Texaco's divestiture is unnecessary, hurtful
It's very disturbing to see how one person in the state Attorney General's Office can be so irresponsibly destructive to business. Ted Clause, deputy to Attorney General Margery Bronster, initiated a very ill-conceived and misinformed decree to the Federal Trade Commission requiring either Shell or Texaco to divest all assets on Oahu.If there had been no conformance to the decree, a lawsuit would have been filed to prevent a national merger of the two companies.
Both Shell and Texaco had to consent to the decree or face a long court battle. It was decided Texaco would be the company to divest all of its gas stations and its fueling terminal on Oahu.
It is wrong for an agency of state government to force a business to make detrimental changes such as this. The forced divestment may have an extremely negative impact on many small businesses, hundreds of employees and, in the end, will not positively benefit the consumer at all.
I hope that Bronster, in her wise ways, will see the folly in this situation and vacate the ruling forcing Texaco's divestiture.
Larry Hoe
ERTF ads don't tell whole story to public
Your newspaper is running display ads touting the Economic Revitalization Task Force's proposed general excise tax (GET) increase from 4 percent to 5.3 percent (a 34 percent increase) and maintaining that this would cost a family spending $10,000 a year only 37 cents a day ($135 a year).What these ads don't say is that the proposed income tax cuts would give families with a joint taxable income of $100,000 or more an average windfall of $14.45 a day, or $5,270 a year.
The GET increase is necessary only to help make up for the unprecedented income tax cuts (originally, 40 percent) that the task force recommended. Governor Cayetano recently proposed reducing the top bracket cut to 25 percent after the first two years, but even this would reduce state revenues by more than $300 million a year, on top of deficits already publicized as nearing $200 million.
By reducing income tax reductions for the top 15-20 percent of our taxpayers even further, or eliminating them, little or no GET increase might be needed.
How can the proponents of the ERTF proposals justify this bare-faced shift of a large part of the tax burden from the upper-income taxpayers to those least able to bear it?
Astrid Monson
Chairwoman, Tax Policy Study Group
League of Women Voters of Hawaii
Tear down Natatorium but preserve the arch
Growing up in Honolulu since birth has given me many unforgettable memories of the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. As recently as two years ago, my regular Saturday morning walks with the late Charlie Martin took us through the Natatorium grounds and past the very badly deteriorated facility.Charlie and I had many "friendly" discussions about what should be done about the Natatorium. After much persuasion, I had to agree with him that the best alternative would be to tear down the facility except for the entry arch, which should be preserved to perpetuate the memorial and create more beach.
Sadly, I don't believe the government's history of "facility maintenance" will improve, even if a new facility is built.
And, in this time of economic crisis, it would be imprudent to undertake new construction.
Shay Auerbach
State should buy Waiahole Ditch
The proposed purchase of the Waiahole Ditch by the state is an idea whose time is long overdue. In addition to securing a steady and inexpensive supply of water for Leeward farmers, purchase of the Waiahole Ditch system would enable the state to make improvements to more effectively manage and conserve our water resources.One such improvement would be the installation of bulkheads in the privately owned tunnels feeding the irrigation system.
Presently, the ditch does not distribute water efficiently because there is no control over the storage of water that flows from natural reservoirs into the private production tunnels feeding the ditch.
Water flows steadily through the system, regardless of demand. As a result, much of this water goes unused. Bulkheads with valves would allow for the control of water flowing into the ditch. This would mean less water wasted and more for both Windward and Leeward farmers.
Bruce S. Anderson
Deputy Director
for Environmental Health
Department of Health
Honolulu's economy can be as good as Las Vegas'
Worried and concerned citizens must make a just, moral and right judgment in this coming election year. Vote for those with an aggressive approach toward employment and profitability in our economy.Las Vegas is predicting a need for 25,000 workers for its anticipated four new casinos, while this state is planning to lay off 2,350 workers.
Think about it, Hawaii. Don't get suckered and starve or relocate! Only legalized gambling can revitalize this sorry predicament.
Why cling to the ideal of a Pristine State?
Go forward in this coming millenium, for it is written, "Risk must be taken, as the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing."
Chris Hatico
Pearl City
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