Friends in high places!

OOPS! After life long service to his country, Senator Daniel Inouye, senior Senator from Hawaii, is now faced with what may be at the very least an embarrassing career moment or worse, the loss of respect from many holding him with well deserved esteem.

As one of the original investors in Hawaii’s Central Pacific Financial, Daniel Inouye has had a vested interest in the success of this bank consistently through the years. When the latest economic downturn burned through he and his wife’s shares, there was something Central Pacific Bank had up its sleeve other less fortunate shareholders and financial institutions lacked, a Senator/investor.

According to the Washington Post Central Pacific Bank “was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks”. However, it is reported that shortly after Senator Inouye initialized contact with Central Pacific they received $135,000,000! [UPDATE: Previously reported here as $135,000.] The Washington Post reports around 30 senators own shares in banks that got federal aid – yet, none of them intervened on behalf of a bank in which they owned shares. As a reporter, this is a tough article to write. We have attended events and have gotten to know the Senator; we have friends who work at and bank with the local branch of CPB, and we know some of the Senator’s staff. Hawaii, after all, is a small state. Senator Inouye has a long and distinguished public service record/career and is a gentle man. While he has declined comment, to date, this act of self interest, which seems totally uncharacteristic of his service record, comes at a time when Americans are waking up to a most distasteful and unpleasant reality: Our elected officials consistently disappoint their fellow citizens through abuse of power, disingenuous public statements, taxation which invites the notion of malfeasance and a blind willingness to support party lines with a ‘damn the consequences’ attitude towards our Constitution and our Liberties. Senator Inouye’s personal financial losses through his investment with CPB, to the tune of about $400k [about 79 per cent of his overall investments which is about 2/3 of his total assets reported in 2008] tested his own personal integrity. Clearly, his part in the infusion of one hundred and thirty five million dollars is questionable, at the very least! His name is now added to a growing list of disappointing public servants [a term which has become an oxymoron].

There are many Americans who suffered significant losses, some of them taking a complete hit, yet they do not have such options available to them. Is this a perk of the job of Senator or a clear over-reach of his position? Is it proof ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’? Whatever it is, it will likely not be a big news item, not raise many eyebrows, not disgust many who know of it, not amount to much when compared to the colossal abuses of power already being unleashed by this President and his administration of ‘Change’. Whatever you may wish to label it, will it move you to VOTE on November 2, 2010 for change? Will you exercise the one hint of democracy still available to you, the right to FIRE those elected officials who have proven track records of questionable ethics, a morality of convenience --those who engage in social fascism by PUSHING their agenda, those who turn a deaf ear to the citizens of this Country, by voting them out? Your VOTE against this corrupt administration may be your one last voice of dissent. It should be used wisely with an eye to real change from the decades of liberty eroding legislation and lawmaking. We can remove those government officials who flaunt disgust for their constituency by engaging in shady activity with impunity.

Here’s something Senator Inouye may not have been ‘banking’ on, pun intended, YOU voting against him should he decide to run again! He is only one of many who have disrespected us with a show of utter contempt for the trust and stewardship invested in the office they occupy and represent!

Please do not read this, shake your head thinking ‘shame on him’ and then promptly forget it. We have a long 16 months until our vote can truly change this historic movement away from life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; now a series of fleeting momentary memories.