Every week I end up shelling out about 50 bucks at the Gas Express here in Hawaii Kai.  One fill-up for my car, and one for my wife's car.  It's a cost of living, and as long as I'm paying the same as everyone else, I don't cry about it.  My brother on the mainland tells me he pays about $1.20 for Unleaded up in Seattle, while I pay $1.65.  Why the disparity?  Ummm, "Freight", my brother tells me.  Does it really cost 45 to 50 cents per gallon more to ship the gas out here?  As Nell Carter would say, Gimme a break!

Gubernatorial Candidate Andy Anderson's press release, held at scenic John Dominis restaurant off Ala Moana, deals with this problem which has been haunting the citizens of Hawaii for years.  Gas is expensive here in Hawaii, and we've just learned to accept that without asking why...

Going to court to solve anti-trust lawsuits is a waste of time and effort.  And after waiting five years and spending a lot of time and money in court, the state will end up losing the battle like many other larger states have before us.  Wasted time, wasted money, wasted efforts.... One of my favorite quotes from Andy? "How many times do we have to get knocked on the head before we learn?"

Anderson's proposal is pitched as a business plan.  Whereas politicians of the past attempted to settle problems using a roundabout convoluted court system, Andy's idea proposes a straight line solution using the simple economics101 solution of supply and demand.  If a lower gasoline price can be provided, competition would drive gas prices closer to mainland levels.

He proposes a publicly owned non-profit entity known as the Hawaii Fuel Authority.  This entity would purchase gasoline in bulk from other countries and trans-ship it to the outer islands.  This Authority would then run several gas stations, priced fairly at near mainland levels.  Competition will prevail and prices will fall.  Either way, the people of Hawaii win!  It's a publicly owned authority, remember?  And every time we go to fill up, we get paid our dividends in the form of lower gas prices. The 20 million it will cost to set up the program and get it running will bring 250 million in savings for the people of this state.  That 250 million in turn is put back into the economy via people spending, and soon that paltry little 20 million investment balloons into a 700 million dollar infusion into the Hawaii economy.  It's so simple it's a wonder it's not in effect yet...

But I don't even drive!  This won't help me!  You don't drive, but you eat, buy clothes and other things, don't you?  How do you think the products get to the stores, on foot?  No, they are delivered by trucks that run on, you guessed it, FUEL!  Fuel is integral to our everyday lives... Every single one of us...

But we know nothing about running this type of business!  No problem, says Andy... "I'll hire the number 2 guy away from Chevron.  Talent can always be bought."  Gotta love this guy's style!

Andy admits the program is nothing new.  It's modeled after a Jet Fuel program they came up with a few years back.  Once showing the same types of inequities between the Mainland Jet Fuel costs and Hawaii Jet Fuel costs, the difference AFTER this very same program was put into effect has been and continues to be a negligible 4 cent difference.

He showed us the numbers, and they look sound.  He's done his research, and figures that on average we will be saving around 40 cents a gallon.  For me, that's about 16 bucks a week.  I'll take that any day.

He's betting the farm on this one... Andy states that this proposal is what he will be campaigning on.  It's a good one, and more substantial than anything I've seen from his opponents.  That's just my humble opinion of course, but there are a lot of short, fat Chinese guys out there that not only look like me, but think like me.  Hmmm... 

So why ARE we paying so much for gas?  "Abuse, abuse, abuse..." is Andy's simple answer to that question.  Hawaii people are just used to putting up with a lot of things... And it's about time someone asked "Why?"  Good going, and I hope to see some changes for the better next year.  Andy Anderson is always fond of saying, "Even if I don't win, I will have raised the level of dialogue."  And it seems that Andy's opponents better ante up, because the stakes have just increased.

The gubernatorial race is getting more and more interesting every day.

Check out Andy's Proposal yourself by clicking here.

Or go to his website at www.andy2002.org for more information.