The following article was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat on Sept. 22, 2021. ___________ The late Richard “Dick” Rowland, founder of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, famously remarked, “The bigger government gets, the smaller you get.” “Big government,” of course, is a euphemism for extensive economic interventionism and authoritarianism,
Hawaii residents were handed a major win for transparency earlier this month when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that “gut and replace” was unconstitutional. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii was one of several watchdog groups that supported the plaintiffs in the case via an amicus curiae brief, which was
Photo by Charley Myers When it comes to the measures still in place to address COVID-19, our leaders are oddly reluctant to engage in any discussion of the costs. People tend to have a visceral dislike of putting a dollar value on things like health and safety. I understand. It
Photo by Charley Myers It was a great victory for government accountability when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Thursday against a long-standing but deceptive legislative practice “Gut and replace” is finally dead. For years, Hawaii’s government watchdog groups have protested the Legislature’s use of a procedural loophole that allowed them
Photo by Charley Myers The following news release was issued Nov. 4, 2021, by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. _____________ The Hawaii Supreme Court ruling will help restore public faith in the legislative process, says the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii HONOLULU, November 4, 2021 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Over the past year, I have often expressed concern about the possibility that “temporary” measures taken in response to the COVID-19 emergency would become permanent. That’s a serious problem when it comes to civil liberties. But we also need to consider the ramifications for the state’s fiscal decision-making. Just like the
This commentary was published originally in the Fall 2021 edition of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s donor newsletter. __________ When COVID-19 began wreaking havoc on the planet early last year, the popular slogan was “We’re all in this together.” Now, after 18 months of being under a so-called state of
There are many reason to complain about how Hawaii has dealt with the coronavirus threat to public health, and business journalist and columnist Kam Napier covered a lot of them in his Oct. 11, 2021, appearance on Keli’i Akina’s “Hawaii Together” program. Napier is editor in chief of Hawaii’s leading business publication,
University of Hawaii photo If there is one thing more powerful than COVID-19, apparently it’s a winning football team. Just a day after Gov. David Ige extended his coronavirus state of emergency for two more months, the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team played an exciting nationally televised home
When we got our first look at the tier system that outlined how our lives would be restricted by COVID-19 orders, we didn’t realize that eventually we, the people, would be divided into tiers. We are rapidly approaching the point where Hawaii residents will be divided into “cans” and “cannots,”
The following article was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat on Sept. 22, 2021. ___________ The late Richard “Dick” Rowland, founder of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, famously remarked, “The bigger government gets, the smaller you get.” “Big government,” of course, is a euphemism for extensive economic interventionism and authoritarianism,
Hawaii residents were handed a major win for transparency earlier this month when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled 3-2 that “gut and replace” was unconstitutional. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii was one of several watchdog groups that supported the plaintiffs in the case via an amicus curiae brief, which was
Photo by Charley Myers When it comes to the measures still in place to address COVID-19, our leaders are oddly reluctant to engage in any discussion of the costs. People tend to have a visceral dislike of putting a dollar value on things like health and safety. I understand. It
Photo by Charley Myers It was a great victory for government accountability when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled Thursday against a long-standing but deceptive legislative practice “Gut and replace” is finally dead. For years, Hawaii’s government watchdog groups have protested the Legislature’s use of a procedural loophole that allowed them
Photo by Charley Myers The following news release was issued Nov. 4, 2021, by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. _____________ The Hawaii Supreme Court ruling will help restore public faith in the legislative process, says the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii HONOLULU, November 4, 2021 >> The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Over the past year, I have often expressed concern about the possibility that “temporary” measures taken in response to the COVID-19 emergency would become permanent. That’s a serious problem when it comes to civil liberties. But we also need to consider the ramifications for the state’s fiscal decision-making. Just like the
This commentary was published originally in the Fall 2021 edition of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii’s donor newsletter. __________ When COVID-19 began wreaking havoc on the planet early last year, the popular slogan was “We’re all in this together.” Now, after 18 months of being under a so-called state of
There are many reason to complain about how Hawaii has dealt with the coronavirus threat to public health, and business journalist and columnist Kam Napier covered a lot of them in his Oct. 11, 2021, appearance on Keli’i Akina’s “Hawaii Together” program. Napier is editor in chief of Hawaii’s leading business publication,
University of Hawaii photo If there is one thing more powerful than COVID-19, apparently it’s a winning football team. Just a day after Gov. David Ige extended his coronavirus state of emergency for two more months, the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team played an exciting nationally televised home
When we got our first look at the tier system that outlined how our lives would be restricted by COVID-19 orders, we didn’t realize that eventually we, the people, would be divided into tiers. We are rapidly approaching the point where Hawaii residents will be divided into “cans” and “cannots,”
