Hawaiian Economy Shows What Republican Policies Writ Large Can Do
Hawaii public schools are closed most Fridays, rats scurry across bananas in uninspected stores and there may not be enough money to run the next election.
About the only parts of the state untouched by the foul economy are its sparkling beaches and world-class surfing.[..]
"There is community energy and outrage building up," said James Koshiba, a co-founder of the activist organization and Web site Kanu Hawaii, speaking about the cuts to education. "The people have to play a bigger role. Folks won't forget how this unfolds come election time."
— Hawaii now has the shortest school year in the nation after the state and teachers union agreed to shutter schools for 17 days a year, leaving 171,000 students without class on most Fridays. Negotiations to reopen them collapsed last week.
— Food establishments often go uninspected, a fact highlighted by an Internet video showing rats roaming freely across produce in a Honolulu Chinatown market. The state has just nine health inspectors on Oahu to handle nearly 6,000 markets and restaurants.
— The state Elections Office said it may not be able to afford a pending special election, which would leave half of the state's population without representation in the U.S. House of Representatives until September 2010.
— Homelessness is on the rise as mental health, child abuse, welfare and daycare programs run short on cash.
And next year may be even worse because tax revenues continue to plunge with the economy.
Hawaii is far from alone in cutting the size of government during the global financial downturn, with nearly every state resorting to across-the-board cuts, furloughs or layoffs to make ends meet. This tiny state of 1.3 million residents faces a projected $1 billion budget deficit through June 2011.
But Hawaii stands apart in how its government shrinkage has ripped into what are generally considered to be core functions: education, public health, elections and services for the disadvantaged.
Gov. Linda Lingle warned that government would not look the same after she ordered most departments to slash their budgets by about 14 percent.
I know it's tantamount to heresy amongst the teabaggin' crowd, but the root of "socialism" is also in "society". We pay taxes to benefit our entire society. Cutting taxes simply is not the answer, as should be obvious from what's happening in Hawaii. And what are the long term ramifications to education, and programs to the neediest among us?
Since when did the republican plan ever involve taking care of the needy? the GOP motto should be F*ck the Needy.
I would love a conservative to tell me anything that the GOP has done for the people in...oh, let's say...the last 40 years. can you name even 5 things? I'm guessing you can't.
And remember that tax cuts don't count because they only help the upper 1%. While the rest of us get to suck up the slack.
Is there any question that the GOP is the greatest threat to America that we have ever faced?
1. Guaranteed steady jobs in the military, with a constant demand for "employees".
2. Steady employment in the funeral and gravedigging industries, as more and more people die from lack of adequate health care, and a steady supply of "customers" from the Repug plan of endless war. (See #1)
3. Plenty of future business for anti-life attorneys who defend abortion doctor murderers.
4. Employment opportunities for police forces who will control the upcoming food and housing riots, which will ensue from the Repug fiscal holocaust.
5. Employment opportunities for private security firms who will be hired to protect bankering, insurance, and pharma fatcats from a desparate and enraged citizen revolution.
Just a few. I'm sure that there are more.
as there arent that many left. that extreme right side has either killed all of them or scared/bullied the rest into not providing abortions. so any business opportunities for those sorts of lawyers is very limited.
that the crazies won't come up with some other profession to demonize. Perhaps it will be personal injury lawyers, those lawsuit happy heathens who are single-handedly bankrupting our corporations and killing jobs. Surely, it would be legal to kill those un-Merkun types, wouldn't it?
years ago, when daily life in the village wasn't quite so poisonous, there existed a now almost extinct animal: the rational/true conservative. generally secular, with a robust intellectual leadership, and fiscally more conservative than today.
during those days fraternization between the aisles were quite common, and not carrying the mark of Cain as they do now.
i sure didn't agree with many of their policies, but compared to today's gop they didn't urinate on themselves or foam at the mouth when debated, didn't consign you to hell for disagreement, and knew how to read.
i miss them.
to be sure the pickings are relatively slim, and the negatives highly outweigh the positive policies, but there have been a few gop accomplishments and from some surprising sources.
for example:
Richard Nixon:
- Nixon completely eradicated the gold standard 1971
- Nixon authorized the Clean Air Act of 1970
- established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- reorganized the Post Office Department from a cabinet department to a government-owned corporation: the U.S. Postal Service.
- endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment after it passed both houses of Congress in 1972 and went to the states for ratification as a Constitutional amendment
- established the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1972
- implemented the Philadelphia Plan, the first significant federal affirmative action program in 1970
- signed the landmark laws Title IX in 1972, prohibiting gender discrimination in all federally funded schools and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
Gerald Ford: - outspoken supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment
- signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which established special education throughout the United States
- In 1975, Ford appointed John Paul Stevens as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
i totally loathe the gop/teabaggers of today. i consider them wastes of meat.
I refuse to call the Republican current reincarnation GOP. They have shunned their history, and their values in favor of populism.
Taxes are the price you pay for living in a civilized society. Don't like paying taxes? Move to fucking Somalia where there are no taxes, or much of anything else that makes life worth living.
here's a radical suggestion,
why not appease the republicans
and just cut the services to
All republican and their families.
that should suit their desire to lower
the taxes. i know this would never happen,
but, what a noise they would make and shout
how unfair it is that they should be singled
out....not that they don't single out every
minority as targets for the teabaggers hate,
racism and bigotry.
Modern progressive policies involve a degree of compromise / work / sacrafice to continue a functioning society. Modern conservative policies amount to rejecting the above ideas, but ultimately forcing people into accepting a much greater degree of those things while allowing them to maintain a facade of self sufficency. And the difference is $$$$ to a handful of interests.
Not to worry...with some substantial tax cuts, the magic of the free market will solve all of these problems!
Taxes are to states what wages are to a family. If nothing is coming in cuts have to be made on what is going out. These republican governors who "bought" votes based on lowering taxes had to have known that they were taking money out of their state that might become emergency funds somewhere down the line. So here we are with an economy that has gone south and the states with the lowered taxes are the first ones to hurt. Without enough tax money coming into the state, the quality of the state falls to ruins.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
California is drowning. Fucking Proposition 13 put an end to the idea that taxes are a good thing because they keep the state healthy and functioning. Ever since Jarvis came along and fucked the state up the ass, it's been "rich people get to keep their money and the rest of you can suck dirt". It's been a slower decline than Hawaii only because we're a hell of a lot bigger, but it's the same bullshit.
When are rich people going to start pulling their fair share of the load, instead of spending their money on tax lawyers to sniff out ways to avoid their civic duty? I swear, the day the rich and corporate start getting dragged out into the streets and bludgeoned, I will dance a little dance.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
who needs health inspections, garbage removal, public schools... in paradise
..never got worked on a reef.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Reefs are popular locations for beatings, are they? Or are you referring to sex? Because that might qualify as paradise, actually.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
..you know like coral, moray eels, pretty little nemo-fish but especially the coral, the sharp coral and the caves..they're always pulling bodies out of the caves.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
But educating the young isn't necessary since Jesus is gonna be back any day now, and who the hell cares about the neediest among us? Other than Jesus, that is, who's gonna be back any day now and...
Uh, oh.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
..Hawaii is a tourist economy. Hell, when I was there 20 years ago, pineapples were more expensive there then in NY. People who travel there go to live a dream or take a dream vacation; they don't go to leave money laying around. Yeah, a lot of stuff in Hawaii is expensive but its not expensive enough nor does it generate any revenue for the state other than the income taxes collected which is also reduced by anyone paying cash. It is a sad state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UubfgGDRJ9g
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
The reason they're more expensive there is the same reason macadamia nuts are, and the same reason lobsters are more expensive in Maine and merino wool is more expensive in New Zealand than anywhere else - exportation. So much of it is shipped out that the little that is left is priced very high. If pineapples weren't being shipped all to hell and gone, they'd be a lot cheaper in Hawaii. So the people who live in the locations where these things are produced mostly can't afford to consume them. Ain't the free market grand?
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
of the problems facing Hawaii.
not to let Lingle off the hook, but on the whole, Hawaii has one of the most corrupt political system of any state, regardless of party affiliation
Tourism is the biggest money maker for the islands (pineapple / sugarcane are industries of the past, a whole other problem) and tourism in Hawaii has plummeted since 2007.
Tourism down, taxes across the board are affected.
A blog I read Monday comes to mind . .
"I sat in a bar Friday evening with a financial reporter from a national newspaper, trying to explain the peak oil situation and what it implied for our economy. He had never heard it before. The relationship between energy resources and massive debt was new to him. It also came up in conversation that he could not tell me what the Monroe Doctrine was about, despite a history degree from Yale."
Well, I'm not sure what the writer knows about Hawaii, but I can tell you from working on a state campaign there - in spite of a Republican governor there is an OVERWHELMING Democratic majority at every level of gov't in Hawaii. In fact, Hawaii is a perfect example of how corporate the Democratic party is. Their reps are mostly bought by big business and corruption is rampant...and they're mostly Dem.
Christ, look at Dodd, Frank, Reid, Pelosi, et al. They're JUST as bought as Republicans.
However, that being said, my dad who is retiring at the end of this year, carefully considered moving to Hawaii, because the property taxes are some of the lowest in the country.
My point on the Republican policies is the slashing of money to areas that Democrats typically value: education, health and safety, welfare, etc.
I am a Californian, and we're similarly in a bad financial bind. And like Hawaii, the most sensible solution is to raise taxes to raise revenue to the state. But Republicans block that option left and right and it's to the detriment of the state and the citizens.
..numbers, see Jeff's comment below, it must the republican governor who is striking any tax hike down. But I don't believe that's exactly the case but I'm no expert. Chances are keeping things cheap for the cash-strapped residents is a sure bet to get elected.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
on the high side.
Hawaii residents have one of (the most?) the highest state tax per capita already.
The loss of taxes from tourism is what is really hurting, a loss for the (very high) general excise tax.
And that's a huge income lost.
And the reason tourism is hurting? Could it be that the economy sucks due to Republican laissez-faire tactics and few can afford a Hawaiian vacation?
Plus, it's WHERE the Republican governor chooses to cut.
in a different comment.
that if.
the writer.
had.
made a point.
about how GOP tactics.
have had a negative impact.
on tourism.
THEN.
this article wouldn't be terrible.
Right now, it's dreadful.
the low property taxes were not a problem until, magically, now - with the economy in the toilet and the major industry in shambles. Yes, the Governor has made some terrible cuts, and again, this article would be better if we were shown what was not cut that should be.
what is your experience and training
to run a state or city govt? it's easy
to backseat opinion what should be done,
but unless you are there suffering with
your decisions, then stay out of others'
business. no matter what you cut, everyone
will bitch that there should be not cuts
in any particular catagory...health, safety,
education, pubic svcs and protection.
i do not envy the people who chose to
run for public office... no matter what
you chose is best for your community...
someone/everyone bitches about your decisions.
...only those with government jobs get to voice opinions? I take it you never voice any opinions on anything other than the field you work in, right? Because as you say, you stay out of "others' business", yes?
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
i am sorry, i was using the general
you, i will in the future since some
of you can only understand the denotation
of words and not their connotations, will
specify when using the term "you".
i was not attacking you, just pointing
out that inexperience brings on more
critics, something i am also guilty of.
i have attended many local town meetings
in seattle and the most vociferous were
the least knowledable. you have to respect
most politicians or people who enter public
office for their patience when confronted
by so many opposing oppinions voiced in
varying levels of passion. and again, i am
using the general "you". thanks for pointing
out my failing to mention this before.
kind of weak ass reply is that?
my respect for you just went down the toilet, dadams.
you obviously barely, if at all, understood what I had posted.
the above reply to excelsior was also
meant for pete seattle.
i do have a lot of opinions and i have
a tendency to curse a lot recently. i
am frustrated with the weak health
reform bill that seems more likely to be
passed for personal political success of
those in congress and not for the much
needed help American citizens need.
If you were really using the "general you", then why the fuck did you do so in a reply to my comment?
"what is your experience and training
to run a state or city govt?"
That's the "general you"?
Horseshit.
Not only is your reading comprehension epic fail, you are also a terrible liar.
By Ellen Brown, March 4, 2009:
Bank On It: How Cash-Starved States Can Create Their Own Credit
Mother Jones Interview with President of Bank of North Dakota:
How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
...it's legal to grow hemp. Any state with agricultural land that requires a huge investment in fertilizer (because the soil is starved out) should switch to hemp. It grows nearly anywhere, requires NO fertilizer, usually no irrigation, and actually rebuilds the soil! That's on top of all the wonderful products it can make.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
Could someone explain to me how Hawaii is operating under republican policies?
I went and looked and by my (one pass, could be +/- 1 or 2) count the political situation in Hawaii now is:
Republican Governor
Legislative house 45D, 6R.
Legislative senate 23D, 2R.
Living in California I know it is possible for a state's budget to be dominated by a minority if its constitution is messed up enough... but is Hawaii's democracy really so broken that a party with only a little more than 10% of the legislature and the governor can dominate the situation? Are they hamstrung by dumb initiatives or something?
Is this really a problem with republicans, or with right wing democrats?
Sure "across the board cuts" is a standard brainless republican policy in many places... but I think you might be letting Hawaii democrats off easy for no good reason.
the problem is that the only industry of mention in Hawaii has suffered a huge hit.
tourism is down.
in an overarching way, I suppose if the writer of said article had wanted to, they could have somehow made a point of how national policies of the GOP have contributed to a lack of tourism...
however, the writer did not do so.
If the subject of this post was on Fox as a news item, I'm guessing one of the news readers would ask, Could this downturn of the economy in Hawaii be the result of the President's falling poll numbers and now no one wants to visit his home state due to their disapproval of the job he's doing in Washington?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
..I keep forgetting that before he was from Chicago, he was from Harvard and before that, Hawaii. Aloha
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
So ineffective he can't even get pork barrels to his homeland.
..'bout dat?
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Can't restaurants and markets be trusted to police themselves? Can't the homeless and mentally ill just snap out of it, grab their bootstraps and show some "personal responsibility"? Can't parents get a second or even third job to pay for their kids to go to private school? I mean really.
The benevolence of the free market system will never let you down. You just have to try harder, people!
Look what is happening to Barack's home state under his leadership.
Sheesh.
in the link and it never stated that the shortfall was a precipitation of tax cuts. The lack of tax revenues was blamed on the the dismal economy. In a consumption based society, with everything we consume having a tax attached to it, less consumption means less taxes. Of course corporations have been given tax cuts/credits across the nation but to imply that the Democrats are less complicit in corporate welfare at this stage of the game is irresponsible to your readership. Ordinary people would be more accepting of new taxes if the government actually used them for the common good instead of illegal wars, bankster bailouts, domestic spying, and countless other endeavors that divert taxes to corporate beneficiaries. The left/right paradigm is an illusion of choice.
We'll all be Cuban?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The moral here could be that if you vote for re=Thugs, your children will be even more stupid than you are, and you'll be dealing with rats.
*
Oh well. We live in a country where most people don't want any government at all. Soon, that's what they'll have. Except for the ever growing police state, which they seem to love. The country is packed with greedy selfish assholes that all pretend they are better and richer than their neighbor. Just wait till the newer generations grow up with the right wing propaganda filth pouring into their brain everyday get their hands on the power. Soon:
No Social Security
No Medicare
No Food Stamps
No Unemployment
No Unions
No Parks
ETC
When all the baby boomers retire, they'll learn that those 401k's they begged for was money they were supposed to pass on to their heirs, not to hope it was big enough to live on till death. That's what a pension (which they didn't fight for like their parents did) was for. Then the Xers, who might have benefited the continuing of their families with the savings, like the boomers received from their parents, get to pound sand. Down the rabbit hole the middle class goes.
The middle class, as we pretend it is, will be dead in 10-15 years. Along with the "entitlements".
Plan accordingly.
supposedly want smaller gov't. Here's a suggestion: get out of politics, you f*cking dimwits! There, problem solved. :>)
You do not have to travel to Hawaii. Just come to Ohio if you want to see what almost 20 years of rethug misrule can do.
Outside of the Govenor's seat, which was taken by a Republican a few years back, Hawaii is almost totally contolled by a very liberal set of Democrats. Linda Lingle, the Republican Governor, is pretty liberal in her own right. This site is way too hyperbolic for my tastes. Way to blame the state of Hawaii's problems on a group of people that haven't had any political power within the state in over 50 years.
*Edit* I have the writing style of a fifth-grader.
all those liberal running those military bases over there...
Good argument. I forgot that Hawaii was nothing but a banana republic, run entirely by the U.S. military. Thank you for reminding me, I would have looked like such an imbecile!
?
8D
OK, there are a lot of Democrats in Hawaii, but most of them are NOT liberal...especially where economics is concerned. Everyone knows that to win in Hawaii you have to be a Dem so all the slimebags go D as well.
I agree, that single party rule has devolved in Hawaii to the point where Corruption appears to be the true party in power. I disagree with the assertion that Hawaii is not liberal, or that the majority of the leaders in the Democratic party are not. Hawaii is a testing ground for a lot of liberal ideas. From health care, to public schools. Some work, some do not. At any rate, how the hell are we supposed to connect the dots from the failures of the local Hawaiian government, to the Republican party?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the Republican party, but this just seems like a lazy argument. C&L is littered with these over the top, fanciful arguments against anything that isn't straight line progressive doctrine. If you don't think that thought like that is dangerous, check out how well the Republican party is doing.
is unique to other states. For example 95+% of the population has health insurance due to regulations on business requiring them to provide it. This helps make Hawaii a healthy state. There is no such thing as local school districts in a sense because the entire state is a unified district. The islands are also dependent on high excise taxes on tourists although locals have some of that burden also. States that rely on "sales" taxes for most of their revenue for social programs have high volatility built into their system.
is the Repug test case. The same results are expected to show in the other 49 states in 2010.
"By words the mind is winged." - Aristophanes
Look at the Moron mccains State Racist, Nazi Arizona. Right after the Governor left the REPUKS went in and what is the first thing they cut EDUCATION.
The Racist Nazi Party and the Goofy opposition Party want America DUMMIED down. Any type of smart test other than what they consider smart is sedition and treason these are HATE Mongers and they Love to Hate.
Here is a challenge to the CLOWNS that call themselves news reporters, now you ENTERTAINMENT experts are going to get into real trouble and probably lose your jobs but here it goes anyway.
Any takers, didn't think so you have to be a REAL reporter not a PLAY PRETEND REPORTER, your questions have to be spontaneous and unrehearsed (oops, that disqualifies the Idiots in America).
to be sure...but...
It takes taxes and a LOT of them to run a civil society... and a civil society is a socialist society.
Keep cutting taxes, especially at the top, and you will quickly be in ruins.
Low tax rates for the wealthy have been tried. It doesn't work.
There simply isn't enough money in taxes from the lower tiers of earners and when you tax the lower echelon at rates close to the top, the lower echelon has less money to put into the economy.
It's simple - to fund our country, we need taxation for the wealthy at a 70% rate.
Any less and we already know the result.
and Lingle who is governor. understood. but could some of these problems be in Honolulu and is that city run also by the GOP, or Democrats? could it be a shared blame? the state has problems and firstly the GOV and the party shes a member of get the finger pointed at them. but who runs the state legislature? what party dominates it? i actually dont know as im not from there but Hawaii has been a Democratic state for years and so to blame just the GOP, because of Lingle, for the states problems seems to easy. i think its too simple to just blame one party. there are many factors involved.
I've been kinda watching what 's been happening to Hawaii for quite some time now. I don't focus on it. I just observe it from afar.
And it seems to me that the GOPers are doing the same thing they did to Calif. They make in roads, then they convince enough people that they belong there.
I don't know about the States procedural matters.
But Hawaii has got alot of financial resources .They got some real rich folks who own alot of land there. Where there's rich folks. The GOPers aren't far behind. And where the GOPers are. The working class take a beating..
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Dangerous sittin that close to the water when the surf is up.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Dear God, what awaits my Island (Puerto Rico).
It voted GOP twice in Presidential elections.
1972 and 1984.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
They just need to wait a little longer for the trickle down. Its coming, it really is, the super rich said so...........,
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
Bumper sticker idea:
Deferred maintenance is NOT fiscal conservatism!
I'm sorry, but we need a pro-tax lobby and I'm already doing it! My Repub friend said, "Let's just close the schools and have everybody homeschool!" So I replied, "Plow your own streets!"
I grew up in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Definition: a nation, state, or other political unit founded on law and united by compact or tacit agreement of the people for the common good.
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