Dash of Calabash

Dale Evans, owner of Charley’s Taxi and member of the Board of GRIH submitted an open letter to Governor Lingle reminder the governor that the traffic congestion problems on the H-1 are a state responsibility, since this is a state highway. Why then is the governor seeking to pass this responsibility on to the City of Honolulu in the form of an increase in the General Excise Tax to fund a city solution, namely heavy rail?

She goes on to make a number of excellent points:

- We have a mass transit system: TheBus. Many TheBus routes have been moved off service for resident commuters in favor of tourists.

- Except for the NYC 9th Av rail system, HOVways exceed rail in passengers per hour.

- The city already hesitates to add more buses. Yet, even with rail, the rail system will be dependent on more buses than presently exist in the city’s fleet to feed the rail system. (Utilizing the private sector tour buses to supplement the transit system for express service has been a no-no by every Democrat and the Fasi administration.)

Why is your administration not publicly insisting to apply for the half billion federal dollars for HOT lanes instead - a grade separated reversible HOTway - an elevated ‘Zipper lane’ for West Oahu?

She is right, of course, the state is dodging the responsibility for this one and passing it off to the City/County Council.

Just as “Special Funds” are routinely raided for other things so too government is not to be trusted in this regard either, as Evans points out. It is an interesting and informative read for those interested in this issue.

The only question is, “Is the governor listening?” That remains to be seen.

The Heritage Foundation has recently published a report on the growing dependency of the American public upon government. “The 2005 Index of Dependency” lays out in startling detail just how dependent we have become over the last 40 years. With a few lapses here and there, there has been mostly steady growth in overall dependency on government. This in-depth report has a number of charts that illustrates the nature of the growth in dependency. The chart on Social Security illuminates the nature of the coming crisis in this area. A must read for anyone interested in the ramifications of public policy decisions.

Email us your comments: grassroot@hawaii.rr.com

Private property rights evaporated today thanks to the Supreme Court decision concerning Kelo vs. New London. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, along with the Pacific Legal Foundation and Cascade Institute submitted an Amicus Brief in support of Susette Kelo and other working class Connecticut residents in the lawsuit.

“‘The Supreme Court simply said so-long to meaningful individual property rights today,’ said Dick Rowland, President of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. ‘The decision diminishes individual liberty and bolsters government power, it says to Americans - government is superior, the individual is a subject and therefore, inferior. That view would be alien to our Founding Fathers of this nation who thought government was formed by sovereign individuals to serve the individual.’”

Unfortunately the Supreme Court saw otherwise. The Reason Blog “Out of Control” has done an excellent job researching links that comment on this deplorable decision for individual property rights. Rather than re-create the wheel we will refer you to the Out of Control Blog. As they note, undoubtedly much will be said on this decision in the future. As will we.

Email us your comments: grassroot@hawaii.rr.com

The common wisdom is that if we can just reduce personal automobile use then we can get free from our dependence on foreign oil. This is often the justification put forth for building rail as a transit option. The truth is personal automobile use is the lesser portion of this nation’s need for crude oil. Alan Reynolds explains this is interesting detail.

“Commuter and leisure driving accounts for little more than 40 percent of the oil we consume — far less than the amount we import. The rest of each barrel of crude is used for heating oil and diesel fuel for trucks, busses, farm machinery and ships (23 percent), petrochemicals (17 percent), jet fuel (9 percent), asphalt (4 percent) and propane (4 percent). “

The real factor driving the price of crude, and therefore gasoline, is industrial production which demands the greater portion of each barrel of crude. If industrial production falls because the price of crude rises to unacceptable levels there will be more crude and gas prices will fall but the other side of the coin will be no jobs to commute to. Then we can all ride a train to nowhere.

Email us your comments: grassroot@hawaii.rr.com

The U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee has issued a strongly worded report against the Akaka Bill. It notes a number of areas where the Akaka Bill conflicts with already established and existing law. The Senate Republicans have come out against race-based government being established in Hawaii. This leaves one wondering if the Libertarians and Democrats are in favor of race-based determinations since they are silent on the issue. Read the Republican Policy Committee report here.

Email us your comments: grassroot@hawaii.rr.com

This editorial by Jon Caldara is, as the British say, Spot On. If there was ever an argument for the reform of the Supreme Court it is this decision. The legal ramifications of this ruling are never ending, as Judge Clarence Thomas, noted it opens the door for literally anything being regulated even your personal garden. 0

Be that as it may, be careful what you grow in your backyard. The government is watching. Your backyard tomatoes may destabilize the national economy. Go figure!

Ken Schoolland, on the Board of Scholars for GRIH, documents the differences between government and private schools in India. Since India leads the USA in both science and math school scores, is there something that we can learn about what they are doing here? Food for thought. Thanks Laura B. for the link.

VoteHawaii has a number of posts that are very pertinent to this issue. Why are we willing to think that we can manage a multi-$billion rail system when the streets of Waikiki look like some third world country? - and I live in Waikiki, I know whereof I speak. Wander off Kuhio or Kalakaua and the weeds grow up through the sidewalks and gutters everywhere. Not to mention the condition of the actual blacktop. A study in neglect that was documented by the
SB today

Anyway, there are a number of timely articles by VoteHawaii that can be seen here.

Constitutional Lawyer Bruce Fein has had the document by that name entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. John Kyl (R-Arizona). The article on HawaiiReporter.com is the lead in paragraphs and the whole Record is available in pdf format on their website here.

Possible 12.5% Excise Tax is much, much higher to the consumer. Don’t miss this 30 minute presentation by our GRIH Board of Directors member, Paul Smith.

Also see these documents . . .

“What is the GET? / What is pyramiding? / What are bills 1209 & 40?”
.pdf download (188k)

“Honolulu City and County Budget FY2006″
.pdf download (88.2k)