by Ken Conklin
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL has published two major editorials against the Akaka bill at crucial moments when the U.S. Senate was poised to consider it.
“A Bright Line on Race” editorial in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL of October 2, 2000
“The Akaka State? A recipe for Balkanization heads for the Senate floor” editorial in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL of June 2, 2006
WSJ has also published a number of commentaries opposing the Akaka bill by columnist John Fund: July 18 2005, August 19 2005, June 5, 2006, June 12, 2006. WSJ published a major commentary on August 16, 2005 by former Senators Slade Gorton and Hank Brown repudiating the apology resolution of 1993 which provides the most important theoretical rationale for the Akaka bill.
Even THE ECONOMIST (London) expressed concern on September 2, 2005
Full text of all the above articles is available from subpages reached through an index organized chronologically at
http://tinyurl.com/5eflp
Readers might think those articles are not specifically concerned with the impact of the Akaka bill on business, since The Wall Street Journal and The Economist often try to familiarize their readers with broad social and political issues.
But three commentaries about the Akaka bill in August and October of 2007 were in publications that specifically target audiences of business owners and investors. Thus it appears the business community both nationwide and in Hawaii is beginning to awaken to the dangers of the Akaka bill. These three articles are still available immediately at no charge from their publishers’ websites:
HAWAII BUSINESS magazine, August 2007 (pro-con debate)
http://tinyurl.com/25rh6g
NASDAQ NEWS, October 24, 2007 (news report following House passage)
http://tinyurl.com/2x2sfq
INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY, Monday, October 29, 2007, EDITORIAL in opposition.
http://tinyurl.com/2c822f