Gas price-gouging is an island tradition
The outrageous gas prices in California are a result of Big Oil closing a major refinery in that state. I have been advised by one of our elected officials that our legislators are being threatened with the closure of one of our refineries if they implement the gas-cap law.On the Big Island, we pay the lowest county gas tax in the state, 8.8 cents a gallon. In West Hawaii, our gas prices are $2.349, $2.449 and $2.549 a gallon. A few stations are higher. This has been going on for 40 years. I know; I covered it as a news person back in the '60s.
What can stop this massive abuse? Enough people telling legislators their re-election will not take place if they don't fight hard for the gas-cap bill.
Robert G. Devine
Ocean View, Hawaii
Explanation for cost of gas isn't believable
Brian Barbata wrote a letter to the editor April 16 justifying the price of gasoline in Hawaii. Much of the letter discussed the high gas taxes we pay.He went on to say that the cost of doing business in Hawaii is also a contributing factor. Yet it was reported recently that Tesoro admits it costs the company less to produce gasoline in Hawaii than it does at its mainland refineries, both east and west of the Rockies.
Barbata also blames shipping costs. A quick look at the map shows us that Hawaii is closer to the sources of crude oil than the West Coast. It stands to reason that if you're closer to the source, then shipping costs should be lower.
We have seen numerous letters from people associated with the fuel industry during this debate. They all claim that everything is fine in paradise. These letters should be viewed with a degree of skepticism. After all, they are from people interested in maintaining the status quo to their benefit.
One other thing: Letter writers on my side of the debate repeatedly have pointed out that we have seen prices rise and fall on the mainland over the years. But in Hawaii, they go up and never go back down. I have yet to see one industry insider respond to this observation.
Bill Nelson
Haleiwa
Contest outperforms education reform
Yikes! A total of 3.8 million phone calls from Hawaii to "American Idol."How many parents gave testimony to Senator Sakamoto's committee when it was weighing which education reform plan to implement? I can tell you how many showed up; I think it was zero. I did not hear a parent testify.
It wouldn't take 3.8 million calls to our legislators to show that parents want education reform in Hawaii. A hundred would be convincing to legislators. Two hundred could accomplish a lot. Five hundred or more and we'd have textbooks and toilet paper. But I guess priorities are elsewhere.
Larry Geller
Manoa
Get smart, get mad, go out and vote
Just a couple of observations:» If all the people in Hawaii who vote for "American Idol" actually voted in political elections, do you think we'd have a more responsive government?
» There couldn't be a clearer, more concise example that the current Board of Education isn't working than the motivated students, parents and teachers having to resort to a fundraiser to update textbooks (Star-Bulletin, April 16). If our state leaders do nothing to rectify this pathetic shortcoming, see observation No. 1.
Pat Kelly
Honolulu
Schatz changes his script on Act 221
It's almost like a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type of persona. To the public Rep. Brian Schatz (D, Tantalus-Makiki) portrays himself as concerned about the loopholes and unintended costs that the state has incurred through the vagueness of Act 221. To the parties he claims he is working diligently with to clean up Act 221, Schatz is just the opposite.How quickly he seems to forget that only a year ago he was the most vocal opponent of the governor's proposals to tighten up the loopholes in Act 221.
Schatz hasn't worked with all parties involved to clean up Act 221; he only began to claim that when it became clear that Act 221 was being blatantly abused. He failed to act until now, an election year.
Makiki voters should keep that in mind and this November help to clean House, the House of Representatives, that is.
Dana Yoshikane
Honolulu
Stonebraker crossed line in House debate
It's unfortunate that more people can't witness the debates on the floor of the state House of Representatives. If they could, they'd have a different view of Rep. Bud Stonebraker's role in the House debate on April 5, than was portrayed in Brandon Consalvi's April 15 "Student Union" column.There is no question that the floor debates in the state House have become more strident this year. That is not necessarily bad. Constructive debate is good for our democracy.
However, to be productive and worthwhile, debates ought to focus on issues and not personalities. That is why the House has always had a rule against personal attacks during floor debates. We ask our members to be passionate about issues, but we draw the line at letting that passion overflow into personal insults or name-calling.
My motion to censure, not censor (there's a big difference) Rep. Stonebraker had nothing to do with his positions on the bills under debate. He knows that. It came as a result of his repeated personal attacks during the debate. He crossed the line as defined by our House rules, and he knows that, too.
I favor spirited, issues-based debate within the rules established by our House membership. I oppose the inclusion of personal affronts in any debate. The rules of the House exist to insure we do our work expeditiously and fairly. They apply to all of us -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- and we all can and should abide by them.
Rep. Scott K. Saiki
House Majority Leader
U.S. should be proud it ended Iraqi holocaust
Like others, I am saddened to see America's sons and daughters being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan; however, something I witnessed last week gave me a new perspective on why our military is in these places.Aside from the questionable rationale that we attacked Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction, we also went there to remove a dictator and murderer not unlike Adolf Hitler.
Last week my military organization hosted its annual Day of Remembrance, which focuses each year on the Holocaust as a reminder of how precious are our lives and freedom. The guest speaker was one the few remaining survivors of the Holocaust. He was 11 years old at the time of his imprisonment and remembers vividly how hopeless his situation was until the United States finally stood up and took action.
He said that with each remaining breath he has, he thanks God and the United States for saving his life, as well as thousands if not millions of others.
His final statement hit home; he said that without the United States' involvement in removing Saddam Hussein, there would be thousands of others in Iraq asking, "Who will stand up against this murderer?"
In his closing remarks, he humbly shared his deepest appreciation for the commitment our government continues to make to preserve life while sacrificing some of its own.
For those who think we are reliving Vietnam, I think not. Perhaps it's more like Germany in the 1930s.
John Toillion
Mililani
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[ BRAINSTORM! ]
Hawaii is popularly known as "The Aloha State." What might be a better slogan?To get started, think about what you might see around the islands -- rainbows, waves, sand, traffic jams, homeless orangutans ...
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