Pickup beds aren't made for people

Kudos to those who are against using pickup truck cargo boxes to transport people. Other states allow only chained-in dogs, no humans. Oahu freeways? Scary. Respect for one's own life, or children or friends, should deny such usage.

Auwe! Even Kauai people don't drive 15 mph anymore.

Column about moms was touching, funny

As I was reading a column by Garrison Keillor in the Today section of Monday's paper, it made me smile. It was sort of funny (humorous), but I get the idea. It was nice that he respects the position of motherhood and the responsibility it entails.

The idea of a poem is great -- I would really like to get a poem from my child. In this day and age, we surely need to honor dads and moms. Thank you, Mr. Keillor.

We're in a mess and doing nothing about it

Will Rogers wrote about a different time, same place: "The world ain't gonna be saved by nobody's scheme. It's fellows with schemes that got us into this mess. Plans can get you into things, but you got to work your way out."

Now as I see the current situation, some fellows' plans for establishing democracy in the Mideast -- for fighting terrorists and terrorism, for insuring a cheap supply of oil, for dealing with unsecured borders, for leaving no child behind, for managing the national debt, for cooling down global warming, for delivering health care to those without it and for cleaning up after a hurricane -- have sure got us into a mess, but I just don't see nobody working their way out.

Haven't we had it with the oil president?

Iraq produced 2.6 million barrels of oil per day before a trio of former oil company executives -- President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condi Rice -- convinced Congress that Iraq had WMD; now it's about 2 million barrels daily. They claimed the cost of gas would drop, and the profits from the oil would pay for the war.

High-ranking Republican and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill revealed that the Bush administration had plans to auction off Iraqi oil fields to the highest-bidding oil company before 9/11!

Bush supporters at Exxon reported quarterly profits of $8 billion. Chevron, the company where Rice was a director and Cheney was CEO, raked in $4 billion in the last quarter as you pay $3-plus per gallon of gas.

Spending the lives of American troops and billions of your tax dollars to enhance the bottom line of these oil companies is beyond corporate welfare.

Congress allows state legislatures to initiate impeachment proceedings against a president who harms the country. California and Illinois have started action against Bush. A special session allowing legislatures to join in the effort to restore democracy, honor and justice to America will be less costly than leaving Bush in office.

Governor has nothing to do with surplus

If Gov. Linda Lingle deserves credit for reversing the tide of budgetary red (Letters, May 2), it's only because she happens to be in office at this time. I don't think that she had anything to do with the boom in housing, rising employment and rising gasoline prices, all of which contributed to higher tax revenues.

I am one who thinks she should find a way of funneling the excess into repairs of schools and roads and other infrastructure items of the state. Since Lingle finds it necessary to criticize the Honolulu mayor on how he handles city and country matters, she should find some way to provide constructive financial help to all of the cities in improving the state. Most of us don't care which level of government has responsibility for potholes in a certain area. We want them filled.

It would be nice if Lingle would read the Business Week article on Nucor and find some way to emulate the ideas that are making that company outstanding, for the betterment of the state. She has the money, but she'll have some excuse why it cannot be used constructively. As another letter writer said, a tax return will get her more votes.

State should follow its own price cap

People new to Hawaii might not understand the phrase "no make sense." As a public service I offer the following example:

We, your typical Hawaii Democratic state lawmakers, demand businesses that overcharge consumers lower their prices and make less money.

However, when you are overcharged on your taxes we demand that we keep your money.

"No make sense."

Lingle foresaw park's homeless problem

Governor Lingle's remarks (Star-Bulletin, May 2) about the city's recent actions at Ala Moana Regional Park were way off base.

We began closing the park at night in March to prepare for last week's three-day maintenance shutdown that was prompted by growing complaints about the deterioration of Ala Moana park and about the people who had illegally taken up residence there.

The governor herself acknowledged Hawaii's problem with homelessness in a 2004 speech when she said, "We as a state have let this problem go on for too long." She predicted what would happen if the problem was not addressed: "How long do you believe that the luxury condominiums going up across from Ala Moana park will retain their value, when instead of several hundred people living in the park at night, there are thousands filling the park at night?"

The governor was acknowledging an unwritten rule that Ala Moana and other city parks were dumping grounds for the homeless, even though the state is in a far better position to address the issue than the counties. Following that speech, the state evicted homeless people from under the Wilson Bridge in Wahiawa in March 2005. Also that year, the governor created an Interagency Council on Homelessness and increased its Homeless Program's budget by $6.5 million. Not much appeared to happen, and complaints about the homeless in Ala Moana park continued to rise. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that the state was preparing to evict homeless from the Keehi Interchange in March. The prospect of the governor's prediction about Ala Moana coming true was one reason we went into action.

The three-day shutdown last week allowed us to do maintenance on a scale unprecedented since Ala Moana park opened in the 1930s. We did far more than "paint some pavilions and move some sand around," as the governor said. Maybe the governor ought to ask the thousands who use the park regularly. Or better yet, we welcome her to come and see for herself.

Abuse of welfare goes unpunished

This is to address the people who say having a lottery in Hawaii will hamper the low- income people because they will be spending all of their money on lottery tickets. I see people using EBT (food stamp) cards to buy alcohol and cigarettes every day, which add nothing to our economy, and the state is doing nothing about this. The last time I checked these were both controlled substances. Now, is this helping our economy, much less our community?

Maybe people should be more aware of what is happening with their tax dollars and speak up.