Stimulus bill doesn’t help
tourism industryThe issue: President Bush has signed
into law the economic stimulus
package approved by Congress.CONGRESS enacted a measure aimed at stimulating the economy just as Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman, reported on Capitol Hill that the country is recovering quite well without it. The new law still could be helpful to the economy but not to the segment that needs the most relief -- the travel industry.
Greenspan told Congress that the recovery "is already well under way," and R. Glenn Hubbard, the Bush administration's chief economist, agreed: "I think we do have a recovery under way." In the end, the legislation had more to do with paying political dues than trying to help any part of the economy that truly needed it.
Although still in a shaky condition, the travel industry may share in the good news. In Hawaii, tourism in January was down 16.5 percent from the same month last year, but state officials say the numbers are improving, an indication that even the travel industry is recovering. However, Japan remains in economic doldrums, so Hawaii's recovery may be slower than in areas less dependent on visitors.
The recession, if it was one, was fueled by the collapse of numerous telecommunications companies before the terrorist attacks sent the economy plummeting. However, Sept. 11 seemed to have little effect on most staples of the American economy.
During the last three months of 2001, consumer spending on motor vehicles and parts was up nearly 22 percent from the same period a year earlier, and expenditures for furniture and other household goods also were up, according to compilations by Economic Analysis Associates. However, luggage sales were down 2.1 percent, and hotel and motel spending dropped 12.7 percent -- a direct result of Sept. 11.
The stimulus legislation, approved by lopsided margins in both the House and Senate, extends unemployment assistance for workers who had not found jobs after their benefits ran out. It also encourages businesses, through tax breaks, to invest more in factories and equipment. Absent are tax breaks specifically directed at bolstering tourism or, for that matter, any other stimulus aimed at the travel industry.
"Clearly, the travel and tourism industry has been the most adversely affected, with travel at a virtual standstill in September and ripple effects still evident throughout the industry," Rep. Neil Abercrombie said last month. He proposed a $500 income tax credit for travel at least 100 miles from home this year and temporary restoration of the full tax deduction for business meals and entertainment. His proposal, a reasonable one, seems to have been ignored.
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AN environmental group's opposition to the appointment of a business executive to the state Commission on Water Resource Management should not be interpreted as an indictment of the person's moral qualities. Rather, it is the perception that the executive could influence decisions that favor her employer that is objectionable. A conflict, perceived or real,
fuels skepticismThe issue: The Sierra Club is criticizing
the appointment of an Alexander & Baldwin
executive to the state water commission.The conflict is avoidable. Governor Cayetano should choose a person who would not stand to gain financially through commission determinations.
The Sierra Club has asked the state Senate to reject the appointment of Meredith Ching, who is a vice president with Alexander & Baldwin, a company that owns agricultural enterprises for which water allocations are important. With A&B being the biggest water user in the state, the group's concern is that Ching's loyalties will inhibit her ability to make fair decisions.
Ching contends that her company ties will not sway her and that she will recuse herself in matters that directly pertain to A&B. She says she will seek the attorney general's advice when any issue "remotely related" to A&B comes up during meetings. We do not doubt her good intentions. However, her very presence on the commission may be an influence on others members and, as much as she tries, she cannot remove completely the filters through which she will consider issues. She and her employer clearly have stakes.
The Sierra Club is correct in its assessment that the six-member commission is weighted with people who, like Ching, represent major water users in Hawaii. Among them are executives from Del Monte and Kahua Ranch; the others are a division director of the ILWU -- a union whose members include agriculture workers -- and two state officials. The ties the business people have certainly increase the potential for conflicts of interest and the need for recusals.
The group makes another valid point -- that no one on the commission speaks for environmental interests or the general public. Although some members -- like Ching, who is a trustee of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii -- may have environmental sensitivities, the commission should include independent individuals. Water issues are complex, but a reasonably intelligent person should be able to understand them.
Appointments like Ching's further fuel the notion that, in dealing with government, the public's opinions and desires don't matter because the fix is already in. When people with power appear to share it only with their peers, they breed mistrust, skepticism and, eventually, indifference to participation among citizens.
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Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comJohn Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
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