Place the burden of GET hike on visitors
I have proposed to several legislators and the governor an idea that would allow raising the excise tax without placing the burden on our state residents, which is what I believe the Senate is protecting against.Simply raise the excise tax by the amount that the House is proposing, or even a bit more, but protect residents against the hike by allowing them to claim exemptions on their annual income tax forms, based on a formula that considers salary (thus spendable income) and family size.
That leaves out-of-state visitors and non-resident business owners in Hawaii to pay the increased amounts. Visitors will hardly notice the increase, as most of them come from states or countries with higher excise taxes than Hawaii.
Lawrence Thornley
Big business will profit most from tax proposals
Shame on Governor Cayetano for saying that he has not seen a better tax plan. Why? Because he refuses to look at one and study it.The Democratic Party is the friend of rich people, not the working class. Look who is loud-mouthing the plan the most -- Larry Johnson, chairman of the board and CEO of Pacific Century, otherwise known as the Bank of Hawaii. Johnson had a 1997 salary of $700,000 and a bonus of $80,151 plus $145,454 in other compensation.
How will Johnson benefit from the plan? With a cut of 40 percent in the franchise tax, the bank will make a bigger profit. Bingo! When the bank makes a bigger profit, he will make a bigger bonus. Cut individual income taxes, and he will gain even more.
An increase in the general excise tax will have to be paid by renters. Since the city pays GET to the state, it will have to raise property taxes. Low-income people will have trouble making their budgets stretch far enough each month. They will be the losers.
Small business has to pay the GET before it makes a profit. This will be the straw that breaks the backs of many; there will be more failures and more people fleeing Hawaii.
Frances R. Hardy
Campaign will be strike three for powers-that-be
Hawaii residents have been hit with expensive propaganda that tries to justify increasing net taxes on businesses and people with limited income (GET increase) in order to reduce taxes on large institutions and maintain the largess of state government. It is encouraging that many people are not blissfully putting their "thumbs up" to such a plan.In fact, the new slogan of the common folk is "Heads Up, Hawaii." In this campaign, there are no silly items like little thumbs being plastered about. You only see intelligent, concerned citizens working together to keep their heads up in the face of simplistic garbage that large institutions want to shove down their throats.
The institutional propaganda machine now has two strikes against it -- the Thumbs Up campaign and Economic Revitalization Task Force plan. That leaves them with one more swing -- the 1998 gubernatorial campaign. Then they will be out.
Brian C. Buckley
Explaining what Souki is trying to accomplish
Soukinomics: The policy of decreasing consumers' purchasing power and disposable income by increasing taxes on these purchases. The purpose of this policy is to maintain an oversized government at a time of a decrease in the employee base of the private sector and a decline in the tax revenues from this smaller base.L. Donald Machado
Kailua
(Via the Internet)
Math from ERTF plan doesn't quite add up
The March 27 letter co-written by Susan Chandler and Franklin Chong explains that taxpayers pay the low-income mom with two children $570 per month, then pay an additional $81 a month ($27 x 3) in food credits. The total that the taxpayers pay the mom is $651 a month under today's plan.The Economic Revitalization Task Force plan has taxpayers pay the mom with two children $570 per month, then pay an additional $390 per month ($130 x 3) for low-income tax credits. The total that taxpayers will pay the mom is $960 per month.
Also, under the ERTF plan, the mom with two children pays taxpayers back $56 a year or $4.67 per month in GET for the $960 per month the mom receives. Taxpayers end up short by $955.33 per month.
Chandler and Chong must implement a program to differentiate between exploiters feeding off our welfare dollars and the truly needy. Funny, all the welfare dollars come from the same source -- taxpayers.
Jim Kuroiwa Jr.
Chairman, Honolulu County
Republican Party of Hawaii
Working parents to pay more for A-plus program
Children have always been told that if they get a good education and work hard, they will be able to enjoy many rewards in life. Today, the Senate is trying to change those beliefs. As part of the Senate's new budget plan, the A-plus program would have to become financially self-sufficient.A-plus prices will increase, giving middle- and upper-class parents a larger share of the burden. Meanwhile, children who already receive free or reduced-cost lunches would get fee waivers so they can remain in the program without paying the higher prices.
I don't understand why hard-working parents have to "reward" others who don't deserve it. Where is their work ethic?
Brad Kageno
Grade 9
Mililani High School
Youth program should find better spokesperson
I know that the program called DARE (Drug Awareness, Resistance, Education) does many good things, but I am troubled that it has chosen as a role model for young students singer Babba B, who I recently heard singing a commercial for Budweiser beer.Can't the DARE program find a more suitable, drug-free role model for children?
H.S. Shin
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