Thanks to Big Island blogger Damon Tucker for flagging this story told by an attorney who was dispatched to Honolulu just after statehood to enforce federal antitrust laws.
The interlocking directorships of Hawaii’s Big Five companies were easy pickings, even for the inexperienced antitrust team, but there’s more to the story.
Thanks, Damon.
I think “>AP writer Herbert Sample has the right of it–crimping the flow of Congressional earmarks will hit Hawaii harder than most other states.
Here’s a list of earmarks that benefited Hawaii in 2010, including everything from crime prevention to agricultural research, and everything in between. It’s drawn from the database compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, which includes past years as well and is searchable by state or by individual member of Congress.
Discover more from i L i n d
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Wow! Had to get out the magnifying glass to read the document , but I really don’t find a lot of “waste” in the listed items.
One state department which is really, really going to suffer is DLNR.
Another is Human Services.
But then these are the wasteful governmentally-intervening agencies that the Teaparty types want to get rid of – let the private sector or the churches deal with these issues.
On a sort-of related issue: Doe Sarah Palin have a decent chance to win the GOP presidential nomination? If she does, will she win?
Frankly, I’ve dismissed her from the start and haven’t paid any attention to her until the past couple of weeks so please take some time to eddificate those of us who thought she’d fall down a hole somewhere and be disappeared.
Just make the font bigger in your browser for easier reading of the earmarks pdf.
Earmarks are an example of where ones philosophical beliefs can become incongruent with practical benefits.
Obama stridently campaigned for the ending of earmarks. Most people cringe at last minute line items being added to 1000 page bills.
When I rode the TheBoat between Kalaeloa and Honolulu, it was full of tourists and curious residents paying $2 for a $50 trip. When I saw the diesel truck filling that Catalina Express transplant ferry with thousand of gallons of fuel to carry a couple dozen of us on federal pork boat ride — I knew this wasn’t green and I knew my grandkids would be paying for it. I still enjoyed the ride.
No easy answers here — except maybe passing the buck to our grandkids. Enough rambling for on day — I’ll crawl back into my crab pot.
How can anyone take Sarah Palin seriously? She couldn’t even complete her term as governor. What makes people think she is capable of being president?! She’s such an airhead!
How can anyone take George W. Bush seriously? He couldn’t even complete his (second) term as governor. What makes people think he is capable of being president?! He’s such an airhead!
I’m old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was called a “Dark Horse”.
And don’t forget good ol’ Dick Nixon!!!!
lol
Just watch … earmarks will continue unabated, but the money will be going to states and congressional districts represented by Republicans.
What is the total budget for this fiscal year? I tried to do a search, but it will take a lot longer to get the figures together than I have time today.
However, am I off the mark if I say that the (aalmost) $17 BILLION represents about less than one sixth of one percent of the total budget?
Re Sarah Palin: I cannot believe that the reasonably intelligent conservative voters could possibly accept her.
Ian,
Thanks to you (and Damon) for the link to the story of the young attorney who came to Hawaii to use anti-trust laws against he Big Five. We can all benefit from a reminder of how bad the domination was during the Big Five/GOP rein in Hawaii and how the courageous application of a few laws could help.
Unfortunately, nobody in either party seems to understand the importance of anti-trust legislation to break up monopolies and liberate competition. In the mellowing of my old age, I have come to appreciate the creativity of competitive capitalism. Adam Smith is actually a fun read for progressive-minded people for exactly the same reason he has disappeared from the bookshelves of modern reactionaries. He was, at the core, a liberal, out to undermine undeserved privilege and liberate human creativity.
Despite the idealization of the Boston Tea Party, most of today’;s conservatives are reactionaries who would have aligned with King George and those American landowners allied with him. The craze for “libertarian” and laissez-faire terminology is largely financed by mega-corporations who have benefited from government grants for mineral extraction or government “defense” contracts. The “liberty” they profess to be seeking is the “liberty” to avoid environmental and anti-trust regulation, from wage and hour laws. It is as if Sam Adams were on the payroll of the East India Company, with the Sons of Liberty their unwitting tools.
Ignore my rantings, but read Carl Steinhouse’s short, light remembrance of his small role in helping crack the Big Five control of Hawaii.
Thanks for your service, Carl.
Bart Dame flagged your blog for me. Let me say that I had a ball enforcing the antitrust laws in Hawaii. The Antitrust Division seriously wanted to enforce the antitrust laws back in the early 60’s (once I had deaigned to use the proper bureaucratic procedures). My wife and I loved living in Lanakai and would have retired there if it wasn’t so far from our grand kids on the East coast. So we did the next best thing–retired to Naples, Florida!
Incidentally, there are several more articles I wrote for the Naples Daily News on early antitrust enforcement in Hawaii.
Aloha, Carl
Carl,
Can you provide a link to those stories? As a Hawaii history buff, I would love to read them.
And yes, thanks for your service indeed!
Thanks,
Bart
Many thanks for your comment. Are those other articles available online? I’m sure other readers would be interested!