Signs of waste are everywhere

Almost every day, I see areas where our governments could save money to help us get through the tough economic times.

Some areas, such as establishing a unicameral state Legislature and a unicameral Congress, could take a lot of time to implement. Taking government-owned and maintained vehicles away from many of the appointees and other employees who don't need them—except to drive to and from work—could be done almost immediately.

Yesterday, as I waited for TheBus at the corner of Queen and Punchbowl, I saw a huge, beautifully painted sign advertising the fact that the state of Hawaii is renovating Room 207 in the Kapuaiwa Building. Of course the sign prominently displayed the name of the lame-duck governor. On any given day, there are hundreds of signs like this all over the state.

How necessary is a sign like that? What purpose does it serve? The governor may not run for re-election, so there is not even the political benefit so common just prior to an election, when these “;campaign”; signs show the voting public that the incumbent is doing something, even if it is just renovating a room.

Since they serve no useful purpose, let's halt that practice and save hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. The same change could be ordered in areas where the city and county and federal government put up signs just to let us know that the mayor and Council, president and Congress are doing something. We could save millions of dollars.

Give stimulus package more time to work

It is remarkable how some people have so quickly forgotten that President Obama clearly stated from the beginning that the economic recovery will take time, perhaps until the end of his first term.

Critics point out that only a little over 10 percent of the “;stimulus”; dollars have been expended. This is good, since the president wants to ensure that the dollars are spent wisely and result in positive long-term outcomes. He does not want to waste taxpayer dollars on quick, short-term fixes.

Critics appear to be saying “;give me the stimulus dollars now and I will stimulate the economy,”; for a month or so.

President Obama recognizes that we must work with other nations as partners in a cooperative effort to create a better global economy. He is working hard and has made remarkable progress changing our image from global bully to a global partner.

We need to be patient, as most of us want a stable, strong global economy beneficial to all peoples of the world.

Honolulu residents are lucky to get rail

The hostile attitude of Honolulu people toward Oahu's rail system baffles me. Commuter trains with a stop at the airport would be a godsend in Kona, where our rush-hour traffic is as agonizingly slow as Honolulu's. Oahu is getting a wonderful piece of transportation infrastructure that the Big Island can only dream about.

Embrace your train, Honolulu. Not every island in our state is so lucky.

Stop global warming, give GM to post office

I think that General Motors, also known as Government Motors, should be run by the post office. The company was taken over by the government and why not let the post office run the huge motor car company.

We all know how slow the postal system is. A letter to the Big Island recently took six days from Honolulu. If the postal authority ran GM for sure all the cars would run slower, and slower-moving cars means more energy saved, and more energy saved means less global warming.