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Budget & Spending

Misleading budgeting undermines accountable government

The commentary below was Keli’i Akina’s weekly “President’s Corner” column for Feb. 19, 2021. If you would like to have his columns emailed to you on a regular basis, please call 808-864-1776 or email info@grassrootinstitute.org. ______________ If you had $1,000 in the bank and $10,000 in credit card debt, would you

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Akina, Weinberg tackle Hawaii’s flawed accounting practices

Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the one of the nation’s most important government watchdog groups, Truth in Accounting, was the special guest Feb. 15, 2021, on Keli’i Akina’ “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. The show took place on the heels of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii submitting a

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GASB urged to reject proposals that would normalize misleading government accounting practices

The following was submitted by the Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board on Feb. 10, 2021, regarding two proposals that would interfere with public oversight and understanding of a state’s true financial situation.  Established in 1984, the GASB is the independent, private-sector

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‘How we can restore economic prosperity’

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina was guest again on the radio program “Perry & The Posse,” this time on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, and this time talking with host Michael W. Perry about how we can restore economic prosperity in Hawaii — without raising taxes. Hawaii lawmakers “actually

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Sane budgeting and restoring civil liberties

It was a “twofer” on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, when Hawaii radio host Mike Buck spoke with Keli’i Akina of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on “The Mike Buck Show,” heard daily on AM 65 and FM 92.3, The Answer. Their 20-minute conversation focused on both the institute’s recent news release

Read More →

‘Saving’ money now is going to cost us a lot more in the future

Saving money now is going to cost our children — and our grandchildren — billions of dollars. As part of the effort to address the state’s budget woes, intensified by the coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige last year suspended mandatory payments to the state’s Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF),

Read More →

Furloughs alone won’t solve budget crisis

The following recording from Dec. 18, 2020 features Hawaii radio host Mike Buck interviewing Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, on The Mike Buck Show on AM 690 and FM 94.3, The Answer. It’s about 20 minutes, and here’s how it started: Mike Buck: I saw something, Keli’i,

Read More →

Best way to generate taxes is through economic growth

If Benjamin Franklin had ever seen the Hawaii state budget, he’d have changed his famous quote to say that the only two things certain in life are debt and taxes. Especially these days, it’s as if local policymakers can think of nothing else to help Hawaii come to terms with

Read More →

Misleading budgeting undermines accountable government

The commentary below was Keli’i Akina’s weekly “President’s Corner” column for Feb. 19, 2021. If you would like to have his columns emailed to you on a regular basis, please call 808-864-1776 or email info@grassrootinstitute.org. ______________ If you had $1,000 in the bank and $10,000 in credit card debt, would you

Read More →

Akina, Weinberg tackle Hawaii’s flawed accounting practices

Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the one of the nation’s most important government watchdog groups, Truth in Accounting, was the special guest Feb. 15, 2021, on Keli’i Akina’ “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. The show took place on the heels of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii submitting a

Read More →

GASB urged to reject proposals that would normalize misleading government accounting practices

The following was submitted by the Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board on Feb. 10, 2021, regarding two proposals that would interfere with public oversight and understanding of a state’s true financial situation.  Established in 1984, the GASB is the independent, private-sector

Read More →

‘How we can restore economic prosperity’

Grassroot Institute of Hawaii President Keli’i Akina was guest again on the radio program “Perry & The Posse,” this time on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, and this time talking with host Michael W. Perry about how we can restore economic prosperity in Hawaii — without raising taxes. Hawaii lawmakers “actually

Read More →

Sane budgeting and restoring civil liberties

It was a “twofer” on Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, when Hawaii radio host Mike Buck spoke with Keli’i Akina of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on “The Mike Buck Show,” heard daily on AM 65 and FM 92.3, The Answer. Their 20-minute conversation focused on both the institute’s recent news release

Read More →

‘Saving’ money now is going to cost us a lot more in the future

Saving money now is going to cost our children — and our grandchildren — billions of dollars. As part of the effort to address the state’s budget woes, intensified by the coronavirus lockdowns, Gov. David Ige last year suspended mandatory payments to the state’s Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF),

Read More →

Furloughs alone won’t solve budget crisis

The following recording from Dec. 18, 2020 features Hawaii radio host Mike Buck interviewing Keli’i Akina, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, on The Mike Buck Show on AM 690 and FM 94.3, The Answer. It’s about 20 minutes, and here’s how it started: Mike Buck: I saw something, Keli’i,

Read More →

Best way to generate taxes is through economic growth

If Benjamin Franklin had ever seen the Hawaii state budget, he’d have changed his famous quote to say that the only two things certain in life are debt and taxes. Especially these days, it’s as if local policymakers can think of nothing else to help Hawaii come to terms with

Read More →