Fact Check
On the KEY Project and Endorsements:
The Hawaii Democratic Party wanted to let you know that unacceptable campaign practices are occurring in House District 47. Colleen Meyer recently sent to voters a brochure with pictures of John Reppun and other KEY Project staff. John is a highly respected member of the community. It is a real positive to have him in your brochure. However John and the KEY Project folks did not endorse Colleen Meyer nor did they give her permission to use the photo in the brochure. Indeed KEY is a non profit organization and they don't do campaign endorsements.
Cokie Robert's Statements on Hawaii
August 20, 2008
I’m sure by now, most of you have heard (or at least heard about) the statement made by Cokie Roberts on “This Week.” You could probably do a Google search for ‘Cokie and Obama’ or ‘Cokie and Hawai‘i’ and find it, but just in case:
[G]oing off this week to a vacation in Hawaii doesn’t make any sense whatsoever...it has the look of him going off to some foreign, exotic place. He should be in Myrtle Beach.
Hawai‘i is actually a State in the Union. We have two Representatives in the House and two Senators. And we can vote for President.
The strong show of support for Obama is readily apparent in the more than 37,000 people who turned out to participate in the Caucuses on February 19, 2008. This figure represents more than a seven fold increase in turnout for the Hawai‘i caucuses from any previous year.
Obama’s visit to O‘ahu was also an opportunity for him to raise $1.3 for his campaign.
Sure Hawai‘i may be a beautiful, far away vacation spot, but people actually LIVE here. We have working class families with the same problems as those on the mainland.
Here are some other, not so exotic facts about the 50th State which have most likely eluded her:
~ According to the National Priorities Project, Hawai‘i tax payers have contributed $2.1 billion to the cost of the war.
~ According to the Veterans for America’s Wounded Warrior Outreach Program, Hawai‘i soldiers bear a disproportionate share of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
~ According to icasualties.org 155 soldiers from Hawai‘i have been killed or wounded in Iraq.
~ As of February 2008, according the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority’s Homeless Management Information System “the number of homeless in Hawai‘i on any given day [is] 11,514 persons.”
Fact Checking Ted Hong's Smears Against Dwight Takamine
August 17, 2008
A recent letter to the editor by supporters of Republican Ted Hong published in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald (Sun., 8/17/08) made conclusions based on inaccurate calculations. The statement by Rep. Takamine that “…more than 80% of this reporting period’s contributions were from people who gave $100 or less,” is correct.
The Facts:
- 846 total donors in this reporting period
- 703 of the 846 or 83% were $100 or less
- 78% of the total contributions came from non-unions, businesses and individuals
The calculations made by Hong’s supporters failed to account for the fact that the Campaign Spending Commission’s reports that are available online do not list all the contributions of less than $100.
Dylan Nonaka made the same error and published his erroneous conclusions in a letter to the editor in the Hawai‘i Free Press (2/21/08). The Friends of Dwight Takamine has accounted for every name and contribution as required by law.
Based on these numbers, I believe this is reflective of the grassroots nature of his support that Rep. Takamine has received down through the years and into this campaign to become the next State Senator from District 1.
Curtis Takai
Campaign Treasurer
Setting the Record Straight, Again
August 6, 2008
* "And, while Ironworkers Local 625 contributed $5,500 to the 1st District state Senate campaign of Dwight Takamine, Takamine's campaign returned $1,500 to the union to stay within campaign spending limits. The Tribune-Herald regrets the errors." -- Hawai'i Tribune-Herald 8/6/08