By PETER SUR
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye has good things to say about Billy Kenoi and Mazie Hirono, but not Linda Lingle, and he still has unresolved issues with Ed Case.
Inouye, Hawaii’s most powerful Democrat, also reflected on his long history with retiring Democrat Sen. Daniel K. Akaka in an interview Monday with the Tribune-Herald.
“I’m going to miss him (Akaka) because he’s been around for 36 years in Congress,” Inouye said. “I’ve known him for a time before that. Our partnership was a very honest and good one, and so I’m going to miss him.”
The two senators agreed with each other “99 percent of the time,” Inouye said. “But I don’t know what Gov. Lingle has in mind.” Lingle, formerly a two-term Republican governor of Hawaii, is running for Akaka’s Senate seat.
“For example,” Inouye said, regarding last week’s affirmation by the U.S. Supreme Court of President Obama’s health care reform law, “is she going to represent the state of Hawaii if she became senator to repeal what the Supreme Court has ratified as OK? I’d like to know that,” Inouye said.
The Lingle campaign released a statement shortly after the high court’s ruling that called for amendments to the law, but the former governor stopped short of supporting a repeal.
Although he won’t call it an endorsement, Inouye said he preferred serving alongside “someone who I’ve known over the years whose word has been good and trustworthy” — Democrat Mazie Hirono, who also is seeking Akaka’s seat. “It’s just a matter of fact,” he said.
Inouye then brought up the 2006 U.S. Senate primary election battle between Democrat Case, then a member of the U.S. House, and Akaka. Although Inouye never referred to Case by his name during the Tribune-Herald interview, the senator painted a picture of Case that was less than flattering.
“Now, how would you feel if you asked me a question, ‘Are you going to run for the Senate?’ And I told you, ‘No, I’m not running. I’m not going to oppose Akaka.’
“And less than a week later, he opens his campaign headquarters with posters all over the place. And you know very well it takes more than five days to print these things, especially if you’re on the mainland. How would you look upon me as someone you would call a reliable friend?”
Inouye then said he received an invitation to Case’s campaign headquarters.
“What am I supposed to say? ‘Thank you for lying to me.’”
Inouye said he follows “all the races” in Hawaii, and is “absolutely” paying attention to the Hawaii County mayor’s race. Incumbent Billy Kenoi once served as an intern in Inouye’s office.
“I’m not going to endorse anyone, but I must confess I was surprised when Harry (Kim) decided to run. I thought he was on the retirement list. But that’s his personal decision,” Inouye said. “I thought, and I still do, that Billy has done a good job. But the people of the Big Island (will) decide.”
Regarding Obamacare, Inouye noted that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to repeal Obama’s signature health reform overhaul, but he doesn’t know if Romney can do it.
“I doubt if he has that support in the Congress, even at this moment,” Inouye said.
Lingle and Republican congressional candidate Charles Djou, he said, has “come out and said they’re against it. That would be interesting when you consider that over (6 million) young adults in just the first six months of this year have already benefited from the rights of young adults to get care on their father’s and mother’s insurance.”
Inouye said his role in crafting the bill was limited because he didn’t serve on the committee that created it.
He also wasn’t surprised that Chief Justice John Roberts became the crucial swing vote to uphold President Obama’s health reform overhaul, noting that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs was one of Roberts’ major clients when he was in private practice.
“He represented the interest of Native Hawaiians,” Inouye said. “It’s not the kind of case that one would think that an ultra-conservative would take. So his decision to support this Affordable Care Act was not a big surprise.” However, Inouye didn’t expect that Justice Anthony Kennedy would side with the minority, or that the individual mandate would be upheld under the Constitution’s taxing authority instead of the commerce clause.
Inouye, Akaka and then-Sen. Obama all voted against Roberts’ confirmation in 2005.
Inouye is a staunch defender of Congress’ spending authority, and earmarks in particular. As the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he has been instrumental in steering hundreds of millions of dollars to Hawaii for projects like the realigned Saddle Road (which is now funded by the Department of Defense) and the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.
“Earmarks played a major role at the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus,” Inouye said. “If it weren’t for earmarks, you wouldn’t see a school of nursing, a school of pharmacy and all of that, with all this construction.”
“If people can come out and say, ‘We’re against the role you play in helping to fund the Hilo campus,’ say so,” the senator said. “If they’re against the Saddle Road, say so. Don’t just come out and say, ‘We’re against earmarks.’”
He also affirmed his longstanding support for the Pohakuloa Training Area, which is used to prepare the military for action.
“Pohakuloa is very important because if Hawaii is to become and continue to be a major site for military training and activity, you need a Pohakuloa,” said Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient. “Places that at one time served in that capacity on Oahu are no longer available. So Pohakuloa is a natural. And if you close that up, if you’re a commander of any service … you’re going to say, ‘Let’s get the hell out of here. I don’t want my men to go into battle without training.’”
Email Peter Sur at psur@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
