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Company: Oil in pipeline under Missouri River reservoir

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Berwick sweeps North Pocono in boys volleyball opener

<p>You might have seen the great state of Hawaii was one of those leading the charge against President Donald Trump&#8217;s revised travel ban that targeted six Muslim-majority nations.</p><p>One of Hawaii&#8217;s main arguments was the ban would hurt its tourism industry, which is so very important to its economy.</p><p>Our 50th state also argued the ban violated federal law because it discriminated against people of certain nationalities and religions.</p><p>Hawaii ended up getting its wish. A federal judge there blocked Trump&#8217;s ban just hours before it was to take effect, and the matter is now most likely headed to a higher court.</p><p>But please make no mistake about it.</p><p>Hawaii, though it might cast itself as such, is no passionate supporter of human rights in all instances &#8212; especially when it comes to homeless folks.</p><p>While its attorney general might have argued in court that discrimination of any sort is not acceptable, some of the Aloha State&#8217;s leaders would have no problem saying goodbye to the least fortunate among its population.</p><p>Let us explain.</p><p>In late 2014, The Huffington Post reported on Hawaii&#8217;s homeless-fighting plan that would have used state money to fly homeless people living in tourist-teeming Waikiki back to the continental U.S.</p><p>In other words, the state would&#8217;ve rather paid to get rid of its street people than have them bother the tourists and possibly prevent repeat business or create a negative image.</p><p>Oh, and there&#8217;s more too.</p><p>The same plan also called for &#8220;allocating funds for a public relations campaign discouraging homeless people living on the mainland from moving to the state &#8212; a move some say contradicts Hawaii&#8217;s usual warm welcome to visitors,&#8221; The Huff Post wrote.</p><p>Hmm.</p><p>So, Trump&#8217;s travel ban was no good because Hawaii believes everyone should be welcome on its beautiful islands&#8212; unless they happen to be homeless and already living there?</p><p>That ill-conceived 2014 plan came on the heels of Hawaii&#8217;s &#8220;Return to Home&#8221; idea passed by lawmakers the year before. Again, the thrust of it was to fly homeless folks far away from the palm trees and beautiful shorelines the islands offer.</p><p>Now, in fairness, the governor refused to release money to fund &#8220;Return to Home,&#8221; the report says. But that move wasn&#8217;t exactly based on any form of compassionate reasoning. The governor was simply afraid people would come to Hawaii, enjoy its street life and then expect to be flown back home at some point courtesy of taxpayer largesse.</p><p>Again, none of this is made up.</p><p>These were actual ideas to address homelessness that state officials had supported at one point.</p><p>And now this same state wants the U.S. to welcome the huddled masses from every corner of the globe and all that other good stuff!</p><p>Can you say &#8220;hypocritical&#8221;?</p><p>If it&#8217;s not OK to discriminate based on nationality or religion, then it&#8217;s also not to OK to discriminate based on whether or not someone has the good fortune to own a home or have someplace to stay.</p><p>Facing arguments like this, it&#8217;s no wonder President Trump remarked at a recent rally that he should&#8217;ve just fought for the implementation of the original, broader travel ban.</p><p>By the way, Hawaii also maintained the president couldn&#8217;t issue such a ban because it exceeded his authority under federal statute, according to a breakdown of the ban challenge by The Hill.</p><p>We&#8217;re not lawyers, but it&#8217;s probably a safe assumption Hawaii&#8217;s fly-out-the-homeless proposal exceeded its legal authority as well.</p><style>
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Our view: Hawaii: Land of Hypocrites