'Local boy' president will make big changes

Our “;local boy”; and Punahou graduate Barack Hussein Obama has become the 44th president of the United States of America.

This historic election has made Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream come true. President Obama has promised us a lot. I hope he fulfills his promises. I know he will pull us out of this harsh economic hardship. Hopefully, we see changes in the U.S., but we must just watch and see over the next four years.

Maybe Obama can send his Hawaiian aloha to war-ridden countries and end the wars peacefully and safely. We can only wish President Obama and his political team the best.

Obama flubbed words of president's oath

It's all Chief Justice Roberts' fault? I don't buy it.

President Obama blew it when reciting the oath of office and should accept responsibility. I took a vocal class where all but one were to sing off key. That one person was to hit the note. A proficient vocalist would do so. Face it, President Obama missed the note.

Balance our budget the old way: raise taxes

Many suggestions have been offered by our local elected officials to balance our various budgets. Those proposals most frequently offered would make radical cuts in goods and services that are already in short supply. No final word yet on cutting the number of government employees, cutting their works hours, or reducing their wages, as is being widely invoked in the private business sector.

Also, one of the most frequent suggestions made to address our various financial shortages is for deficient financing so that the next generations will be forced to pay or in some other way deal with our carelessness and greed.

How about facing our problems in the old-fashioned way: raise taxes? On the mainland excise taxes are as high as 8 percent in some municipalities. We've had it so soft in Hawaii for too long. I know “;raising taxes”; are dirty words, but doesn't fiscal responsibility count for something when it comes to getting re-elected? Let's make it so! This may be a long recession and we'll soon tire of going without if we don't make some serious changes soon.

New president gives nation reason to hope

The inauguration of President Obama was an inspiring event. Those who embrace his progressive, inclusive thinking are jubilant about his leadership and many of those who disagree remain open and accepting. It was an incredible day.

The president provides us with healthy signs of healing for our fractured and hurting nation: the manner in which he reaches out to those who disagree with him, his challenge to all citizens to work together, his vision of a united America - “;We are not a liberal America or a conservative America, we are the United States of America.”;

However, as our new president outlined the task ahead of us, he acknowledged the reality of the difficulties and the failures and the unforeseen problems. For example, we must engage people with extremist, fanatical views whose words are polarizing and whose actions are often violent; in our nation and around the world.

We need to build upon President Obama's vision in some other important areas as well:

» We are not a European America or an Asian America, we are the United States of America.

» We are not a straight America or a gay America, we are ...

» We are not a Christian America or an atheist America, we are ...

» We are not a rich America or a poor America, we are the Untied States of America.

Then, once we recognize who we are not, we can clarify who we are and decide who we want to become. Do we have the audacity to hope?

HECO should pay for continued outages

Has anyone not lost patience over our interminable electrical outages followed by well-worn excuses? There appears to be no urgency, financial incentive or upper management expertise to solve the problem.

Hawaiian Electric's acquisition of American Savings has both diverted management's attention and its financial resources. A public utility should never be allowed to make unrelated acquisitions that create the possibility of a conflict of interest.

» We need to split Hawaiian Electric and American Savings.

» The Public Utility Commission needs greater power and oversight.

» Automatic credit, with a punitive element, should be given to each customer for each outage.

» Lack of progress in reducing outages should result in disapproval and/or rollback of rate increases.

» Continued lack of progress should result in a forced reorganization.

I urge the press and Legislature to keep this issue alive until an adequate solution is in place.