Health-care 'reforms' needed more study

Regarding your May 1 editorial, "Legislators should defy demands of unions," on changes in the public employees' health insurance plan: The Hawaii Government Employee Association's Russell Ogata said that the Legislature should have deferred action until the issues can be addressed. I agree.

Would the entire health insurance plan have collapsed if the Legislature had set up a commission of the parties involved -- unions, active and retired workers, state, Legislature and business leaders -- to work on a feasible plan to benefit all parties and to report back in the 2002 session?

A serious effort to solve the matter did not materialize due to short-sighted individuals. The legislation that passed is a Band-Aid plan. It does not fix the problem. What will happen in the next 10 years? Will the state Legislature take away from Paul to pay Peter again? This is not the right thing to do.

I sincerely think that many present-day legislators are Democrats in name only and Republicans in ideals and deeds.

Alfred Akana

Don't privatize Keehi boat harbor

I am extremely disappointed that Governor Cayetano is trying to privatize the small-boat harbors, especially Keehi. Years of inefficient administration and low user fees have left the harbors in poor shape. Privatization does not solve the problem; it only gives the headaches to someone other than the state. In the end, the users will be the ones to suffer.

A private operator will be profit-driven. The state, on the other hand, can be satisfied with a break-even operation. That difference will determine the future of recreational small boating on Oahu.

So, how, after years of losing money, can the state turn Keehi into a break-even operation?

1) Increase the fees by 20 percent. It won't be a popular move, but it's appropriate.

2) Keep the money generated by Keehi in Keehi.

3) Aggressively enforce the regulations. The state could double the income currently generated by Keehi by enforcing the existing regulations. There are more people living aboard boats moored to buoys that are not paying the proper fees than there are people paying the proper mooring fees.

Keehi is a blue-collar harbor. You won't find mega-yachts there, only common folks who share a love of water sports. We live on an island. There is a strong cultural, historical tie to the ocean. I think the state has a responsibility to maintain at least one small-boat harbor on Oahu that is affordable to the general public. I urge Governor Cayetano to reconsider the privatization of Keehi.

Robert Becker
Keehi Boat Harbor

[QUOTABLES] "It was always good to know that even after he would chew you out he would not...treat you any differently. He just wanted to make you better." Todd Takayoshi, Former catcher with the University of Hawaii Rainbows (1988-91), reminiscing about Les Murakami, who is retiring after amassing 1,079 victories in 30 years as UH baseball coach. "If they got to carry me, I'll do 20 miles." Alex Garcia, Honolulu police detective, who plans to run 20 miles of laps along Ala Moana Beach Sunday morning to bring attention to the 20 babies who die each year on Oahu of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Poll choices pose a problem

There is a huge problem with the methodology the Star-Bulletin's recent polls. It's contained in the choices for response.

The term "pretty good" is so broad and open to interpretation as to be meaningless. I don't think I've ever seen it used as one of four rating choices in a poll before and there's a good reason why not.

Normally, if there are four choices they would be excellent, good, fair and poor. This does two things: It gives people two positive and two negative choices and spreads them evenly across the spectrum with good and fair being equidistant from the middle, as are excellent and poor.

"Pretty good" can normally be understood to be a "damning with faint praise" term that most people, in fact, understand to be below average, especially in our culture here on Hawaii where people would rather not say anything bad about others.

This gives people only one "positive" choice and that must reflect a top rating. If someone doesn't think that something is "excellent" then they must rate it as below average.

The modifier "pretty" in front of good can put the rating anywhere from excellent to fair and, if said with a certain intonations, can even mean something less than fair or better than good. In addition to everything else, it gives the interviewer a problem in terms of how to intone the phrase. It's use in your recent polls renders them useless.

Andy Parx
Kapaa, Hawaii

Phoning while driving should be illegal

I rarely agree with adding new laws to the books; the Hawaii Revised Statutes are already the size of an encyclopedia set. But it's clear that while cell phones have made it possible to be connected all the time, they also have helped cause the loss of discipline and common sense.

In addition to distracting drivers from more important things at hand, cell phone users must think their need to be connected outweighs others' rights to peace and quiet.

For example, when I saw the movie "Titanic" at the theater a couple of years ago, there were at least six phone calls during the movie. And a couple of idiots even bothered to have a conversation, instead of discreetly saying they would call back later.

Right now, the Federal Communications Commission says it is illegal to "jam" cell phones. In exchange for enacting a ban on phoning while driving, we should repeal this law.

James Ko

Tax cuts could fund public-worker raises

There should be tax-rate reductions so that we can increase funding for government employee pay raises. Unfortunately, ill-advised and dangerous tax hikes are being planned for the state instead.

Tax-rate reductions would increase revenue for the state that then would fund teachers' and other government employee pay raises. The basic economic theory is that a reduction in tax rates stimulates the economy because consumers (you) and businesses (your employer) will then have more money to spend into the economy and increase wages and hire more workers. This then leads to more people earning more money and the cycle continues upward.

As people and businesses earn more money the government then has a continually growing income/tax base on which to tax, thereby increasing the state's revenue. As state revenue increases, more money is then available for the public union employees.

The hidden truth is that for their own benefit the public employee unions should be championing the call for tax-rate cuts -- not more and higher taxes.

Leighton Loo
Mililani

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