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Star-Bulletin editorial page editor Diane Chang and columnist Bud Smyser join Roth for a wide-ranging survey of Hawaii's news in early 1995. The most heated exchange concerns Governor Cayetano's public accusation that Senator Malama Solomon sought cabinet jobs for legislators in exchange for confirmation votes — what the guests call a "quid pro quo" — and both credit Cayetano for refusing to handle it behind closed doors. Chang and Smyser are united against a proposed one-year excise tax increase to settle Department of Hawaiian Homelands claims, arguing that no temporary tax stays temporary and that the state's $12 billion biennial budget could absorb the cost. Smyser calls the "high three" pension provision — which allows legislators to dramatically boost retirement pay through a brief executive appointment — a corruption of the system that the legislature quietly passed in the dark. Chang comes out in favor of same-sex marriage as a civil rights issue and defends her editorial opposing Hooters' sponsorship of the Hula Bowl. Bishop Estate's scale, transparency problems, and politically driven trustee appointments draw extended criticism. Both guests close with pessimistic assessments of Hawaii's economic trajectory.
Transcript
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