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  • Advertiser duped?


    Is the Advertiser desperate to spank Linda Lingle for some reason, or are they being duped and manipulated by others who are? How else to explain the continued harping on the fundraising for Lingle's Asia trip of nearly a year ago? Thursday's front page story states once again that officials have found no wrongdoing with the fundraising. But the story's real main thrust is to question the lack of a signed contract for the fundraising, and Friday's editorial breathlessly jumps all over this.
    http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...604200369.html
    http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...9/1105/OPINION
    Okay, it all sounds a little fishy, but the main nonprofit that collected the money was only paid $7,000, and another nonprofit was only paid about $4,000, and the paper doesn't clarify whether this was taxpayer money or money raised by the private companies who donated a total of $268,000 for the trip. Apparently, no law or policy was violated by the lack of a contract. But the story says that a Lingle official "has said that the lack of a contract was not a deliberate attempt to sidestep procurement laws." Well is anyone else saying it was? When did you stop beating your wife? Then the story says the nonprofits (like all nonprofits) are not required to disclose some details of their expenditures, and are not required to bid competitively for services from subcontractors. So is anyone alleging that some payment by the nonprofit was shady, or that some potential bidder was improperly passed over for a chunk of that massive $11,000 windfall? Dunno, not in the story. But the story does say that the House and Senate have resolutions calling on the ethics commission and state auditor to look into all this. But as far as I know, such resolutions are not binding, and neither of those agencies have any real enforcement teeth. So could the resos be construed as transparently political posturing? Hmmmmm. Let's see, the House and Senate are both dominated by Democrats, and Lingle is a Republican running for re-election this year against a weak Democrat opponent. Maybe it's not necessary to state the obvious, that the Dems are desperate to stir up any mud that might stick to Lingle, but maybe it would be more politically mature to simply mention the partisan dynamics here, just to make it clear that this whole thing is not necessarily being swallowed hook, line and sinker by a paper that's too stupid to consider ulterior motives. The editorial at least mentioned that it's Democrats in the Legislature who are acting excited, something the story didn't touch the day before.
    Don't get me wrong, it's good that the Advertiser was aggressive enough to look into who donated money for the trip, and to publish this interesting information, especially if they came up with their questions on their own. But I doubt they did, and that story seems to be over, and no one seems to be alleging that any of the companies who gave money for the trip got their backs scratched in return. So now the Advertiser and some jackals in the legislature (who'd never grant special favors to these very same companies, mind you) are fuming over a grand total of $11,000, which may or may not have been state money, which was paid a year ago to two groups that provided the services they were paid to provide. They just didn't have a contract that they weren't required to have. The Advertiser is really starting to look like its being led around by the nose, and has been all along. Either that or someone over there just hates Lingle.

  • #2
    Re: Advertiser duped?

    agovgal, howzit and welcome.

    Could you please break up your paragraphs into smaller chunks? Use more white space! I'm getting a headache just looking at that massive text block. You'll get more people reading and responding to you if you make your posts more readable.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Advertiser duped?

      Hey Glen, when you're on a roll it's hard to stop for punctuation but at least she put spaces between her words

      As to the Advertiser, it must have been a slow news day or something. Hmmm Agovgal....Hmmmm A Government Gal...Hmmmmmmm...Governor Linda Lingle...Hmmmmm...could it be? Hmmmmmmm...nah she's too busy to chat with us. Must be a state worker cruzin the internet at work...Hmmmmm
      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Advertiser duped?

        Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro
        agovgal, howzit and welcome.

        Could you please break up your paragraphs into smaller chunks? Use more white space! I'm getting a headache just looking at that massive text block. You'll get more people reading and responding to you if you make your posts more readable.
        Thanks for mentioning this, Glen. I gave up after a couple of sentences for exactly the reasons you mention.

        And, yes, welcome agovgal. Please take the above as constructive criticism.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Advertiser duped?

          Point well taken. One more time:


          Is the Advertiser desperate to spank Linda Lingle for some reason, or are they being duped and manipulated by others who are? How else to explain the continued harping on the fundraising for Lingle's Asia trip of nearly a year ago?

          Thursday's front page story states once again that officials have found no wrongdoing with the fundraising. But the story's real main thrust is to question the lack of a signed contract for the fundraising, and Friday's editorial breathlessly jumps all over this.

          http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar...604200369.html
          http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...9/1105/OPINION

          Okay, it all sounds a little fishy, but the main nonprofit that collected the money was only paid $7,000, and another nonprofit was only paid about $4,000, and the paper doesn't clarify whether this was taxpayer money or money raised by the private companies who donated a total of $268,000 for the trip.

          Apparently, no law or policy was violated by the lack of a contract. But the story says that a Lingle official "has said that the lack of a contract was not a deliberate attempt to sidestep procurement laws." Well is anyone else saying it was? When did you stop beating your wife?

          Then the story says the nonprofits (like all nonprofits) are not required to disclose some details of their expenditures, and are not required to bid competitively for services from subcontractors. So is anyone alleging that some payment by the nonprofit was shady, or that some potential bidder was improperly passed over for a chunk of that massive $11,000 windfall? Dunno, not in the story.

          But the story does say that the House and Senate have resolutions calling on the ethics commission and state auditor to look into all this. But as far as I know, such resolutions are not binding, and neither of those agencies have any real enforcement teeth. So could the resos be construed as transparently political posturing?

          Hmmmmm. Let's see, the House and Senate are both dominated by Democrats, and Lingle is a Republican running for re-election this year against a weak Democrat opponent. Maybe it's not necessary to state the obvious, that the Dems are desperate to stir up any mud that might stick to Lingle, but maybe it would be more politically mature to simply mention the partisan dynamics here, just to make it clear that this whole thing is not necessarily being swallowed hook, line and sinker by a paper that's too stupid to consider ulterior motives. The editorial at least mentioned that it's Democrats in the Legislature who are acting excited, something the story didn't touch the day before.

          Don't get me wrong, it's good that the Advertiser was aggressive enough to look into who donated money for the trip, and to publish this interesting information, especially if they came up with their questions on their own. But I doubt they did, and that story seems to be over, and no one seems to be alleging that any of the companies who gave money for the trip got their backs scratched in return.

          So now the Advertiser and some jackals in the legislature (who'd never grant special favors to these very same companies, mind you) are fuming over a grand total of $11,000, which may or may not have been state money, which was paid a year ago to two groups that provided the services they were paid to provide. They just didn't have a contract that they weren't required to have.

          The Advertiser is really starting to look like its being led around by the nose, and has been all along. Either that or someone over there just hates Lingle.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Advertiser duped?

            And the Democrats scamming money with that East Coast State (forget) in some laundering money scheme??? Happened last 1 or 2 months. But somehow;

            Silence.

            Classic Hawaii. Plantation Democrats always owned the Advertiser. One of the reasons Hawaii is as Hawaii is.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Advertiser duped?

              Originally posted by agovgal
              Apparently, no law or policy was violated by the lack of a contract. But the story says that a Lingle official "has said that the lack of a contract was not a deliberate attempt to sidestep procurement laws." Well is anyone else saying it was?
              I'm saying it was. Start reading here and follow the links to earlier posts.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Advertiser duped?

                Lingle's not the only one going on junkets. Maui's Mayor Alan Arakawa is off to the Philippines with his wife and a hundred or so other people on a "goodwill" mission that will last 2 weeks. Wonder who's paying for THAT?

                Miulang
                "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Advertiser duped?

                  Good points. It could be that Lingle guys deliberately tried to sidestep procurement law, but for only $11,000? Maybe it was driven by haste more than influence. I think the real question is whether anyone who contributed the big money for this got anything in return, not the semantics of the contractual arrangement. So far, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of backscratching, and no one seems too concerned that there was, except for the Advertiser, which continues to occaisionally emit an offical harumph about all this, and the legislature's triggermen, whose straight-arrow posturing is the most hilarious aspect of this entire farce.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Advertiser duped?

                    Hmmmmmm...how interesting...(scratches chin with a smirk)

                    The plot thickens as we tune in to Rush Limbaugh for an answer
                    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Advertiser duped?

                      I suspect that sometimes when state workers violate the procurement laws, it's not because they're going to gain personally. It's because the damn paperwork is too much humbug.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Advertiser duped?

                        Like posting on HT during working hours on government computers?
                        Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Advertiser duped?

                          Yawns! Coming out of hibernation for a lil' while. Dis is getting interesting.

                          Howdy gang! I'm still alive!

                          Auntie Lynn
                          Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
                          Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Advertiser duped?

                            Originally posted by 1stwahine
                            Howdy gang! I'm still alive!
                            Auntie Lynn
                            Glad you are back, too.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Advertiser duped?

                              Originally posted by Miulang
                              Lingle's not the only one going on junkets.
                              Absolutely. For instance, the Star-Bulletin had the following letter in today's issue:

                              Where is the mayor when disaster strikes?
                              I feel that sometimes I am playing the game "Where is Waldo?" but the difference here is that I am looking for our mayor. When New York City faced its 9/11 disaster, its mayor was right there the whole time. When New Orleans faced its hurricane disaster, its mayor was there all the time, standing by his city.
                              Honolulu is facing its worst disasters -- flooding, people dying and getting sick from sewage, landslides, roads ravaged by storms, corruption in city departments. Where is our mayor? Mufi Hannemann is traveling, looking at trains in China. Our mayor returns home long enough for photo opportunities and to place blame on the previous mayor for all our city's troubles. So far Mufi has managed to take a trip abroad every month (more than our governor). It is time our mayor focuses on his home city and the basic priorities at hand. If you need to look at trains, have them come to you or get a video. A mayor leads by example, and so far Mufi's examples are poor ones.
                              Chris Correa
                              Kailua


                              I hadn't realized that Mufi had taken one trip every month. Wow.
                              .
                              .

                              That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

                              Comment

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