Nature better than Natatorium

Please remove the Waikiki Natatorium and make it a fresh new beach.

Before it was a rusting monument, it was part of the ocean and shoreline. It should be returned to its rightful owner, Mother Nature.

Make it an exciting new addition to Honolulu. No great expense, just a clean beach that will give all of us, especially mothers and keiki, a gentle entry to the sea. Restore this beautiful area to its original nature.

Gambling would help in this economy

Gambling is voluntary and affects those who choose to do it, and sometimes their families. Forty-eight states allow it; the good must outweigh the bad. Scratch-off tickets, Powerball and other forms of gambling that do not require casinos would have reasonable start-up costs, could be set up quickly and would help our economy a lot now.

Paying more taxes hurts every one of us; reducing services hurts everyone whose needs are no longer being met. People who suffer work furloughs, and sometimes their families, will have less money to put back into the economy, and will pay lower taxes, which will make things worse next year.

Why does our government refuse to allow any type of gambling? Why do they not even allow this to get on any ballots so we can decide?

Did he just say what I thought he said?

Today a driver cut me off and yelled the new “;F”; word at me: “;Furlough you!”; I have been in the Navy, I have even visited public schools, so vulgar language is not new to me, but this is a new low. It appears the new “;F”; word means working a day without being paid. Apparently it has trumped all other dirty words for vulgarity around the Capitol.

I believe that it would be far better to stop paying for days not worked than to stop paying for days worked.

Government workers get 13 paid holidays a year, so make that one a month. They also get 1.5-days paid vacation and 1.5-days paid sick leave, that equals 4.5 days a month paid days off.

I say “;Stop F- ing, our civil servants.”; It would be much fairer to just do away with paid days off than to ask people to work for free. This solution still leaves one paid holiday a year, and civil servants could take their pick of which day that would be. I am guessing it would be Obama for King day.

Same-sex marriage would hurt Hawaii

Hannah Miyamoto's argument that same-sex marriage recognition would just add to Hawaii's tourism numbers (Letters, Star-Bulletin, June 7) simplistically ignores the downside. Hawaii's principal target audience for travel is the traditional family unit.

It should be noted that our tourism industry enjoys a special image developed over many decades that is unique in all the world. Any departure from that carefully crafted image will result in serious negative economic consequences.

Maybe budget will be better next year

Gov. Linda Lingle claims that she has the right to furlough workers because it is an emergency situation to balance the budget. I can see that claim being valid for balancing this year's budget, but how can she say it's an emergency for two years? It's technically not an emergency for 2010 until they cannot budget the balance next year.

All must help out in tough times

Everyone is focusing on the state workers, but when it comes down to it, everyone who benefits from the state's services should share in the load. The fairest way I see is through the sales tax. By distributing the load, you can achieve the same result while greatly reducing its impact.

Remember, the economic struggles were not brought on by the state workers, so they should not be singled out to take on this burden.

Cuts will deprive public students

I am most distressed by Gov. Linda Lingle's proposals to cut funding to our public schools. She seems to be on a crusade to ruin the public education system here in Hawaii.

Many of us cannot afford to send our children to a private school. For us the public school is the place where our children will receive the learning and skills necessary for full and happy lives. We appeal to the governor not to take these learning experiences away from our children through unwise, unwarranted and unfair budget cuts, which seemed aimed mostly at people with modest incomes.

At many elementary schools there are no music teachers, no art teachers and no physical education specialists. All the children of Hawaii deserve to have instruction in these areas. To cut funding to the public school system even more is unconscionable.

Furlough fiasco sounds familiar

We can endlessly debate the merits or lack thereof of furloughs for state workers just like we did for the Superferry, but in the end it is likely to be the courts, and not public opinion, that will have the last word.

Gov. Linda Lingle's assertion that her legal right to lay off workers translates into a legal right to furlough is untested and it is certainly not a slam-dunk. Further, it is not reassuring to think that she is being advised by the same legal team that said the Superferry didn't need an environmental impact statement and that Act 2 was constitutional.

The legal battle with the unions over the furloughs will just suck up precious state resources and time that could be better spent implementing other solutions to the budget crisis.

Lingle needs to abandon her furlough plan and work with the mayors to craft a proposal to the unions that is both fair and fiscally responsible. Don't hold your breath, however: If the Superferry is any indication she will cling to the sinking ship as long as possible.