An expensive union media campaign by the UH Public Assembly and Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), supporting taxpayer-funded government education, included this tag line: "...There are lots of places to cut public spending, but public education isn't one of them..." When have you ever heard any Hawaii union call for any cuts in government spending? I would like to see their list published. Probably a short list. By the way, times may be tough for you, but not HSTA, the union that forcibly represents nearly 12,000 public school teachers. The union announced plans to develop a $4 million office and headquarters near Red Hill on Oahu. HSTA's operating budget, fueled by compulsory union dues, exceeds $5 million annually. Unions here are BIG business.
No bloat in State Government? So says government-paid economists at the State DBED (Chris Grandy) and State Center for Labor (Union) at the State University of Hawaii (Bill Boyd). They say critics of BIG government are wrong; that the increase in public employees has barely kept pace with the Gross State Product (GSP). What they don't tell you, among other things, is that GSP, like GNP, includes government outlays, so that when government spends more, the GSP grows more. A self-fulfilling BLOAT.
Good news: the Interstate Commerce Commission, created in 1887, was terminated January 1. Bad news: many ICC functions transferred to another federal agency.
Does Governor Cayetano really want to play Realtor? He indicates he wants to trade the illegally funded Campbell race track land for new land from Campbell Estate, which the state hopes sell to developers, then take the proceeds to develop a new 4-year West Oahu UH campus-even though the state can't even afford to staff, maintain or operate UH Manoa. Now there's a sound investment opportunity that would make Ron Rewald blink.
Q: How we getting along without a $200,000 a year State Helicopter? A: Great!
More signs of the times: Kuhio Theatres in Waikiki are gone; to be replaced by Nike and Levi outlets, plus restaurants. Long time member, Software Plus, to call it quits Jan. 31, citing costs and excessive national computer competition. Also gone, Aloha Indoor Tanning and Hawaiian Western Steel; end of an era.
Good news: the former Kahala Hilton Hotel returns as the beautiful Kahala Mandarin Orient Hotel on March 1. SBH, which held bi-monthly business meetings at the Kahala from 1982-95, will be back with our first business forum in March. (Watch next month's SB NEWS for details and plan to be there).
Pacific Business News published positive business profiles on two deserving SBH members in January, Eric Woo of Eric Woo Design and Kathleen Newkirk of Kahu Malama Nurses. After 33 years as a Monday tradition, beginning February 16, PBN will be published on Friday. Publisher Mike Kallay says to look for other new features as the local business publication arena gets more competitive. Small business will be the winner of this renewed and expanded competition.
And if you missed the SBH 20th Annual Conference, you missed many opportunities to see, hear and learn, tips for your business. The success story presentations by Alfred Vollenweider, Take and Gail Morohoshi and Donna McLaughlin were real "chicken-skin," and make you proud to be an entrepreneur.
Could not believe the Honolulu Advertiser tripe written by a Greg Barrett on January 1 regarding the late Harry Weinberg, whom Barrett referred to variously as a, "bandit," "cutthroat," "King of the Corporate Raid," "bully" and "kidnapper." He also said, erroneously, that Weinberg bought bus systems and "force(d) a strike..then sold to the city for a higher price." Check the facts regarding Weinberg and the old Honolulu Rapid Transit System (HRT) to see who did what to whom. More importantly, Weinberg, who died of cancer years ago, had no pretenses, lived frugally, demanded answers from big business, and when he died, left his considerable hard-earned wealth to charity. Hawaii receives nearly $17 million annually from this "bandit." The real bandits, in government, take it all, leave nothing, and are ignored-or praised for their looting ability- by the local media.
More Hawaii prisoners slated to go to Connecticut as well as Texas; maybe they can intern in the insurance industry. Speaking of the insurance industry, big shakeup coming with the merger of Connecticut Mutual into Massachusetts Mutual. Impact will be felt here.
"Wrong Way (Douglas) Corrigan" the pilot who died in December at age 88, was best remembered for his "mistake" in 1938 when he flew his single engine plane from New York to Long Beach-but landed in Ireland instead. Thus, the nick-name and 50 years of folk lore. But wait; turns out Corrigan knew exactly what he was doing. The Government (Dept of Commerce) had turned down his request to fly the Atlantic solo (Lindbergh's feat had only been matched by 10 pilots) so he simply said he was flying "West" when in fact everything pointed East. Corrigan was an early Libertarian. He landed in Dublin 29 hours later and was "detained." His plane was seized, disassembled and sent back to America by boat. Corrigan was hailed as a hero upon his return. Now we know, the rest of the story.
A $90 million transfer of school funds to prisons?Hawaii prisons-"2nd to none!" posedly $200 million in the black hole, and when every resident is overtaxed, and we lead the nation in bankruptcies. They still don't get it.
GROVER NORQUIST PREDICTS '96 ELECTIONS
The original choice for keynote speaker at SBH's 20th anniversary Annual Business Conference January 10 was presidential hopeful, and business writer, Steve Forbes. He couldn't attend because of a changed date in the Iowa Caucus. Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, author, creator of the Congressional and State Tax Pledge (and Newt Gingrich confidant) was the next choice. Norquist was confirmed and SBH looked forward to his message to Hawaii's business owner-voters.
Then came the "Blizzard of Ô96." The massive storm that closed down the Federal Government-and the entire East Coast - claimed many victims on the mainland in January-including Norquist, of Washington, D.C. He valiantly made the effort to get to the SBH Conference and got as far as Los Angeles the day before the event. Unfortunately, as Hawaii travellers learned, LAX became a dead-end for flights to Hawaii because of the storm's disruption and lack of aircraft.
Norquist arrived in Honolulu at 2:45 pm; an hour after the Conference concluded. (Des Byrne did a terrific stand-in as keynoter on very short notice). Norquist spoke at an event arranged by Jane Tatibouet at Ruth Chris' Steak House on January 11. He regaled the lunchtime audience of 50 with inside stories of the Beltway and Potomac Politics.
Meanwhile, some of his political predictions for 1996:
* A Republican will be elected President (probably Dole, but doesn't matter because Republicans will continue to control the Congress)
* Republicans will add 25 new Representatives;
* Republicans will add 6 new Senators;
* the "solid South" is no longer one-party solid, with more states having 1 or 2 houses (and Governor) controlled by Republicans.
* the Coalition of "leave me alone groups" (Religious Right, NRA, Property Rights, Taxpayers, etc.) will continue to work together despite media hopes
* the fastest growing groups are property rights groups (faster than taxpayer groups)
* more legal troubles for Hillary Rodham Clinton
Norquist also discussed how important and how close the health care debate was and the ultimate result of socialization and dependence that it would have created. He also commented on the loss of power and control by the Washington media, now that a Midwest farmer has his own FAX, watches C-SPAN, gets his news not from the Washington Post but from CNN, and can call or FAX his Congressman while listening to Rush Limbaugh.
He had lots more to say and SBH hopes to reschedule a speech by Norquist later this year if possible.
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