[Bill] Souza [chief protocol officer of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and an event organizer] said he hopes the societies can unite and share their separate and secret protocols as "keepers of our culture." The societies had to remain low key because of the political climate following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, Souza said.

Mililani Kaina, a member of 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu, said there is a "fear factor" with the word "sovereignty," based on lack of understanding or misinformation.

She said many older Hawaiians "are living comfortably on Social Security" and enjoying the rights of U.S. citizenship. They are wondering if "sovereignty" would mean secession from the United States and giving up these rights. Kaina said there is a need for more, simplified information, and another speaker concurred that a "more comfortable" word should be used.

OHA Administrator Clyde Namu'o acknowledged that people do feel threatened by the word "sovereignty," as well as "Hawaiian nation," so OHA has begun using the term "governing entity."

The Mid-Session Budget Review released by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today included a proposal that would spend $721 billion – nearly $10 billion more than originally planned in the President's original Fiscal Year 2007 budget – to turn Social Security into a system of private accounts with lower guaranteed benefits to Americans. The President's proposal to privatize Social Security includes significant cuts in guaranteed benefits for the vast majority of Social Security recipients through the indexing of initial benefits to prices, rather than wages.