Property tax hike is unfair to most

Your Feb. 18 headline read, "City's fiscal outlook is dismal." The article said sewer fees will rise (a given), taxes may rise (a possibility), but property tax assessments may decrease for qualifying owners who earn $70,000 to $80,000 annually.

How noble. But what about the rest of us -- maybe 70 percent to 80 percent of owners -- strapped with totally unfair huge tax assessments; my increase was 24 percent.

Sure, every time money is needed for a project, let's increase fees or taxes. It's not an election year, but many of us will remember.

Drug program tries to indoctrinate kids

Hmm, Narcanon representatives say they do not employ Scientology in their program ("DOE to review California anti-drug program," Star-Bulletin, Feb. 25). So I decided to check out their Web site at www.narconon.org. Guess whose face and name are all over it? L. Ron Hubbard. If you go to their online bookstore, he has several books for sale about how to beat drug addiction.

Now, if I went to a Web site with pictures of Jesus and copies of the Bible for sale, I think it would be fair to say I was looking at a Christian Web site. This is not to say their program is not effective -- it may be phenomenal. But I think parents would prefer public schools employ programs that aren't trying to indoctrinate their kids into a particular religion/philosophy, especially in such a Trojan horse manner.

PUC should reject Carlyle-Verizon deal

The Hawaii State Public Utilities Commission should say no to the purchase of Verizon Hawaii for many reasons.

For 38 years I have worked for Hawaiian Telephone Co., GTE Hawaiian Telephone Co. and now Verizon Hawaii. In those many years the one constant problem was that not enough money was spent on the infrastructure (cable) to provide quality service for the future.

The Carlyle Group, which is trying to purchase Verizon Hawaii, has said it will not be removing the aged copper cable. These are the cables that have given the rate payers (customers) problems, especially during rain storms. Without investment in fiber optic to the premises, Hawaii will become second-class in telecommunications. If the Carlyle Group refuses to invest the money, the PUC should reject Carlyle's application to purchase Verizon.

Recently it has also come to light that Verizon employees' pension fund has been overfunded by $280 million. The agreement between Verizon and the Carlyle Group will have this overfunding going to Verizon as a bonus. This money was invested into the pension fund by customers. Hawaiian Telcom is being provided just enough money to run the pension plan. If this money, which is held in investments, does not provide enough of a return, the ratepayers may have to pay more to fund the employees' pensions.

It would be better to evenly split the overfunded pension between Verizon and the Carlyle Group. This would protect retired Verizon Hawaii employees and also protect future employees who will retire under the new company, Hawaiian Telcom. It should be recognized that the Carlyle Group continues to put high profit first, over requiring a secure pension plan for its workers.

Are price caps good for newspapers, too?

Your Feb. 24 editorial opinion that the Legislature should be allowed to regulate the rents charged in a specific business activity and to impose price caps on gasoline sales seems a little simplistic. Suppose the Legislature decided to regulate newspaper advertising charges and, for good measure, the sales price of newspapers? Of course, the Legislature is doing this for the public good since this will reduce the cost of communicating and disseminating information to the public. The fact that the newspaper can demonstrate to a court that the regulations make no economic sense (i.e. a bankrupt newspaper company) may be true, "but it should be up to legislators, not a judge, to decide."

Good thinking. And what a surprise that 30 state governments and their conferences and leagues support the right of government to legislate free of second guessing.

Will UH give equal time to another view?

I went to hear Ward Churchill speak at the University of Hawaii the other evening. I heard nothing "remarkably hurtful" in Churchill's speech, which tracked his shambles of an essay "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens."

The speech was a comedy-club performance, built around routines rather than on serious inquiry. The audience registered its delight by applauding generously. University audiences, I gather, are remarkably easy to please.

We've had the opportunity to hear Churchill at UH. May we now hear Harry Frankfurt, the Princeton University philosophy professor and author of the elegant essay "On Bull****"? I trust that members of the groups that sponsored Churchill's speech will go and listen to Professor Frankfurt. I hope to see my friends and acquaintances in the university administration at the event, too.

Liquor commission has wrong approach

Honolulu Liquor Commission administrator Wally Weatherwax says that the commission "is taking steps to crack down on wrongdoing by liquor licensees and implementing new rules that would give the commission broader power to punish clubs and bars that offer bribes to investigators." The proposed rules would merely discourage liquor licensees from complaining about extortion attempts made by investigators. The record shows that 18 commission investigators have been relieved from their positions or arrested for illegal acts, including the extortion of money from licensees since 1989.

Extortion is a crime where an official uses his position or powers to illegally obtain property, funds or patronage. If the new rules are adopted, licensees who feel compelled to pay bribes in response to extortion threats would be threatened with prosecution. The offer of bribes in response to extortion is not a cultural response, as suggested by Weatherwax. Rather, it is simply a matter of greed. The two go hand in hand.