OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS SPENDS MILLIONS MORE THAN IT ADMITS
OHA Claims $2 Million For Akaka Bill - $7 Million Is Actual Figure
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs claims to have spent an amazing $2 million on its congressional lobbying efforts for the Akaka bill.
That amount represents a third of all money spent by Hawai`i companies, private citizens and government agencies on Washington lobbying since 2003.
Yet, according to internal documents, OHA earmarked $7 million just for 2006 on its ill-fated attempt to get the Akaka bill passed.
Even at the admitted $2 million level, the OHA expenditure was the highest on the list of total dollars spent on lobbying efforts in Congress, US Senate records show.
OHA's Akaka bill campaign was led by high-powered lobbyists with strong ties to both the Democratic and Republican power structures in Washington, including connections at the highest levels of the White House and the U.S. Senate.
Despite spending four times as much on lobbying as any other Hawai`i entity and the political clout of its lobbying team, OHA consistently failed in its attempts from 2003 through 2006 to get the Akaka bill passed.
The bill would have legitimized the illegal US overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation and sealed massive land thefts by foreign nationals that occured thereafter.
Worse, the alleged $2 million in OHA fees does not include $900,000 spent by the agency since 2003 to operate and staff their do-nothing Washington bureau.
Nor does it include costs incurred by regular visits to Washington by OHA and other officials, including Gov. Linda Lingle, to seek passage of the Akaka bill, all at taxpayer expense.
And it does not include $120,000 spent by Maui-based private developer Everett Dowling's company on pro-Akaka bill Washington lobbying, which stands to profit handsomely at the expense of Native Hawaiians should the bill ever become law.
Dowling, who has been involved in several development deals with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on Maui, said he spent the money because, "I think federal recognition is important."
No doubt, since the very lands he develops was stolen from the Hawaiian Nation to begin with.
Tomorrow - The Blood Of Indigenous People On The Hands Of OHA Lobbyists.
