Dunkerley's point of view that tourism to Hawaii is the equalizer to the ficklness of the economy and federal funding to Hawaii is not necessarily a new concept. Back in the 70's, when my Pop worked at Aloha Airlines, he would tell me that tourism always inoculated Hawaii from recessions and the variances of federal funding as Hawaii was always a destination for tourists, and as long as that continues, money will continue to float in. This was affirmed by the Legislature in the 1970's when they, after years of debate, decided that they needed to add a tax to tourism - thus our TAT tax system today. 

And as it was back then, so it is now, the debate also rages about how that money can help. I see that while the players have changed, the issues and questions remain exactly the same.