KC Drive Inn closing brings back memories

Those tears trickling down my cheeks aren't just from the jalapenos in my chili rice. It's so sad to hear about the shuttering of KC Drive Inn (Star-Bulletin, March 26).

In the early '60s, I used to wait there after school -- my dad worked next door. I still remember the carhops going out and fastening the window trays to customers' car doors.

When they moved, we used to drive by on the way home from church and take big whiffs of the onolicious emanations: "Eh, breathe deep, no mo' calories een da smell!"

Even if the doors close and the four walls fall, KC Waffle Dogs "a mau loa aku" (now and forever)!

All homes need sprinkler systems

Fire officials and community leaders have been pressing to retrofit the city's older residential high-rise buildings because of recent fires, including one with a fatality. Unfortunately, there also have been fatal fires at single-family homes such as the one that tragically took the lives of two sisters in Kaimuki on March 24.

A sensible fire prevention policy then would be to require fire sprinklers in all residential structures, not just high-rise buildings. So let's support action to require sprinkler systems in all residences to provide a safer home environment for all. As Mayor Hannemann has stated, if one life is saved it will have been worth the investment.

Does Bob Watada trust anyone?

Bob Watada, director of the Campaign Spending Commission, holds a negative view of politicians for good reasons. He brings attention to illegal campaign contributions and law-breaking among officeholders.

So I was not surprised that in his recent op-ed column, "Publicly funded 'clean' campaigns won't eliminate special interests" (Star-Bulletin, March 14), Watada attacked "elected officials" for having "exempted themselves from the ethics laws," and for working hand-in-hand with "special interests," who "descend on the already elected official to influence policy decisions."

Watada also denounced House members for their unwillingness "to close contribution loopholes from their favorite friends."

Perplexing is why Watada then dumped on good government people. I didn't realize that the folks from the League of Women Voters, AARP, Hawaii Women's Coalition and Kokua Council were engaged in a giant "shibai" and "perpetuating (a) hoax on voters."

Voters in Maine and Arizona, who passed their "Clean Elections" programs years ago through referendum, elected about three-fourths of Maine's legislature and about half of Arizona's legislature and governor, using the full public funding option. Are their voters brainwashed?

According to Watada, we can't trust officeholders or good government activists either. Help!

Young Democrats should honor Burns

March 30 will mark the 96th anniversary of the birth of John A. Burns, former governor of Hawaii. It will pass quietly without any notice. Members of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, who are the inheritors of the Burns legacy, will ignore this event. They seem to have their own agenda now.

Burns' name is rarely spoken today and most of the younger generation have never heard of him. Yet he made a great impact on Hawaii's social and economic life. He was the author of great change, and we all enjoy the benefits of those changes today.

For those of us who were lucky enough to know Governor Burns, he was indeed the "Quiet Man of Washington Place" and did "Catch A Wave" to make Hawaii a better place to live.

Happy birthday, Jack! You did your job with honor and compassion and earned your rest with the Lord. For those of us who remain behind, we still carry the memories of your aloha for Hawaii. We have not forgotten you!

Discourteous drivers are ruling the road

I am beside myself with disbelief and anger driving our streets today. I drive a mini tour bus, and I am so tired of people cutting in front of me. I have news for you people -- a bus cannot stop on a dime! I don't care where you have to go, but I have to be somewhere, too. I have people waiting for me to give them a ride, and those people are what make up the No. 1 industry in our state. Have some respect.

And whatever happened to saying thank you with a wave? It doesn't even have to be a wave, just lift your hand. How much energy does it take? Do you have any idea what a big difference it makes when somebody says thank you?

By the way, the turn signal is not meant to demand a lane change. It is meant to inform of one's intentions if there is ample space and ask permission if there is not.

What about when I need to change lanes? I edge my way over into a lane, and still the cars keep coming. It would just kill people to let in a bus. I don't like to be rude, but sometimes that's all that works.

And for those who speed up and try to cut me off at the moment my turn signal goes on, I'll keep coming and cut you off!

Police need higher pay, not a tax exemption

"What we do as police officers is above and beyond what we're getting paid for," said SHOPO President Tenari Maafala in support of a Senate-passed bill to exempt police officers from state income tax. I don't think anyone familiar with the day-to-day work of law enforcement could give him any argument on that score.

But exempting police officers from paying state income tax required of all other citizens -- and all other civil servants -- may not be the best way to enhance their compensation. It runs counter to the spirit of "community policing" and is in step with the notion of "us" vs. "them" that imperils it. Higher pay, not tax breaks, is the way to overcome recruitment and retention shortfalls.

Pay will never be enough to overcome the stress and risks of daily police work. But there are options other than tax exemptions to address compensation problems: differential pensions and family survivor benefits have been used in other jurisdictions. These options are more specific to the concerns, and of greater worth, to the recipients.

We do not need to establish a special class of public employee that raises issues of equity and precedent in terms of firefighters, emergency professionals, prison guards, sheriff deputies, and some might argue, judges and prosecutors. Community policing implies police officers, as fellow citizens and fellow taxpayers, are perceived to have the same stake in fair, efficient and economical public service as the neighbors they serve.

Study shows dangers of privatizing

Richard Thaler, a distinguished professor at the University of Chicago, has made an important study of Sweden's privatized social security plan begun in 2000. Sweden started by offering workers two investment options for 2.5 percent (of 18.5 percent) of their annual wages: They could choose from 456 different funds, or they could accept one low-cost, well-diversified set of assets.

Two-thirds selected their own variety of funds, while one-third chose the expert-selected diversified funds. The diversified fund "received the highest five-star ranking from the fund-rating service Morningstar." During the next three years of greatly falling stock prices, those who chose the diversified fund lost 29.9 percent in value. Those whose picked from the 456 funds lost 69.5 percent.

His report emphasized that the Swedish program unluckily took place during an enormous drop in stock prices. It also pointed out that the 30-times larger U.S. market "could result in thousands of choices, paralyzing the average consumer."

Given the predictions of an ongoing decline in the value of the dollar and dangerous risks in the economy, privatizing Social Security in the United States could soon be a major disaster for senior citizens.