[The_Expatriate]

Coming to a state near you soon...

[mgc1122]

Socialism has always failed and always will. There are no free rides.

[junta]

bttt

[bescobar]

I can't wait for the economy in Hawaii crashes...then I can move there and take advantage of their reforms...pure capitalism will spring from the utter collapse of socialism...You gotta love the dimwitted liberals for their miscalculations that make life so easy.

[TADSLOS]

Hell in paradise.

[First_Salute]

Nice catch.

[DoctorMichael]

{Whispering} Hey Teddy, Taxachusetts is going to lose it's numero-uno Liberal status to Hawaii. Better get those boys back in the Statehouse to start passing some laws tout suite.

[goodnesswins]

Washington (the State) will soon follow in Hawaii's footsteps if the Democrats (who run everything) have their way.....first it's Boeing, then I'll bet Microsoft - I WISH MSFT would THREATEN just to get the socialists attention....then maybe we could avoid the obvious.

[PGalt]

Good post...book it Dano!

[boris]

When the feds created Amtrak, I knew we were living in Atlas Shrugged--the "reality" edition.

--Boris

[narby]

Hawaii is such an appealing place, with a huge built-in attraction for tourists, that it can stand much more looting than a state like, say, Arizona.

Psssst - don't tell anyone - but the weather's been better here in AZ than Hawaii for the last few months. The land is cheaper. And not nearly so many looters.

[lelio]

When any local politician wonders aloud on how Hawaii came to its current condition
I think this is more of a problem of just relying on one industry, tourism, to support your state. Course the local pols probably didn't make it easy to keep the sugar cane factories around.

[coloradan]

Hawaii is on the list of the Free State Project, the purpose of which is to have freedom-aware people all move to one state, in order to significantly sway elections, like the Bagwan Rajeesh Salamiwamirami did to Antelope, OR some years ago. Their criteria include a small voting population, among other things.

[mouse_35]

What baffles me is their impost tax. They tax all goods coming into HI from another state. I didn't think that was constitutional...

[NeoCaveman]

Great article.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

." In real life, many bright youths have gone on strike against Hawaii’s system in their own way -- by migrating to other states where they find greater opportunity."

Good point. The one-Party State is a bad idea, whether it's on the East Coast or in the mid-Pacific. Corruption is inevitable (and I believe that 40 years of Republican domination of the State government would produce similar corruption, by the way).

The citizens of the beautiful State of Hawai'i need to throw the current crop of rascals out, and try some different rascals for awhile!

I love to visit there, and my wife and I go as often as we can- but I would NOT consider living there under the Democrat/fascist government they have. Most tourists never notice how bad it is- I read the local papers, listen to the local talk shows, and it's not a pretty picture.

[CJ Wolf]

I don't know about this article. A good pal of mine is living in HI and he has four construction jobs running right now. The most he had since hurricane iniki ran thru.

The brain drain comes from the crappy schools and island fever.

[hobbes1]

Ping!

[1Old Pro]

Hawaii really is a big brother state. Government is decidedly Deomocrat and liberal. They have an economic problem that cannot be overcome by increased tourism alone.

[Vince Ferrer]

I have suspected for a long time that every Hawaiian feels that Hawaii would be a paradise, if it weren't for all the other people living there. There seems to be a conspiracy that includes everyone to make Hawaii as unviable as possible so that people leave, but then everyone continues to suffer through their self imposed hardships, waiting for everyone else to go.

[tubebender]

PING...

[GuillermoX]

HAWAII State Income Taxes

1st $4,000 1.5%
2nd 4,000 3.7%
Next 8,000 6.4%
Next 8,000 6.9%
Next 8,000 7.3%
Next 8,000 7.6%
Next 20,000 7.9%
Next 20,000 8.5%
Over 80,000 8.5%

Rates for heads of households range from 1.5% of taxable income not over $3,000 to 8.75% of taxable income over $60,000. Rates for other unmarried individuals, married persons filing separate and estates and trust range from 1.5% of taxable income not over $2,000 to 8.5% of taxable income over $40,000.

[bleudevil]

Isn't Hawaii an expensive place to live because everything has to be imported?

[Thumper1960]

My partner has had a client in Honolulu for the past year. I took two weeks, the beginning of Feb., to "vacation" there with her. Besides to tourist sites and the shopping malls, there is not much else to do on Oahu. There are quite a few homes for sale in the Diamondhead area, Waikiki was "dead", the beaches were not as full as she remembered them from previous years and there is a strange morose attitude among many locals we talked to. (Once you get beyond the visitor/tourist niceties) Most commodities in the markets are expensive. Gas is high. Though, where are ya gonna drive? Many shops had "Buy Hawaiian" signs posted. The local radio station that carries Rush had a state govt./local govt./Liberal bashing talk show host that I thought seemed rather tough on the political machine there. It sure is a nice place to visit, but it didn't "seem" as welcoming as I had hoped.

[Dick Bachert]