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Viva La Resistance, Hawaiian Style!
If you were to nominate a place for being the most resistant to Donald Trump’s immigration policies, particularly those large-scale deportations, where would it be? True Blue states like California or New York or Colorado? Or just maybe so-called sanctuary cities like Manhattan, Chicago or L.A.? The jury is still out, but an early leader for the most resistant place is Hawaii.
Hawaii is one of the bluest states in the union. Some 34 percent of registered voters are Democrats, verus only 18 percent Republican. A whopping 43 percent are officially unaffiliated but tend to vote Democrat (voters do not have to register a political party.) About 61 percent of voters chose Kamala Harris over Trump in the last election. The governor is (always) a serious Democrat. The state legislature is handily controlled (always) by the Democratic party.
So it is no surprise that while most centers of resistance have chosen a passive cooperation model for dealing with ICE and the mass deportations, Hawaii has gone insane actively trying to place stumbling blocks in front of ICE. The legislature is considering fast-tracked (run to the head of the line of 122 previously submitted bills on various topics) immigration-related bills advocates believe are critical to putting up walls to protect immigrants from an administration eager to see them gone, along with other initiatives.
— One bill would push back on a Trump order rescinding a policy limiting where immigration enforcement actions can take place (such as schools, churches, courts, hospitals.) HB 440
— Another would appropriate funds so people in immigration court have access to an attorney. HB 438
— A third would require state and local law enforcement agencies to notify people in custody, in their native language, of their rights before immigration agents interview them. That bill would also require a person’s attorney to be notified before immigration authorities take them into custody. HB 457
— A fourth bill would prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from collaborating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement. HB 22
— There is also a bill making the rounds that would prohibit Hawaiian public lands from being used for immigrant detention centers. HB 73
— Before leaving for Washington D.C. to testify against RFK, Jr., the governor announced he was budgeting $20 million for the Attorney General’s Office to support lawsuits opposing Trump policies, including immigration.
— The ACLU of Hawaii said workshops are being planned to keep immigrants apprised of their legal rights.
You’d think all this and the liberal angst which accompanies it would be aimed at a large illegal population, but Hawaii has only about 41,000 illegals in the whole state, about half of whom are from the Philippines. And ICE has arrested for deportation all of 20 people to date.
In addition to over-reaction, hypocrisy is also well-practiced by the Democratic government of Hawaii. While fighting back against the Federal government over immigration, the Dems are more than happy to suck up funding at the public teat. Direct Pentagon spending pumps $7.2 billion into Hawaii’s economy, about 7.7 percent of the state’s GDP. Hawaii is second in the United States for the highest defense spending as a share of state GDP, and that’s just the overt stuff. Rumor has it the NSA has multiple facilities strewn around western Oahu with thousands of employees. All those government personnel, uniformed or covert, do a lot of personal spending in the local economy, much as they do in the modern day shanty towns which ring American facilities. Everyone relies on local utilities like water, power, and sewers, and those bases need engineers, plumbers, electricians, and others. Many are local residents either directly employed by DoD or working through contracts with private companies. The point is even more then tourism, this large sector of the economy is controlled by the government.
And speaking of socialism, another important sector of the Hawaiian economy is also government controlled, those who live entirely on public benefits. Benefits in Hawaii are the highest in the nation, an average of $49,175 and untaxed. For the last nine years Hawaii spent more on public welfare benefits, about 20 percent of the state budget, then it did on education. More than 1 out 10 people in Hawaii get food stamps (SNAP), though the number is higher if you include free lunches at school and meals for the elderly. Hawaii vies with California for the nation’s highest state income tax. Hawaii is nearly always one of the top states in terms of homelessness, poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and diabetes. The people behind those statistics live in a relationship with the ultra-rich that is mostly like those little fish that swim inside a shark’s gills.
The government in Hawaii owns the land. The Federal government owns about 20 percent of everything, and the state of Hawaii owns some 50 percent of the rest. Do Not Enter – U.S. Government Property signs are everywhere if you take a drive out of town. There are also plenty of private roads and gated communities to separate the rich from the poor, but the prize goes to Oracle owner Larry Ellison, who owns almost the entire island of Lanai. For the rest of the people, homeownership rates in Hawaii are some of the lowest in the nation. A third of the state’s residents are thinking of moving away due to high costs. Never mind California, this is what the results of the great Democrats’ Experiment looks like.
Then there is Lahaina, on Maui. The city was nearly completely destroyed by fire a year and a half ago. Over 2,000 properties with residential structures were either destroyed or suffered major damage. Those properties include multifamily buildings, meaning the number of individual units damaged or destroyed is likely higher. Yet after 18 months only a total of 3 of those homes have been rebuilt. The problem lies in bureaucratic red tape, specifically in high costs and long waits for building permits that were instituted over the past few years. County officials have only approved a fraction of the disaster recovery building permits submitted by homeowners, not exactly a model for California.
And worse yet, because of new, stricter laws, many people will be forced to rebuild under more burdensome regulations and restrictions than when those homes were first constructed, meaning many of them cannot be built back in the way they were previously. Locals contrast what’s happening on Maui with when Hurricane Iniki destroyed some 2,000 homes on the island of Kauai in 1992. Most of those homes were rebuilt within a year.
You’d think that with all those issues on the to-do list leaders’ attention might be focused somewhere other than on a handful of illegals getting busted by ICE. But then you wouldn’t be a member of the Democratic resistance of Hawaii.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1Hawaii is definitely an outlier. Highest cost of living state but still voted for Harris, when inflation concerns were the deciding factor in the 2024 election.
But speaking of Repug hypocrisy on socialism, Peter in fool disclosure is one of Those parasites in the Hawaiian economy government controlled, those who depend on public benefits. Benefits in Hawaii are the highest in the nation, an average of $49,175 and untaxed. Of course Musk and Trump are the biggest socialism parasites on the US economy, not having paid taxes for a decade.
02/12/25 9:05 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
2INFLATION, EGG PRICES, MORTGAGE RATES..
You’d think that with all those issues on the to-do list leaders’ attention might be focused somewhere other than on a handful of illegals getting busted by ICE. But then you wouldn’t be a member of the MAGA MORON CLUB.
Inflation picked up for a fourth straight month in January amid another rise in in food and energy costs, possibly setting the stage for a year of halting progress in the battle to slow consumer price increases as President Trump rolls out myriad import tariffs.
An underlying inflation measure also accelerated.
Consumer prices overall increased 3% from a year earlier, up from 2.9% the previous month, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index, a measure of goods and service costs across the U.S. That’s the most since June and above the 2.9% expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
AS INFLATION GROWS AND MAGA LOSE THEIR HOUSES, SO GROWS THE DEM CHANCES TO RETAKE THE HOUSE.
02/12/25 9:10 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3Let them eat sand
Republicans unveiled a broad outline of their plans for the federal budget, using cuts to social programs fr poor people to help pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for their RICH SUPPORTERS.
The budget outline indicates Republicans are planning $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over ten years. Spending cuts would offset part of that cost, but only part, so that meeting the blueprint’s goals would add trillions of dollars to the country’s deficit.
The document doesn’t specify exactly what programs to cut. But analysts say the clear implication is that Republicans are looking for deep reductions in programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, both of which serve low-income Americans.
Starve the bastards. Let them eat sand wiches.
02/12/25 5:52 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4Donnie Dementia better get his fat ars moving if he wants to reach the 11,000,000 deportations he promised MAGA. TO DATE, 4,000 MEXICANS, 350 COLOMBIANS, AND A HUNDRED GUATS, EL SALS HAVE BEEN DEPORTED. This is very distressing news for the orange clown who has very expensive eggs on his face and an Ukraine War that he promised to end several weeks ago. Prezidunce Musk is getting f-ing angry. If DD don’t start improving soon, Prezidunce Musk may replace him with his four year old.
02/12/25 9:09 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5Name change to solve the Trump Deportation Fiasco: Trumpland
The Trump Nazi Deportation final solution for the 11,000,000 has run out of gas. There is no more room at the ICE concentration camp for more than 30,000. The budget for ICE deportation airplanes is already crashing.
Here is the final solution that even Trump’s idol would approve: annex Mexico! Call it TRUMPLAND. F Greenland and Gaza. MUCH CHEAPER to resettle all these illegals in Mexico – TRUMPLAND by train.
02/13/25 2:05 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6Viva la idiota Donnie D
The Wall Street Journal slammed Donald D’s intellect in a scathing opinion piece published February 12. Titled “Trumponomics and Rising Inflation,” the article delivers a brutal assessment of the president’s recent Truth Social post, where he lowered interest rates “would go hand in hand with upcoming Tariffs!!!”
DD made the remark after consumer price inflation unexpectedly rose to 3 per cent. It prompted the WSJ to ask, “Does President Trump understand money?” “The answer would appear to be no after Mr. Trump called for lower interest rates,” the outlet added.
The outlet went on to explain why Trump’s idea to lower interest rates would backfire, causing inflation to soar. “The last thing Mr. Trump should be doing now is demanding that Mr. Powell cut rates further.” It warned that an “inflation revival” would be the “biggest threat” to his presidency.
“Real average earnings are flat over the last three months,” WSJ noted, adding that if that “persists,” Trump would not have “a 53% job approval rating for long.” The outlet explained that one of the key factors behind Biden’s election loss was his administration’s inability to get inflation under control. DD forgot?
Donnie D (who got all Ds in Wharton): It ain’t the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!”
02/13/25 2:56 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7Viva La Resistance, Pennsylvania Style
Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan is the latest swing-district Republican to issue a warning over deep spending cuts GOP leaders are targeting for key safety net programs in a bill to enact President Donald Trump’s massive domestic agenda.
“I ran for Congress under a promise of always doing what is best for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Bresnahan in a statement Friday. “If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it. Pennsylvania’s Eighth District chose me to advocate for them in Congress. These benefits are promises that were made to the people of NEPA and where I come from, people keep their word.”
Bresnahan could become a major problem for GOP leadership in the coming days. Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose only one vote on any party-line legislation he wants to pass on the House floor. That includes the budget resolution the House Budget Committee advanced Thursday night, which is the first step in allowing lawmakers to move ahead on drafting the measure to enact top legislative priorities through the filibuster-skirting reconciliation process.
You’d think that with all the economic issues on the to-do list leaders’ attention might be focused somewhere other than on a handful of illegals getting busted by ICE. But then you wouldn’t be a member of the Republican resistance in Pennsylvania.
02/14/25 5:35 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8Viva La Resistance, Donnie little Dicktator style
Donnie little Dicktator appeared to quote Napoleon Bonaparte after his blitzkrieg of executive actions and threats to federal agencies under Elon Musk were challenged in courts across the country, raising alarms that his administration is preparing to shred court orders and ignite a constitutional crisis.
“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” the president wrote on Truth Social and X.
The official White House account on X also shared the message, endorsing his apparent belief that the president of the United States is incapable of breaking any law, a position previously determined by the Trump Supreme Court.
Having the Prezidunce set precedent, in 2029, MAGA met its OWN Waterloo. President Newsom having defeated VDDance, arrested Repug members of Congress and The Trump Supreme Court and sent them all to an empty Guantanomo concentration camp.
At Waterloo, the little dicktator did surrender
Oh, yeah
And DD met his destiny in quite a similar way
The history book on the shelf
Is always repeating itself
Waterloo
MAGA was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo
Promise to love you forevermore
Waterloo
Couldn’t escape if YOU wanted to
Waterloo
Knowing MAGA fate is to be with you
Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo
Finally facing ITS Waterloo.
02/17/25 1:01 PM | Comment Link