Health reform at turning point

The latest study by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that health care costs increased last year at the fastest rate in more than 50 years. According to this study, health care spending rose to an estimated $2.5 trillion in 2009 (or $8,047 per person)—and is now projected to nearly double by 2019. If we as a people hesitate to act now, this growing burden will mean more lost jobs, more families pushed into woeful bankruptcy and more crushing debt that will be passed on to the next generation.

The conclusion is clear. This isn't a problem we can afford to put off for another decade—or even another year. The need to pass health reform legislation is urgent.

We've already arrived so close to getting such legislation passed. But there are those in Washington who are now saying that we should delay or give up reform altogether. So we need to sound the clarion call that average Americans all across this great nation understand what this means for our economy and our lives, and that we want urgent action to translate to reality a truly humane idea whose time has come.

DOE chief should be Cabinet post

Calling all relatives, students, friends and other taxpayers of public education: It is time to take back the Department of Education in Hawaii or, as it was called in the old days, the Department of Public Instruction.

You can do so by calling your state legislator to urge the passing of two important bills: HB 2552 / SB 2705 and HB 2553 / SB 2706.

HB 2552 / SB 2705 would authorize the governor to appoint the superintendent of education; it also would repeal the powers and duties of the Board of Education.

HB 2553 / SB 2706 calls for an amendment to Hawaii's Constitution to make the state Department of Education a Cabinet-level department, with the superin- tendent appointed by the governor.

Teachers union not playing fair

Is it just me or are there others out there who think this whole furlough issue is crazy? I cannot believe that we are spending so much time, money and effort because of these furloughs. I do not think people should be upset with Gov. Linda Lingle or with the teachers. They should be upset with the leaders of the teachers union. It was the union that agreed to the terms and now they are backing out.

It appears to me that the leaders of the teachers union do not bargain in good faith. For example, in their last contract, they were supposed to implement drug testing procedures, but that never happened. Still, they got their pay raise despite not owning up to their end of the deal.

If the children are the most important issue, as they claim, leaders of the teachers union would recommend to their members that they should either honor their ratified contract and rearrange the furloughs to be less disruptive; or forget the furloughs and just take the pay cut.

Stop using the children as pawns and stop wasting time and money.

Gov. Lingle right to scrutinize rail

To paraphrase: Never have so many paid so much to enrich so few.

It was courageous of Gov. Linda Lingle to say the obvious about the “;shaky”; rail finances, but it will take one final act of courage for her to save the people one last time before she leaves office. She should reject the rail proposal any way she can.

It makes no sense to tax billions out of Hawaii employers and working people through the rail tax—thereby killing jobs—and then calling the rail an economic stimulus package. For example, if you tax hundreds of millions of tax dollars out of Hawaii's people to build rail, you are not going to have that money to pay teachers to end Furlough Fridays. But of course, in 20 years you then could have your undereducated kids ride rail to the unemployment line.

Instead of rail, why not two urban job centers: the one we already call “;downtown”; and one on the Leeward coast (probably in Kapolei)? This proposal beats rail in almost all aspects and is actually common sense. Instead of moving the ever-increasing thousands of people twice a day between the Leeward coast and downtown, move and create jobs where the people already are and are moving to.

Voting for Case was big mistake

A Republican's Democrat, Ed Case has announced that he will run for Congress again. Those of us in the 2nd Congressional District still remember him when he was our representative and are glad he represents us no more. Case was a rubber stamp for the Bush administration but claimed he was an independent. He told us that there was no torture of prisoners of Gitmo and he supported the war in Iraq. Hawaii's congressional delegation has always worked as a team in Washington to do what is best for Hawaii, but Case always had another agenda. He will mostly be remembered for disrespecting us by not bothering to reside in the district he claimed to represent. Hopefully, the voters of the 1st Congressional District will not make the same mistake by electing him to Congress.

Not all Chinese revere fireworks

I have spent the last three Christmas and New Year's holidays in either Hong Kong or Singapore. Private fireworks in Hong Kong and Singapore are banned. They have been for several years because private fireworks are considered too dangerous and because of too many casualties.

Hong Kong is naturally Chinese and 80 percent of the people in Singapore are of Chinese origin. So the idea that fireworks are a part of the Chinese culture is a lot of hogwash. Both these two Chinese cultural centers have beautiful public firework displays on New Year's Eve. And I have not heard a single firecracker or heard or seen a single private firework display during my three years visiting these two places. Fireworks are banned and people there respect the law.