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    From Differing Personalities to Appreciating Our Bodies

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    “Suzanne Gelb Image”

    ”Personalities – How Do Behaviors Develop?”

    Dear Dr. Gelb:

    I am a college student majoring in psychology. I am studying Carl Jung, the psychiatrist, and he explains why people behave like they do, noting two kinds of personality structures, introversion and extroversion, and that each person has a mixture of both components. Do you agree?

    Learning

    A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

    Dear Learning:

    From my studies, I have learned that in terms of our natural personality structure, we are born either predominantly (51 percent) extrovert (flamboyant, outgoing) or introvert (a little quieter, less apt to be the life of the party, a little more reluctant/reserved). Unless that is interfered with by trauma, I believe it can serve one well. Really the only difference is 49-51 percent, one way or the other. In other words in a natural sense there is a blend of both components, with one slightly more dominant than the other.

    ”Bodies – Why do we Take Them for Granted?”

    Dear Dr. Gelb:

    I recently sprained my wrist and my hand was pretty much out of commission for several days. I did not realize how much I had taken the use of my hand and my body in general, for granted. Why do we not appreciate our bodies and how much we rely on them, until there’s an accident or something like that?

    Appreciative

    A: Dr. Gelb says . . .

    Dear Appreciative:

    You are fortunate to have become accustomed to paying attention to your body parts, and yes, it is not uncommon for many of us to take our agility somewhat for granted and to not appreciate our bodies. However, my concern and empathy is for those people who have guilt and shame and have become inhibited as a result of rejecting most of their body parts, even their hands. The more I learn, the more I am becoming convinced that childhood conditioning can play a part in many physical and emotional problems. Some people even believe that arthritis of the hands can somehow be connected to touching ourselves “down there,” and the lifetime of self-imposed punishment that follows it. Guilt can be so destructive.

    Answers to questions in today’s column can be supplemented with excerpts from “Yesterday’s Children” (p. 20) written by psychologists Marti Barham, R.N., Ph.D. and Tom Greene, Ph.D. For more information visit my Web site at https://www.DrGelbSays.com

    ”’Suzanne J. Gelb, Ph.D., J.D. authors this daily column, Dr. Gelb Says, which answers questions about daily living and behavior issues. Dr. Gelb is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Honolulu. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Human Services. Dr. Gelb is also a published author of a book on Overcoming Addictions and a book on Relationships.”’

    ”’This column is intended for entertainment use only and is not intended for the purpose of psychological diagnosis, treatment or personalized advice. For more about the column’s purpose, see”’ “An Online Intro to Dr. Gelb Says”

    ”’Email your questions to mailto:DrGelbSays@hawaiireporter.com More information on Dr. Gelb’s services and related resources available at”’ https://www.DrGelbSays.com

    Legislative Hearing Notices – March 13, 2003

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    The following hearing notices, which are subject to change, were sorted and taken from the Hawaii State Capitol Web site. Please check that site for updates and/or changes to the schedule at

    “Hawaii State Legislature Sidebar”

    Go there and click on the Hearing Date to view the Hearing Notice.

    Hearings notices for both House and Senate measures in all committees:

    Hearing

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB837 SD1 RELATING TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. EDB

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB855 SD1 RELATING TO ENERGY. EDB

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB1281 SD1 RELATING TO THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. EDB

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB1421 SD1 RELATING TO EARNED INCOME DEDUCTION FOR PUBLIC HOUSING RENT CALCULATION. EDB

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB1425 SD2 RELATING TO BUSINESS MENTORING OF YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS. EDB

    3/13/03 8:30 AM SB1286 SD1 RELATING TO THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF HAWAII. EDB/HSH

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB658 SD1 RELATING TO EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES FOR SEX ASSAULT SURVIVORS IN EMERGENCY ROOMS. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB683 SD2 RELATING TO DIABETES EDUCATION. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB695 SD2 RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB783 SD1 RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEE’S RETIREMENT SYSTEM FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1238 SD2 RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1321 RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1360 SD1 RELATING TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1675 RELATING TO HEALTH. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1676 RELATING TO HEALTH. HLT

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1427 RELATING TO RELAY SERVICES FOR DEAF, HARD-OF-HEARING, AND SPEECH-IMPAIRED PERSONS. HLT/HSH

    3/13/03 8:45 AM SB1492 SD1 RELATING TO ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES. HLT/HSH

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB29 SD1 RELATING TO SPECIAL WASTES RECYCLING. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB319 SD2 RELATING TO COUNTIES. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB492 AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN STATE FACILITIES. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB506 RELATING TO GEOTHERMAL ROYALTIES. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB713 RELATING TO CLOSURE OF MUNICIPAL FACILITIES. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB1290 SD1 RELATING TO PRODUCT PROCUREMENT PREFERENCES BY STATE AGENCIES. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB1517 SD2 RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM SB1593 SD1 RELATING TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. EEP

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB295 HD1 RELATING TO THE PUBLIC LAND TRUST. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB564 RELATING TO PROMOTION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB652 RELATING TO STATUTORY REVISION: AMENDING, REENACTING, OR REPEALING VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES AND THE SESSION LAWS OF HAWAII FOR THE PURPOSE OF CORRECTING ERRORS AND REFERENCES, CLARIFYING LANGUAGE, AND DELETING OBSOLETE OR UNNECESSARY PROVISIONS. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB851 HD1 RELATING TO TAXATION APPEALS. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB991 RELATING TO FIREARMS. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB997 HD1 RELATING TO LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1003 HD1 RELATING TO CRIME VICTIM COMPENSATION. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1029 HD1 RELATING TO PERMIT APPROVALS. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1111 HD2 MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE, ITS OFFICERS, OR ITS EMPLOYEES. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1154 HD1 RELATING TO UNCLAIMED PROPERTY. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1302 RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. JHW

    3/13/03 9:00 AM HB1303 RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS. JHW

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 9:15 AM HCR54 URGING THE STATE AND COUNTIES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM IN HAWAII. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM HR57 URGING THE STATE AND COUNTIES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM IN HAWAII. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB344 SD2 RELATING TO PUBLIC SHELTERS. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB630 SD1 RELATING TO DISPOSITION OF CONVICTED DEFENDANTS. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB996 SD1 RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB1050 SD2 RELATING TO VETERANS RIGHTS AND BENEFITS. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB1138 SD1 RELATING TO INTERMEDIATE SANCTIONS. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB1138 SD1 RELATING TO INTERMEDIATE SANCTIONS. PSM

    3/13/03 9:15 AM SB1479 SD1 MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR VETERANS CEMETERIES. PSM

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 11:00 AM SB857 SD2 RELATING TO ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES. EEP/WLH

    3/13/03 11:00 AM SB843 SD1 RELATING TO CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC LIFE, WILDLIFE, AND LAND PLANTS. WLH/EEP

    3/13/03 11:00 AM SB1080 SD1 RELATING TO PENALTIES. WLH/EEP

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 1:15 PM None Informational Briefing ECD/SAT

    3/13/03 1:15 PM HB1470 HD1 RELATING TO TIME SHARING. TSM

    3/13/03 1:15 PM None Informational Briefing TSM

    3/13/03 1:15 PM SCR24 REQUESTING HAWAII’S HOTELS TO PROVIDE FACILITIES FOR EMAIL AND INTERNET ACCESS FOR THEIR GUESTS. TSM

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB299 SD1 RELATING TO STANDARDS OF CONDUCT. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB459 SD1 RELATING TO CAMPAIGN SPENDING. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB611 SD1 RELATING TO COURT APPOINTED COUNSEL. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB616 RELATING TO HATE CRIMES. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB617 RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB635 SD2 RELATING TO TRAFFIC FINES. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB637 RELATING TO MISSING CHILDREN. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB685 RELATING TO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS PLACED IN POLL BOOKS. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB933 SD1 RELATING TO STALKING. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB934 SD1 RELATING TO TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB935 RELATING TO ORDERS FOR PROTECTION. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB1139 SD1 RELATING TO FAMILY COURT. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB1274 SD1 RELATING TO MANSLAUGHTER. JUD

    3/13/03 2:00 PM SB1275 RELATING TO ASSAULT AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. JUD

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB62 SD1 RELATING TO THE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB343 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB576 RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB748 SD2 RELATING TO NURSING EDUCATION. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB1410 SD1 RELATING TO CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AND PROVIDING APPROPRIATIONS THEREFOR. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB1411 SD1 RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII RISK MANAGEMENT SPECIAL FUND. HED

    3/13/03 2:30 PM SB1514 SD1 RELATING TO FORFEITURES. JUD

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB377 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB378 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB379 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB380 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB381 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB382 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB383 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    3/13/03 2:45 PM HB384 HD1 RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES. HTH

    ”Date Time Bill Number Measure Title Committee”

    3/13/03 3:15 PM None Informational Briefing SAT

    ”’To reach legislators, see:”’ “Representatives at a Glance” and “Senators at a Glance”

    Political Tittle-tattle: News and Entertainment from Hawaii's Political Arena

    0

    “Malia Lt Blue top Image”

    ”Lingle Administration Celebrates 100 Days in Office”

    Gov. Linda Lingle, the first woman ever to be elected as governor in Hawaii, and the first Republican to be elected in Hawaii in 40 years, celebrates her 100th day in office today, March 12. Her 100th day in office coincides with the halfway mark of the 2003 State Legislature — or the 30th day of the 60-day legislative session.

    She already has kept several of her campaign promises, including those she made to the Hawaiian people. Lingle, as pledged, resumed the regular payments to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs derived from the use of ceded lands — payments former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano suspended two years ago. She also continues her fight to gain federal recognition for the Hawaiian people, even traveling to Washington D.C. to lobby the U.S. Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush.

    Lingle is making good on her promise to market Hawaii overseas and help improve the unfriendly business climate. While on her whirlwind tour two weeks ago in Washington D.C. and New York City, Lingle met with Bush administrators, taking along with her coffee from Hawaii. In an ingenious move, she asked Bush to serve Hawaiian-grown coffee in the White House from now on, rather than Brazilian coffee. Hawaiian coffee is the only commercial coffee grown in the United States. She also met with national media to promote Hawaii’s new business-friendly attitude, U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft about homeland security, and with former New York Mayor Rudy Gulliuani.

    The U.S. Congress was not the only place Lingle testified in support of legislation she endorses. She already personally testified before the Hawaii state Legislature on numerous occasions, unlike Cayetano who rarely even lobbied, much less testified, before legislators in support of his administrative bills. Lingle continues to push her agenda for “A New Beginning” by lobbying legislators to pass her bills that address her main platform: to restore the faith of Hawaii’s people in government; to spur economic revitalization through the creation of a good business climate and economic diversification; and to reform the public education system through decentralization.

    She also assembled a good team of administrators — people she recruited from the community, not selected by their party affiliation, but rather by their qualifications. Most of the new Lingle administrators were unknown in the political arena until Lingle made her appointments, leading some Democrat legislators, who are used to many of the same people being appointed and re-appointed to the prior Democrat administrations, to grumble about the fact that they’d never heard of these people. All of her administrators have a background in business, and an understanding of the needs of the business community, which is a drastic change from the Cayetano appointees, who not only had no knowledge of how business operates, they were also downright hostile to business, taking a small business vs. government/labor attitude.

    Lingle kept another promise she made during her campaign — last week
    she renamed the H-3 tunnel after Tetsuo Harano. The tunnel was originally named after Harano, but Cayetano, in a highly controversial move, changed the name of the tunnel to honor former Gov. John Burns. In a ceremony at Washington Place last week, Burn’s daughter came forward to thank Lingle for her action, saying her father, now deceased, would have been ashamed to have a landmark named after him in such a manner.

    As she did with the H-3 ceremony, and many other events to date, Lingle makes Washington Place and her new residence accessible to the people of Hawaii by holding numerous functions and hosting many community volunteers.

    As she proposed during her first few days in office, Lingle also organized a transportation summit, bringing together federal, state and county leaders in an effort to find workable transportation solutions. She has also continued to visit schools, government sites, elderly care facilities and environmental areas, proposing new solutions and alternatives to old problems.

    Her two biggest challenges so far, besides selecting her cabinet members from thousands of applicants, are dealing with a tremendous budget shortfall of at least $180 million and learning to handle the partisan bickering and political games being played by the Democrats at the Legislature.

    For example, House majority Democrats last week refused to approve the governor’s emergency appropriation of $1 million, which would have fully restored her $3.4 million budget to operate her office. The $3.4 million was cut by $993,000 by the Legislature in 2002 to balance the budget in FY 2003. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lingle’s Chief of Staff Bob Awana learned just three days before the transition from Cayetano to Lingle, that not only had the $993,000 been cut, but the Cayetano administration had spent all but $400,000 of the remaining monies. Lingle, at this time, has just enough money appropriated to fund her office until the end of March, but she needs the emergency appropriation to make it until the end of June 2003, when the fiscal year is completed.

    The Senate has agreed to restore the nearly $500,000 in cuts to the governor’s emergency request, but the appropriation still has to go into final negotiations between the House and Senate because both Houses do not agree on the amount in the bill, meaning the governor will likely have to go without the funds she needs for two months, until the end of the session in early May. Awana said in an earlier interview with HawaiiReporter.com that he is unsure where the money will come from to pay the staff in the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s office from now until June.

    Holding the governor’s budget hostage is not the only political game being played by the House majority. The House Democrats also killed many of the governor’s bills relating to reforming the education system as well as campaign and election reform. The governor, however, is maintaining a good attitude and says she will not to give up on her agenda, but will remain committed to pushing the bills through in the 2003 and 2004 Legislative sessions.

    Though the House Democrats continue to undermine the governor’s progress, Lingle demonstrated she is above petty partisanship and politicking by immediate action with the signing of her first bill, which authorized $20.8 million to fund the operations of the state Legislature and attached agencies. Those wise to the political deals cut at the Legislature told Lingle she should hold the legislative budget hostage until both Houses approved her budget, but still naive in many ways to the extent her enemies will go to stop her progress, she refused to do so and is now suffering the consequences.

    Lingle is fortunate to have boundless energy, a pleasant demeanor, a good attitude, determination and professionalism, which has helped her overcome barriers put before her in her first 100 days by those, for political reasons, who do not want her to succeed. In her next three and a half years in office, Lingle will inevitably continue to be attacked and undermined by those who want to ensure she does not get a second 4-year term and that more Republicans do not gain seats in the House and Senate in the 2004 election. The question will be whether the public will stand for that kind of bickering and partisanship, or if they will be displeased enough with the Democrats, particularly those in the House who blocked Lingle’s agenda for “A New Beginning,” to vote them out of office.

    ”Governor’s Home Still Bare”

    Former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano and his wife Vicky, to their credit, raised private funds to build a new governor’s residence, so that Washington Place, the former home of Queen Liliuokalani, could be open and more accessible to the people of Hawaii.

    Gov. Linda Lingle, who at first wanted to remain in her own small apartment, finally agreed to move into the governor’s home, but was then faced with the reality that it was left completely unfurnished, and no money was allocated to furnish the home for her or future governors.

    The first action Lingle took was to purchase a bed for herself and three additional beds for the guestrooms, all which were without beds or any furniture. She also bought three folding tables that she uses in the dining area to eat on. She also adopted a badly stained couch from the governor’s office for her livingroom.

    The money she requested from the Legislature to buy curtains for the uncovered windows, rugs for the wooden floors, and some modest furnishings for the rest of the home, was denied by the House last week in a strictly partisan vote.

    House Democrats told Lingle through their floor debates that she should go back and live in Washington Place, raise the money privately to furnish the home, or go without furniture.

    Lingle has been looking at the possibility of raising the money privately, which may prove difficult in tough economic times when Hawaii and the rest of the nation are facing the possibility of war in Iraq and even more tenuous financial times ahead.

    ”Democrats Still Shunning Governor’s Education Plan, Will Hear Democrat Education Bill Today that Education Activists Call ‘Abominable’ and ‘Bureaucratic’ ”

    Today at 1:15 p.m. in Room 212 at the state Capitol, the Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 289, HD2, which requires the Superintendent to organize the centralized Department of Education into complex areas and establish complex area schools councils requiring them to act on various duties.

    This plan, advocated by the Democrats, only will create more bureaucracy in Hawaii’s poorly managed, top-down public education system. Gov. Linda Lingle is opposed to this plan, and instead is pushing her original plan to decentralize the school system through the creation of locally elected school boards.

    Those opposing the Democrats’ education plan should telephone Sen. Norman Sakamoto, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, at 586-8585, or email him at mailto:sensakamoto@capitol.hawaii.gov to tell him not to support the establishment of complex advisory councils. Those opposed also can submit testimony to the Senate Education Committee to oppose this measure, and instead to support HB 1082, legislation that proposed a constitutional amendment to eliminate the state board of education and create local school boards

    Persons wishing to testify should submit 30 copies of their testimony to the committee clerk, Room 213, State Capitol during regular business hours, or outside the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Office, Room 015, State Capitol for all other times. Testimony may also be faxed if less than 5 pages in length, to the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (toll free for neighbor islands). When faxing, please indicate to whom the testimony is being submitted, the date and time of the hearing, and the required number of copies needed for submittal.

    ”Democrats in the House Make ‘Get Out the Vote’ Strategy a Criminal Offense, Change Electioneering, Campaign Fundraising Rules to Their Benefit”

    Nationally, Democrats push their get out the vote platform, which includes everything from getting homeless to vote by promising them food or cigarettes (documented in the Wall Street Journal) to picking up the elderly and disabled to take them to the polls, to aggressively signing people up to vote by absentee ballot. And their strategy, in many cases in the mainland and Hawaii, has worked extremely well and has helped the Democrats bring in more victories.

    Going into the 2002 election, Bob Awana, the campaign manager for then Republican candidate for governor Linda Lingle and a self-declared Democrat, decided to learn from the Democrats’ success and

    Political Tittle-tattle: News and Entertainment from Hawaii’s Political Arena

    0

    “Malia Lt Blue top Image”

    ”Lingle Administration Celebrates 100 Days in Office”

    Gov. Linda Lingle, the first woman ever to be elected as governor in Hawaii, and the first Republican to be elected in Hawaii in 40 years, celebrates her 100th day in office today, March 12. Her 100th day in office coincides with the halfway mark of the 2003 State Legislature — or the 30th day of the 60-day legislative session.

    She already has kept several of her campaign promises, including those she made to the Hawaiian people. Lingle, as pledged, resumed the regular payments to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs derived from the use of ceded lands — payments former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano suspended two years ago. She also continues her fight to gain federal recognition for the Hawaiian people, even traveling to Washington D.C. to lobby the U.S. Congress and the administration of President George W. Bush.

    Lingle is making good on her promise to market Hawaii overseas and help improve the unfriendly business climate. While on her whirlwind tour two weeks ago in Washington D.C. and New York City, Lingle met with Bush administrators, taking along with her coffee from Hawaii. In an ingenious move, she asked Bush to serve Hawaiian-grown coffee in the White House from now on, rather than Brazilian coffee. Hawaiian coffee is the only commercial coffee grown in the United States. She also met with national media to promote Hawaii’s new business-friendly attitude, U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft about homeland security, and with former New York Mayor Rudy Gulliuani.

    The U.S. Congress was not the only place Lingle testified in support of legislation she endorses. She already personally testified before the Hawaii state Legislature on numerous occasions, unlike Cayetano who rarely even lobbied, much less testified, before legislators in support of his administrative bills. Lingle continues to push her agenda for “A New Beginning” by lobbying legislators to pass her bills that address her main platform: to restore the faith of Hawaii’s people in government; to spur economic revitalization through the creation of a good business climate and economic diversification; and to reform the public education system through decentralization.

    She also assembled a good team of administrators — people she recruited from the community, not selected by their party affiliation, but rather by their qualifications. Most of the new Lingle administrators were unknown in the political arena until Lingle made her appointments, leading some Democrat legislators, who are used to many of the same people being appointed and re-appointed to the prior Democrat administrations, to grumble about the fact that they’d never heard of these people. All of her administrators have a background in business, and an understanding of the needs of the business community, which is a drastic change from the Cayetano appointees, who not only had no knowledge of how business operates, they were also downright hostile to business, taking a small business vs. government/labor attitude.

    Lingle kept another promise she made during her campaign — last week
    she renamed the H-3 tunnel after Tetsuo Harano. The tunnel was originally named after Harano, but Cayetano, in a highly controversial move, changed the name of the tunnel to honor former Gov. John Burns. In a ceremony at Washington Place last week, Burn’s daughter came forward to thank Lingle for her action, saying her father, now deceased, would have been ashamed to have a landmark named after him in such a manner.

    As she did with the H-3 ceremony, and many other events to date, Lingle makes Washington Place and her new residence accessible to the people of Hawaii by holding numerous functions and hosting many community volunteers.

    As she proposed during her first few days in office, Lingle also organized a transportation summit, bringing together federal, state and county leaders in an effort to find workable transportation solutions. She has also continued to visit schools, government sites, elderly care facilities and environmental areas, proposing new solutions and alternatives to old problems.

    Her two biggest challenges so far, besides selecting her cabinet members from thousands of applicants, are dealing with a tremendous budget shortfall of at least $180 million and learning to handle the partisan bickering and political games being played by the Democrats at the Legislature.

    For example, House majority Democrats last week refused to approve the governor’s emergency appropriation of $1 million, which would have fully restored her $3.4 million budget to operate her office. The $3.4 million was cut by $993,000 by the Legislature in 2002 to balance the budget in FY 2003. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Lingle’s Chief of Staff Bob Awana learned just three days before the transition from Cayetano to Lingle, that not only had the $993,000 been cut, but the Cayetano administration had spent all but $400,000 of the remaining monies. Lingle, at this time, has just enough money appropriated to fund her office until the end of March, but she needs the emergency appropriation to make it until the end of June 2003, when the fiscal year is completed.

    The Senate has agreed to restore the nearly $500,000 in cuts to the governor’s emergency request, but the appropriation still has to go into final negotiations between the House and Senate because both Houses do not agree on the amount in the bill, meaning the governor will likely have to go without the funds she needs for two months, until the end of the session in early May. Awana said in an earlier interview with HawaiiReporter.com that he is unsure where the money will come from to pay the staff in the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s office from now until June.

    Holding the governor’s budget hostage is not the only political game being played by the House majority. The House Democrats also killed many of the governor’s bills relating to reforming the education system as well as campaign and election reform. The governor, however, is maintaining a good attitude and says she will not to give up on her agenda, but will remain committed to pushing the bills through in the 2003 and 2004 Legislative sessions.

    Though the House Democrats continue to undermine the governor’s progress, Lingle demonstrated she is above petty partisanship and politicking by immediate action with the signing of her first bill, which authorized $20.8 million to fund the operations of the state Legislature and attached agencies. Those wise to the political deals cut at the Legislature told Lingle she should hold the legislative budget hostage until both Houses approved her budget, but still naive in many ways to the extent her enemies will go to stop her progress, she refused to do so and is now suffering the consequences.

    Lingle is fortunate to have boundless energy, a pleasant demeanor, a good attitude, determination and professionalism, which has helped her overcome barriers put before her in her first 100 days by those, for political reasons, who do not want her to succeed. In her next three and a half years in office, Lingle will inevitably continue to be attacked and undermined by those who want to ensure she does not get a second 4-year term and that more Republicans do not gain seats in the House and Senate in the 2004 election. The question will be whether the public will stand for that kind of bickering and partisanship, or if they will be displeased enough with the Democrats, particularly those in the House who blocked Lingle’s agenda for “A New Beginning,” to vote them out of office.

    ”Governor’s Home Still Bare”

    Former Gov. Benjamin Cayetano and his wife Vicky, to their credit, raised private funds to build a new governor’s residence, so that Washington Place, the former home of Queen Liliuokalani, could be open and more accessible to the people of Hawaii.

    Gov. Linda Lingle, who at first wanted to remain in her own small apartment, finally agreed to move into the governor’s home, but was then faced with the reality that it was left completely unfurnished, and no money was allocated to furnish the home for her or future governors.

    The first action Lingle took was to purchase a bed for herself and three additional beds for the guestrooms, all which were without beds or any furniture. She also bought three folding tables that she uses in the dining area to eat on. She also adopted a badly stained couch from the governor’s office for her livingroom.

    The money she requested from the Legislature to buy curtains for the uncovered windows, rugs for the wooden floors, and some modest furnishings for the rest of the home, was denied by the House last week in a strictly partisan vote.

    House Democrats told Lingle through their floor debates that she should go back and live in Washington Place, raise the money privately to furnish the home, or go without furniture.

    Lingle has been looking at the possibility of raising the money privately, which may prove difficult in tough economic times when Hawaii and the rest of the nation are facing the possibility of war in Iraq and even more tenuous financial times ahead.

    ”Democrats Still Shunning Governor’s Education Plan, Will Hear Democrat Education Bill Today that Education Activists Call ‘Abominable’ and ‘Bureaucratic’ ”

    Today at 1:15 p.m. in Room 212 at the state Capitol, the Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 289, HD2, which requires the Superintendent to organize the centralized Department of Education into complex areas and establish complex area schools councils requiring them to act on various duties.

    This plan, advocated by the Democrats, only will create more bureaucracy in Hawaii’s poorly managed, top-down public education system. Gov. Linda Lingle is opposed to this plan, and instead is pushing her original plan to decentralize the school system through the creation of locally elected school boards.

    Those opposing the Democrats’ education plan should telephone Sen. Norman Sakamoto, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, at 586-8585, or email him at mailto:sensakamoto@capitol.hawaii.gov to tell him not to support the establishment of complex advisory councils. Those opposed also can submit testimony to the Senate Education Committee to oppose this measure, and instead to support HB 1082, legislation that proposed a constitutional amendment to eliminate the state board of education and create local school boards

    Persons wishing to testify should submit 30 copies of their testimony to the committee clerk, Room 213, State Capitol during regular business hours, or outside the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Office, Room 015, State Capitol for all other times. Testimony may also be faxed if less than 5 pages in length, to the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (toll free for neighbor islands). When faxing, please indicate to whom the testimony is being submitted, the date and time of the hearing, and the required number of copies needed for submittal.

    ”Democrats in the House Make ‘Get Out the Vote’ Strategy a Criminal Offense, Change Electioneering, Campaign Fundraising Rules to Their Benefit”

    Nationally, Democrats push their get out the vote platform, which includes everything from getting homeless to vote by promising them food or cigarettes (documented in the Wall Street Journal) to picking up the elderly and disabled to take them to the polls, to aggressively signing people up to vote by absentee ballot. And their strategy, in many cases in the mainland and Hawaii, has worked extremely well and has helped the Democrats bring in more victories.

    Going into the 2002 election, Bob Awana, the campaign manager for then Republican candidate for governor Linda Lingle and a self-declared Democrat, decided to learn from the Democrats’ success and

    Crossover Bills-House Bills Which Passed Third Reading

    0

    To see a list of House Bills Which Passed Third Reading of the Hawaii State Legislature, Regular Session of 2003, Showing Actions Taken as of March 6, 2003, See the Acrobat Adobe pdf version “House Bills 3-6-03 File.”

    Small Business News – March 2003

    “Sam Slom Image”

    ”’The following column was reprinted with permission. To see the entire issue of Small Business News, the monthly publication for Small Business Hawaii, click on”’ https://www.smallbusinesshawaii.com

    Hawaii, like the rest of the Nation, is bracing for the possible impact of a war in Iraq. Hawaii’s economy, just starting to show signs of major recovery, could be one of the hardest hit states especially with the affect on tourism and air trans-portation. The Governor has already put together a task force as has the Legislature to study options and a course of action. We all hope that war doesn’t come, but if it does, we want to be prepared. Many of Hawaii’s sons and daughters have already been called up and we give them our 100% support along with that to our President.

    Governor Linda Lingle, always the businesswoman, went to meet the President and top leaders at the White House after a Governors Conference and took along plenty of Hawaiian coffee. She intends to convince the White House to serve our coffee exclu-sively since it is the only coffee grown and
    produced in the United States. And, it’s the best in the world! Local business people were amazed that we finally have a chief executive who really understands Hawaii business

    Hawaii's Quarantine System Must be Modernized-An Open Letter to Gov. Lingle

    Aloha Gov. Lingle,

    I know you have many pressing issues that are deemed much more important than changing the current pet entry procedures and quarantine requirements.

    However, you can make a difference to an extremely large number of your constituency with the stroke of a pen. You can override the Agriculture Department’s proposed change for quarantine for qualified pets. You can approve Ruby’s Law now and lead the way to make Hawaii a welcome place for our beloved pets. I know that you understand the heartbreak that our antiquated, unnecessary quarantine system causes.

    But it seems that this issue has always been about power and money. One of the objections State Veterinarian Foppoli has with Ruby’s Law seems to be “money.” He can’t seem to figure out where the money will come from to staff people at the airport to scan incoming pets and match their health records to their microchip scan. How ’bout the people he won’t need any longer to staff the quarantine station? Move them to the airport, which already has a quarantine area.

    I figure it would take less than five minutes to scan and match records per animal. He says it will take five days. And the Agriculture Department hearings will go on all the way through March, and then the Attorney General has to hear it … and then the Department of Agriculture says it will need even more time. The DOA proposes that after their hearings, there will be a five-day hold and a 120-day wait for qualified pets. And maybe that will happen in
    2004. This is unnecessary, illogical, a power-play and absolutely absurd. Ninety-one years should be enough time. Hawaiian time has never been ”’that”’ slow. We can’t wait any longer. We shouldn’t have to wait any longer. Logic and intelligence and scientific fact must take precedence over greed, ignorance, fear of the unknown, and power.

    I know that eliminating the quarantine for qualified animals will increase business and improve our economy. But there are always some people who are afraid of change, afraid that they will lose their power and won’t be needed anymore no matter how positive the change.
    Following is my testimony in the hopes that, if you have any adversarial thoughts, it might change your mind. It begins with an open letter I wrote to then Gov. Cayetano in 1997, which is followed by a current piece in memory of my two parti-color cocker spaniels, Ace and Deuce.

    I would like to be able to send a new open letter of thanks to you within the next few days. Please show your aloha, show that you do indeed care about the people of Hawaii, people like me and my family. We live in Hawaii, we work in Hawaii, and we vote. Please show us the intelligence we know you have. Use your heart and your power to end quarantine as we know it. ”’It’s Time.”’

    June 1997 – an open letter written to then Gov. Cayetano.
    A Dog’s Eye View by Ace Williams

    Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Ace Williams. My brother Deuce and I live in a house with a nice yard in Lanikai. There are only a few steps to walk down to get to the back door. Once I was able to run down those steps without touching them. I was pretty good at high jumping, too. Today, I can no longer do simple things like running and jumping. Walking on the beach is a struggle.

    You see, when I first came to Hawaii, I was put in jail for four months. Now don’t get upset. I didn’t do anything wrong. The only thing I ever hurt was a flea (and, I never saw one of those until I came to Hawaii). I’m just a 32-pound, black and white cocker spaniel who likes to be petted and played with. And, as I said, I used to like to run and jump . oh yes, and chase birds.

    The four months in prison (quarantine) did me in. I was not allowed to go for walks. I was not allowed to run across an open field or chase a ball more than four feet. Over the long, four months, my legs atrophied somewhat. When it rained, the cement floor stayed damp, and I stayed damp. It takes a long time for my long hair to dry. My brother Deuce had other problems. His ear got infected from the moisture. By the time he got out of quarantine and was able to see a regular vet (the vet at the quarantine station said there
    was nothing wrong with Deuce), his mouth was drooping and his eye wouldn’t blink. Although the ear infection was treated, and his eyes work again, his mouth still droops a little. I didn’t fair as well. Oh, I was okay for a short time after I got out of that awful place, but then, one day when I tried to jump, a disc slipped in my spine — weakened by non-use, and I could no longer stand up, no less climb stairs or jump up on the bed to sleep with my people-family. Then I started to get arthritis in my knees. With treatments from both the acupuncturist and chiropractor I know, I can stand again — not perfectly, but I can manage to scoot around. I can no longer run
    and jump, although I have managed — with a boost from my people family members — to walk up and down the four steps in our family room. By the way, I’m only 5 years old.

    You’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with anything. The reason I am writing this is to say thank you to Gov. Cayetano for
    signing the bill to reduce the quarantine for qualified dogs and cats to 30 days. I would also like to thank all the people who worked so hard for so many years to make this happen. The ideal situation would be zero days, but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth. (As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t look any horse in the mouth.) So I say to all the people that had anything to do with reducing the quarantine time, mahalo.

    One more thing, all of my species will appreciate your humanity if you keep working to end quarantine for my relatives who will be coming to Hawaii in the future. I would not have had my back and leg problems and Deuce would not have his ear problems if we weren’t quarantined. Like Deuce and I, other dogs and cats will have their required rabies vaccinations. They will have their ID microchips. They will be free of diseases and parasites like we were. They will not endanger the people of Hawaii. They will only bring pleasure.

    Please do not subject any more dogs and cats to the deadly
    pesticides used in quarantine, to the debilitating diseases, and the trauma.

    Please do not separate them from their people families. It breaks too many hearts.

    Although Ace and Deuce crossed to the Rainbow Bridge a year ago, their quest to end quarantine is still being sought.

    Today, I write this in their memory. Much has changed in the last six years. There is scientific proof that the latest vaccines for rabies are more effective than any quarantine system. There is no logical reason for Hawaii to continue its quarantine system as it stands. It is time to bring our system into the 21st century. It is time to welcome visitors traveling with pets with true aloha. It is time that kamaaina be allowed to travel to the mainland with their pets and be allowed to return without placing them in quarantine. It is time to allow business people to travel back and forth with their pets. It is time to stop punishing members of the military because they move to Hawaii without much notice. We should be thanking our lucky stars that they are stationed here. We shouldn’t be punishing them by
    taking their pets and incarcerating them in quarantine. It’s no secret that members of the military must have their pets vaccinated. It’s a military requirement.

    Ninety-one years of quarantine has resulted in no rabies cases. It isn’t quarantine that is keeping Hawaii rabies free. It’s science. It’s people who take care of their pets. It’s common sense. Eleven years ago, when I asked why my dogs had to be quarantined since they had had all their shots as required since they were tiny pups, I was told that I could be lying. There was no way that anyone could tell if the medical records I presented belonged to my dogs.

    Today, we have microchips so that argument doesn’t work.

    Some people ask why I care anymore. I no longer have a personal interest. Oh, but I do. The quarantine system is preventing me from holding my 5-month-old grandson. My daughter and her husband live in New York City in a tiny apartment with my new grandson and their three miniature dachshunds.

    They would like to move to Hawaii and start a business here. But they won’t move here until they can get off the airplane with their baby boy and their three pups. They will not move here if they are forced to put their dogs in quarantine for even one day. They know the pain, the trauma, the horror.

    They know that dogs die in quarantine — dogs that were perfectly healthy when they entered the system.

    Would someone please tell me how three tiny dogs, who have had all the proper vaccinations, who have lived in an apartment in NYC all of their lives could possibly have rabies? I have lived in cities and the country. I have lived in cities and towns coast-to-coast on the mainland, and in all my years I have never heard of anyone who had rabies or seen a rabid animal.

    It’s time! Please turn Ruby’s Bill into fact, so I can hold my grandson every day — so nobody else has to suffer needlessly, so no dog or cat has to be separated, unnecessarily, from its family and no family has to leave the quarantine station seeing pleading eyes, hearing the cries of a lonely, sad and frightened pet ever again!

    ”’Carol Williams is a resident of Kaneohe.”’

    Hawaii’s Quarantine System Must be Modernized-An Open Letter to Gov. Lingle

    Aloha Gov. Lingle,

    I know you have many pressing issues that are deemed much more important than changing the current pet entry procedures and quarantine requirements.

    However, you can make a difference to an extremely large number of your constituency with the stroke of a pen. You can override the Agriculture Department’s proposed change for quarantine for qualified pets. You can approve Ruby’s Law now and lead the way to make Hawaii a welcome place for our beloved pets. I know that you understand the heartbreak that our antiquated, unnecessary quarantine system causes.

    But it seems that this issue has always been about power and money. One of the objections State Veterinarian Foppoli has with Ruby’s Law seems to be “money.” He can’t seem to figure out where the money will come from to staff people at the airport to scan incoming pets and match their health records to their microchip scan. How ’bout the people he won’t need any longer to staff the quarantine station? Move them to the airport, which already has a quarantine area.

    I figure it would take less than five minutes to scan and match records per animal. He says it will take five days. And the Agriculture Department hearings will go on all the way through March, and then the Attorney General has to hear it … and then the Department of Agriculture says it will need even more time. The DOA proposes that after their hearings, there will be a five-day hold and a 120-day wait for qualified pets. And maybe that will happen in
    2004. This is unnecessary, illogical, a power-play and absolutely absurd. Ninety-one years should be enough time. Hawaiian time has never been ”’that”’ slow. We can’t wait any longer. We shouldn’t have to wait any longer. Logic and intelligence and scientific fact must take precedence over greed, ignorance, fear of the unknown, and power.

    I know that eliminating the quarantine for qualified animals will increase business and improve our economy. But there are always some people who are afraid of change, afraid that they will lose their power and won’t be needed anymore no matter how positive the change.
    Following is my testimony in the hopes that, if you have any adversarial thoughts, it might change your mind. It begins with an open letter I wrote to then Gov. Cayetano in 1997, which is followed by a current piece in memory of my two parti-color cocker spaniels, Ace and Deuce.

    I would like to be able to send a new open letter of thanks to you within the next few days. Please show your aloha, show that you do indeed care about the people of Hawaii, people like me and my family. We live in Hawaii, we work in Hawaii, and we vote. Please show us the intelligence we know you have. Use your heart and your power to end quarantine as we know it. ”’It’s Time.”’

    June 1997 – an open letter written to then Gov. Cayetano.
    A Dog’s Eye View by Ace Williams

    Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Ace Williams. My brother Deuce and I live in a house with a nice yard in Lanikai. There are only a few steps to walk down to get to the back door. Once I was able to run down those steps without touching them. I was pretty good at high jumping, too. Today, I can no longer do simple things like running and jumping. Walking on the beach is a struggle.

    You see, when I first came to Hawaii, I was put in jail for four months. Now don’t get upset. I didn’t do anything wrong. The only thing I ever hurt was a flea (and, I never saw one of those until I came to Hawaii). I’m just a 32-pound, black and white cocker spaniel who likes to be petted and played with. And, as I said, I used to like to run and jump . oh yes, and chase birds.

    The four months in prison (quarantine) did me in. I was not allowed to go for walks. I was not allowed to run across an open field or chase a ball more than four feet. Over the long, four months, my legs atrophied somewhat. When it rained, the cement floor stayed damp, and I stayed damp. It takes a long time for my long hair to dry. My brother Deuce had other problems. His ear got infected from the moisture. By the time he got out of quarantine and was able to see a regular vet (the vet at the quarantine station said there
    was nothing wrong with Deuce), his mouth was drooping and his eye wouldn’t blink. Although the ear infection was treated, and his eyes work again, his mouth still droops a little. I didn’t fair as well. Oh, I was okay for a short time after I got out of that awful place, but then, one day when I tried to jump, a disc slipped in my spine — weakened by non-use, and I could no longer stand up, no less climb stairs or jump up on the bed to sleep with my people-family. Then I started to get arthritis in my knees. With treatments from both the acupuncturist and chiropractor I know, I can stand again — not perfectly, but I can manage to scoot around. I can no longer run
    and jump, although I have managed — with a boost from my people family members — to walk up and down the four steps in our family room. By the way, I’m only 5 years old.

    You’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with anything. The reason I am writing this is to say thank you to Gov. Cayetano for
    signing the bill to reduce the quarantine for qualified dogs and cats to 30 days. I would also like to thank all the people who worked so hard for so many years to make this happen. The ideal situation would be zero days, but I will not look a gift horse in the mouth. (As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t look any horse in the mouth.) So I say to all the people that had anything to do with reducing the quarantine time, mahalo.

    One more thing, all of my species will appreciate your humanity if you keep working to end quarantine for my relatives who will be coming to Hawaii in the future. I would not have had my back and leg problems and Deuce would not have his ear problems if we weren’t quarantined. Like Deuce and I, other dogs and cats will have their required rabies vaccinations. They will have their ID microchips. They will be free of diseases and parasites like we were. They will not endanger the people of Hawaii. They will only bring pleasure.

    Please do not subject any more dogs and cats to the deadly
    pesticides used in quarantine, to the debilitating diseases, and the trauma.

    Please do not separate them from their people families. It breaks too many hearts.

    Although Ace and Deuce crossed to the Rainbow Bridge a year ago, their quest to end quarantine is still being sought.

    Today, I write this in their memory. Much has changed in the last six years. There is scientific proof that the latest vaccines for rabies are more effective than any quarantine system. There is no logical reason for Hawaii to continue its quarantine system as it stands. It is time to bring our system into the 21st century. It is time to welcome visitors traveling with pets with true aloha. It is time that kamaaina be allowed to travel to the mainland with their pets and be allowed to return without placing them in quarantine. It is time to allow business people to travel back and forth with their pets. It is time to stop punishing members of the military because they move to Hawaii without much notice. We should be thanking our lucky stars that they are stationed here. We shouldn’t be punishing them by
    taking their pets and incarcerating them in quarantine. It’s no secret that members of the military must have their pets vaccinated. It’s a military requirement.

    Ninety-one years of quarantine has resulted in no rabies cases. It isn’t quarantine that is keeping Hawaii rabies free. It’s science. It’s people who take care of their pets. It’s common sense. Eleven years ago, when I asked why my dogs had to be quarantined since they had had all their shots as required since they were tiny pups, I was told that I could be lying. There was no way that anyone could tell if the medical records I presented belonged to my dogs.

    Today, we have microchips so that argument doesn’t work.

    Some people ask why I care anymore. I no longer have a personal interest. Oh, but I do. The quarantine system is preventing me from holding my 5-month-old grandson. My daughter and her husband live in New York City in a tiny apartment with my new grandson and their three miniature dachshunds.

    They would like to move to Hawaii and start a business here. But they won’t move here until they can get off the airplane with their baby boy and their three pups. They will not move here if they are forced to put their dogs in quarantine for even one day. They know the pain, the trauma, the horror.

    They know that dogs die in quarantine — dogs that were perfectly healthy when they entered the system.

    Would someone please tell me how three tiny dogs, who have had all the proper vaccinations, who have lived in an apartment in NYC all of their lives could possibly have rabies? I have lived in cities and the country. I have lived in cities and towns coast-to-coast on the mainland, and in all my years I have never heard of anyone who had rabies or seen a rabid animal.

    It’s time! Please turn Ruby’s Bill into fact, so I can hold my grandson every day — so nobody else has to suffer needlessly, so no dog or cat has to be separated, unnecessarily, from its family and no family has to leave the quarantine station seeing pleading eyes, hearing the cries of a lonely, sad and frightened pet ever again!

    ”’Carol Williams is a resident of Kaneohe.”’

    Grassroot Perspective – March 12, 2003-Maryland May Allow Small Group HRAs; AMA Calls on FTC to Investigate Insurance Industry Concentration; NY Times – Bush Reinventing Medicare, Medicaid; Fortune – Upcoming Labor Negotiations to Focus on Health Benefits; Consumerism Means More Than Cost-Shifting; The Phenomenon of Globalization

    0

    “Dick Rowland Image”

    ”Shoots (News, Views and Quotes)”

    – Maryland May Allow Small Group HRAs

    By Greg Scandlen

    On Feb. 12, I testified on Health Reimbursement Arrangements before the Maryland Senate Finance Committee. Maryland is unique in having a “Health Care Access Commission” that defines what benefits will be allowed to be offered in the small group market. The powers-that-be in Maryland (including the couple of major insurers that control most of the market) are quite happy with this arrangement. Publicly they argue that having standardized benefit plans is good for consumers because it makes it easier to comparison shop between plans. In fact, it impedes competition and innovation, so the major players can continue dominating the market without having to work very hard. A few years ago the Commission decided to allow MSAs to be sold in Maryland, but added so many bells and whistles to the already complicated federal rules, that few if any have ever been sold in the state. The legislation I was testifying on would have required the Commission to allow small employers to set up Health Reimbursement Arrangements. There were quite a few misconceptions among the Senators. They seemed to assume that an
    HRA must involve a high-deductible insurance plan. I tried to clarify
    the issue in my testimony.

    SOURCE: www.galen.org/news/021303a.html

    – AMA Calls on FTC to Investigate Insurance Industry Concentration

    American Medical News ran an editorial calling for the Federal Trade
    Commission to investigate this sort of market domination. It cites a
    recent AMA report on “Competition in Health Insurance” that found as few as two plans hold 90 percent of the market in places like Dayton, OH and Pensacola, FL, and 61 out of 70 metropolitan areas are “highly concentrated.” It says that in 20 of the markets, a single plan held at least half of the HMO/PPO enrollment and that barriers to entry for new competitors are daunting. The editorial concludes, “The FTC needs to investigate, and act forcefully as needed, when a managed-care machine starts pushing people around.”

    SOURCE: https://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/amn_03/edsa0303.htm

    – NY Times – Bush Reinventing Medicare, Medicaid

    This kind of market domination makes it easy for the single payer crowd to argue for governmental programs. If there is no meaningful
    competition, what is lost when a government agency replaces a private monopoly? That is precisely the nut the Bush administration is trying to crack in developing Medicare and Medicaid reform proposals, as well as Social Security, according to Robin Toner and Robert Pear in the New York Times. They write, “The administration’s vision for Medicare and Social Security moves away from the notion that everyone should be in the same government-managed system with the same benefits. It promises individuals more choices.” The ability of individuals to make choices is a fundamental dividing line, according to the article. It quotes Former SSA Commissioner Robert Ball as saying, “(The Bush) proposals are a major departure from the principles that have governed the social insurance system from the beginning.” These principles include “that all working Americans pay into the same Medicare system; that the healthy and the sick, the rich and the poor, end up in the same program; and that all have the same core benefits when they retire.”

    SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/politics/24AGEN.html

    – Fortune – Upcoming Labor Negotiations to Focus on Health Benefits

    Writing in Fortune Magazine, David Stires says, “You don’t need a
    crystal ball to see that that is a fight waiting to happen.” He is
    referring to the coming round of labor negotiations where health care
    will be at the very tippy-top of the agenda. The tone has been set by
    the two-day walk-out by General Electric workers and the earlier 44-day strike at Hershey Foods. The GE workers were resisting adding from $200 – $400 per year in out-of-pocket costs, and the Hershey workers ended up taking lower pay increases to offset added health care costs. The article says that corporations, especially in manufacturing, are reaching a breaking point. While prices went up in the services industry by 3.2 percent in December (over the year before), in manufacturing prices actually dropped by 1.5 percent. Meanwhile health-care costs are soaring, rising by 44 percent since 1999 at GE. SBC Communications is even worse off
    with health costs jumping by almost 50 percent since 1999, for a total outlay of $2.5 billion for 343,000 active and retired employees — $7,829 per person. The Big Three automakers have total health care liabilities of $92 billion — 50 percent greater than their combined market capitalization of $66 billion. Though strikes are likely, they could also kill off the economic recovery. The article says the West Coast dock strike last year “was the single biggest influence on the fourth quarter’s sharp drop in national output” and cost the economy $2 billion a day. There isn’t much optimism in the article. While GE’s senior vice president of human resources is quoted as saying the company was passing on just 10 percent of its health-care increases, the president of the union, Edward Fire says, “We’ll fight to the bitter end,” if the company tries to get workers to pay more of their health care spending.

    SOURCE: www.fortune.com/fortune/articles/0,15114,423756,00.html

    – Consumerism Means More Than Cost-Shifting

    Michael Prince writes in Business Insurance that, “Cost-shifting is only a temporary solution.” What is really needed is, “a fundamental change in employees health-care mindset.” The article quotes Jack Mollen of EMC Corp. as saying, “We can never solve the 15 percent compounded growth problem without focusing on the long term.” The article goes on to say that a successful long term approach “involves instilling a consumer mentality,” including cost awareness and better information. Keith Peden of Raytheon said 3,000 of their employees have signed up for Definity’s consumer-driven plan. He reports there has been no adverse selection. At Coors Brewing, 14 percent of employees signed up for the plan when it was first offered. But Mr. Mollen added that consumerism does not have to mean adding a consumer-driven plan. “Consumerism is getting the employee to
    be an effective decision-maker. It’s about making the right choices.”

    SOURCE: https://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=12351&a=a&bt=cost
    -shifting

    Above articles are quoted from Galen Institute Consumer Choice Matters #5 Feb. 25, 2003

    ”Roots (Food for Thoughts)”

    – The Phenomenon of Globalization
    By Rev. Robert A. Sirico

    Globalization has emerged as a new paradigm for describing the way in which the human family can relate to each other. Globalization is the increased interconnectedness of all peoples on the face of the earth. We can now more easily, rapidly, and cheaply move, and thus share, ourselves, our consumer goods, our material and human capital, and the values that comprise our respective cultures. Our ever-increasing ability to share our God-given and complementary gifts with one another holds with it the possibilities of enlarging the scope of our communion and solidarity.

    The technological revolution and social dimensions of modernity have made this increased interconnectedness possible. Advancements in technology have made quick and radical improvements in communication and transportation capabilities. The social dimension of modernity contributes the assertion that because all men and women are equally valuable, they should be free from unfulfilling constraints imposed by other persons or the state. These technological capacities and the freedom to develop and use them promise to enhance the potential for integral human development by promoting authentic development in at least the areas of economics, politics, and culture. In economics, globalization broadens the free market to include many nations to which it had not previously reached. Improvement in the political arena is recognized in a newfound permeability of borders that allows for an exchange of information that can undermine the power of abusive regimes.
    The effects of globalization on culture-society’s shared idea of human
    good and morality-can also be positive in that never in history have
    these societal ideas and cultural characteristics been so easy to share.

    Resulting from human sinfulness, however, our increasing
    interconnectedness also holds great potential for offenses against human dignity. Greater economic development means a greater need for additional capital. Businesses or states can raise capital through
    borrowing or “foreign direct investment.” Corruption, incompetence, or circumstance may cause business or state revenues to be lower than expected and result in a debt repayment crisis that may lead to
    austerity measures that disproportionately benefit creditors and hurt
    the poor. “Foreign direct investment” may promote conditions that allow for dispersed, non-localized ownership and management of the market franchise. Globalization also poses immense long-term challenges for culture. Because widespread skepticism now exists about whether universal and timeless truths exist, cultural freedom can be abused. The weak who seem to have little to offer culture -the poor, the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled-become a burden to be marginalized, limited, and even destroyed instead of being recognized as persons worthy of respect and solidarity.

    So what can believers offer to the globalization process? One of the
    great resources Christianity brings to the mission of ensuring that
    globalization serves the human person is its universality. We can be
    more fully extended throughout the entire world, allowing its truth to be brought more completely to the human family. That truth and the community around it embolden us to proclaim unequivocally the absolute dignity of all human persons. The challenge before us now is to use our information and network effectively to develop apologetics that will positively influence the carriers of today’s culture.

    The Rev. Robert A. Sirico is a Roman Catholic priest and the president
    of the Acton Institute.

    Above article is quoted from the Acton Institute Religion & Liberty
    www.actoninstitute.org

    ”Evergreen (Today’s Quotes)”

    “Big Government is for little people. The better the people, the less
    necessity there is for government. This simple, vicarious relationship
    between the citizen and his government is obscured today in the fog of our confused political councils.” — Clarence Manion

    “We must always remember that our Constitution was designed to protect the freedom of the smallest possible minority — one person — against the demands of the greatest possible majority — all other persons combined.” — Ben Moreell

    “Champion the right to be yourself. Dare
    ://www.grassrootinstitute.org/
    own pattern. Live your own life, and follow your own star.” — Lin Yutang

    ”’Edited by Richard O. Rowland, president of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. He can be reached at (808) 487-4959 or by email at:”’ mailto:grassroot@hawaii.rr.com ”’For more information, see its Web site at:”’ https://www.grassrootinstitute.org/