Union excesses must roll back

Though I do not necessarily hold myself out as “;someone who knows,”; I am compelled to offer an answer to the question of Walter Takeuchi's letter (”;Raise excise tax to fix state's woes,”; Star-Bulletin, Jan. 3).

He expresses indignant confusion at not imposing the “;obvious”; solution to fiscal problems by simply increasing the general excise tax, thus setting all to right. Though public worker unions agree that this is the solution, in fact it is not. Instead, a correction to past union excesses must occur.

What is not acknowledged is the devastating effect wrought by powerful unions through unrestrained demands during years of prosperity. Does he forget the almost 40 percent increase in state government hiring during the Waihee administration years with no increase in services? When the money is there, unions want nothing of prudent fiscal planning. They want the money, now if you please, and all of it. Yet, when our economic cycle reverts to downturn, we hear offended dignity when the public objects to increasing what is already one of the most costly and regressive taxes in the nation.

Rush overlooked unions, state law

Rush Limbaugh was quoted as stating at Queen's Hospital: “;I've been treated to the best health care the world has to offer ...”; (”;Limbaugh recovers and says heart OK,”; Star-Bulletin, Jan. 2). I wonder if Rush Limbaugh realized that he was being treated at a hospital that is unionized and in a state in which every person employed 20 hours a week has his health care provided by his employer.

Thank you, Nadao Yoshinaga (”;Ex-senator played key role in social legislation,”; Star-Bulletin, Dec. 31) and other Democratic members of the 1974 Hawaii Legislature for the passage of the 1974 Prepaid Health Care Act that “;required employers to provide medical coverage for workers and to this day has helped Hawaii maintain one of the lowest rates of uninsured people in the country.”;

DOE cuts should focus on offices

My suggestion as to how to eliminate the furlough days is to restore 2008 budget levels to all school campuses statewide and spare them from any and all budget cuts, and instead absorb all budget reductions only at the central and district offices. This would spare any impact on the children and the teachers in the active faculty at large.

I fully blame the state Department of Education leadership for the reduced instruction time disaster. As a Democrat I fully side with the governor on this issue. Everyone has a budget and it is shrinking. The whole world is awash in a recession. Everyone has to cut. Heretofore the DOE has been run by a succession of kingdom builders. It is time for them to cut their administrative bloat; far too much deadweight there.

Fixes needed for final health bill

Give Americans the choice of a public option. Modeling the final health care bill after the House version, which contains a national public option is the key to real competition, greater choice and lower costs.

Insurance must be made affordable. Both bills require most Americans to have insurance. But even with subsidies, some people could pay up to 20 percent of their income on health care. The final bill must ensure families aren't required to spend more than they can handle.

We must protect women's health care. Both bills impose dangerous new restrictions on women's reproductive health care. While the House version is worse, neither provision can be in the final bill.

Health care must be financed fairly. The Senate's version would pay for part of reform by taxing the benefits packages of some working Americans. The House's, on the other hand, pays for reform with a small surcharge on the wealthiest Americans—a far better approach.

Insurance companies must be held to the same antitrust laws as are other companies. Right now, insurance companies are exempt from laws designed to prevent monopolies and price-gouging. The House bill would fix this, and so must the final bill.

Let post office face competition

It is time citizens demanded that government allow for competitive postal services.

I received 10 Christmas letters and two packages on Dec. 29 that were dated Dec. 15, 16 and 18. One friend called to ask if I received a package he paid $9 extra for that was promised to be delivered Dec. 24. As of Dec. 31, we have still not received it. I sent a package on Dec. 18 and my relatives have not yet received it.

The various postal services are defrauding customers who pay a hefty 44 cents in stamps per letter or an extra $9 to $15 to have packages arrive on time and yet this mail is not received in a timely fashion as promised.

The post office is charging us more in postage and not delivering on its promises. Why should it have the monopoly? I'll bet we'd have better postal services and pay less in postage if government allowed other postal services to compete with the U.S. Post Service.

If others in Hawaii have had similar experiences, let's strike or protest the next time the Postal Service tries to raise the stamp rates.

Stimulus bill has not helped

Our economy is still in turmoil. The fancy, exaggerated “;stimulus”; package foisted upon the public by our government has not helped the economy. All it has done is create make-work government jobs, while reducing the number of productive private sector jobs. Sure, the stimulus bill was endorsed by President Barack Obama, but it doesn't make logical sense for how it would work. The government is not funded by some magical king; it is funded by the people it represents. So, when the government says it is going to invest in the economy and create jobs, it is just using your money to be spent on new services that you may or may not want.

I know it is a little old to be talking about the stimulus package, since it has already been enacted, but I hope the government will not repeat this same mistake.