Letters to the Editor

Greed monster swallowed Waikiki and is still hungry

Move over, islanders, and make room for the tourist industry and the rich. Your plan to sacrifice Waikiki to the greed monster did not work. It only grew larger, laid waste to Waikiki and has recently breached the Ala Wai Canal barrier with the convention center incursion.

The new mauka boundary of Waikiki Nui Loa is Kapiolani Boulevard with its abutting superblocks. Waikiki Beach now includes Magic Island, Ala Moana Beach and all the seaside of Kakaako and Honolulu Harbor. The Ala Moana Center is midway in its transition from a local to a tourist shopping center. Condos for the rich and high-rise hotels will promenade along the length of the seashore and become a concrete skyline.

Rich tourists will have old Waikiki Beach to themselves. Younger visitors will be asked to wander over to Magic Island and Ala Moana. And older and poorer tourists will be told to rejuvenate in the mineral-rich waters of the Ala Wai. Locals in need of a swim will have to make do with a cold shower.

RICHARD Y. WILL


Legislators aren't seeing big economic picture

Bankruptcies are rising, foreclosures are rising, people are leaving Hawaii in record numbers, and the state's economy consistently ranks at or near the bottom in national surveys. Our economy is unquestionably hurting, but our legislators still don't get it.

Where is the leadership from the state House and Senate? Where is the substantive reform of workers comp and no-fault insurance? Where are the proposals to slash the bloated bureaucracy? Where are the initiatives to privatize whenever and wherever possible?

We need such bold, decisive actions to restore vitality to Hawaii's economy, but too many of our legislators fail to see the big picture.

We can no longer elect myopic legislators who play politics to protect their own turf, while neglecting Hawaii's overall economy. Come November, if it isn't too late, it's time for a thorough House- (and Senate-) cleaning.

KERRY A. KRENZKE


We need clearer thinking in Labor Department

It's tough enough on Hawaiian taxpayers just paying state workers salaries, but to also have to pay unemployment insurance to state workers out on strike is just plain crazy. Then to have the state Labor Director Lorraine Akiba exceed her budget by $2 million and illegally take funds from a trust to cover the shortfall is downright crooked.

JOHN WEIL


Re-taxing wealthy seems only way to balance budget

Downsizing - that hurtful strategy to save money - seems not to be producing the gains it was predicted to create.

We've seen the lack of positive results in the public sector as the state and city find downsizing costs them money. Common sense tells us more downsizing will only create bigger problems. What's the solution?

Recently we've seen some on CSPAN beginning to talk about Reagan unleashing the fiscal crisis when he untaxed the wealthy and millionaires - cutting their federal income tax rates from 70 percent down to 33 percent. Clinton raised their taxes back up to 39.6 percent - "the biggest tax raise in history. "This crisis has since trickled down and the state and city have asked ordinary people to make up for the budget shortfall. The state could, however, raise nearly $200 million a year and avoid cuts if it re-taxed the incomes of the wealthy a few percent at the state level also.

To avoid further budget cuts, this solution to re-tax the wealthy seems, to me, the only logical solution.

RENEE ING



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