1X
A year into Governor Cayetano's term, Roth opens the phones to a wide spectrum of voices evaluating his performance and offering advice. Jerry Burris, editorial page editor of The Honolulu Advertiser, serves as in-studio interlocutor, drawing common threads from each call. The dominant theme is the absence of a communicated vision: caller after caller — including pre-arranged commentators representing business, academia, education, and government — faults Cayetano not for his budget cuts but for failing to explain how his decisions fit into a coherent plan. Burris distinguishes Cayetano's position from that of predecessor Waihee, noting Cayetano is forced to be "the no governor" in a no-money era. The governor is characterized as a neo-liberal — fiscally conservative but personally committed to the "little guy" — whose plain-spoken style resists the soft sell. A caller representing small business urges privatization and a more hospitable business climate; others defend social programs and argue taxes on higher earners should rise. Burris reflects that Hawaii likely has "more government than the economy can sustain," a conclusion reluctantly shared by several callers regardless of political leanings.
Transcript
Read or download the full transcript (.txt). Speaker labels were assigned automatically and may contain errors.
Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
