Karen Chun

Campaign Spending Commission doubles down on letting Forward Progress donor hide source of funds

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Previously we talked about Karen Chun’s complaint against the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Fund (HCMRF) noncandidate committee which is the sole donor to the superPAC, Forward Progress.  Forward Progress has been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat neighbor island council candidates who are in favor of good planning and who want to regulate GMOs and pesticides.

HCMRF has hidden its donors by filing contribution disclosures indicating that it has donated the money to itself.

A second complaint against Forward Progress which concerned lack of candidate names will be dismissed as the names were listed but apparently a system problem produced the blank column.

The complaint against HCMRF (Forward Progress’s sole donor) will be heard on Wednesday, Oct 22 at 10am, Conference room 204, 235 S. Beretania St, Honolulu.  The agenda also includes two complaints by Gov. Ben Cayatano against Pacific Resources Partnership (PRP), the precursor PAC to Forward Progress and also one of HCMRF’s superPACs.

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OHA candidate tied to the Koch Brothers

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The Grassroot Institute, a 501(c)3, was founded in 2001 by Libertarian Dick Rowland.  It’s goals include advocating for individual liberty, free markets and limited government. According to Civil Beat, it is a member of the State Policy Network, a national group that opposes unions and promotes “free market” philosophy. Perennial OHA candidate Kelii Akina is president and CEO.

The stated goals of the organization are to prevent federal recognition of the Hawaiian nation and to repeal the Jones Act. In fact they quote a conservative Heritage Foundation piece calling Hawaiian recognition “Balkanization”.

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GOP PAC goes after Mark Takai with $300,000 last minute negative ads

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With just two and a half weeks to go and mail-in voting well underway, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided to concentrate on five seats. One of them is Hawaii’s congressional district 1 where Mark Takai (D) is facing Teapartier Charles Djou.

Two conservative groups say they’ll spend $3.2 million targeting Democrat-held congressional seats.  American Action says it will put $300,000 into ads against Mark Takai (D).  Look for things to go heavily negative on Hawai’i TV soon.

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Allen West craziness reaches all the way to Hawaii's Charles Djou

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Allen West, the former congressman and Fox News commentator known for wacko statements and crazy Teaparty extremism, may endorse and support Hawaii’s congressional aspirant, Charles Djou (R).  Ironically Djou is running away from his right-wing views, backpedaling on his anti-gay, anti-choice stances and trying to make voters in blue Hawaii forget he’s a Republican.

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Maui Fair Unfair?

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The Maui Fair, a family tradition since 1916, became an object of controversy this week when a PAC trying to derail the GMO Moratorium citizens initiative broke its booth and parade contract and created a political display.  Those supporting the voter initiative which will be on the ballot November 4th, played by the rules and had stripped their booth and float of any politicking.

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Complaints filed against Forward Progress and its donor PAC

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In our last article on the superPAC Forward Progress we were attempting to trace the ultimate source of their money. Forward Progress has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into local council races on the Big Island and Maui.

According to the Campaign Spending Committee, Forward Progress’ donor, Hawaii Carpenters Recovery Market Fund told them their funding comes from developers and construction companies.  Despite the name “Carpenters”, the money does not come from union membership dues but rather the companies which employ carpenters.

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Hawai'i Campaign Commission goes along with cover-up

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In a typically cozy Hawai’i fashion, the Hawai’i Campaign Commission has given the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program Fund a pass on disclosing where its contributions come from.  According to state law noncandidate committees are required to disclose the source of their contributions and are not allowed any anonymous contributions

But the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program Fund is apparently exempt from state law.  If you look at their disclosure of contributions, all the contributions come from…themselves.  How does a noncandidate committee fund itself?  Are they printing money?  Does it materialize out of thin air?

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Group sues to prevent vote on Maui GMO moratorium

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Kaua’i gets sued
Kaua’i passed an ordinance requiring the chemical companies to disclose the pesticides they were spraying and keep spraying a certain distance from schools, hospitals and homes.

Billion dollar chemical companies, Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, Agrigenetics (doing business as Dow AgroSciences), and BASF retaliated by suing the small island county and initiating a $50,000 lobbying operation to over-ride the ordinance in the state legislature.

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