Cartoonist wrong to show women as cats
I enjoy Corky's cartoons -- the Oct. 22 one about warning signs was great -- but the Oct. 17 depiction of the gubernatorial candidates as cats was inappropriate. I hope the paper will not stoop to that level again.Alexandra Bley-Vroman
Don't let chance to elect Lingle pass again
On election day, Hawaii will have an opportunity to select a governor who will move our state into the future with prosperity and integrity.We had the opportunity in 1998 and let it pass. Who knows what Hawaii would look like today if we had been able to garner even a part of the prosperity the mainland enjoyed during this time. Schools would have been maintained and educational levels raised. The state would have kept its promises to Hawaiians and a zero-tolerance policy for elected officials and state employees would have stopped the corruption we have had to endure.
Many of us will not be around for another opportunity such as the one Linda Lingle is giving us. Let's give her the chance to make Hawaii a better place.
Fred Gartley
Bond proposal won't affect public schools
A "yes" vote on state amendment No. 2 would allow private schools to borrow money for capital improvements at lower interest rates. This money could be used for projects that might otherwise be unaffordable. Each school still must absorb the full cost of funding its projects.Most private schools are not as well endowed as Kamehameha or Punahou, and all schools eventually are faced with the huge costs of renovating their facilities. Many smaller schools, such as the one our daughter attends, are on tight budgets and often are limited by the high costs of financing.
Contrary to statements by opponents of this amendment, funding projects by allowing the state to sell bonds on the open market will take nothing away from the public schools.
Improving the schools of Hawaii, whether private or public, benefits all the people of this state. We are all better served by educated citizens.
Les Omura
Are we better off than a year ago?
On Nov. 5, we should ask ourselves whether we are more secure than we were a year ago. Afghanistan is sinking into chaos. The anthrax killer has not been caught. Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India are closer to war. Al-Qaida is back. The suburbs of Washington, D.C., have been terrified by a sniper. North Korea has a nuclear weapons program.Now President Bush is asking us to pay any price to conquer Iraq while he short-changes energy alternatives that could make us less dependent on imported oil.
Dropping bombs will not solve our real problems. Hawaii voters who know this should drop candidates who stand by Bush.
Mark Want
Negative advertising turns off voters
It is unfortunate that in the closing days in this years' Hawaii state gubernatorial race between Republican Linda Lingle and Democratic Mazie Hirono has turned into a media mudslinging slugfest. Both candidates are highly qualified to be our next governor, however voters are being turned off and many are refusing to wade though the media mud and muck and will not vote next Tuesday. This is unfortunate because we will not have a true consensus on who really should be our next governor.Steven T.K. Burke
Pearl City
Hirono is sensitive to environmental needs
Democratic candidate for governor Mazie Hirono supports the bottle bill recycling law and retaining the land use and water commissions as tried-and-true ways to make sure there are fewer bad projects in Hawaii. If the environment is important to you, think it through and vote for Hirono.William Reese Liggett
Libertarian candidate offers best solutions
The two major campaigns in our governor's race are avoiding intelligent discussions of real issues. Professional campaign organizers who are willing to sacrifice the quality of public discussion on the altar of winning are running these campaigns; the voter is merely a pawn to be manipulated. Wouldn't it be nice if Libertarians had media access to challenge these two on real issues?Imagine a candidate running ads that educated voters about our economy, that challenged the conventional wisdom on drug policy or asked the fundamental questions plaguing our schools rather than superficial ones. Suppose a candidate ran ads saying we will work with all the Hawaiian sovereignty efforts and not try to mainstream the issue through the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Wouldn't we end up with a better governor in an election that included these discussions?
Instead, we get ads featuring the Democrats and Republicans posing with kids or old folks and smiling at us, or we get snotty attack ads.
The Libertarian Party has one of its best spokespersons running for governor this year in Tracy Ryan. Her out-of-the-box ideas have been well received at forums and on public access TV. But how much will you hear about this from the mainstream media, who receive advertising money from the mainstream candidates?
We Libertarians don't have million-dollar budgets and wouldn't owe our success to anyone but you -- the voter.
Roger Taylor
Chairman
Libertarian Party of Hawaii
Lingle will owe her mainland contributors
The maxim "There's no such thing as a free lunch" comes to mind every time I think about the money being contributed to Linda Lingle's campaign by big mainland businesses.What will she owe these companies? What is she supposed to do to earn the thousands of dollars they're pumping into her war chest? She will surely be beholden to them should she be elected.
The bottom line for big business is profit. Accordingly, a contribution to a political candidate is not a gift, it is an investment -- one that donors hope will pay off in the form of favorable laws and regulations that allow them to profit even more.
I doubt any of these corporations have "protect Hawaii's environment" in their business plans. I doubt they have "preserve worker's rights" in their mission statements. It frightens me to think about what kinds of governmental concessions Lingle's deep-pocketed benefactors will expect.
The people of Hawaii need to be wary of the price that will have to be paid for feeding at the trough of mainland corporate donations.
Jonathan Starr
Kahului, Maui
Lingle, Aiona share goals with Filipinos
Linda Lingle and Judge James "Duke" Aiona are the best team to be our governor and lieutenant governor. I support them because they understand the Filipino community. Linda lived with a Filipino family from Santa, Ilocos Sur, for more than 10 years on Molokai. Duke's wife is a Filipina whose family hails from Cebu. They know how much we are committed to education and a better life for our children.The most important issues in Linda and Duke's campaign are creating jobs, improving our schools and bringing trust and fairness to government. These are the same issues that are important to the Filipino community and that is why we need to support them.
Hawaii needs change and Linda and Duke have the answer.
Eddie Flores Jr.
Democrats' campaigns skirt the facts
The Democrats want us to believe Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle doubled Maui's debt and would increase state debt to more than $10 billion and that mysterious, unspecified mainland groups are trying to buy Hawaii.But the Honolulu City Council, county councils and state Legislature set spending levels, not the governor.
Democrat Mazie Hirono can find a school to visit only when she wants to make a commercial saying she'll do better than the preceding Democratic governors, but she doesn't say it was they who created the mess.
Scott Nishimoto, the Democratic candidate in District 23 (Kaimuki, Waikiki), says he "knows" his opponent, Republican Mindy Jaffe, has a "huge" war chest from mainland fat cats, yet she doesn't have enough money to refute his mailings. He says he regrets the lousy education system the Democrats have created during the past 40 years, but doesn't own up to who did it to the keiki. Sure wasn't the Republicans.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice -- and more like nine times -- shame on me. It doesn't take a polygraph test to see who is lying to us. Time for a change? Long overdue, I think.
Warren Robens
All registered voters can vote in OHA races
As I've approached friends and acquaintances in support of a gifted candidate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board, I'm surprised to learn that many think they can't vote in the OHA election. The news apparently hasn't reached some folks that all registered voters regardless of ancestry may vote for candidates running for OHA trustee."Why should I vote for OHA trustees?" I'm asked as I discuss the issues facing OHA today. I respond that I endorse OHA trustee candidate Adrian Kamalani Kamalii because he advocates that OHA trustees work to improve the lives of Hawaiians instead of pursuing personal agendas.
Kamalii will focus OHA resources toward promoting educational opportunities for Hawaiian children and improving the socioeconomic status of Hawaiians.
I urge everyone to vote in the OHA election and to choose change and youthful vitality by selecting Kamalii, who is running as an at-large candidate.
Elizabeth Rodenbeck
Democrats show they can't keep promises
After watching the debate of the two candidates, I can only wonder and ask why the Democrats did not do while in office what they promise to do now. These are the same slogans and promises listed 30 or more years ago -- to expand the economy, introduce high technology, improve education, eliminate corruption.Mazie Hirono makes the same promises of integrity and honesty in government and gives the same excuses for past failures. She wants us to believe that she would bring change. Can she convince me?
Her running mate, who runs on the name of his famous father, wanted to be state senator for education, but education in Hawaii fell nearly to the national bottom while he was in the Senate. Now he wants to be lieutenant governor for education. Can he convince anyone?
Michael Klimenko
Ballot question No. 2, to issue bonds for private school improvements, is backed by the Board of Education and the superintendent of schools, but the Hawaii State Teachers Association says vote "no." We'll explore why question No. 2 supporters say we should vote "yes" and why the teachers union opposes it. 'Price of Paradise'
on the radioWho: Guests: Karen Ginoza, president of HSTA, and Robert Witt, executive director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.
Host: John Flanagan.
When: 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: KKEA, 1420-AM
Join in: Call 296-1420 or toll-free from the neighbor islands, 1-866-400-1420 during the show. Cell phones: Star-1420 or Pound-1420.BACK TO TOP
|
The Price of Paradise appears each week in the Sunday Insight section. The mission of POP is to contribute lively and informed dialog about public issues, particularly those having to do with our pocketbooks. Reader responses appear later in the week. If you have thoughts to share about today's POP articles, please send them, with your name and daytime phone number, to pop@starbulletin.com, or write to Price of Paradise, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI 96813.
John Flanagan
Contributing Editor
The Star-Bulletin welcomes letters that are crisp and to the point (150 to 200 words). The Star-Bulletin reserves the right to edit letters for clarity and length. Please direct comments to the issues; personal attacks will not be published. Letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number. How to write us
Letter form: Online form, click here
E-mail: letters@starbulletin.com
Fax: (808) 529-4750
Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813
