Let Hawaii starve! Wait, what? We already are?

Via Reason TV, Hawaii's competitive disadvantage explained.  If you thought the reason Hawaii is an expensive state to live in is the problem of isolation you're right - but probably not in the way you expect.

Hawaii Hive-0?

It's not really nefarious or even surprising, but Nancy Pelosi spent her waning days as House Speaker in Hawaii. Expensive, taxpayer-funded costs aside, what struck me was the timing.  The Hawaii Reporter article focused on the taxpayer expenses, but the following quote was most notable for me;

Her trip coincides with President Barack Obama’s nearly two-week family vacation in Hawaii.

Could they possibly be plotting political maneuvering for 2011? Yep.  It's no big deal but given that President Obama has supposedly been hands off the details of drafting legislation since becoming President (arguably he wasn't that involved beforehand either), it's interesting to ponder whether they discussed political machinations or agenda items or both.  Given the new dynamics of the GOP control of Congress, I suspect they had to focus on the former rather than the latter item.  So what did they come up with? It will be interesting to see where Pelosi tries to steer the Democrats going forward and determine whether the 'coincidental' Hawaiian vacations played a part.

To be fair, they apparently weren't  on the same island, but did they abstain from communicating?  I doubt it.

Helping Out Duke Aiona

Duke Aiona , a Republican governor for Hawaii? It's possible.  It's margin of error time for this race. According to Rasmussen,

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Aloha State shows Abercrombie picking up 49% of the vote, while Aiona earns 47% support. One percent (1%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) are undecided. 

These numbers move the race from Solid Democrat to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard.

In late June, Abercrombie held a 58% to 32% lead over Aiona. The first survey of the race in March found Abercrombie, a congressman for nearly 20 years who stepped down to run for governor, leading Aiona 54% to 31%.

Aiona understands the unique needs of Hawaii,

and also the similarities with other states when it comes to wasteful government spending.



Vote Aiona.

Red Hawaii?

Charles Djou defied the odds and won a special election in Hawaii. He's the first Republican Congressional representative from the state in 20 years. He may have a tougher time of it in November, but to double the GOP vote percentage, regardless of a split Democrat vote, is an amazing accomplishment that can perhaps be built on.

From Gateway Pundit;

“We have told them that we will not stand idly by as our great nation is overburdened by too much taxes, too much debt and too much wasteful spending.”

 How do you NOT vote for that?