are being denied tenure and even fired in some cases, for their belief in the evidence of "design" in nature. A very timely film you won't want to miss!
Friday, April 17, 2009
6:45 PM
Trinity Presbyterian Church and School
875 Auloa Rd in Kailua just off the Pali Highway.
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 – LLburbage@yahoo.com. 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!
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Li Zhao's The Foolish Things Idea Exchange
Date: Sunday, April 19, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Speakers/Topic: Dan Douglass and Larry Bartley debating Party Schisms.
Cost: $5 monthly (or $40 annual) membership donation. Heavy pupus.
Location: The Schoolland's, 94-1072 Alelo St., Waipahu, HI
RSVP by April 15, 2009 to 808-676-0825 or Li.Schoolland@gmail.com
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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.
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LIBERTY NEWS
New Akaka Bill Audio Programs
GRIH Senior Fellow Jere Krischel has recorded ten hard-hitting one-minute audio PSA's educating listeners on the Akaka Bill. Each one focuses on a single individual who has made enormous contributions to Hawaiian culture but is not considered "Hawaiian" according to the Akaka Bill (S.381 and H.R.862), or a particular institution whose programs would be even better if they were available to all Hawaii's people. Six of these audios also have accompanying YouTube videos! Some of the programs include:
• Colorblind OHA - How OHA programs could be much more valuable if they didn't discriminate by race. The Akaka Bill and current OHA programs violate the 14th Amendment by not treating all people equally under the law.
• Hanai - Kamakakehau Fernandez is African-American by blood, born in Arkansas, adopted into a Hawaiian family on Maui. He grew up speaking Hawaiian and is a talented performer of Hawaiian language music. But according to the Akaka Bill he is not considered Hawaiian.
• Mr. President: Unify Us. One America, One Law-
Akaka Bill separates us by race. Please move us away from division and toward conciliation. Help us be one America and insist that we should all live under one law.
According to Krischel, the Akaka Bill's new government might redistribute resources by race even to nonresidents, "The Akaka Bill would create a new government not accountable to the general population of Hawaii, that would redistribute Hawaii's resources and political power according to race. These racially defined privileges would be extended to tens of thousands of people who do not live Hawaii and may never have even visited our islands."
Links to all 16 items, including transcripts, are available at: http://akakabill.org/audio-downloads/"http://akakabill.org/audio-downloads/
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New SPN TV
SPN’s NewMediaTV.org
The State Policy Network, of which GRIH is a member, has recently launched NewMediaTV.org, a new online TV channel that facilitates the exchange of information between SPN Members and their friends. The TV station uses new media and Web 2.0 technologies to bring programming to the SPN membership. The online media outlet is also easy to use as there is no software to install and no hassles to view live streaming video or archived shows.
(To read more, click here.)
Grassroot Media Hits
• The 2009 Hawaii Pork Report created by GRIH and Citizens Against Government Waste is currently being seen by thousands on the State Policy Network web site home page.
• On March 25th, Maui News ran a letter to the editor from Grassroot Institute Policy Analyst Pearl Hahn about Climate Change.
"We know very well that we pay some of the highest prices in the nation for energy. Despite their good intentions, Hawaii's lawmakers should reconsider costs of measures aiming to drastically reduce carbon emissions. Future legislation should be a collaborative process involving citizens and small businesses and focusing on long-term rather than quick-fix solutions that will exacerbate the economic recession. Government attempts to address the issue will likely harm the economy while failing to address real problems."
• HawaiiVotes.org was in the news a lot recently as GRIH demonstrated the new web site to Legislators and the press at the capitol recently.
KITV Channel 4 featured the site and a interview with Communications Director Tom McAuliffe on its 5:00pm and 5:30pm TV news. In addition Hawaii Public Radio featured a piece from Reporter Ben Markus which aired statewide on all PBS radio stations. Hawaii's Bloger's also took note:
http://macprohawaii.blogspot.com/2009/03/hb444-hawaii-votes-alakai-leaving-macs.html
http://www.hawaiilibertychronicles.com/?tag=website
http://ilind.net/
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?118607ec-795f-4569-aefb-cf26918e32a5
HawaiiVotes.org continues to gain notoriety in the community so stay tuned.
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• Hawaii Reporter recently published several news releases from GRIH and articles from Grassroot Institute members. You can also read our weekly Hawaii Pork Fact from the 2009 Hawaii Pork Report. Please visit: www.hawaiireporter.com
• The nationally recognized and popular site www.townhall.com has recently picked up and run many of the articles you read in Grassroot in Review for national distribution.
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FAVORITE GRASSROOT BLOGS
Join the conversation and express your views! Use the links below to access these fascinating blogs.
Check out HawaiiVotes for the latest on the Hawaii State Legislature.
http://www.hawaiivotes.org
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!
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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. |
