Why I chose to run for this US Senate seat
I am not running for office to run against anyone. I am running to serve the people of Hawai’i, our ‘Ohana, and the future of our country. I chose to run for the US Senate because the short 2-year term for the House of Representatives doesn’t allow adequate time to implement my proposed campaign solutions. Of Hawai’i’s incumbent US Senators, Senator Schatz has been the more active and effective of the two during their terms in the US Senate. So, I chose to run this election cycle rather than the next. Senator Hirono has kept a relatively low profile, and her liberal voting record led the Hawaii Tribune-Herald to say, “We wish she’d be a little more independent and less partisan”.
Senator Hirono’s service to Hawai’i
I have never met Senator Hirono in person, but people have shared stories that support her being a kind person dedicated to serving Hawai’i. She also has a great life story. She migrated to Hawai’i from Japan with her mother and brother when she was only 8 years old to escape a father who was an alcoholic and compulsive gambler. Mazie did not speak English when she entered into the public school system in Hawai’i, and she went on to graduate with honors from Kaimuki High School. She then attended the University of Hawaii at Mānoa where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and received a B.A. degree in psychology. Driven by her desire to advocate for others, she went to the mainland to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where she obtained her J.D. degree. Mazie returned to Hawai’i where she entered public service practicing law and later by serving in government.
Mazie was fairly effective serving in Hawai’i State government. But much of that effectiveness is attributed to Hawai’i being mostly a one-party state making for a political environment that is more cooperative and conducive for Senator Hirono’s skill set. If this were an election for a state government office, I wouldn’t be opposing her, but this is an election for a federal government office. The federal government environment in Washington DC is the exact opposite of our state government…it is contentious, cutthroat, deceitful, and mired in dysfunctional bureaucratic inefficiencies. The very environment that I successfully navigated for the first 29 years of my career as government contractor in the Washington DC area before moving to Kaua’i in 2009 to finish out my systems engineering career in what became my forever home.
I would never doubt Senator Hirono’s intentions in serving Hawai’i. She has demonstrated her good intentions repeatedly in her desire to advocate for Hawai’i. In hindsight, had Hawai’i elected Mazie as the Governor of Hawai’i back in 2002, maybe Aloha Airlines would still be in business today under Mazie’s advocacy. While I don’t question her good intentions, I do question many of her actions as a US Senator.
Where I differ from Senator Hirono
I first started questioning Senator Hirono’s actions in October 2013 when the Republican establishment did the wrong thing in causing a government shutdown. At that time, I was the station manager of NASA’s Koke’e Park Geophysical Observatory (KPGO) and I had to justify which local and remote personnel were essential for continuing the operations and maintenance mission at KGPO. Those that where deemed non-essential were furloughed for the duration of that shutdown that lasted over 2 weeks.
The federal government has always funded the back-payment for the 800,000 civil servants that get furloughed during the shutdowns when a spending bill finally passes, but that doesn’t address the millions of government contractors that get furloughed. My staff and I worked for ITT during that shutdown and ITT was large enough of a company to maintain “rainy day” funds to cover the missed pay for its furloughed employees. That was not true for several small local Hawaiian, woman, disadvantaged, or minority owned companies that weren’t large enough to maintain “rainy day” funds. They had no mechanism to invoice the government for non-essential work that wasn’t performed during the shutdown. I never heard if they were ever able to work something out with the government to recover those lost wages for their employees. Bottom line…shutting down the government is always the wrong thing to do for any reason.
At the onset of the October 2013 shutdown, I reached out to our elected US House Representatives and Senators in a detailed email message indicating the local impacts to our work environment on Kaua’i and urging quick resolution. I received detailed responses from Senator Schatz and Representative Gabbard, but this is the response I received from Senator Hirono, Response from Senator Hirono. Our US Senators and House Representatives where getting paid during that shutdown and I expected more than an automated response in advocating for the workers here in Hawai’i.
Another topic on which I disagree with Senator Hirono is her support for the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act. Merchant marine and longshoreman unions contributed over $2.4 million to candidates in the House and Senate between 2006 and 2012. (Some of the biggest recipients of their generosity include Sen. Hirono at $103,500 and Rep. Hanabusa, $51,500. This also ties into another focus of my campaign, Campaign Spending Reform.
In January 2015, Senator Hirono stood up in the Senate and spoke out against Senator McCain’s repeated plans to revise the Jones Act in an effort to modernize the legislation. I can understand and appreciate Senator Hirono in advocating for the 23,000 jobs and shipping businesses here in Hawai’i that enjoy the protectionism benefits under the Jones Act. But not at the significant expense to the other over 1.4 millions residents and businesses in Hawai’i. The people of Hawai’i deserve more…more outside-the-box problem solving to develop solutions that not only protect those 23,000 jobs and shipping businesses at risk, but also helps them to grow and thrive in the global shipping market. While at the same time, significantly reducing the cost of living for everyone in Hawai’i. You can read my proposed comprehensive systems engineering approach to reducing the high cost of living in Hawai’i here.
Most recently I disagreed with Senator Hirono on voting to shutdown the federal government three times earlier this year in aligning herself with the Democrat establishment to get action on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). As I pointed out earlier, shutting down the federal government is always the wrong thing to do. While I support immigration reform and getting action for the 700,000 to 800,000 DACA recipients, you can’t shut down the government to force the issue. The ends do not justify the means.
Giving the people of Hawai’i a choice for more
“Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.” -John F. Kennedy
I am running to give the people of Hawai’i more out of their US Senate representation. I am not a career politician nor will I ever become one. I am a systems engineer running to drive change and implement solutions to reduce the corruption in our federal government. I am running on innovation and reform to improve efficiency and effectiveness in our federal government. I am not running on the merits of past accomplishments, I am running on the merits of what I am going to accomplish as a US Senator for the people of Hawai’i. I am running to serve all the people of Hawai’i; those that vote for me, those that vote for another candidate, and those that decide not to vote at all.
I am running on skills to navigate the divisive and toxic political environment in Washington DC to achieve positive change and improvement in our federal government. I am running on dynamic outside-the-the box solutions to improve the quality of life for all of our ‘Ohana. I am running on driving better and more affordable education for our keiki and our college students. I am running on significantly reducing the high cost of living for all the people of Hawai’i.
Several people I have talked story with recently have asked me why I am running. They have also asked what I get out of it with me donating most of the US Senator salary back to Hawai’i charities. The answer is quite simple. If I achieve these things to improve the quality of life for all the people in Hawai’i, then Hawai’i will be a better place…my world will be a better place.
“Ask not what your country can do for you…ask what you can do for your country.” -John F. Kennedy