Senator Sam Slom to Speak at June TPM Meeting
Senator Sam Slom to Speak at June TPM Meeting
TEA Party Maui is very pleased to announce that Hawaii Republican State Senator Sam Slom will be the guest speaker at our June General Meeting . Sam has been our State Senator for 17 years . “ No Consequences for Bad Government Behavior in Hawaii ” will be the topic of his speech to TPM . In addition to his legislative duties , Senator Slom is very much involved in the business world . He is President and Executive director of Smart Business Hawaii for which he authors a monthly journal report to its membership , and President-Owner of SMS Consultants . Sam broadcasts a routinely scheduled hour on the Rick Hamada Show on KHVH radio and occasionally replaces Mr . Hamada as moderator of his 3-hour show . Senator Slom ’ s writings have appeared in Forbes Magazine , The Economist , Money magazine , USA Today , National Review , Pacific Business News , Washington Post , Wall Street Journal , and Investor ’ s News Daily . He has also been interviewed on CNN and Fox News . This promises to be a great evening with the lone Republican Senator from our Hawaii State Legislature . Mark your calendar for 6:00 PM , Thursday , June 13th in the Garden Center Room at Kalama Heights Community Center on 101 Kanani Road in Kihei .
by Kay Ghean Exciting and educational aren ' t words we normally associate with County Council meetings . However , May ' s budget meetings may very well be an exception . Entering the middle of the arena , fully armed with years of budgeting experience , appeared the hero , Councilman and Budget Committee Chair , Mike White . Near him strode Councilmen Don Couch and Riki Hokama ; each known to squeeze the most out of every collected tax dollar . Circling our hero were long time tax and spend enthusiasts , Councilmembers Gladys Baisa and Mike Victorino armed with fully developed skills at squeezing the most possible tax dollars out of every tax payer . The opening remarks of Chair White made it clear the budget expenses would be closely examined . Behaving more like a successful businessman than a politician , he announced the Council must consider the slow economy , unemployment and citizens living on fixed incomes . With these in mind , the County should keep spending unchanged from last year ; thereby not increasing the tax burden on already stressed tax payers . Even before discussing the alternative budget proposed by Chair White , the gasps from Council members Baisa and
The Tax Dance
Pono Press , June 2013 , Page 7
( Update : the 2013 Hawaii State Legislation ( Part 1 ), Continued from page 6 )
overall effect our testimony may have had on the bills . As I had stated earlier , all public testimony is available for viewing on PAR , and as an illustrative example ; 6 bills involving gun control were all heavily opposed ( by at least a margin of 10 to 1 ), yet 2 of the bills still managed to make it through the process despite the fact that one of those bills ( SB 69 ) also faced major opposition . I would say ( cynically , but realistically ) that lobbyists , organized liberal and / or environmental advocates , and union support for any bill ( not the least of which is due to their ability and willingness to appear in person at hearings ) far outweighs any opposition from the general public . For next year ’ s TPM effort , some consideration has been given to waiting until after the first crossover before taking on assignments to track and testify on bills . This would obviously substantially reduce the number of bills that we would have to read and sift through for further scrutiny and testimony and might help volunteers to more selectively and effectively focus on bills . Despite the inability to definitively assess the impact of our testimony on the ultimate fate of the bills , it is , nevertheless , a very important function we serve to let the legislature know that someone is monitoring their actions and can hold them accountable for the bills they may have authored or pushed through the legislature . In the next Pono Press Issue : Part 2 — more about the bills that passed .
Victorino made front page news ! " Draconian !" Fear and trepidation rippled through various county officials and the non-profits . Could it really be possible that the always available hydrant of tax dollars would be closed ? Viewers of the proceedings watched as the mix of logic and compromise came to votes . The push and pull continued for weeks , resulting in a small increase in year-to -year spending . Good news , one would think . Not quite finished , the Council ' s next move was to increase property taxes . This time , the Homeowners escaped an increase but not Business , the economic life blood of Maui . Business taxes increased which , in the end , make goods and services more expensive for everyone . As Government Unions receive pay increases and government grows ; tax payers are expected to obediently pay the tab . Predictably the next year , Government Unions again receive pay increases and tax payers have long ago learned the dance . The people in the band may change but the dance will always be the same until we elect Council members willing to stand " in the middle of the arena '" and support those who oppose a tax and spend .... and tax mentality .