Conservative, Non-partisan E Komo Mai !
Do the math
April 30, 2012 http://new.grassrootinstitute.org/do-the-math/
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/commentary/their-views/do-math.html
Do The Math
by Edward Gutteling
April 27, 2012
“ I’m trying to think, but nuttin’ happens ! ”
Curly Howard, The Three Stooges: Calling All Curs, 1939
All too often it seems our political leaders take actions that just don’t add up. Perhaps they didn’t think it through all the way themselves, or perhaps they really did but they are deliberately hoping we don’t figure it out on our own.
Take for example the recent proud purchase of 5 Chevy Volt cars for the County of Hawaii by Mayor Kenoi. A recent news article shows him standing like a proud papa next to the shiny cars at the formal blessing and display ceremony, proclaiming “It couldn’t come at a better time, when we look at rising fuel prices....Hopefully we can grow the electric fleet and have it be the county fleet.”
These plug-in-electric / gas hybrids cost us $47,000 each, totaling $235,000 for five. They can go about 30 miles on electric power alone, then need recharging. When the gas engine kicks in, they get about 37mpg and require premium gas. Recharging the 16 kwH battery daily at our highest-in-the-nation electric rates, about 40 cent / kwH, costs about $6.40 / day.
For less than half the purchase price ($21,000) , a comparable sized and powered Chevy Cruze uses regular gas and gets about 30 mpg. Lets take an extreme case, and say gas is $5.00/gallon. That means that the Volt costs $1.40/day more than the Cruze to drive 30 miles, and costs twice as much to buy. For the same cost we could have had eleven Chevy Cruze, and saved on operating costs as well.
And we’re supposed to be proud and pleased about this? For spending more and getting less?
Somehow the thrill of being “green”, and “independence from foreign oil” doesn’t quite add up. This is especially so as the electricity is still being generated from mostly “foreign oil” and other “fossil fuels”, anyway.
The same sort of “logic” was driving the recent attempt to get approval for the Aina Koa Pono Ka‘ū Energy Farm, to cost $350 million on 13,000 Ka’u acres. They expected a guaranteed purchase price from Hawaii Electric Light Co. and also a 15% state tax credit. The bio-fuel would have cost $170/barrel.
Oil has never sustained a price above $110/barrel for more than 6 months, ever. This was expected to raise the electricity costs for residents by nearly $2.00/month if shared with Oahu, and much more if only the Big Island residents were to be responsible for the required purchase of 16 million gallons/year.
The State consumer advocate, who’s supposed legal remit is to look out for the interests of ratepayers, recommended that the contract be approved. Big Island politicians were notably silent about the whole deal. Fortunately, the state Public Utilities Commission unanimously rejected the contract saying that the cost of the fuel was “excessive, not cost-effective, and thus, is unreasonable and inconsistent with the public interest.” Hawaiian Electric issued a statement saying, "We are very disappointed by the Public Utilities Commission's decision”.
It makes one wonder about the perpetuation of “pono”.
As for why we are so dependant on “foreign oil” in the first place, it is because most of the crude oil used in Hawaii cannot be purchased from the US or even Canada for that matter, and instead comes from South East Asia. This is because of the Jones Act requirements of using only US built, flagged and crewed vessels for transport from the mainland. As there aren’t such tankers available, in Hawaii we are forced to rely on foreign vessels and they can only bring foreign oil. Who supports such a scheme, that costs us all extra as a result? Nearly the entire array of our political leaders in Hawaii.
All these schemes have a common element: the vast majority of Hawaii citizens end up with higher costs of living and lives that are just a little more difficult. This is what our leaders call “sustainable”.
This is what conservatives call a road to poverty and hardship.
Do the math.
Dr. Gutteling is vice-president of the Conservative Forum for Hawaii
also publised in:
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/do-the-math/123
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2012/04/27/guest-column-do-the-math/
If you missed it: February forum now on na leo community television
In case you missed it, second chance for you all:
on Cable Channel 54
February's Forum featured 
Heritage Heritage Foundation’s Director of Domestic Policy Studies Jennifer Marshall speaking on school reform.
Na Leo Community Televison recorded the Forum, and is broadcasting the event with 6 showings
Broadcast schedule: (please check TV Guide to confirm, as changes do occur)
4pm Thursday 22 March
11am Saturday 24 March
6pm Tuesday 27 March
6pm Thursday 29 March
2pm Sunday 1 April
8:30pm Friday 6 April
Sunday, February 05, 2012
| Heritage Foundation held First-Ever Event in Hawaii By Andrew Walden :: |
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The Ratchet Only Goes One Way
The Ratchet Only Goes One Way
Politicians gone wild
By EDWARD GUTTELING March 5, 2012
Give us back some rights 30 March, 2012
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/sections/opinion/letters/give-us-back-some-rights.html
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/the-ratchet-only-goes-one-way-politicians-gone-wild/123
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/2012/03/06/guest-column-the-ratchet-only-goes-one-way/
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/03/the-ratchet-only-goes-one-way/
http://www.daylife.com/article/07xz99LdlS5Hr?__site=daylife&q=gutteling
" We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Unfortunately, these noble words are from the Declaration of Independence, not our Constitution. From these principles Americans claim a unique and revolutionary legacy: that every person possess their own sovereignty just by being born, and that these rights don't come from any government or person.
Individuals have all the rights and give a few of them up voluntarily to our governments. This is the basic principle on which our country was founded, but they are not the law. This is in direct contrast with an opposing view: that government has all the rights and powers and gives whatever it decides is appropriate back to individuals.
Note the incredible distinction: Who is the master, and who is the servant?
Most folks expect that our government leaders were elected with this concept in mind, to keep us safe, to manage our grouped resources most efficiently for our mutual benefit, but to otherwise respect our sovereignty to live our lives as we each choose. Nearly all of us grew up understanding this intuitively as part of American culture. Bit by bit, however, it's been turned on its head. Like frogs not noticing the boiling temperature if the heat is turned up slowly, our community lets our freedoms die progressively and allow politicians more and more power over our daily lives.
A small recent example is the Hawaii County ban on plastic bags. Apart from the bogus "voodoo environomic" claims about the benefits — all of which are contradicted by scientific fact — it is another small grab of power by our government. Five of the nine council members and the mayor tell 185,000 people another tiny detail of how to live their lives without even the courtesy of a referendum, where at least we'd all get a vote. This is the latest of many such laws micro-managing daily life: what light bulbs to buy, shower heads, toilet bowls, water heaters, windows, types of fat in our foods, salt content, what to pack our kids for lunch in school. Next up, banning paper bags and Styrofoam. There is even pressure to tell us what toilet paper to use. (No, I am not making that up.)
At the other end of the rights spectrum is the Obamacare law mandating everyone obtain government-specified health insurance. If you are alive and breathing, you must obey — no exceptions. The Supreme Court will decide if this is unconstitutional, but if it stands the entire fabric of our country will be changed, forever.
There will be nothing the government cannot require or prevent us from doing. They would have the legal power to require anyone to do nearly anything: join a health club, buy vegetables daily, buy a new General Motors car yearly, etc. There would be no legal limit to prevent that, only the whim of the politicians. They are the master, we are the servants, and we will only receive whatever liberties they decide to dribble out to us. With enough public relations and spin to give them support, they can decide every detail of our lives. For our own good, of course. Because we're just not smart enough to know how to live our lives on our own. It takes a village, with them in charge.
There is no end to it, once the politicians taste the power of telling us what to do. When was the last time a law was passed giving us back an individual right or power? Never. The ratchet only goes one way — only towards less personal sovereignty and rights, and more government power and control. So what can freedom-loving Americans do? First, recognize the problem and resist at every turn. Demand accountability from our council members and mayor and that they respect our individual sovereignty and stop passing such laws. Change our county charter to put the power back in the hands of the people, for true consent of the governed. Refuse to vote for any politician who does not respect our freedoms, including President Obama and all the other Obamacare supporters. There is a better way. The founding fathers got it right.
Ed Gutteling, a Hilo physician, is vice president of the Conservative Forum for Hawaii.