WILL FEDERAL RECOGNITION BE A GOOD DEAL FOR ALL?
In all the discussions about federal recognition and the Akaka bill, why is it that no one has mentioned the most important consideration of all -is it going to be a good deal financially for all the people concerned, the non-Hawaiian and Native Hawaiian citizens of the state of Hawai`i?
Consider this. Suppose the state of Hawai`i were for sale.
Would it be worth more before or after approximately half of the state was taken without compensation and millions of dollars in revenues from rents and taxes were lost forever?
A quick way to arrive at the answer is to pretend that you are a potential buyer.
The Native Hawaiians are confronted with a similar dilemma: how good a deal are they getting?
What kind of value do they put on thousands of acres of fragmented parcels - marginal lands with no infrastructure, no improvements, scant revenues, little income - and a very distant development horizon?
The only way to find out how much their land is worth is to advertise it for sale and see what akamai [smart] buyers are willing to pay.
Suppose the Akaka bill turns out to be an absolute disaster for reasons that no one can anticipate, like disagreements between the state of Hawai`i and the new Hawaiian nation, the possibility that the Supreme Court of the United States rules the bill unconstitutional, or that non-Hawaiians, Native Hawaiians or both become disillusioned with the outcome and demand to return to square one.
What will happen then?
Hard to figure. The bill is silent on this point.
