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Held hostage by hardliners

A shutdown of the federal government, even if only temporary, would needlessly disrupt the lives of public employees and citizens who depend on government services. But, despite a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill, such a calamity remains all too possible next month. The explanation is tiresomely familiar: the obstructionism of a small band of hard-line House Republicans. On Thursday these dissenters embarrassed Speaker Kevin McCarthy by blocking consideration of a Pentagon funding bill, the second such vote in a week. Opposition from extreme right-wing members is also complicating ...

Fundraising oversight needed

Hawaii State House Speaker Scott Saiki hit the mark this week while proposing better oversight for the suddenly burgeoning industry of Lahaina fire relief fundraising. Saiki called on Hawaii Gov. Josh Green to issue an emergency proclamation “to prohibit and criminalize fundraising under false pretenses.” Saying sham fundraisers were a “threat to innocent donors,” Saiki predicted they would have a “chilling effect” on giving. He also called for an official process to “audit donations to assure they are spent to assist Maui victims.” Saiki made his plea a day after ...

Fighting a Goliath

Four months after the first one began, the strikes that have shut down many Hollywood productions are coming to resemble a fight to the death on a crumbling cliff edge between Goliath and a valiant crowd of Davids. On one side are the mighty studios, on the other are the writers and actors who feed them. Last month, the president and CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery, David Zaslav—no doubt pumped up by the box office success of Barbie—made the chest-thumping claim that the action had actually saved his company more than $100m. Others have painted a more dismal picture, with Disney ...

Pandemic fraud

You know a robbery is bad when it takes years to figure out how much was stolen. States have long known that they paid billions in fraudulent unemployment claims during the pandemic. But this week the federal government more than doubled its estimate in stolen payments to as much as $135 billion. The new figure comes from a report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The finding is a rebuke to the Biden Administration, which had previously put the fraud total as low as $45 billion based on surveys of state programs. Congressional Republicans suspected the ...

Rebuild trust in Lahaina

The first thing that must be rebuilt in Lahaina is trust. Those were the sentiments of two women we spoke with Thursday in the Lahaina Cannery Mall parking lot. Sitting on the tailgate of a rusty truck and having a smoke, they said residents feel anxiety over the speed with which decisions are being made concerning the town’s future. While its people grieve the loss of lives, homes and belongings, they worry outsiders are already dividing up the land to determine what comes back, what gets moved and what is gone forever. Asked if their distrust was directed at federal, state or ...

Handling sex crimes in the military

Few things at the Pentagon happen quickly, but rarely have its powers of delay been as regrettable as in its decades-long reconsideration of how to handle allegations of sex crimes in the ranks. For years, the military insisted that decisions about whether to investigate and prosecute alleged sexual harassment, assault and rape were best left in the hands of unit commanders, who are responsible for the readiness and morale of their sailors, Marines, soldiers or airmen. The Pentagon stuck to this position even as reports of mishandled sex crimes dogged the services and recruiting ...