Let Hawaiian flag fly beneath Old Glory

I must admit, I'm one who is outraged at the apology for flying the American Flag over Iolani Palace just because that building used to belong to kings and queens.

I couldn't care less about what happened 100 years ago. I didn't spend 21 years in the Air Force, go to Vietnam and serve my country just so some ignorant and cowardly bureaucrat can apologize for flying my country's flag to some malcontents who will never be satisfied with anything -- especially after Sept. 11, and especially over a state building.

I'm sick to death of the petty complaints of the crybabies who do not speak for most Hawaiians (who are proud to be Americans), anyway. Go ahead and fly the Hawaiian state flag, by all means. But fly it under Old Glory where it belongs, not in place of it.

Steve Lombard
Laie

Mahalo to Legislature for special session

Our state Legislature deserves more credit than it has received for its work during the special session.

The events prior to Sept. 11 offer no precedent to which lawmakers could refer. Yet they were asked to find a quick and all-encompassing remedy to an economic crisis that is still evolving.

The legislators responded fairly and in a timely fashion to Hawaii's immediate needs in dealing with this crisis. They approved the special $10 million emergency appropriation to increase Hawaii's marketing during this critical period. Until our visitor counts climb closer to pre-Sept. 11 levels, our tourism industry and, subsequently, our economy will continue to struggle.

Lawmakers also approved economic and tax-relief measures to help ease the burden on individuals and businesses dealing with a shrinking market, while approving new funding for construction projects to help create jobs.

There are those who wanted more from this special session and have voiced their criticism. The frustration is understandable. Everybody is hurting. But no one can predict the future.

The last thing we want to do is mortgage our future to try to fix a situation for which we do not have all the answers. Under the circumstances, the measured response of the Legislature was appropriate and we thank them for their positive efforts during this difficult time.

Murray Towill
President
Hawaii Hotel Association

[Quotables] "For many, many children, school is heaven. It's you and their classrooms and lunch, which is probably the best meal they'll have all day." Kerri-Ann Hewett University of Hawaii education professor, to a class of new teachers enrolled in a course called "Teaching Strategies for Leeward Teachers in a Diverse Culture." "An unfortunate casualty of that investigation has been the one superintendent of public education who fully supported the goals and objectives of the consent decree and contributed to the progress toward compliance that has been achieved over the past three years." Shelby Floyd Attorney for plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit against the state, on former superintendent Paul LeMahieu's resignation following a legislative committee's investigation of expenditures that were made on special education to comply with a court order in the case.

Lack of brotherhood left workers laid off

The concept of union brotherhood was dealt a heck of a blow by the Aloha Airlines union's rejection of management's offer to re-employ a massive number of laid-off workers.

I have spent a life in the labor movement. I have held every position and done everything possible to kindle and develop the concept Abraham Lincoln called the most sacred relationship existent -- that of union brotherhood.

It seems that kind of principled thought is out the window in this day of the new unionism. The union's rejection letter showed great skill in blame-shifting but showed no understanding of the basic principle of unionism -- an injury to one is an injury to all.

Steve Murin

Stimuli are needed to spur economy

There are two types of economic stimuli -- monetary and fiscal.

Monetary is when the Federal Reserve lowers the interest rates (usually the rates on the money banks borrow from each other) and makes money more plentiful, hence a stimulus.

Fiscal is budget spending. Not only the federal government but also state governments, because they have their own budgets and can use spending to stimulate the economy. This isn't done all the time because stimulus without a proportionate increase in productivity runs the risk of inflation. Hawaii can't stimulate the economy by spending more. If there are budget shortfalls, they will have to borrow.

The increased tax revenues from a return to a healthy economy must be weighed against the possibly longer downturn resulting from cutting spending. Tax revenues decline in a declining economy. These are extraordinary times and we need extraordinary measures.

I support extension of unemployment benefits. Things that increase productivity are small businesses, capital investment and growth in the healthy profitable sectors of the economy. I therefore support increasing spending in these areas as well.

Daniel M. Finley

Casinos improve lives in Atlantic City

I would like to comment on David Mielke's letter concerning Atlantic City (Star-Bulletin, Letters, Nov. 13). I spent close to 400 weekends in Atlantic City during a period of 18 years, and I have seen it transformed from a dilapidated city with people drinking wine on the sidewalks, run-down housing and high unemployment to a city with lots of new housing and a new train station.

Why the transformation? About 10 years ago the casinos started to contribute 1.5 percent of their earnings, in addition to their taxes, to the city government to build low-income housing. Atlantic City is about 90 percent minority, most of whom were without jobs before the casinos; now, many are employed.

Yes, Atlantic City has pawn shops, check-cashing stores, "We Buy Gold" and "Live Nude Girls," but what city doesn't? I can tell you two cities that have these same types of businesses: New York City and Honolulu -- and neither of these has casino gambling.

Fred Cavaiuolo

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