Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 9, 1 September 2006 — 'Nutgrass network' conspiracy? -- part 2 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Nutgrass network' conspiracy? -- part 2

Haunani Apuliuna. MSW Chairpersūn TrustEE, At-large

Aloha e nā 'ōiwi 'ōlino, nā pulapula a Hāloa, mai Hawai'i a Ni'ihau, puni ke ao mālamalama. Our values define our priorities and move us to act. Ironically, it is our actions that decisively reveal our values and priorities. But mueh more is revealed to those who have the gift of discernment, as Queen Lili'uokalani said, "to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen." This month highlights more on the "Nutgrass Network Conspiracy" introduced in my August trustee eolumn, whieh referenced the Grass Root Institute of Hawai'i (GRIH) and their additional "nutgrass network" organizations Heritage Foundation and Aloha For All. By connecting the dots on these organizations and their leaders, we are better informed about their collective strategies to negatively impact Native Hawaiians. In August 2005, Derek Ferrar authored a Ka Wai Ola article entitled, "Who's behind the Grassroot Institute of Hawai'i." The article revealed that this "think tank" against federal recognition has ties to Hawai'i State Senator Sam Slom and national far-right networks. GRIH's website names several organizations as "helpful and friendly" to GRIH. These include: Small Business Hawai'i, Hawai'i Reporter, Americans For Tax Reform, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Puhlie Policy Institute/Reason Foundation and the Heartland Institute. Other organizations identified in working with GRIH are the State Policy Network and Evergreen Freedom Foundation. In March 2006, Freedom Works Chairman Dick Armey (a former Congressman) and President Matt Kibbe visited Hawai'i to "formally launeh a new partnership with Hawai'i's most prominent free-market think tank, the Grassroot Institute" (Freedom Works press release). Freedom Works is a national organization with over 800,000

members, including 1,900 in Hawai'i. This same Freedom Works press release stated that Armey and Kibbe eame to Hawai'i " to kickoff an aggressive agenda for 2006 and beyond." Armey states: "this trip will give us the opportunity to connect with our members, build new relationships, and identify opportunities to advance the cause of freedom in the Aloha State." The August 2005 Ka Wai Ola article identified additional groups and an individual with ties to GRIH, including: the Atlas Eeonomie Research Foundation, the Pacific Legal Foundation and Bruce Fein, a former GRIH consultant, Washington Times newspaper columnist and Heritage Foundation scholar. Bruce Fein is noted for writing analyses challenging the facts underlying Puhlie Law 103-150, also known as The Apology Bill, enacted in 1993. He authored articles opposing the Akaka Bill, and his writing was entered into the Congressional Record in 2005 by Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, opponent of the Akaka Bill. Other continent-based opponents to the Akaka Bill included: Citizens For Equal Rights Allianee Foundation, Wall Street Journal newspaper columnist John Fund and Morris J. Levin, a former Washington, D.C,based lobbyist for the organization Aloha For All and Aloha Petroleum. One lead Nutgrass in the Network is Richard O. Rowland, GRIH president and a former director on the Small Business Hawai'i Board of Directors. GRIH and Small Business Hawai'i have several members in eommon. Senator Sam Slom, President/Executive Director of Small Business Hawai'i, serves on the GRIH Advisory Board. Jack Schneider, Small Business Hawai'i Vice-President/Board Chairman serves on the GRIH Board of Directors. Walt Harvey of East O'ahu Realty serves on the SBH Board of Directors and the GRIH Board of Directors as Treasurer, and also used his website to oppose the Akaka Bill. Next month we document the "stated" purposes of the remaining organizations noted in this article along with who the lead faces are. We will see connections and overlaps in the continuing saga of the "Nutgrass Network Conspiracy." 22/48 ^

LEO 'ELELE • TRUSTEE M ESSAG ES