More burden on residents

There has been considerable rhetoric from the city and state governments about how much financial trouble they are in from reduced revenues. The governor and the mayor are proposing ways to increase “;revenues and fees”; by raiding special funds and making property taxes revenue neutral to meet their projected budget shortfalls. What about the household budgets of residents?

We now have the highest taxes at all levels in the history of the state and city. The general excise tax was raised 12 percent, property taxes were raised through higher appraisals, commercial property taxes were raised resulting in higher costs for retail goods, vehicle weight fees are double from just two years ago, sewer fees have tripled and will go higher, Hawaiian Electric has the highest kilowatt-hour costs in the nation and Matson has increased its fees, which increases costs for all goods coming into Hawaii. And all we hear from the city and state is what a hardship they have balancing their budgets, even after the state had a $700 million surplus in 2007 and the city its highest revenues in history.

They should try to balance my household budget after all of their increases. Since I don't work for the city or state, I haven't had an 8 percent salary increase over the last two years. As Pogo said, “;We have met the enemy and he is us.”;

A billion here, a billion there ......

Mmmmmm, $4 billion for rail transit, $4 billion for more highways.

How about $5,000 incentive checks for rail riders, $3,000 for TheBus riders and $1,000 for all car drivers? Oh, sorry, while we're at it, $2,500 for Superferry users. Free medical evaluation for all residents suffering from confusion.

Note to the rich: Please spend now

OK, the nation is facing a financial crunch, and from President Obama and Congress to Gov. Linda Lingle and the Legislature, leaders are trying to figure a way out.

Well, a good first step would be to urge the rich to open their wallets and go out and spend some big bucks now. I'm talking about the rich for whom wealth has become a way to keep score and is way, way beyond their reasonable lifetime needs.

If you were planning a trip next year, take it this year. Planning to buy a luxury car or boat? Do it now. Thinking about home remodeling? Pick up the phone and get some bids. Be bold and venture into Chinatown for some fresh vegetables or fish.

How about some new clothes or a night out on the town?

Heck, you can afford it, and the more you spend, the fewer folks will lose their jobs, lose their homes or take a pay cut. After all, someone has to build, market and sell cars and yachts; designers, carpenters, plumbers and electricians could use the work; airlines would be happy for some first-class passengers and all those high-end stores and restaurants opening up in Waikiki could sure use some local customers in the face of a declining visitor count.

Most rich people got that way by working hard in the free-enterprise system our nation was built upon, and I'm sure they will be anxious to be smug about helping it regain its strength.

A solid, broad-based surge of spending locally and nationally would help the economy on a magnitude way beyond the usual instinct of a Democratic-controlled Congress and Legislature to hike taxes on the rich as their way out.

Kuhio is no longer fit for vacationers

We have been fortunate to spend our vacations the last 10 years in beautiful Hawaii. We appreciate the people, culture, scenery and spirit of aloha.

My wife and I have decided that we can't cope with the noise and drunkenness on Kuhio Avenue from midnight to 5 a.m. anymore and we will not be returning to Oahu. We find this unfortunate, as Oahu has so much to offer, but we look forward to returning to Maui and the other islands.

What has changed?

Our hotel now has 24-hour privacy security; they have closed off the front entrance to keep out the street noise. The front desk warned us about the many bars that now close at 4 a.m.

We stayed on Kuhio Avenue March 14-28 and Dec. 23-28, 2008. It is impossible to get a relaxing sleep, especially on a weekend! I have seen three Honolulu Police Department officers standing on the sidewalk with their arms crossed and heard HPD cars drive by and annoyingly “;chirp”; their sirens for two or three seconds all night. While a police presence is appreciated, there did not appear to be any warnings, arrests or enforcement.

Just having the police there is simply not good enough! I would assume there are laws in place against excessive noise, being drunk in public and against prostitution. The police need to enforce these laws and take back the streets. Unfortunately, it appears to be a few bad apples (probably tourists like us) who are spoiling it for everyone.

Legislators should give up some of raise

Reference is made in Charles Memminger's Jan. 15 column that rejecting a pay increase of 36 percent because of this bad economy might be too much to ask from state legislators.

However, with school and library budgets now greatly reduced, besides many other benefits curtailed, the least the legislators can do it is to reduce this increase by half to a still significant 18 percent. They should then notify the executive and judicial branches that they should do the same.

If they can't show compassion to the many unemployed and other struggling Hawaii residents, they don't deserve their positions, and “;auwe”; to them.

Despite Senate President Colleen Hanabasa's contention that she has seen little enthusiasm among her fellow legislators for rejecting the scheduled 36 percent raise (Star-Bulletin, Jan. 11), let her call for the vote anyway, and let the voters see who these insensitive elected leaders are. We have lists of greedy CEOs, so we should also have lists of similar-minded Hawaii officials.

Any way you slice it, pay hike is still baloney

When the Democrats in the Legislature cooked up the automatic pay raise scheme, they sold the public on the idea by telling us that they could always turn down their pay raises if and when the economy turned bad. Most voters bought into it and voted for the constitutional amendment.

During campaign season, House Speaker Calvin Say went on record to say that with the economy getting so bad, the Legislature should not accept the pay raises.

Then, days after the election, Say said that they deserved the automatic pay raises because being a legislator is a full-time job for some of them. Keep in mind that the framers of our state Constitution wanted to keep our Legislature part-time so legislators would remain grounded to what was happening in their communities.

Recently, we've heard legislators throw up a different version of why they have to take the pay raises: They have to. It would violate the state Constitution to turn down the raises. And legislators, sworn to uphold the Constitution, can't turn down more money or they would violate their oath of office.

When the automatic pay raise bill was going through the Legislature, two separate teams of lawyers, one on the House side and the other on the Senate, had to research the bill to make sure it was constitutional. If those lawyers were worth their salt, they should have spotted the issue and mentioned that accepting automatic raises was constitutionally required. Also, the Legislature is chock full of attorneys who should have seen this coming. And after the bill passed, the Attorney General's Office had to review it to make sure it was constitutional and identify any future problems.

Now the Legislature tells us there is no way to stop the raises. We are told they deserve it. We are told it would be unconstitutional not to accept the raises. We are even told their raises are tied to the collective bargaining raises (they aren't).

This pay raise is like no other. Job performance is not an issue. A legislator could have the worst attendance record or the best and still get the raise. A legislator could have introduced the most legislation in the past session or not even have introduced himself to anyone and both would get the raise. The only requirement to get the pay raise is a heartbeat and a pulse.

So I guess the next thing we're going to be told is how much our taxes are going to be raised to make up for the hole in the budget that their pay raises will cause. Or they'll make up something else that we'll all believe, or most of us anyway. As for me, I'll stick to buying my baloney at the store instead of accepting the free government baloney from the state Capitol. Besides, isn't it time our legislators got their bailout, too?

  Editor's note: Ted Hong is a Big Island attorney. Last year he ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate as a Republican.

Dogs' temperaments determined by owners

You cannot judge a person by the color of their skin or what religion they practice or don't practice, but you most definitely can judge a person by the actions of their dog.

Have you ever noticed that people who keep dogs tied up, dogs that bark constantly and bare their teeth as you walk by, are usually that type of person themselves? People think pit bulls are mean dogs. If the owner is mean, the dog will be mean. I have seen loving pit bulls that come from loving homes.

When a person has an obedient dog, it represents the owner as being decent and obedient.

When a person has a loving dog, it means that person is full of love and passion.

When a person has a dog that hugs your leg, that is usually someone with a high libido.

Please remember it's not the dogs to blame if they are indecent or out of control - it's their indecent, out-of-control masters.