Posted on 01/02/2010 7:22:57 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
The plunge in tourism has resulted in soaring unemployment and home foreclosures, a shortened school year and an exodus from the state. Some residents blame the visiting President Obama.
Hawaii was so short of cash last year that it furloughed teachers and suspended school for 17 Fridays during the academic year, giving students the fewest school days of any state in the union. Home foreclosures and bankruptcy filings are soaring. The unemployment rate has more than doubled over the last two years to 7.0%. Though that's well below the national average of 10.0%, it's a stunner for a place that just a few years ago boasted a jobless rate of less than 3%.
For the first time in a decade, the number of Hawaiians receiving welfare benefits has increased. Crime is up on the island of Oahu this year, even as it fell nationwide. And as if things weren't discouraging enough, an army of rats in Honolulu's Chinatown is afflicting the already beleaguered restaurant trade.
Some Hawaiians are underwhelmed by the return of their native son. In the scruffy town of Wahiawa on Oahu, far from the beaches and fancy hotels, some locals waiting by a pawnshop for the bus were decidedly ambivalent about the president.
"It's not good here -- there are no jobs," said Hu Toelupe, who said she didn't expect to see the president and didn't care if she missed him.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
All liberal-run hellholes deserve what they get. Unfortunately, those not so inclined politically must also suffer. The president, mr. i’m-on-vacation-mode-all-the-time, seems oblivious to all around him. Loser.
except it's in the friggin' middle of an ocean....thousands of miles from Upstate NY....while Virgina or the Carolinas are a couple of hours away.
Hey Hawaii how’s that government mandated health care system working out for you?
What’s up with the coordinated outfits on the girls? (Did David Axelrod pick those blue shirts to make BO look good?) And where’d they hire the token white girl?
gasp! the girls are in uniform wearing blue tops and white bottoms.
"The system is broken here," she said. "He can get a much better education in Taiwan."
Hey Sonia,
The Bamster traded Taiwan to Red China for underwriting the first year of BamaCare; didn't you hear?
Are those sunglasses or does he have horns growing out of his head?
They've been in the statehouse for years.
Truly comfortable in his envionment. Just a little girl hanging out with friends.
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No, she lets him play video games on Fridays. Probably Saturdays and Sundays and every other day of the week. But of couse, it's the state's fault and not her fault.
Hawaii’s “native” son comes home and shuts down a 10 mile radius of air space so the island hoppers and sightseeing helicopters are grounded for a week during the high season.
Was sent out at Kaneohe air station to install software about that time. Saw the same poverty away from the tourist areas. Waikiki Beach was a disappointment - very narrow. Looked like Miami West with all the hotels and condos. No likee Windward Side.
Toured the Kahuku sugar mill and thought the Windward side was better as it was not as heavily commercialized. Went to the beach where the notorious surfing "Banzai Pipeline" on the North Shore was, but no monstrous waves - gotta have a storm offshore for that.
Downside: Typical work ethic of the Pacific Islands - everybody but the Hawaiians came to work on time. They shuffled in whenever they felt like it with no penalty. Ate at a Chinese restaurant and some drunken Hawaiian stands at the door and yells that "haoles" (non-native) are like skunks - black and white and stink. The owner was embarrassed and hustled the guy out.
Upside: The mixed race women were the most beautiful I have ever seen. Asian/Caucasan girls were stunners. (I couldn't remember my name half the time.) Budding politicians didn't have much money so they got beautiful high school girls to stand along the road, waving to the drivers and holding up placards with the candidates names. Most trashcans on city streets had "mahalo" on them (Thank You). The Big Joke going around was that some tourists thought it was Hawaiian for "trash can".
A beautiful place in some spots but overblown tourism, native slackness and bad attitude kept me from ever going there on a holiday.
Private schools must be proliferating even more?
Are there strong networks for homeschoolers?
Let them eat ice...
Like most parents, she has absorbed the government promoted notion that education is the responsibility of our highly trained education professionals, not amateurs like parents. Her parents no doubt bought that assumption, as did likely her grandparents. It all she knows and, besides, it’s easier not having to be responsible. This is 85-90% of America, including most “conservatives” (whose government schools are, of course, “different”).
"Hawaii officials hope the Obama's visit will help turn around a deep slump in tourism"
ROFLOL! Hoping for change is not a good economic strategy.
It is critical to note that after years of steady increases in growth (except for 9/11), the first drop in Japanese tourist numbers occurred in January 2007, just a month after the start of our smoking ban. This was the catalyst that began Hawaii's march off the economic cliff and the resulting bankruptcies and unemployment hikes. more
In January 2007, just one month later, the slide began, way before today's convenient excuses of airline closures, fuel charges, mortgage meltdowns, exploding gas prices and the plummeting dollar, just to name a few. Sadly, we are now nearing the 24th month of consecutive decline in Japan numbers. Isn't it odd that Japan outbound tourism is up more than 5 percent? They're going somewhere. Hello! The painting rosy of a bad picture by the Hawaii Tourism Authority is laughable. Do we look that stupid? It's like spray painting a pile of poo with pink paint hoping nobody recognizes what it really is. more
Hawaii is very dependent on Japanese tourism for the success of its hospitality industry and even for its general economy. Japanese outgoing tourism is up by 5% at the same time that Hawaii's incoming Japanese tourism is down by 7%. podcast
Just for your information:
HB1825 of 2007 Smoking ban on the beach and in the parks was successfully repelled on Tuesday February 27, 2007. No Media coverage of course, why would they let people know the bullet they just dodged. source
Article says unemployment rate in Hawaii is 7%! And THEY are complaining? California would love to have such a low rate.
Every time there is a thread about Hawaii the “Experts” come out of the woodwork to tell us all how bad it is and how no one should ever want to go there.
News Flash: Spending a week in a hotel somewhere twenty years ago does not make anyone an expert on the local economy or culture.
I lived on Oahu for thirty years and I have to tell you, I get a real laugh out of the “My Hawaiian name is Lay-Lonnie” clowns trying to tell all the haoles in America why vacationing in the Catskills is so much better. I am shocked; SHOCKED! I tell you to learn that there are poor neighborhoods and shuttered business in Seattle... I mean Honolulu (A city of nearly 1 million) at the end of 2009
Leni
Leni
I NEED A SLURPEE!
Leni
Spot-on and needs to be repeated!
If the cost at Mauna Kea really is $300 per round, then it's better to get $100 per round and lose only $200 rather than the full $300. People are traveling to CA and FL and other States where the tourism industry "got a clue" and cut prices. HI not so much...
How does the HOPE and CHANGE work for you... ?
:o)
I lived in Hawaii for 40 years, moved away 10 years ago.
Hawaii now is not the Hawaii that I grew up in. The government allowed overbuilding on Oahu, and the outer islands are also slowly getting overbuilt.
The roads are congested. Everytime I visit my family, I just want to leave the state because of the congestion. It is just not relaxing, and I would not want to spend hard earned dollars on that.
There are homeless living in the parks. I witnessed an assault on a victim with a bat by someone who was high on meth at a beach park.
The crown jewel of Oahu- Kailua Beach, is also crammed full of tourists bussed in from Waikiki.
I was born and raised in Kailua- and it angers me that Zero closed off 1000 feet of beachfront property that is public access so he can have his luxury vacation.
Personally, I think the best thing for Hawaii is to have a population exodus. When the hotels empty, tear them down and create parks.
Mainland writers are busy yaking it up about Hawaii’s ‘socialized’ health care in the wake of Mr Limbaugh’s hospital stay.
There is no ‘socialized’ health care. It’s mandated health insurance provided by employers.
Hawaii law is that employers must pay for at least half of a health insurance plan for employees who work over 20 hours per week. The State sets the minimum level of coverage, co-pays etc. There are two main providers who are basically regulated like a public utility ... so, no competition.
Health insurance cost have risen at a rapid pace for the past 20 years and this is taken out of wages as employers struggle to compete with places without this insurance mandate.
How that shakes out is that there are a lot of people who have part-time jobs (or several part-time jobs) and no private health insurance (many are forced to go on Medicaid). Employers outsource as many jobs as they can to get around paying for this mandated insurance. (In my field, employers outsource a lot of drafing, design and engineering work to Philipines, Viet Nam, India, etc).
As a result, high skill jobs are going missing and for jobs that do exist, wages are very low compared to cost of living. Shelter and food costs are very high both in absolute terms and especially compared to wages.
About 30% of people in Hawaii are on food stamps.
So, when you hear them yammering about Hawaii’s ‘socialized’ health care and how well it works out ... don’t let it pass.
Yanked my daughter out at 5th grade too.
Public school system in Hawaii is really poor.
There are some good hard working people in the system (my daughters 2nd grade teacher was fantastic), but it’s swamped by underachieving family’s kids and poor attitude of many teachers and and administrators. Even the good teachers are overwhelmed by the circumstances out of their control and the heavy handed union/senority system.
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