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On Politics Richard Borreca |
Money might even
unite major partiesHawaii's Democrats are gambling that generosity in government will translate into generosity in the voting booth next year.
Democrats generally view government as a big buddy. If life is filled with injustice, then it is the duty of government to right those wrongs and solve those problems. Who will speak for the little guy if we don't? say the Democrats.
Republicans are more likely to consider government wasteful and too eager to levy taxes. We are nothing without economic growth, says the GOP.
With Republican Governor Lingle at the helm, however, the Democrats are forced to defend the tricky proposition that spending is better than saving.
While Republicans have viewed the Democrats' state governance as irrational exuberance, the Democrats break out in hives if they haven't answered nearly every constituent's plea for aid.
This year the Legislature's gifts that went out to nonprofits and charities were paid with money from the state's "rainy day" fund. Lingle promptly line-item vetoed the appropriations from the fund.
The key to her argument is that the expenditures from the rainy day fund, about $3.6 million, came without competitive bid and without any analysis or weighing of alternatives. It was like a one-time, free reward. And Lingle's administration didn't overlook the fact that many of the private programs are headed by Democratic Party loyalists.
Lingle also argued that she did approve the state budget, which includes a 9.4 percent increase in spending for the Human Services Department.
Left unsaid is the old GOP arguing point that state taxation, at $2,865 per capita, is the second-highest in the nation.
The new Republican administration, meanwhile, is starting to see some payoff after its announcement seven months ago that Hawaii was becoming a "business-friendly state."
During the annual Chamber of Commerce luncheon, incoming president Robin Campaniano had some personal praise for the new governor.
He mentioned that Lingle noted that his firm, AIG Hawaii Insurance Co., was doing well.
"I felt a little reservation, because had that conversation taken place with the prior administration, as it did, I would have felt extremely uncomfortable, because the idea of businesses doing well was something that perhaps was not appreciated by the prior administrations," Campaniano said.
Not only is Campaniano a top-level insurance executive, he is the state's former insurance commissioner, University of Hawaii regent, stadium authority member and Democratic Party officer.
Last week he called Lingle's administration "refreshingly helpful and sympathetic to the needs of Hawaii's business community."
Hawaii's labor community probably would find little help, refreshing or otherwise, in Lingle's labor-management theories, and it will be up to the Democrats to make sure their union and social service base expands for next year's elections.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Richard Borreca writes on politics every Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached at 525-8630 or by e-mail at rborreca@starbulletin.com.