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POSTED: Sunday, October 05, 2008

Why do we have to pay?

I've been a school teacher for 25 years and I currently work three jobs to pay rent on a two-bedroom apartment I share with my husband, who is also a school teacher.

No one helps us when times are tough; we have to pay our own bills and, yes, we're taxed to death. We know we can't afford a house so we continue to rent. When we want to do something extra, like travel, I work more at my second or third job.

So I want to know why we, as already over-taxed middle-class working folks, have to foot the bill to cover for companies run by greedy, inept management? Why do we have to bail out all the people with bad credit and poor financial planning skills who bought houses they couldn't afford?

I do not support the bailout plan that will cost taxpayers more money. I don't expect anyone to bail me out when I write an overdraft on my checking account or spend too much on my credit card at Christmastime - even when I have extra medical bills. I pay my own bills and expect others to do the same.

Voters must master information, too

Suzanne Hammer (Letter, Sept. 28) recommends that aspiring politicians should train for their jobs and undergo a kind of credentialing process to prove that they have, among other qualities, “;mastery of information.”;

No doubt that the most crucial element in making wise decisions basic to good government is awareness and grasp of the facts. But are politicians the only ones who need mastery of information?

Shouldn't voters also be well-informed? How else can they choose their leaders wisely? How else can they determine if the “;facts”; a leader is giving them are true? Haven't we had enough examples of leaders who twist the facts to suit their own agendas?

And hasn't the country suffered enough not only from leaders who lack the mastery of information but also from an uninformed and gullible public?

Unless citizens themselves acquire mastery of information, no amount of leadership training or credentialing will result in good government. If we have bad government, the fault is ours. We have the government we deserve.

HSTA prefers principle over popularity

I read with interest your article ”;Anti-Con Con group gets mainland funds”; (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 26) and was struck by a comment from former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who is quoted as saying the donations to the group “;have nothing to do with principle and everything to do with power.”;

If anything, the Hawaii State Teachers Association has repeatedly based its decisions on principle and certainly not for what is politically expedient or popular. Two recent examples are drug-testing of teachers and the previous gubernatorial recommendation.

Certainly it has been tarnished in the media, and some have suggested punished by policy makers for these very principled, though not popular, positions. Is it possible to discuss a Constitutional Convention on the merits, and not further demonize folks who simply don't agree with those who support the issue?

Who will enforce limits on B&Bs?

After so much input from residents, neighborhood boards and other community organizations opposing additional vacation rentals, it's hard to understand why the City Council insists that Oahu needs to legitimize and add more bed and breakfasts/transient vacation rentals to our residential areas.

Maybe it's not hard to believe when you realize that those lobbying for legalization are collecting substantial income from these businesses and can afford to lobby and contribute to politicians' campaigns, whereas those opposed cannot.

The Council evidently does not see that by legalizing the illegal businesses and establishing rules for them, it does not address the real problem of a lack of enforcement against the existing illegal businesses.

If they pass the pending bills, then we will have not only a legal B&B/TVR located not less than 500 feet of each other, but all the illegal ones in between, which will continue to operate without proper enforcement. These bills should not be passed without assurance from the Department of Planning and Permitting or some other enforcement agency that they have the proper tools and manpower not only to enforce the new rules but to close down the illegal businesses.

The DPP is short on staff. How is it going to handle the deluge of applications for new businesses that will include inspecting the homes and determining who should receive a permit when multiple applicants within a 500-foot area apply?

Palin paled next to wisdom of Biden

Folksy and too cute for words, Gov. Sarah Palin was briefed to the gills and regurgitated her homework like a schoolgirl-cheerleader on steroids. What, no pom-poms for the incantations for John McCain? She also can smile and wield a knife simultaneously.

Expectations for Palin were subnormal after her gaffes with interviewers, so she performed better than expected Thursday when debating Sen. Joe Biden.

However, I question anybody who believes she understands the complex problems (national and international) facing this country with the depth and expertise of Biden.

Biden illustrated a profound depth of knowledge; providing sophisticated, concrete solutions to our nation's problems. Palin was satisfied to duck a question by answering another, while offering an endless stream of cheerful platitudes.

Biden astutely noted that McCain has offered no plans to do anything different from George Bush, or any difference of opinion from Bush. If you like where America stands after almost eight years of Bush, you'll love McSame.

Candidates should talk about mental health

Mental illness does not discriminate between Republicans and Democrats. These illnesses are nonpartisan and equal opportunity brain disorders.

We are at war. One in five veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will experience post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Will health care be there for them?

During Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct. 5-11), our presidential candidates will hold a “;town hall”; debate in which up to a quarter of the audience are likely to have been affected by a mental illness. That's because one in four adults live with the effects of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. That's almost 60 million Americans, and the equivalent statistics are no different in Hawaii.

But treatment works. Recovery is possible. Between now and Election Day, every candidate needs to talk about these facts. For more information, contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Hawaii at 808-591-1297 or visit namihawaii.org.

Marion Poirier

America must reject governing from pulpit

In his Oct. 1 column pertaining to the separation of church and state, Cal Thomas displays a level of thoughtful clarity rarely seen in today's usual brand of angry right-wing ideologues. As he correctly notes, the pulpit is no place for electioneering, candidate stumping and voter guiding. It is illegal to boot, and has been since 1954 with good reason.

Our Founding Fathers knew of the scourge of theocracy-based governments after witnessing religion-triggered wars, famine and suffering in the Europe of their day. The volatility of theocracy-based governments is in full recent view with Taliban Afghanistan, Muslim Iran and religious conflict from Bosnia to Kashmir to Sudan.

In America, we shockingly now have a GOP vice presidential candidate directing all to do “;God's will”; in Iraq, pursuing Bible-based creationism in science classes and praying that God will allow a gas pipeline to the North Slope. While her personal views are hers to have, mandating pray-for-abstinence education, forcing rape victims to give birth, denying gays equal rights and framing her elected-official decisions as God-ordained, is not.

This creeping theocracy is always dangerous and always wrong. It is time to reinforce the separation between church and state, not tear it down. America is founded on this separation and has flourished only when First Amendment rights are protected and enforced for all of us.

Rescue bill showed needed bipartisanship

Bravo to the president's lobbying, and the Senate and House Democrats and Republicans (including Sens. Obama and McCain) for returning to bipartisanship by passing the financial rescue bill. I hope bipartisanship continues into the administration of the next president and the new Congress.

We are at one of those grave turning points in American history where bipartisanship, pragmatism and a spirit of compromise must overrule adhering to ideology by members of both parties.

As a Republican, I abhor spending the taxpayers' money that will further increase the national debt and the budget deficit. However, we are in a financial crisis that requires solutions. If Congress had done nothing it would worsen the present economic stagnation and lead to a severe recession, not only here but around the world.

Don't ruin old-time feel of Waikiki marketplace

Again, there is a proposal to replace the International Marketplace with fast-food outlets and tourist-trap stores. Visitors come to Oahu for the beach, swimming, ocean, luaus, North Shore and the rainforest. Most visit the International Marketplace with its sense of Old Hawaii. They certainly don't come for fast food and tourist traps.

It is essential that we keep Oahu Hawaiian. If not, we will become just another Coney Island. Keep the marketplace for that taste of Old Hawaii.

Judgment of Pelosi was unwarranted

I find Thomas E. Stuart's Oct. 3 letter about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making the glass ceiling thicker offensive. Is he now the sole decider on how far women can go in any arena? As for the economic debacle, his grasp of recent history seems to have been lost. The past eight years of this Bush administration have taken us one step short of walking off the cliff.

The deadline he is so concerned about has not been met by any administration since the Clinton budget in 1997. I would ask Stuart one question: Are we better off now than we were under the eight years of Clinton?