Republicans Need To Be Proud of Their Values

As we all know, a Republican getting elected in the State of Hawaii is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, one technique that is used is hiding party affiliation. Certain guys have even ran as democrats but if you here them speak, they sound quite conservative.

Let's take Maui for example. Currently there are only two registered republicans holding a public office. One is South Maui Council member Don Couch and the other is Mayor Alan Arakawa. Neither of these two public officials even bothered to attend the Maui County Republican Convention that was held on March 2. Since it was in Kihei, it would have been real easy for Couch to attend.

It is clear that these already elected officials are trying not to be TOO REPUBLICAN. That is a shame because how can we ever build up the party if the only current officials we have have to try and hide their affiliation?

I understand that it is hard to convince voters in a state that has such a liberal mindset that mainly sees republicans as a bunch of racist whites. The fact that they are hiding their values only reinforces that false stereotype. The fact is that the GOP represents all that America is about. That is free enterprise, equal opportunity, traditional Christian values, and small government. It is time that Hawaii Republicans start to be proud of that.

HSTA Needs To Rethink Their Political Affiliation

How ironic is it that the Teachers union historically always endorses democrats for governor? This is a mystery to me. Even after they went on strike against Ben Cayetano, they refused to endorse Linda Lingle. They did not endorse any candidate that year in 2002. Then again in 2006, HSTA endorsed Democrat Randy Iwase. In spite of the fact that Lingle never had support from HSTA, there were never in 8 years any contract issues that came close to resulting in strike. There was the furloughs, but the teachers did actually support that with an 80% yes vote.

Then came 2010 and HSTA endorses the eventual winner Neil Abercrombie. Look at the results. The teachers have not had a contract in over a year and talks of a strike are very real once again. How can these people who educate for a living not have the smarts to see this?

It is basic math. 100% of the time HSTA endorses democrats. 100% of the time there has been a strike has been with a democrat governor (John Burns in 1973 and Ben Cayetano in 2001). Now the possibility is very real under Abercrombie. The really ironic thing is that these are all guys HSTA supported. Then the one time there was a GOP governor, there were no major contract issues.

HSTA really needs to think about their political affiliation if they care about teachers and education. I have never understood the mindset of a teacher supporting the left to begin with. What do they tell kids? "Work hard to get a good education and achieve success so later we can penalize for it with higher taxes than the poor."

Government Needs to Address Child Support Fairness For Men

There is very little denying that in matters of child support, men are way too often not treated fairly. A man can be an awesome father but still get screwed by the Child Support Enforcement Agency. I know one case where a man actually had custody of his kid and the mom was really not involved at all and he still had to pay  child support.

In my case, my ex-wife and I agreed on joint custody and having the kids an equal amount of time. I thought that was the best way and nobody would have to pay child support. Of course I was wrong and still had to pay. I had a hearing on the matter and the judge figured that I was paying too much and still ruled in my ex-wife's favor.

The law statistics show that 90% of the time, the ruling is in the favor of the woman. The part of the law that makes no sense is that a child can be with the father all day from 8AM to 8PM seven days a week but sleep at the mom's house. According to the law, the father gets no credit for any time with the child.

Also, there is a mathematical formula that calculates child support and if you make more that the other parent you are paying. Of course, that is really only enforced when the man is the one hurt.

So I know what you are thinking. How is this a party issue?

It is because Republicans don't believe in giving special privileges to one gender or the other. The GOP also doesn't believe in penalizing somebody because they make a little more or rewarding somebody who makes a little less.

Democrats however have created a culture handouts and "gimmies." That is why my ex-wife can abuse the system by making sure she makes less than me and make no effort to get a promotion or a better job. If she does, she can't collect.

This is just one reason why we need a Republican Hawaii.

Time For a Conservative Change in the Aloha State

Known by paradise and it's beautiful beaches, Hawaii does not get recognized for it's liberal government by those who visit here. The Aloha state is statistically the most liberal in the nation. Since 1954, there has only been one Republican governor (Linda Lingle). However, the state legislature continued to be dominated by the Democrats when Lingle was in office.

Now with another Democrat governor (Neil Abercrombie), the State Senate has 24 Democrats and only 1 Republican and the State House has 44 Democrats and 7 Republicans. That is 68 out of 76 total legislators being Democrat. That is 89%. What this means is that the GOP influence is so small that the Democrats have  the opportunity to push whatever they want through and have basically no opposition. It has been that way since 1954. That is nearly sixty years of Democrat rule. Even when Lingle was Governor, the Democrats still controlled the Legislature.

With the left having the ball in their court for six decades, Hawaii has the worst public education system in the nation. It ranks #1 in people on food stamps. Foreclosures and Crystal Meth use continue to be problems. Hawaii ranks 49th in business friendly states.

I don't have to throw stats like that out there for those who live here to know how hard it is to live here. Many people here work multiple jobs to barely have enough. When I first moved to Hawaii, I made a choice to take on a second job. However, the idea was to have enough to travel regularly and take an extra vacation. Now I need that second income to survive. There are far too many people in that same situation.

Very few locals have enough to go on vacation even if it is just to another island for a family reunion. They need that extra income to survive. That is not healthy.

The Democrats cannot blame anybody but themselves. As much as I dislike Obama, he can use the excuse that Republicans in DC block his moves. The left here can't use that excuse.

All they do is continue to add more taxes and more restrictions to business. That makes it harder and harder for them to survive meaning those that do survive can keep raising prices due to lack of competition. Higher prices, higher taxes, and lower wages is the combination that the working class deals with here.

It is clear that after almost six decades, the democrats just don't have the answer. It is time for a conservative change.