We hope to see you January 9 at our 37th annual SBH Business & Investment Conference and on January 31 at our monthly SBH Sunrise Networking Business breakfast.. This is a personal invi
Trang 137th Annual SBH Conference & Program • Pages 3 & 4.
SB News From Paper to Digital Page 6 Success Continues for Jonathan G Page 8 Obama Care: Health Cost to Increase Page 9
27th Legislature Set to Convene Page 3
SBH Sunrise Breakfast on Jan 31 Page 3
Jones Act is Unconstitutional Page 5
SBH MEMBER
C A L E N D A R
PHONE 396-1724 • FAX: 396-1726
Volume 38, Number 1• www.smartbusinesshawaii.com January 2013
It’s 2013 Happy New Year! Wednesday, January 9, 2013
37th Smart Business Hawaii Business & Investment Conference
Ala Moana Hotel • 8:00 am – 2:00 pm
Monday, January 14
SBH Directors Meeting
SBH Office • 12 – 1:30 pm Wednesday, January 16, 2013
27th State Legislature Begins
State Capitol • 10:00 a.m
Thursday, January 31, 2013
SBH Sunrise Networking Breakfast
Dr Patrick Sullivan, Oceanit
Macys’ Pineapple Room Ala Moana Center • 7:00 a.m
After 38 years of continuous monthly publication, the Small Business News fades into
the brilliant Hawaiian sunset This is your final printed issue; save it!
It wasn’t an easy decision but times and events change The hard work, time invested,
cost and the economy, technological realities, member feedback and continuing problems
with the Post Office, all entered into the final decision by the SBH Board
It’s been a good run with lots of breaking news, commentary and information for your
business
Though this is the last monthly printed issue, SB News will be available on line, in a PDF
format, and SBH will continue to offer you advice, technical information and alerts about the
Hawaii business climate SBH will continue to offer you meaningful networking, meetings and
conferences
We hope to see you January 9 at our 37th annual SBH Business & Investment Conference
and on January 31 at our monthly SBH Sunrise Networking Business breakfast
Please call me personally (396-1724 or 349-5438) for any assistance or visit the websites
in the adjacent box
Aloha and Mahalo for all your support
Sam Slom
President/Executive Director
Farewell to the Print Edition
of Small Business News
Dr Patrick Sullivan • Details on Page 3.
Smart Business Hawaii
http://www.smartbusinesshawaii.com
SBH Foundation
http://www.sbhfoundation.org
Education Transparency Portal
http://www.educate808.com
Hawaii Reporter
http://www.hawaiireporter.com
Happy SBH Sunrise People: The Last Print Edition Cover Photo *
Trang 2PAgE 2 / SMALL BUSINESS NEWS / JANUARY 2013
SMART BUSINESS HAWAII (SBH)
6600 Kalanianaole Hwy., #212 • Honolulu, HI 96825
Ph (808) 396-1724 • FAX (808) 396-1726
email: sbh@lava.net Web: http://www.smartbusinesshawaii.com Published monthly by Smart Business Hawaii, Periodicals Postage Paid at Honolulu, Hawaii Small Business News (ISSN #0279-8395) EDITOR & PUBLISHER: Samuel M Slom MANAGING EDITOR: Malia Zimmerman DIRECTORS: Debi Halcro, Matt Longfellow, Andy Mertz, Tyler Roukema, Jack Schneider, Bob Sigall, Sam Slom, Fred Smoot and Geal Talbert LAYOUT & GRAPHICS: Melvin Ah Ching POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Small Business Hawaii,
6600 Kalanianaole Hwy., Suite 212 Honolulu, Hawaii 96825.
Small Business Hawaii (SBH), was founded in 1975, by Lex Brodie SBH is a private, independent, non-profit [501 (c) (6)] statewide association of nearly 2,000 busi-ness members.
S mall B uSineSS n ewS
Volume 38, No 1 • January 2013
Smart Business Views
By Sam Slom, President – Smart Business Hawaii
Small Business News,
Aloha Oe Well, this is
it, the final printed copy
of the monthly SB News,
after 38 years In a front page article, I detail
what considerations went into the final decision
to suspend regular monthly printings We will
still continue of course
with our online website,
weekly SBH Biz eBlasts
and regular and special
meetings You can always
call me personally
(808-396-1724) for advice,
answers to your business
questions and current
business alerts There
may be future special
printed publications
I want to thank many
people for their support,
including: our longtime
graphic artist who put the
issues together, Melvin
Ah Ching, our managing
Editor, Malia Zimmerman of Hawaii Reporter,
our many guest contributors, You our readers,
advertisers, Edward Enterprises our printer,
and Cardinal Mailing Services Hope you
enjoyed our many issues, features, business
profiles, cartoons and commentaries Most are
still available on our website archives Aloha!
Come to Our Conference! This is a
personal invitation to join me at the 37th
Annual SBH Business and Investment Annual
Conference, Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 8
am – 1:30 pm at the Ala Moana Hotel What
a fantastic lineup of speakers, including:
Aston’s Kelvin Bloom, Kitty Lagaretta, Roy
Yamaguchi, the FBI’s Tom Simon, best selling
author Bob Sigall, Freedom Works president
Matt Kibbe and former Governor Ben
Cayetano See the agenda and reservation
form on page 4
Ring! Ring! Hang-up I finally did it: I
pulled the cord on my land line with Hawaiian
Telcom December 3 after many decades I
joined a growing number of people who are
ditching their land lines for their exclusive cells
Why did I do it? (1) Cost – the home line went
from $29 to $42 per month since last year; (2)
service-the home phone was out of service
too much too often and (3) very few local calls
compared to massive spam, Mainland and
solicitation calls
Coons Dies Longtime CPA and business
leader, Richard Coons died on Thanksgiving
Day He was married to Rep Barbara Marumoto We lost many fine people—too
many—during 2012
Higa Steps Down Long time State Legislative Auditor, Marian Higa, stepped
down December 31, 2012 after 21 years as the state Auditor Will be interesting to see
who emerges as her replacement
Elections Com-mission Keeps Nago
Despite near universal testimony to the contrary,
on November 27, the State Office of Elections held a meeting and kept Chief Elections Officer,
Scott Nago, who was
responsible for this year’s election snafus Many, many people are upset with the performance during 2012 of the
elections office and Nago
The Governor called or all mail-in ballots The Commission appointed a two member investigating committee to report back in January Again, it appears like there are no consequences for state screw-up We’ll see
HAL to Taipei It seems every week
Hawaiian Airlines adds yet another route
Because of the VISA Waiver program, Taiwan
is now more lucrative and starting next July;
Hawaiian will add several weekly flights to Taipei
Sullivan at Sunrise The first monthly
SBH Sunrise Networking Breakfast Forum of the New Year will return, Thursday, January
31, 2013, in the Pineapple Room, Macy’s Ala Moana (3rd Floor), from 7 – 8:30 am Sunrise
is held the last Thursday of each month,
January-November Dr Patrick Sullivan,
CEO of Oceanit, will be our special speaker
Become an SBH Member Is YOUR
business a member of SBH? No? Lots of benefits Strong networking organization
Call Darlyn today (808-396-1724) or go online
to www.smartbusinesshawaii.com
What? Not receiving your weekly (Wednesday) electronic copy of SBH Views + News? More than 15,000 business owners
do receive it It’s complimentary Ad space available too Call Darlyn at 396-1724
Visit our websites at: www
smartbusinesshawaii.com, www.educate808
com and www.sbhfoundation.org
Richard A Coons, 73, former Managing
Partner of the Hawaii office of Deloitte & Touche LLP, passed away at Queens Medical Center
on November 22, 2012
In 2008 the Hawaii Society of Certified Public Accountants named him to its first Legacy Hall of Fame He was appointed
by the Chief Justice to four terms on the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court Most recently he served on the Screening Committeeon the Kamehameha Schools’ Board of Trustees
Richard Coons was born in Oklahoma, raised in Nebraska and California and was
a graduate of California State University at Long Beach He was a past president of Historic Hawai’i Foundation, a member of Rotary International, 200 Club, National Rifle Association, Aloha Shriners, Republican Party, Outrigger Canoe Club, and Waialae Baptist Church
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Marumoto-Coons, sons, Theodore L Coons and Charles R Coons, step-children Marshall T Marumoto, Jay M Marumoto, M.D., Wendy Suite, Megan T Marumoto,
M.D., one granddaughter and 7 step-grandchildren
Friends remember him as honest, rather reserved, with a good sense of humor He enjoyed horseback riding, tennis, sailing, and fishing Services were held at Waialae Baptist Church December 15 Memorial donations can be made to HUGS or Waialae Baptist Church
In Passing:
Richard A Coons
Trang 3JANUARY 2013 / SMALL BUSINESS NEWS / PAgE 3
SBH Sunrise Returns With
Dr Patrick Sullivan
The monthly SBH Sunrise Networking Breakfast Forums return and will be
held every last Thursday of the month during 2013 (except December)
The first SBH Sunrise Breakfast of the new year will
be held on Thursday, January 31, in the Pineapple Room
at Macy’s Ala Moana Center on the 3rd Floor from 7 – 8:30
am
January’s special speaker is Dr Patrick Sullivan,
CEO of Oceanit, a successful Hawaii based Aerospace,
Engineering Consulting, Information Systems and Life
Sciences high technology firm
Sullivan will speak on, “How the technology industry
impacts Hawaii businesses”
In addition to networking, introductions and special
announcements, the Sunrise features a full buffet breakfast,
program and free parking
The forums are open to the public Advance paid reservations are required
The complete cost for SBH members and their guests remains $25 per person
For non-members and those paying at the door—seats are limited— the cost is $35
For details go to www.smartbusinesshawaii.com or call Darlyn at SBH, 396-1724,
or send in the reservation form on p 11
If you haven’t already done so, you should
make your reservations today to attend the
Smart Business Hawaii (SBH) 37th annual
Business and Investment Conference,
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 The Conference
will be held in the Ala Moana Hotel, Garden
Lanai and Hibiscus Ballroom The event will
take place from 8 am to 1:30 pm
The first major business event of each
new year, the SBH Conference, is open to
the public Advance reservations are required
(see form on page 4) Program, luncheon and
parking are included Special reduced rates
for members and their guests are available
Speakers will include well-known
business leaders: Aston’s Kelvin Bloom, Kitty
Lagareta (Communications Pacific) and Roy
Yamaguchi (Roy’s Restaurants); Best Selling
Hawaii Author, Bob Sigall, Honolulu Special
FBI Agent Tom Simon, and Freedom Works’
President Matt Kibbe Special luncheon
speaker is former Governor, Ben Cayetano.
There will be a business exhibit area,
networking, and special events during the
Conference
A detailed agenda is posted online (www
smartbusinesshawaii.com) and printed on
page 4
SBH to Hold its 37th Annual Business & Investment Conference
Matt Kibbe - Freedom Works
Former Governor Benjamin Cayetano
Keynote Speaker
The 27th State Legislature opens its 60-working day session on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at the State Capitol (10 am) The Session will run until the first week
of May
This is a budget year and the primary business of the House and Senate will be adoption of a more than $7 billion annual budget for each of the next two years A separate Capital Improvements Budget (CIP) will also be adopted Taxes, fees and regulations will be in the mix Many proposals will affect Hawaii business
There are many new faces in the Legislature, especially in the House which now boasts 44 Democrats and 7 Republicans
Maui’s Rep Joe Souki wrested control as Speaker from 13-year veteran Calvin Say In
the Senate, 24 Democrats, 1 Republican are involved with an expanded 17 committees
Maui State Senator Shan S Tsutsui has
once again been elected as the President of the Senate
Aaron Ling Johanson is the new House Minority Leader, succeeding Gene Ward Sam Slom continues as Senate Minority Leader.
You can keep up to date on the status
of the estimated new 3,000 bills, business legislation and hearing notices by checking the legislative website, www.capitol.hawaii.gov, the Senate Minority Blog, http://senateminority wordpress.com/, Hawaii Senate Watchdog http://www.hawaiisenatewatchdog.org or by calling Senator Slom’s office, 808-586-8420
State Legislature Convenes January 16
Reserve the Date: January 31 SBH Sunrise
37th Annual SBH Conference
Small Business 2013 Working for a Better Day
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Ala Moana Hotel • 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Trang 4PAgE 4 / SMALL BUSINESS NEWS / JANUARY 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 – Ala Moana Hotel • Hibiscus Ballroom – 8 a.m – 2 p.m.
Small BuSineSS 2013:
“Working for a Better day”
featuring Benjamin J Cayetano, Former Governor, State of Hawaii | Matt Kibbe, Freedom Works ADVANCE PAID RESERVATIONS REQUIRED (See Below) – Parking Validated – Arrive by 6:45 am
Name Firm Name Phone _ Address _City _ Zip _
My Guest(s) Firm Luncheon Menu: Beef n or Vegetarian n
Enclosed is my check for $ _, for _ (# of reservations) @$75 for members and their guests • @$90 for Non-Members and at the door if space is available
Full refunds until January 8, 2013 Make check payable to Small Business Hawaii and mail to:
Small Business Hawaii, Hawaii Kai Corporate Plaza, 6600 Kalanianaole Hwy., Suite 212, Honolulu, Hawaii 96825
the 37th annual Smart Business Hawaii Conference
Small BuSineSS 2013:
“Working for a Better day”
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 • The ala Moana hoTel • hibiscus ballrooM
12 noon Luncheon and Program — Hibiscus Ballroom I & II
12:30 Luncheon Speech: “Ending Corruption in Hawaii”
Benjamin J Cayetano, Former Governor, State of Hawaii
1:30 pm Adjournment Mahalo for attending!
SBH Leadership Circle Members/Sponsors Only 1:45 pm Private Meeting with
Matt Kibbe and Governor Benjamin Cayetano
CONFERENCE PROGRAM*
8:00 am Registration and Coffee – Garden Lanai
Network and Visit Business Exhibit Tables – Foyer
8:45 am Aloha and Welcome – “Working For A Better Day”
Sam Slom, President, Smart Business Hawaii (SBH)
9:00 am Outlook for Hawaiis Visitor Industry2013
Kelvin Bloom, Aston Hotels Hawaii
9:30 am Strategies for Hawaii’s Business Success 2013
Kitty Lagareta, Communications Pacific
Roy Yamaguchi, Roys Restaurants
Geal Talbert, UBS Financial, Moderator
10:15 – 10:30 am Brief Refreshment Break
Visit Business Exhibits (Foyer)
10:30 “Lessons from Hawaii’s Most Successful Companies”
Bob Sigall, Author, “The Companies We Keep”
11:00 am “Protecting Your Business from Embezzlement”
Tom Simon, Special Agent, Honolulu FBI
11:30 “How to Implement a Freedom Philosophy
Matt Kibbe, Freedom Works
* Program subject to change
Matt Kibbe Benjamin Cayetano
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Most Hawaii residents haven’t heard of the Jones Act, but one
Hawaii lawyer and several business owners say the 1920 federal
shipping law has a major negative impact on virtually ever resident
and business in the state, and they are challenging the law in U.S
District Court
John Carroll, an attorney and former state lawmaker, has filed
a class action suit against the federal government on behalf of his
clients They maintain the Jones Act violates the Commerce Clause by
restricting shipping between states to American-owned and manned
ships and thereby hurting businesses and residents by inflating the
cost of goods
The issue is hotly debated among Hawaii’s political elite, but
largely ignored by the general public
Carroll and his plaintiffs – who include Patrick Novak, CEO of
The French Gourmet; Daniel Rocha, a farmer and rancher; Ken
Schoolland, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University, as well as William
Akina, Bjorn Arntzen and Philip Wilkerson — hope to educate the
public about the detriments of the Jones Act, which some experts
argue increases the cost of living in the islands by as much as one
third
“The most important issue for me is the violation of the Commerce
Clause,” Carroll said “The founding fathers fought the British and over
threw them based on imposition, without representation, of a tax on
tea This law’s enforcement taxes everyone who purchases anything
in this state because of the excessive shipping costs, which seem to
be out of control.”
Carroll maintains the class action lawsuit should be considered as
Hawaii’s “revolution”… “to obtain economic freedom from monopolistic
domination of shippers who face no competitors.”
But Carroll and other opponents of the Jones Act have met with
powerful enemies who prefer to keep their control and profit
Not surprisingly, the law has its advocates, including transportation
companies, unions and lawmakers who benefit from political
Federal Lawsuit: Jones Act Unconstitutional
By Malia Zimmerman, HawaiiReporter.com
contributions
Hawaii’s congressional delegation, with the exception of former Congressmen
Ed Case and Charles Djou, have been
beneficiaries of substantial donations from Jones Act supporters, including Hawaii’s duopoly shipping companies Matson and Horizon
Carroll has spent a great deal of his career trying to kill the federal legislation or win Hawaii a special exemption, much like the exemptions granted by the President during natural disasters
Three years ago, Carroll brought a lawsuit against the Jones Act, but U.S
District Judge David Ezra threw out the
case saying Carroll’s clients did not have standing Carroll said he’s learned from that experience, and believes the new lawsuit will address the issues that caused the first to fail
Carroll said the impact of the Jones Act is so severe, that the state of Hawaii is denied access to about 90% of all available shipping in the world He also blames the Jones Act for destroying Hawaii’s agricultural economy
The lawsuit not only maintains the Jones Act violates the U.S Constitution but it also claims shippers that service the route from the continental United States, Hawaii and Guam have a monopoly Matson brings in 67 percent of the goods to Hawaii while Horizon Lines ships in 33 percent of the goods
Photo by Melvin Ah Ching
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37 Years of
The Sun Sets on the Printed Edition • 1976 – 2013
This is the behind-the-scenes story in
the production of Small Business News
For most of SB News’ existence I have
been the person behind the scenes, “The
Mysterious Mel” of type, photography,
lay-out and technology infamy
I started work on the SB News in
the summer of 1985 when I was hired by
Paradise Printers to operate their
comput-erized Quadritek 2100 phototypesetting
machine made by the now defunct firm Itek
Infographics The machine was for most
mortals, a very complex single function
computer that relied on a coding language
to get any meaningful work done I learned
how to operate the Quadritek in college
dur-ing the late 1970s while workdur-ing as editor
for the school newspaper
My skills were badly needed at the
printing firm because they had just bought
the machine and picked up the Small
Busi-ness Hawaii account from which they would
produce and print the monthly newsletter
It was through my employment at Paradise
Printers that first put me in touch with Sam
Slom and Winnie Buckley, who was at
that time the publication’s main writer and
editor
Both Sam and Winnie would hand over
pages of roughly typed sheets containing
stories for the next month’s SB News as
well as photos to be used in each
is-sue
I laboriously typed the copy into the
Quadritek and started formatting the text
in the machine before the galleys were
run out, processed and manually cut and
pasted on to layout boards The paste-up
proofs were then finalized by SBH and if
approved, sent to the printing press
This process continued for a few years
In late 1988 I left the printer and went
to an ad agency They also needed a
typesetter, layout guy and somene who
un-derstood how to use the relatively new
Ma-By Melvin Ah Ching
Special to SBH
Continued on page 8.
SBH was and is still in the forefront on reporting business, tax and regulation issues This sign waving demonsration against a GE Tax increase has been a recurring issue over time.
Rock star Gene Simmons of KISS (top left) graced the cover
of the January 2008 edition of SB News after he was tapped
to be the keynote speaker at the 32nd Annual SBH Confer-ence The highly entreprenuerial Simmons turned his rock star fame into a huge and successful worldwide enterprise Simmons posed for many photos on the day of the SBH Conference as shown here with SBH Director Debi Halcro and Winnie Chan, who was also an SBH Director at that time
In 1996 Joyce & Bill Edwards (top right), founders of The Systemcenter, Inc were named the SBA Small Business Persons of the Year and featured on the cover of the May is-sue that year The Edwards’ went on to receive many awards
in the ensuing years which were covered in the SB News
Joyce was also a longtime board member of SBH.
SB News January 2008.
Trang 7JANUARY 2013 / SMALL BUSINESS NEWS / PAgE 7
Lex Brodie of Lex Brodie’s Tire Company was the founder of Small Business Hawaii which in
2009 became Smart Business Hawaii.
Jean Fukuda, a longtime SBH member and
director presented Honolulu Star-Bulletin
car-toonist Corky Trinidad an SBH Award at one
of the annual conferences in the 1990s Both Trinidad and Fukuda have since passed away and today the SBH Civic Leadership Award bears Jean Fukuda’s name.
Small Business Hawaii used to operate a member softball league which played weekly at Keehi
Lagoon Park during the mid to late 1980s Announcements, pictures and results of the games
appeared in the monthly Small Business News.
Many people through the years have supported SBH with their time, talent and money Among
them were former directors (L - R) Kenny Lum, Pamela Gottilieb, Richard O Rowland who used
to write many columns for us, and cartoonist John Pritchett whose cartoons have graced these
pages with their timely commentary and humor
The first location of the SBH office was on the 2nd floor in this building on Cooke Street in Kaka’ako, Honolulu.
This photo appeared on the cover of the May
1998 issue of Small Business News shortly
af-ter the legislature ended That year a GE Tax
Increase bill proposal was defeated near the
end of that session Throughout the
publica-tion of the Small Business News, members
were brought up to date on issues
regard-ing taxation, health care premiums, workers’
comp, unemployment insurance, rail, the
Ha-waii Superferry and more The Late Great Winnie Buckley of SBH.
SBH director Jack Schneider and his wife Mi-chelle received the Jean Fukuda Civic Leader-ship award from Wayne Fukuda in 2003.
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By Ken Schoolland
SBH President, Sam Slom, was the first
to recognize the publication potential for The
Adventures of Jonathan Gullible: A Free Market
Odyssey Twenty-three years ago, before the
fall of the Iron Curtain, Sam offered to publish
a book to introduce free market ideas in Hawaii
schools His ideas have never been embraced
in the islands, but this venture has now been
published in 71 editions in 47 languages
around the world
Most recently
the tale has been
touring as a play
across Africa
with Adedayo
Thomas and
a cast of 30,
c o u r t e s y o f
Students for
Liberty and the
Atlas Foundation
for Economic
Research There are now more that 45 public
policy institutes and organizations worldwide
that have adopted the book for publication or
promotion in one manner or another
During my lecture circuit of 23
presenta-tions at 16 institupresenta-tions in 5 countries last
summer, the first free market book in Vietnam
was launched, next to a bust of Ho Chi Minh
The third Chinese edition was published in
Shanghai, the second Albanian edition was
published in Tirana, the second editions Dutch
and German are forthcoming along with a new
Hindi edition The ninth English edition, hard
cover with full color illustrations, including the
narrated audio CD, is available on Amazon
com
Lastly, we are making progress toward
production and investment toward the
animated film in Los Angeles Those interested
in any phase of this project may contact me at
ken.schoolland@gmail.com, or call
808-389-1998
How better to bring free markets to the
world than through education and media of
all types
Mahalo to Sam for starting the ball rolling
and to Malia Zimmerman, Founder of Hawaii
Reporter, and Dick Rowland, President of
The Grassroot Institute Hawaii, for keeping it
going over the years
Copies of Jonathan Gullible will be
available for sale at the upcoming 37th Annual
SBH Conference on January 9
cintosh computer While I was still employed
at the printers, I did learn a lot about the Mac and how to make a publication on the visually oriented and easier to use platform
Print production moved from dedicated typesetting computers and hand paste-up to
a totally digital process utilizing for the most part the Apple Macintosh computer (there were people in the industry who went to the dark side and used PCs; but they don’t count for this story)
It was during this time in the late 1980s that Sam also adopted the Mac platform for use in the SBH office I purchased a Mac
of my own in 1988 which later allowed me
to integrate the SB News into Macintosh
production for pre-press work While it was doable, it was not totally without its quirks
For a number of years production was stuck between digital composition, hand paste-up and in-house laser printing before gradually transiting to a digital only print process Taking photos for the publication also changed going from traditional 35mm film as late as 1999 to totally digital by the end of 2003
Sam and I had recurring “debates” over issues involving the software and operating systems between our Macs, starting with System 6, moving to Systems 7, 8, 9 and finally 10 (OSX), where we are today We started with Ready-Set-Go, spent many years on PageMaker and are now with Adobe InDesign
Regardless of the technical issues,
members always received their Small
Business News in the mail, every month,
on time with updates, announcements and commentaries on the latest business and political news
I learned a lot over that time
produc-cing and reading the Small Business News
It helped shape me more into the fiscal conservative “pake” that I am today
As this paper edition of Small Business
News finally rolls off the press and into your
hands this month, rest assured that SBH will continue to bring you the latest news, announcements and commentary that is worthy of your time and space on your digi-tal device
As we go to PDF only starting next
month, one thing is for certain Small
Busi-ness News will go to a full color format with
the digital only editions That means most, if not all of the photos will be in color and that design changes may also be forthcoming
The digital edition of Small Business
News will be even more closely integrated
into our website, Sam’s weekly eBlast, as well as our Facebook and Twitter social media platforms PDF can be viewed on all types of computers including tablets and phones running the Apple iOS and Google Android systems
In the not so distant future SBH can look forward to the ePub format and maybe even its own Android and iOS app
SB News: From Paper to Digital
Contined from Page 6.
Jonathan Gullible: An SBH Phenomenon
Ken Schoolland and Nguyen Cong Minh with the Vietnamese edition of Jonathan Gullible.
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IT’S YOUR MONEY
Hawaii Health Costs to Rise With Obamacare
SBH Membership
Can Help You!
One of the benefits of membership in SBH is our business
referral service Another is member discounts Also, you can
contact SBH for answers to employment and other legal
questions Finally, SBH is your business advocate at the
State Legislature, City Council and Public Agency hearings
Please join today Call 808 396-1724 for details
or send in the membership form on page 11
By Lowell Kalapa, President, Tax Foundation of Hawaii
Last month we talked about the possible tax increases that might occur as
a result of the “fiscal cliff” if the lame duck Congress does nothing; however, what readers should know is that some taxes are already scheduled to rise as a result
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
While much of the public awareness around this precedent setting legislation focuses on mandatory health care insurance, there are serious tax implications
in the measure that will go into effect next year Last week we mentioned
that high income earners ($200,000/$250,000) with dividend and capital
gains taxes will be hit with an additional 3.8% tax on that income to
fund Medicare In addition, these taxpayers will see their share of the
Medicare tax on their wages rise by 0.9% which when added to the
current 1.45% paid by all wage earners will make that tax rate 2.35%
While the employers share for Medicare on these high-wage
earners will remain at 1.45%, the combined tax rate will rise to 3.8%
which is the same rate these taxpayers will pay on dividend and capital
gains income This tax increase is expected to raise $317 billion over
the next ten years
Another new tax will hit manufacturers of medical devices with
a tax equivalent to 2.3% of their gross sales It is estimated that this
tax will raise more than $29 billion over the next ten years Of course,
those manufacturers will pass the cost of the tax on to their customers,
increasing the cost of medical care
Those taxpayers with Flexible Spending Accounts will be limited
to an annual contribution cap of $2,500 with which to cover
out-of-pocket medical expenses Currently there is no limitation on pre-tax
contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts used for medical expenses
It is estimated that this will raise $24 billion over the next ten years
One tax increase won’t come in the form of a new tax or a rate
increase but it will come in the form of a higher threshold for the
itemized deductions that taxpayers can take for medical expenses
made during the tax year All taxpayers can currently deduct any
medical expenses they made during the tax year as long as they are
in excess of 7.5% of their adjusted gross income Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that threshold will rise to 10%
In other words, taxpayers will be able to deduct only those expenses that exceed 10% of their adjusted gross income It is expected that his change will raise another $19 billion over the next ten years Finally, on January 1, 2013 the amount that a health insurance company can deduct for compensation paid to its executives and directors will be substantially reduced While it doesn’t sound like much, it is estimated that this change will raise $800 million over the next ten years
Some other changes adopted under this legislation have already gone into effect such as increased penalties for unqualified withdrawals from Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Archer Medical Savings accounts (MSA) An interesting provision that levies a 10% excise tax
on tanning bed services went into effect on July 1, 2010 An annual fee on drug manufacturers went into effect in 2011
But that is not the end of the taxes and fees adopted under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A new annual fee on health insurers will kick in beginning in 2014 as well as a 40% tax on expensive health plans that will go into effect in 2018
The fact that all of these tax increases have been adopted and will
go into effect come January 1, 2013 makes the fiscal cliff even more frightening Will the nation be able to withstand even more taxes on top of those that will come with “Obamacare?” While many of these tax increases are “hidden” from the general public, they, nonetheless, will add to the cost of living for all taxpayers
That is why it is so important that taxpayers understand the gravity
of what faces the lame duck Congress in the next few weeks While everyone seems to agree that it cannot be all spending cuts or all tax increases, policymakers need to be sensitive to the burden already borne by Americans - individuals, families, and businesses And if policymakers think that they can just make the wealthy taxpayers pick up the tab, they should remember that those who have those resources can also choose where to invest their “riches.”
No one will come out of this crisis unscathed Taxpayers need to realize that someone has to pay for the programs and services the federal government has grown over the years Now is the opportune time to rethink how much federal government we really need and for which we are willing to pay
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The following was written by celebrity, comedian, author Ben Stein
and recited by him on a recent CBS Sunday Morning commentary.
My confession: I don’t like getting pushed around for being a
Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being
Christians I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of
getting pushed around, period I have no idea where the concept
came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country I can’t find it
in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from
that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship
God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old,
too But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities
came from and where the America we knew went to
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh,
this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny,
it’s intended to get you thinking
In light of recent events, terrorists attack, school shootings, etc I
think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered,
her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer
in our schools, and we said OK Then someone said you better not
read the Bible in school The Bible says “thou shalt not kill; thou shalt
not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself” And we said OK
Then Dr Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children
when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped
and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock’s son committed
suicide) We said an expert should know what he’s talking about And
we said okay
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience,
The Way Things Have Become
why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them
to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure
it out I think it has a great deal to do with “we reap what we sow.” Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe,
or what they will think of you for sending it
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein
great quotations
“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative origi-nal thinker unless you can also sell what you create Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented
to them by a good salesman.”