Built backwards, started 30 years too late and handled by the most bumbling assortment of public and private officials imaginable, and now—with yet another lawsuit to slow it down and expand its cost to the taxpayer—it’s no wonder the Honolulu Rail project is making everyone a little crazy.

There are always winners and losers in every proposed budget, but some of the guests at this year’s budget banquet might be consuming more than makes sense, while others could use more than breadcrumbs.

The candidates with the most cash have an overwhelming likelihood to end up the winner in our current election system. That held true in 2024 as the Carpenter’s Union PAC “For a Better Tomorrow” spent more than $500,000 to ensure Tom Cook and Tasha Kama were re-elected to the Maui County Council over Kelly King and Carol Lee Kamekona.

In 2013, the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority kicked off a condo-building boom in low-lying, makai district Kakaʻako. But without adequate infrastructure in place to support even the prior population, things quickly began to smell a little off.