“Hope” dismisses my observations as a “rhetorical mountain of hate” and quotes Borreca’s June 4, 2009, Star Bulletin article entitled “Furloughs set off trash talk” which states in pertinent part that:

“Lingle also insisted she has negotiated with the unions, saying that she has held individual meetings with all four of the state union leaders, and met with the University of Hawaii and Board of Education officials, but has been stymied by the unions.
“They wanted to wait,” she said. “They thought they could get the Legislature to raise taxes. There was a reluctance on their part to come in.
“It is not that there was no proposal on our part. I have been talking to the unions since last September,” Lingle said, adding that Perreira’s dismissal of her claims to be bargaining are “disingenuous.” ”

Randy Perreira had succintly summed up Lingle’s smokescreen – so ingeniously put together by Russell Pang and Lenny Klompus – by bluntly stating earlier in Borreca’s story that: “It is the governor who has been LYING to the press. She has been lying to the Legislature about how close to an agreement she is with other unions,” Perreira said. “Now she is fooling herself into thinking that people agree with her.” [Capital letters supplied].

I am sorry that Hope chooses to ignore factual information – something foreign to Lingle-Pang-Klompus.

“In response, Perreira said Lingle has made three offers and all included at least 16 furlough days a year. Now, Lingle is set to impose furloughs of 36 days a year under her Monday plan.”