flASHback: Par for the course
November 20th, 2009 by David ShapiroAthletic triumph and academic triage lead the way as we "flASHback" on the week's news that amused and confused:
- Hawai'i golfer Michelle Wie finally won her first LPGA tournament four years after turning pro. Anybody who can bounce back from that many years of futility should run for lieutenant governor.
- Gov. Linda Lingle wants to tap the state's $60 million rainy day fund to end "furlough Fridays" at Hawai'i schools. Seems like a poetic remedy for the international scorn that's raining on our school system.
- Lingle left for a GOP Governors conference in Texas just days after returning from a two-week trip to China. Her stay was so short she should be counted as a visitor arrival.
- Mayor Mufi Hannemann got $500 a head to sing at his gubernatorial fundraiser, while Elton John's top price is only $157 for his Blaisdell concert in January. The difference is "Rocket Man" can't hand out transit contracts as door prizes.
- Tax collections for Honolulu’s $5.5 billion commuter train fell 30 percent to only $8.9 million last month. That kind of money limits the competition to provide the rolling stock to Mattel and Hasbro.
- Louis Kealoha, the unanimous choice for Honolulu police chief, brings a Ph.D. and a five-year restructuring plan to the job. Could we borrow him to look at the mess at the Department of Education before he takes over HPD next month?
- Police Commission Chairwoman Christine Camp said the controversial selection process for a new chief was done "by the book." Unfortunately, it was the Monty Python playbook.
- The city broke ground on $3.2 million in renovations at Honolulu Zoo, including a flashy new entrance. A last-minute addition was an enclosure to house the monkey Michelle Wie got off her back.
- Former UH football coach June Jones hopes to bring his SMU Mustangs back to his old stomping grounds for the Hawai'i Bowl next month. Just in case it works out, SMU is buying up Aloha Stadium's entire south end zone at to seat Jones' ego.
And the quote of the week ...
... from President Barack Obama to fellow APEC leaders on the dress code for the 2011 economic summit in Honolulu:
"I look forward to seeing you all decked out in flowered shirts and grass skirts."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to restart the arms race if he had to wear a coconut bra.
Tags: Education, Election 2010, Furlough Fridays, Honolulu police, Linda Lingle, Michelle Wie, Mufi Hannemann, rail transit
November 20th, 2009 at 6:43 am
Good morning, Dave,
It's our fourth "furlough Friday", no work til Monday... It's really nice to have a 3 day weekend, twice a month but no pay, and a ton of work sitting on my desk. Hope our economy turns around soon!
My husband and I are both furloughed today. We are doing our part to help Hawaii's economy. Our automatic garage door broke 2 weeks ago. We had to wait until "furlough Friday" to have it repaired. The men should be here at 8AM today to begin a 6.5 hour project to replace our heavy wooden door to a modern new steel door. Cost $2,500.00.
Our 20 year old automatic sprinkler system broke at the same time. The sprinkler crew will be here today to diagnose the problem and estimate the cost to fix the system. More dollars into Hawaii's economy. Hope nothing else breaks this year. Less salary, more bills. Makes life challenging. Lucky we can take care of home repairs on a regular work day for most people.
Have a great weekend!
November 20th, 2009 at 7:41 am
flASHforward (to 2015): Rail tax revenues last month continued to fly ahead of projections on the wings of the state's three-year economic boom. Governor Hannemann has taken to starting his public appearances with the "I Told You So" aria.
November 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Aloha ~
@ Linda Kato: Mahalo for your sacrifice ... this is an example of middle class heroism. Two workers in one family losing 8 percent each of their income yet continuing to care about fellow citizens and make major purchases. Under current economic conditions it would not be irrational for this household to cut back at this time. Thank you!
@BuildRailNow: If Uncle Barack would take a page from FDR and President Eisenhower he would authorize the federal government to take over the rail project. It would be re-named H4.
Such a move would shift financial support for this modern expressway to federal coffers and provide 90 percent of the funding. An $5.5B H4 project would receive approximately $4.95B in federal money (90%) and require only $550 million in local support. How does this sound to Hawai'i's taxpayers?
How many jobs would H4 add to the Obama administration's total? Like Roosevelt who built schools, dams and other infrastructure projects during the Great Depression, such a Keynesian effort would put money directly into the hands of working families and leave a long-term success for future generations.
At this time H1, H2 and H3 sum to about 51 miles of federal expressway - lowest in the nation. Even Puerto Rico has more - about 250 miles. Our nation and Hawai'i need to reduce our dependence on both the auto and oil.
Creating the H4 project would meet so many economic and social goals at once that we should name it the Shapiro Superway.
A*L*O*H*A
November 20th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Aloha ~
I have been ranting about saving public sector jobs and pay levels while few have taken this public educated economist seriously ... please see the report today from the Economic Policy Institute.
A couple key points:
"... for every dollar of [state government] budget cuts, more than half the jobs and economic activity lost will be in the private sector."
"... nearly one-third of state spending goes to public provisions such as infrastructure, which is usually awarded to private contractors ..."
Contracting is down 20 percent so far and must be increased. How about the H4?
Please see:
State, local budget cuts a "time bomb" for U.S. jobs
A*L*O*H*A
November 20th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Thanks, Linda. Your take on things is always astute and welcome.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I vote that scott gould get his own blog!
You got me laughing out loud @ "Rocket Man" - thanks, Dave - I needed that
j.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
How many jobs would H4 add to the Obama administration's total? Well Scott if history is any indicator he would count 4 jobs for everyone actually created.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Aloha HItaxpayer ~
HaHa! Okay, I'm with you so let's divide all numbers by four ... yet if it puts some food on the table of our hungry workers and reduces taxes for kama'ainas, I am willing to put up with Washington political spin. How about you?
A*L*O*H*A