Greed motivates TV football cost

GREED! It's simply greed on the part of Oceanic and the Hawaii High School Athletic Association to charge the public $29-plus to view the two public high school championship games.

Get it? Public schools for the public to watch. We, the public, are already paying taxes to support public education. We, the public, are already paying outrageously high and forever escalating cable fees.

Now Oceanic and the HHSAA want even more. Shame on them for their greed. I plan to boycott their greedy pay-per-viewing and hope others do, too.

Do we really want to destroy memorial?

In reference to the editorial “;Mayor is correct about natatorium”; (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 2): Those in favor of destroying the pool and bleachers fail to understand that the arch is only part of the memorial — the gateway, if you will. The pool was designed to be a living memorial where generations of visitors and swimmers could visit or swim and reflect on those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice so they could do just that. Moving the arches, if that is really possible, is not saving the memorial, only the gate. It is entirely possible that deliberately destroying the natatorium pool and bleachers would mark Hawaii as the first state in the union to destroy a war memorial. What message does this send to our troops?

Obama's economy not sustainable

I have been doing business in Waikiki for 41 years and this is as tough as it gets and it is not going to get any better soon. Just look to California for your answers.

I have reduced my employees' hours, pay and, unfortunately, laid some off. I have many who have been with me for more than 20 years and a few 30 years and longer.

I ask you, “;What has President Obama done to create jobs?”; We know that he has saved some union jobs and has spent a great deal of time pushing his health care bill while ignoring that one out of every eight Americans go to bed hungry at night. So what is he doing to fix the economy?

It doesn't matter whose fault it is. It matters that he creates jobs now.

I can create 20 new job positions with a $500,000 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. So why in the world didn't Obama give stimulus money to the SBA to help entrepreneurs expand their existing business or create new ones? Some $25 billion would create 1.3 million jobs just from small business alone. That creates money for things such as groceries, retail, travel, etc., as well as a larger tax base. Job growth is found in the free market, not in more government spending. Obama's socialized government is nonsustainable.

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. This dear friends, is the beginning of the end of this great nation.

Rep. Oshiro should step up to the plate

In reading the letter from the chairman of the House Finance Committee (”;Furlough deal not in the bag,”; Star-Bulletin, Letters, Nov. 27), I still cannot determine if these are the words of a real leader and one of the few state employees who actually received a pay raise in 2009, or the words of a disgruntled child who has been denied his way by an authoritative mother.

I am a lifetime, pitbull Democrat with more credentials than most of our “;leaders”; in Hawaii, and I just have to say how disappointing and indicting it is to see a supposed leader, earning full-time pay for part-time work, do nothing more than criticize the governor.

I would advise Rep. Marcus Oshiro that he has been in his position of finance chairman for many years now, and as a leader of the party that passes the state budget, he may want to hold himself to the same standards of performance that he expects from the governor. “;Leaders”; such as this shame my once-proud Democratic Party.