Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 1

Highlights and Spotlights:

Would you like to hear talks from

business leaders or conservative journalists? TEA Party Maui meetings have all that and more! Visit Page 2 for the upcoming schedule.

Lee Aldridge covers some recent

exciting local conservative meetings. Don’t miss the news on Page 4.

A Maui County debate catches the

attention of Grassroot Institute. View their testimony on Page 6.

Joe Kent investigates a questions on

many people’s minds… “Why is rent so expensive in Maui?” on Page 3.

Jim Wagoner offers insight into the

school choice debate on Page 10.

In This Issue:

TPM Happenings Pg. 2

Local Issues Pg. 3

National Issues Pg. 9

J a n u a r y - F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4

The voice of The TEA

Party Maui In

Support of a

Fiscally Responsible,

Constitutionally

Limited Government

& a Free Market

Economy

V o l u m e 4 , I s s u e 1

By Valerie Sisneros

TEA Party Maui was pleased to host Dr. Keli’i Akina and Dick Rowland from Grassroot Institute of Hawaii (GRI) on Oahu for our January meeting. GRI is Hawaii’s public policy think tank and is linked with groups like CATO Institute and the Heritage Foundation. We always enjoy having them bring their ideas and passion for liberty across the pond to share with us. Dick Rowland, former president and founder of GRI gave a brief talk about how we the people have failed in our responsibility to hold elected officials accountable. He stated that although we have 100 years of atrophy behind us, that the power of the people is still there. He encouraged the Tea Party to go to meetings with elected officials and remind them about the Declaration of Independence and that the main purpose of their positions is to represent the people. He feels that the first and foremost job of the Tea Party is education: educating ourselves about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Secondly, it is our responsibility to train others. He prompted members to “Get off your a** and get on your horse!”. Mr. Rowland reminded the crowd that it doesn’t matter what party is in power, there has been out of control spending for the last 100 years He stated that the bigger part we play in the governing process, the smaller the government gets. He compared the struggle for smaller government to “climbing up the down staircase”, because the down staircase has been blocked by the onslaught of progressive policies. Dick expressed his belief that the answer to all of our challenges is in the Declaration of Independence because it provided the purpose, vision, and principles for our new nation and these ideas are still relevant today. The job of “We the People” is to form the government by electing and policing our elected officials. The Tea Party came out of nowhere because of big government intrusion. Dick believes in the “Power of You, 2 by 2”, which means if each one of us could bring just two people into the movement each year, we could comprise the majority within five years. Next, the current GRI president, Dr. Keli’i Akina expressed his belief that

(Continued on page 2)

Grassroot Institute on Maui TPM Welcomes Dick Rowland and Dr. Akina

Dr. Keli’i Akina (above) and

Dick Rowland (below) speak

at the January TPM Meeting.

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 2

TPM HAPPENINGS

the Tea Party philosophy is the right philosophy, because it is based on the Declaration of Independence and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He reminded us that it is the duty of the people to set the government right, and that change in the world by begins with change in our neighborhoods. Dr. Akina told us that to implement change, it is critical to understand the power structure, which is a triangle of monopolistic control. One side of this triangle is the oligopoly of business which includes a monopoly over labor, education, power, and shipping. Another side is the Central Government control which is funded by big business, which then supplies legislation to protect big business. He said that venture capital has all but dried up in Hawaii, much of this due to the Superferry fiasco, whose failure is used as an example worldwide for not investing private money in Hawaii. The third side of this triangle is the power shift by the takeover of land, money, assets, and autonomy under the Akaka bill. GRI has been very vocal about defeating the Akaka bill and the dangers of this legislation. We heard quite a bit about the Jones Act, the 1920 shipping law enacted to protect U.S. ship builders when we were #1 in this industry. As most of you know, this law requires that any ships transporting goods to and from Hawaii must be built and owned by U.S. companies, fly the U.S. flag, and the crew must be at least 75% American. This federal statute, which is not regulated by the PUC, has done damage to the state and to the industry by coddling it and ruining productivity. By 2010, the U.S. had become one of the smallest ship builders in the world. The Jones Act has also driven costs up tremendously. Matson currently pays around $200 million per ship in the US, when they would be able to buy 2 or 3 ships elsewhere for that amount. Singapore is the largest shipping hub for world trade today. Alaska has quite a few exemptions from this law and although some

Hawaii lawmakers (Lingle), have attempted to get exemptions for our state, to date we are still held hostage by this statute which allows the monopolies and government stay in power. Dr. Akina referred to it as “the Mother of all protectionism”. The solutions he offered included: repeal, the Supreme Court, exemptions, dismantling, and most importantly—informing the public about how bad the Jones Act is for Hawaii. He stressed that exemptions, and informing the public are the most likely paths to success. Next, Dr. Akina spoke more about the Akaka Bill, which is designed to build a political government for the Hawaiian People. He feels that the government creating a race-based nation is not a good idea and that it violates the principle that All men are created equal, and the Constitution. GRI says that we should protect ALL peoples. Dr. Akina brought up the example of the Indian reservations and how they benefit the tribal leaders, not the tribes. Dr. Akina concluded his talk with a plan to “Win the Battle”:

Be constructive, not destructive by having solutions and not just negativity, to bring along the hearts and minds of the public.

Earn a seat at the table. Current decisions are made by whoever we put in power 20+ years ago. Put your money and time into candidates who can present the best plans. Do not promote one-issue candidates, but the interests of the economy and the broad public.

Unify the people and de-politicize the issues. Just do Good and Right. The greatest good for the greatest number of people.

The final thought was that you owe it to your philosophy to KNOW how to WIN!!

(Grassroot Institute on Maui, Continued from page 1)

Upcoming Speakers for TPM General Meetings Our speaker for the February 13th general meeting will be Maui Chamber of Commerce President Pamela Tumpap.

Pamela will speak about what the Maui Chamber is doing towards building and maintaining a free market culture on

Maui and how local business owners and concerned citizens can assist in these efforts.

Our speaker for the March 13th general meeting will be Hawaii Free Press Editor Andrew Walden. Andrew will

speak about how TPM and conservatives in general can deal with the obvious bias of the mainstream media. He will

also address how TPM members can more effectively engage in activism for conservative issues.

Both meetings will be held at Kalama Heights in Kihei in the Garden Room (101 Kanani Rd.) at 6:30 pm. Please call

(808) 214-2859 or email info@teapartymaui.com for more information.

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 3

LOCAL ISSUES

By Joe Kent

One day I was leaving a county council meeting on Maui,

and I got in the elevator with a group of older ladies. I

pretended to ignore them while I listened intently.

“Can you believe it? We did it! We got the government to

buy the land!”

“Thank goodness,” another lady said, “I was afraid the

view of the ocean would be blocked from my house.”

“Well,” the leader said, “I heard that a developer is

planning on buying some land up north. We’d better hop

to it again, ladies!” They all cheered.

I kept my mouth shut and wondered: why is the

government always seen as the protector of the land?

After all, much of the open spaces in Hawaii are privately

owned. Yes, it’s true that about two million acres of

Hawaii are owned by the State and National government.

But one million acres of open land in Hawaii are owned

privately.

The entire island of Ni’ihau is privately owned by the

Robinson family. Nicknamed “the forbidden island”,

Ni’ihau still looks almost the same as it did 200 years ago

– proof that private individuals can preserve the land if

they own the property.

Larry Ellison, the third richest man in the world, owns

98% of the island of Lana’i, yet the island remains largely

a wide open space.

In fact, most of the privately owned land in Hawaii is open

space, undeveloped land.

The Nature Conservancy, a privately funded charity,

raised millions of dollars to buy over 200,000 acres of

land in Hawaii for the purposes of preservation and open

space. Free market conservation charities can only raise

money if lots of people think it’s a good idea. Other

private charities like the Lahaina Restoration Foundation,

Historic Hawaii Foundation, and the Hawaiian Islands

Land Trust work to raise money to purchase land for

preservation.

In the meantime, government buys up land that people

aren’t willing to raise money to preserve. Yet, they often

pay double what the land costs. When the Maui County

Council voted to purchase the land at Launiopoko for 13

million dollars, Councilman Mike White reminded

everybody that on the free market, they could have gotten

it for less than half the cost. The land owner jacked up the

price as soon as they found out the government was

buying it.

Many argue that in the free-market, nobody would ever

buy land and keep it open-spaced. Yet, there are over 1

million acres of privately owned open space land in

Hawaii. Most of that land will continue to be preserved

because the individual land owners and charities are

interested in keeping the land natural. Let’s not forget that

most of the land that the government owns is the rocky

cliffs and volcanoes that would be difficult to develop

anyway. But most of the land that private individuals own

in Hawaii is prime land for development – yet it’s been

preserved for hundreds of years because of personal

choice, charity, and property rights.

“A ‘Liberal Paradise’ would be a place where everybody has guaranteed

employment, free comprehensive healthcare, free education, free food, free

housing, free clothing, free utilities, and only law enforcement has guns. And

believe it or not, such a place does indeed exist …… It's called prison.”

-Author unknown

WISE WORDS

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 4

By Lee Aldridge

Over the last two months I had been invited to attend

a couple of meetings that may have a significant

impact on the 2014 election year in Hawaii and I

would like to tell you what transpired at these two

meetings.

The first meeting was held on December 17, 2013 at

Grace Bible Church, called by a new grassroots

organization calling itself “Lets Do This Hawaii: Win

November 4th 2014”. This group was organized in

October, 2013 in response to the Special Session

held by the Hawaii State Legislature in early October

over the issue of same-sex marriage (Senate Bill 1).

The spokesperson for “Lets Do this Hawaii”, Art

Hannemann (cousin of former Honolulu Mayor Mufi

Hannemann) stated at the meeting that he was

present at the hearing for SB-1 and after 10 hours of

testimony in which over 70% of all testifiers were

against the Bill, the Senators deliberated less than 10

minutes and then proceeded to vote 5 to 2 in favor of

SB-1. It was at that moment said Art Hannemann that

he fully realized that the people testifying against SB-

1 were in the wrong place at the wrong time as it was

clear from the demeanor and body language of the

Senators at the hearing that the fix was in and the

decision had been made at least a year earlier. The

legislature dismissed offhand the notion proffered by

the testifiers that the people of Hawaii should decide

the issue by being allowed to vote on it rather than

having it rammed down their throats by their own

“representatives”. He added that the lesson learned is

that we needed to be proactive in choosing those who

will represent us and not reactive after the fact.

With this thought in mind, a group of concerned

citizens organized “Lets Do This Hawaii” to create

executive search committees for each House and

Senate district to identify and promote the best

candidates that share similar values and who can win

elections and also win on the legislative floor. Art

mentioned some legislators who were either silent or

ineffective when it came to voicing their professed

opposition to SB-1 on the floor of the Senate in the

House. What is needed said Art, are representatives

who have the backbone to argue forcibly for the

principles of those they represent.

Art spoke about their plan to identify and select

executive search committee leaders and members,

and to create criteria for choosing potential

candidates. The committees would be responsible for:

Selecting and promoting candidates beginning

the first week of 2014.

Educating the community regarding their

candidate

Motivating the community to register and to vote

for their candidate.

Raising funds for their candidate

Providing leadership coaching and training for

potential candidates.

According to Art, the objective of “Lets Do This

Hawaii” is to win and take:

24 House Seats

The Senate Judiciary Chair

The Governorship of Hawaii

If you are interested in learning more about

this group and what they are doing, and want to help

in some way, I recommend that you contact Myles

Kawakami who leads the effort for this organization on

Maui.

The second meeting I attended was the ”Leadership

Meeting with Duke Aiona” at Hawaiian Carpet One/

Ceramic Tile on January 16, 2014. This was a

meeting primarily of the lead backers and supporters

(from Maui) of former Lt. Governor Duke Aiona’s race

in 2010 against Neil Abercrombie for Governor.

Duke Aiona was present in person and spoke before

an enthusiastic group crowded into Myles’ Ceramic

Tile showroom. By the way, Myles cooked up one

mean batch of chili and rice for his guests, and if in

the future he decides not to sell carpet and tile I think

he may have a bright future as a Chef. In any event,

Duke stated that after much thought and deliberation

and with a nudge in this direction from his wife he

decided he was running for Governor again, although

he would not file the necessary paperwork until later.

He made it clear that this was not a casual decision

for he has grown quite comfortable with his more

relaxed life style outside of the political limelight with

the added bonus that his golf game has really

improved of late. However, his strong faith leads him

to believe that this challenge is the calling he must

answer at this time.

Duke touched upon a couple of observations

regarding the previous campaign and this new one he (Continued on page 5)

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 5

will engage in. He believes that last time around the

reason for the discrepancy between his campaign polling

showing a close race with Abercrombie and the actual

loss of nearly 17% was due to a failure to actually get out

his base vote. It’s easy to say that you support a

candidate, but if you do not vote, that support is

meaningless. He described his strategy to remedy that

past failure this time around. He also felt that the last time

he was running against a candidate who had no real

record to expose while he was painted with all of the

missteps (according to the opposition) of eight years of

the Lingle administration. This time around he faces a

Governor who has a less than stellar record, and is not

popular even among his own Party. Nevertheless, Duke

has no unrealistic expectation that Abercrombie will not

have the full support of his party, the unions, and other

allies.

He plans to more fully engage grassroots support, utilize

social media, register his base and get out their vote. He

has set a goal of raising $250,000 on Maui alone for his

campaign. When someone in the audience questioned

how he would deal with the opposition party inspired

media attacks on his faith; he replied that he would work

very hard to dispel such smears but he will not abandon

principles or his values (faith) in his campaign for the

Governorship.

If you are interested in learning more about Aiona’s

campaign, I again recommend that you contact Myles

Kawakami at myleskawakami@msn.com who can put

you in touch with Aiona’s campaign organization on Maui.

(Continued from page 4)

Submit your writing to TEA Party Maui’s newsletter, The Pono Press!

Calling all Citizen Journalists and Activists.

The Pono Press needs YOUR submissions:

Opinions on current local or national events written by YOU

Interesting facts and figures on important local and national issues

Your Letters to the Editor

Interesting tales of Maui’s history

Book and movie reviews

Recaps and observations of local meetings you have attended

Cartoons

Great quotes for our Wise Words sections

Info about upcoming meetings and events or other action items for the TPM community

Please ensure the submission relates to our core principles of Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government,

and Free Markets. If possible, please limit your submissions to about 750 words or less.

Email your submissions to ponopress@teapartymaui.com by Wednesday, March 26th for inclusion in the March/April

2014 issue.

Take a little time to contribute and help us keep the Pono Press interesting and informative, and see your work in print!

MAHALO from your Pono Press staff

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 6

The Maui County GMO Issue By Lee Aldridge The latest news is that the Maui County Council is considering some kind of government enforced GMO labeling or even an outright ban of GMO foods similar to, if not exactly the same as an ordinance passed by the Kauai County Council a short time ago. When you read the local news or the free left- leaning diatribes (MoveOn.org supports the ban on GMO foods) or food/recipe/cooking pamphlets at the various health food stores, you will be overwhelmed with negative press about the health and safety of GMO foods. At the same time, if you really are concerned about it, you will already find that almost all health food stores carry many products labeled as GMO-free. Why bring big brother government into the picture? TEA Party Maui members have their own diverse opinions about the GMO issue, so I think it is worthwhile to hear what one conservative voice has to say about it.

Grassroot Institute Testimony to Maui Council on GMOs

Maui Council: Please Protect Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers from Anti-GMO Hype Campaign

January 27, 2014 To: Maui Council PIA Committee RE: PIA 58 From: Keli’i Akina, Ph.D.President GRI Hawaii Aloha Council Committee Members, Fact – There is no conclusive scientific evidence that human beings have been harmed by the genetic modification of food crops. Moreover, anti-GMO activists have failed to produce even one peer-reviewed, scientifically accepted study demonstrating any health risk from GMOs. In spite of these facts, Hawaii agriculture is being forced through a gauntlet of wild-eyed accusations. Anti-GMO leaders have threatened farmers and, in Big Island papaya fields, it appears that some may have acted on those threats. Now these same activists are demanding that Maui County require farmers to submit reams of triplicative (Federal, State, County) pesticide paperwork on pain of thousands of dollars in daily fines levied against any who fall short. Maui County Council is being asked to pass a bill copied almost word-for-word from an ordinance enacted November 16, 2013 by veto override vote of the Kauai Council. The Kauai ordinance has already landed Kauai County in court. The legislature is now considering HB2506 and SB3058 to strip counties of any authority they may imagine they have over pesticide use and GMO crop production. A lengthy legal opinion drafted by the Kauai County Attorney and released October 31, 2013, outlines the flaws in their bill–yet in both the original and amended versions, the Maui Council is being

asked to follow the same ineffectual path towards triple-regulation of agriculture. Why? In a December 31, 2013 column, former Honolulu Advertiser reporter Joan Conrow describes a conversation with anti-GMO Kauai Councilmember Gary Hooser in which he gives the answer: “…the movement was orchestrated by mainland groups that funneled in money, expertise, activists, and infiltrators, playing Kauai as a pawn in a bigger battle. That’s why Gary told me it didn’t matter if the bill was never enforced — all that mattered was getting it passed.” This so-called protest movement is really a new kind of ad campaign. Instead of buying ad time on TV, ‘organic’ and ‘natural supplements’ industry leaders abuse the democratic process for their money-making scheme. They are paying local mis-leaders hundreds of thousands of dollars to generate protest hype as an advertising tool to herd consumers into overpriced ‘organic’ stores. The Star-Advertiser, January 13, 2014 reports Hawaii anti-GMO activists have received over $373,000 in Mainland funding. Forbes Magazine, October 2, 2013, points out tens of thousands of dollars of illegal mainland political contributions to anti-GMO leader Walter Ritte’s failed 2012 OHA campaign. The article is aptly titled: “Hawaii anti-GMO activists rely on Mainland Millionaires for ‘Grassroots’ campaign.” How much organic marketing hype is out there? The January 4, 2014 New York Times requires 5,500 words to tell the story of Hawaii County Councilman Greggor Ilagan as he struggles to investigate anti-GMO claims. One-by-one, every single claim is debunked. Does this ad campaign work? Anti-GMO State Senator Russell Ruderman of Puna, himself the owner of a so-called natural foods store, in a January 22, 2014 Civil Beat column admits: “Today, the biggest driver of organic food’s growth is the desire to avoid GMOs.” A New York Times article, March 8, 2013, explains: “A. C. Gallo, president of Whole Foods, said … ‘We’ve seen how our customers have responded to the products we do have labeled (GMO-free). Some of our manufacturers say they’ve seen a 15 percent increase in sales of products they have labeled.’” The Maui Council is being asked to suppress one of Hawaii’s few non-tourism growth industries. It is not the business of government to pick winners and make Hawaii agriculture into losers by participating in a marketing effort designed to benefit multi-billion dollar mainland corporations. Maui Councilmembers can reject misuse of the democratic process for advertising hype by voting “No” on any version of the Kauai bill. Reprinted with permission from Grassroot Institute http://new.grassrootinstitute.org/

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 7

By Joe Kent

I'm paying $1000 a month to live in a tiny studio on the

west side of Maui. This is comparable to rent in New York

City, except that gas and groceries are cheaper in New

York. Why is rent so expensive on Maui? I decided to find

out.

Ask anyone and they'll know the answer, "It's because of

greed. Landlords are just too greedy on Maui." But

landlords are greedy all over the world, and they have

been since the dawn of time. It must be something else.

In 2006, the County Council of Maui enacted the

"Workforce Housing Policy", which was supposed to

increase housing for residents, but did exactly the

opposite. The law says that anyone who wants to build

an apartment must make 50% of it affordable housing.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

But not if you are a developer. 50% is -- half your

property! Under the new 50% rule, it's unprofitable for

developers to build any apartments at all -- especially if

half their renters qualify as affordable. So developers just

decide not to build any apartments at all.

A real estate expert on Maui said, "It's a classic case of a

well intended law meeting the law of unintended

consequences. I've been told by developers that between

the red tape, inconsistencies with the permitting process,

and the 'affordable housing' requirements many of the

developers have elected to build elsewhere."

David Cailles, a law professor at UH Manoa said, "It

makes more financial sense for a landowner to build

relatively expensive condominium apartments for sale

than apartments for rent . . . only the most expensive

projects could afford such high percentages of workforce

housing." In other words, it's cheaper to just build hotels

and golf courses.

Another reason that apartments on

Maui are so expensive are zoning laws.

Apartments can only be built in

apartment zones. It could take more

than 10 years just to get approval for an

apartment building on Maui -- and after

all that waiting, it might not be approved!

No wonder there aren't any places to rent on Maui!

The solution? Get rid of the zoning requirements, and

especially the 50% "Workforce Housing Policy". This

would do wonders for lowering rents across Maui.

Without all those restrictions, developers might find it

profitable to build enough apartments to compete again.

Rents would fall, and the local people might actually have

a place to live again. Let's not forget that the apartment

complex that I live in, Sunset Terrace, houses 288 rentals

on just a tiny 6 acres of land. For another 6 acres, that

could be doubled, and rent would fall. This would only

take up .00001% of Maui.

To summarize: Rent is expensive on Maui because there

aren't enough apartments. There aren't enough

apartments because of all the regulations and red tape,

like the "Workforce Housing Policy", and zoning laws,

which can take 10 years to approve.

One landlord replied, "I would also add that due to the

high prices of mortgages, property taxes, condo

association fees, repairs, upgrades and utilities, we as

landlords have no choice but to rent out our properties as

vacation rentals. Either that or go broke. I would like

nothing better than to rent to one party for a long term

rental. Unfortunately, market forces will not allow that to

happen. It leaves the Maui residents in a lousy

predicament. ~An ethical and honest landlord."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Schatz isn’t paid to fight against the Tea Party

Submitted by Lisa Gapero to the Maui News

Senator Brian Schatz is advertising on TV for the

upcoming 2014 elections. He states that he is working

hard in D.C. on renewable and alternative energy.

That’s fine, but he goes on to state that he is fighting the

Tea Party. I’m a bit shocked. I didn’t know that was what

we paid him for. As a founding member of the Maui Tea

Party, I was taken back by this. Is he opposed to fiscal

responsibility, limited government, or freedom of speak

and thought? Hey, I bet he wants higher taxes. We do

not want higher taxes to pay for failing government and

over-reaching programs. Our government is wasting

loads of our tax money.

I want to invite Schatz and everyone else to a Tea Party

event or monthly meeting. All are welcome. We are your

neighbors, co-workers, and longtime taxpayers. We are

Americans who don’t agree with the direction we see our

country going.

Personally, I have paid taxes for more than four decades

and have lost faith in this big government direction we

are going in. Limiting government intrusion in our lives is

healthy. History tells us this. It creates innovation and

free markets, which are part of the American dream. I’d

like the next generations to enjoy what we have taken for

granted.

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 8

By Valerie Sisneros

I LOVED this book! I am a huge fan of James O’Keefe. He was brought into the spotlight when he presented Andrew Breitbart with his sting videos of the ACORN employees advising him on how to get taxpayer funding for his new business: Teenage Prostitution. Since then, he has amassed and released a collection of videos confirming the corruption and fraud at Planned Parenthood, NPR, Medicaid, the labor unions, The New Jersey Educational Association, and multiple instances of voter fraud, to name just a few. One of the most well-known videos is the sting where James hopes to prove to our esteemed U.S. Attorney General, that voter fraud does exist, despite Holder’s proclamation that this is a myth. Without showing voter ID, one of O’Keefe’s associates is offered Eric Holder’s ballot with very little prompting. This kid is so dedicated to getting out the truth and making a difference. He calls his organization Project Veritas, which is Latin for TRUTH. So far, he has enlisted about 25 other young videographers and citizen journalists, willing to pose as whatever character is needed to shed the light on as many of these corrupt enterprises as possible. Because of their dedication to the cause and fearless determination, in just 2013 some of the Project Veritas accomplishments have been: 4 Obamacare Navigators fired or suspended: 1-- Organizing for America and Enroll America directors to resign 1-- Congressional hearing exposing Obamacare Navigator fraud 1-- National retraining of all Obamacare Navigators 3-- Obamaphone employees fired and FCC warnings to Obamaphone carriers, demanding income verification Removal of the Journal News’ Gun-Owner Map and the firing of 17 of their employees. The Voter ID law in North Carolina being signed into law Congress has blocked funding for ACORN 13 times, to date This is just a sampling of the impact that this young patriot has made in a short time. He is regularly and viciously attacked by the media that fails to do the job of reporting on these crimes, and he is constantly under scrutiny by the powers that be. He was arrested and held, and then restricted from traveling outside of Louisiana for 3 years. This happened while working on a sting video that went awry. This project was an attempt to prove that Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu was purposely blocking access to Tea Party members who were trying to call her in opposition to Obamacare. The details of this fiasco are an entertaining read, as is the entire book. One of my favorite parts was when he had two young men pose as rich Muslim Brotherhood men who were expressing interest in giving $5 million to NPR, to offset the threat of Republican defunding and to keep NPR on air, since “the Jews control the rest of the media”. The NPR execs were anxious to take the bait since, in their opinion, the (R) party has been hi-jacked by the “radical, racist, Islamophobic, Tea Party people”. The day after the release of this video, the NPR CEO was forced out of her job. My favorite quote from the book was “People think you need talent to do what we do. No, what you really need is the will to act and the resolve to follow through. Willpower and courage--these are the most important qualities…” I do not want to give too much info about this book, JUST READ IT! It will make you mad, make you smile, and probably want to do all you can to cheer on these brave, young citizen journalists. I am always happy to see my belief once again validated, that one person CAN make a difference. Even if you do not have time to read the book, please check out O’Keefe’s website at ProjectVeritas.com to see what he is up to next. You can sign up for updates and yes, he will be asking for funds to finance his projects. But, in my opinion, this is one cause that is not only important, but fun to support. Go get ‘em James!!

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 9

By Jeff LaFrance

I thought Uncle Neil took an oath of

office? After watching the news the

other night hearing Uncle Neil Aber-

crombie say Hawaii had, I believe he

said; we had an $18 Billion with a B,

surplus, my jaw hit the floor. I could

not believe what I was hearing. So I

decided to do a little fact checking by

going to usdebtclock.org, clicked on

Hawaii, and my lying eyes saw that

we were $13.833 Billion with a B, in

the hole. I gave his little

speech four Pinocchios. Soon after

that, I watched the State of the Union

address, so he did not get the Pinoc-

chio prize of the month award, but

give me a break! Does this man

have no shame? The real figures

show that each and every person in

Hawaii owes $9,960.00 in public

debt. That means every man, wom-

an, and child, all 1,390,706 of us,

better get a second job. No, that

won't work either.

I thought this guy took an Oath of

Office? Did he have his little fingers

crossed behind his back when he

took that Oath? When elected offi-

cials take an Oath of Office, they do

solemnly swear, to not only uphold

the laws, but to be honest with We

the People. It is an unspoken public

trust, is it not? When our elected

officials’ message is to, bend, break,

or in King Barry's case, distort, ig-

nore or rewrite the Constitution with

his pen and phone, there should be

consequences for violating the public

trust, and of course answer to any

inconvenient laws that just happen to

be trampled on.

Actually, there are laws on the books

that can be used to hold liars,

rogues, and politicians to account,

they are called USC, US Criminal

codes, see USC 8-18. Some of

these laws pertain to committing

fraudulent acts, like telling a really

big fib, or conspiring to tell a really

big fib. When liars, rogues, and poli-

ticians are allowed to tell really big

fibs, it must mean, you are OK with

that. And since 2008, the master of

really big fibs has been busy at work

in the District of Corruption teaching

classes on the subject of flexible

truth telling. Stretch Armstrong would

be so proud.

I think it is time we send a message

to our elected class of citizens, that

we are not going to tolerate this. If

we don't, they win! They get to

change the rules any time it suites

them, and this is simply not accepta-

ble. We deserve better, we pay for

better, and it is damn time that we

get the service we are paying for.

I think it is time we hold our elected

class of critters to a higher sub-

standard. I think it is time we hold

them accountable for their actions,

including criminal charges. I think it

is time we hold Citizen Grand Juries,

and press charges. Look it up, a Cit-

izen Grand Jury is a right of We the

People to indict liars, rogues, and

politicians! It will take some time, it

will take some insistence that prose-

cutors do their job, or we must fire

them too. The District Attorney is an

elected official that can be im-

peached for not doing their job, or

ignoring violations of the law when

they see fit.

The time has come for real hope and

change, and I mean the real kind. I

think it is time we take back our

country from the hucksters that have

hijacked it. The last time I looked,

Communism was against the law.

We are in a very perilous time in our

history, we will be the generation that

either saved or lost our Republic! I

want history to tell the happy ending

we all deserve. So what say you? I

think it is time the good old boy sys-

tem in Hawaii needs to end. The last

time I looked, We the People out-

numbered our political class, so do

something! It is time to lead, follow,

or get out of the way.

www.jefflafrance.com

President of: www.alohanatural.net,

Co-producer of Future Knowledge radio

show

Producer of "What the Heck is Going

On?" television program

Candidate for Hawaii Senate/District 3 in

2012

NATIONAL ISSUES

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 10

By Jim Wagoner

Milwaukee city officials are working together to block high-performing private and charter schools from buy-ing vacant, unused schools buildings that the city owns. Their stubborn-ness is costly to taxpayers and even more costly for the city's children. Milwaukee's public schools are in crisis. Statewide, it is Wisconsin's "only" failing school district. Just 16% of their fourth-graders are profi-cient in reading and only 4% of black eighth-graders can do math at an acceptable level, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Sadly, only 62% of high-school students graduate in four years. One alternative for parents is school choice. More than 25,000 children in Milwaukee take advantage of state government-provided scholarships of $6,442 to select a school that best meets their individual needs. In the-ory, this would allow the high-performing schools to prosper and the failing school to close. The pro-gram is gaining popularity, and last year it was expanded to include an-other 500 students. Teacher’s un-ions, state bureaucrats and the far left have campaigned vigorously for years to shut down the school-choice program and preserve the public-school monopoly. These attempts have failed. Now they are trying to block schools in the choice program from expanding. In 1998, there were 98,185 students enrolled in Milwaukee's public schools. Today there are roughly 71,304 students enrolled. The re-sults: According to records, the city currently owns at least 15 unused buildings, which cost taxpayers more than $1.4 million each year to main-tain. These buildings do not have to

sit idle. A recent release by the Wis-consin Institute for Law & Liberty concludes that, based on school dis-trict records and interviews, private and public charter schools have in-quired about purchasing or leasing every one of them. Instead, Milwau-kee, in an arbitrary administrative policy, prohibits private schools in the choice program and for-profit public schools from purchasing or leasing empty school buildings. The few buildings that have been sold have a restrictive deed on the building to prevent the buyer from ever selling them to a choice-school. The monopoly mind-set behind this policy was eloquently expressed by Milwaukee Public School Board pres-ident, Michael Bonds. When asked by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about a proposal to compel Milwau-kee Public Schools to sell their un-used buildings to choice schools, he proclaimed that it would be "like ask-ing the Coca-Cola Company to turn over its facilities to Pepsi so that Pepsi can expand and compete with the Coca-Cola Company”. St. Marcus, a private Lutheran school in the choice program, has cracked

the code for urban-education suc-cess. Even though 90% of its 730 students are from low-income fami-lies, more than 91% graduate from high school in four years or less. Last summer St. Marcus offered more than $1 million to purchase an

abandoned school building conven-iently located on the same block as its main campus. St Marcus would also invest more than $5 million into the neighborhood, hire hundreds, and more importantly provide 600 new children with a top-quality edu-cation. Milwaukee's deputy commis-sioner of the Department of City De-velopment sent an email to St. Mar-cus stating “Choice schools are not eligible to purchase vacant MPS property”. Education is the great driver of up-ward social mobility, and school choice gives children the freedom to leave failing schools. No one should be sentenced to a life of poverty simply because he or she was born in a ZIP Code that is full of bad schools. Shame on the Milwaukee teachers, unions, and elected offi-cials. They have completely aban-doned their charge.

“Education is the great “Education is the great

driver of upward social driver of upward social

mobility, and school choice mobility, and school choice

gives children the freedom gives children the freedom

to leave failing schools.” to leave failing schools.”

"Any man who thinks he

can be happy and

prosperous by letting the

American Government

take care of him better

take a closer look at the

American Indian."

-Henry Ford

WISE

WORDS

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 11

By Patric Brock

In 1848, gold was discovered at

Sutter’s Mill, in the mountains above

Sacramento, California. By 1849,

Americans were flocking to mine gold

in California, in transcontinental horse

drawn wagons and wooden ships

sailing around Cape Corn of South

America. In 1850, two years later,

California was admitted to the U.S.

union as the 31st state. In 1852,

Wells Fargo established regular

transportation of supplies to

California, and gold back to the east

coast by horse drawn vehicles. In

1861, the transcontinental telegraph

was completed from Saint Louis to

San Francisco, keeping California in

light speed communication with the

rest of the nation. In 1869, the last

spike holding down a railway from the

east to the west coasts of North

America, the greatest infrastructure

ever at the time, built by a

collaboration of Asians from China

and Europeans from the east coast of

America, was driven at Promontory

Point, Utah. In just twenty years,

California had come from being a

remote unknown locale, to the

primary powerhouse of global wealth

creation.

The talented and ambitious people

that aggregated in California were not

done, despite the diminution of gold.

In the 1920s and 1930s, California

again challenged weathered

paradigms by taking Thomas Edison’s

motion pictures and making them into

a worldwide industry that is still

flowering today. Again, in the late

20th century, California catalyzed

computer technology by way of

Silicon Valley innovators, to help

create the online reality we live today.

Was all this about the gold? Yes, but

no, it was about the perception of

unlimited possibility.

By comparison, the United States, the

most dynamic generator of wealth

and health that has ever existed, has

only recovered 2% from a 9% high

unemployment rate within the last 7

years. The period when its people

were told they needed pay to

preserve failing economic and

industrial paradigms.

Do we need to find more gold? Not

necessarily, we need to find more

opportunities. History has repeatedly

shown that when societal restrictions

were slight, people have excelled and

changed the world for the better.

Pono Press, January-February 2014, Page 12

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TEA Party Maui

TEA Party Maui is an

active grassroots

organization based on the

island of Maui, Hawaii.

Our mission is to attract,

educate, organize, and

mobilize our fellow citizens

to secure public policy

consistent with our three

core values: Fiscal

Responsibility,

Constitutionally Limited

Government, and Free

Markets.

Upcoming TEA Party Events February Monthly General Meeting: Thursday, February 13th at 6:30 pm at Kala

ma Heights Garden Room. Located at 101 Kanani Road in Kihei. Chamber of Com-

merce President Pamela Tumpap will join us to talk about the activities of the

chamber to encourage free-market enterprise on Maui.

March Monthly General Meeting: Thursday, March 13th at 6:30 pm at Kalama

Heights Garden Room. Hawaii Free Press editor Andrew Walden will join us to

share his ideas for Conservative activism in Hawaii and talk

about mainstream media bias.

Freedom Friday will be February 28th. Location TBA

More events will be coming for 2014! Please check out the

website www.teapartymaui.com to get involved or call us at (808) 214-2859

Community Meetings We encourage you to stay on the pulse of the issues by attending Community

Meetings listed on the Maui County website: www.co.maui.hi.us

For information on contacting your Congressmen and Congresswomen; order your

U.S. Congressional Directory from www.c-span.org

Another way to be informed about upcoming legislation and to follow proposed bills

through the process is to go to the Hawai'i Public Access Room through the follow-

ing link: http://hawaii.gov/lrb/par/

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News and Contributing Writers: Dr. Kelii Akina, Jim Wagoner, Joe Kent, Lee Aldridge, Valerie Sisne-ros, Patric Brock, Jeff LaFrance, Lisa Gapero

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writers and do not necessarily express the opinions of the TEA Party Maui. Although

every effort is made to publish only researched information, we cannot certify accuracy

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The TEA Party Maui is organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State

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help bring to light newsworthy items of local and national interest which relate to

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