Tuesday, February 01, 2005

WHO ARE THEY TRYING TO FOOL ?

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs claims if the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, (Akaka Bill) isn’t passed, alleged subsequent loss of federal funding could have a dramatic effect upon not only Native Hawaiians, but also Hawaii's economy.

Let's take a look at actual federal appropriations in fiscal 2002 to cover all 250,000 people who call themselves Native Hawaiian -

Education: $30.5 million / 250,000 Hawaiians = $122.00 per Hawaiian. How much education can you buy this year with $122.00? If teachers are making say 30,000/year you could hire 1016 teachers. That means there would only have to be 246 Hawaiians per classroom.

Affordable housing: $9.6 million/250,000 Hawaiians = $38.40 per Hawaiian. How much of your yearly rental costs does $38.40 cover?

Health care: $7 million /250,000 Hawaiians = $28.00 per Hawaiian. How much dental and medical insurance can you buy with $28.00? Maybe get only half your teeth cleaned this year and hope you don’t get sick?

Strengthening community colleges (academics): $3.25 million /250,000Hawaiians = $13.00 per Hawaiian. How many units of academic instruction does $13.00 cover at a community college these days?

Vocational education: $2.9 million/250,000 Hawaiians = $11.60 per Hawaiian. What can you learn how to do for $11.60?

Community development: $2 million/250,000 Hawaiians = $8.00 per Hawaiian. How much Community infrastructure does $8.00 buy?

Strengthening community colleges (agriculture): $1.5 million /250,000 Hawaiians = $6.00 per Hawaiian. What does $6.00 buy in the way of agricultural education at community college these days?

Housing loan guarantees: $1 million /250,000 Hawaiians = $4.00 per Hawaiian. How much of your annual mortgage does $4.00 cover?

Culture and arts: $740,000/250,000 Hawaiians = $2.96 per Hawaiian. For $2.96, about all the culture you can afford is a plastic kukui nut lei.

Looks like about $233.96 per Hawaiian total ...less administrative costs of course.