Kukuinunu — Senator Tokuda is not the cause of the “impasse.” She had very positive things to say about the House proposal. Unfortunately, Senator Donna Mercado-Kim decided to publicly float the theory that the bill would be vulnerable to legal challenges by the visitor industry. (cue Mufi) I would be curious to learn exactly the breakdown of the Senate’s tone-deaf “money grab” — included in the 10-year extension.

If unchanged from the original Senate bill, these vultures actually INCREASED the state’s “skim off the top” to a whopping 20 percent! Clearly there are those among the Senate intent on using rail as an excuse to grab their piece of the pie — which if they had left alone for the last decade — would very likely have eliminated the need for Caldwell to ask for more cash in the first place.