Luxury tax could bolster budget

There are not so many things where Hawaii ranks No. 1, but here's one that may surprise you. Hawaii is No. 1 in the United States in the number of millionaires per household. Why haven't we thought about that as a state resource that can help us out in our time of need?

I suggest we have a new “;luxury surtax”; on various expensive things, like homes costing over a certain amount, cars costing over a certain amount, boats costing over a certain amount, jewelry, etc.

Of course, the wealthy are primary contributors to our politicians, which is probably why they have chickened out of putting together such a proposal themselves.

But it's an answer to our prayers for no more Furlough Fridays, better roads, restoration of vital local health services and other important services that have been cut back.

Many homeless from California

This letter is a reply to one that ran on Jan. 15 (”;Homeless issue disgusts tourists,”; Star-Bulletin, Letters).

Even though I may agree with you regarding the stench that permeates from Waikiki, please don't think that most of those people are our homeless people.

A lot of those people belong to your state (California) when your government gave a lot of your homeless people a one-way ticket to Hawaii so that they can apply for our welfare and live off of our aina, or land.

I'm not saying that we don't have a lot of homeless (our people) here, but your state (California) just added to our problem.

I wrote to my senator and advised him that we should give all these people a one-way ticket back to the state that they came from.

Tent camping at park must stop

Please enforce the no-camping law in Kapiolani Park from the Waikiki Aquarium to the concession stand. The tents-in-the—park situation has gone on for far too long.

Basically, that entire section of the park is unusable to the residents and tourists of Waikiki. Locals and tourists do not want to use the area for fear of sitting, standing or laying in one of the campers' toilet spots. The whole area does not have a welcoming look to it; it just looks like an area set aside for the full-time campers.

If these tents were located on the front lawn of City Hall or any other government offices, they would be gone within 24 hours.

Please do the right thing and eliminate tent camping in Kapiolani Park.

Time has come to build rail

“;Never make the same mistake.”; The dream of a rail system is long overdue and traffic is just getting worse. Past administrations have tried to make this a reality but it was not the right time for such a bold endeavor. But the time has come for this dream to come to fruition.

Honolulu is in dire need of an alternate means of transportation that will alleviate the ever-worsening traffic situation. With new technology in hand, fresh ideas, awareness of the environment and the need for job creation, this is the right time to build rail. Let's not make the same mistake again by doing nothing.

Boycott firms with loud TV ads

The Congress of the United States is considering a law that will keep advertisers from producing TV commercials with a volume level higher than the acceptable levels of other programming.

Even here in our island home, it is a problem. And I have a better solution than passing another unenforceable law.

When you watch TV in the quiet confines of your home and you are jolted out of your comfort zone by a overly loud commercial, make a note of who it is and what they are advertising, and tell everyone you know to not patronize that advertiser.

If everyone does that, it won't be long before the advertiser will either catch on, or be out of business.

Civil unions not the threat

I think homosexual behavior is wrong—period. However, it is unfair to accuse civil union proponents of being a threat to traditional marriage. The true threat to traditional marriage has nothing to do with homosexuals. The true threat is heterosexual in origin. It arises from a need for easy divorces, from choosing to live together rather than marry, from having children out of wedlock. It is rooted in a failure to confront joblessness, loneliness, alcoholism, pornography, infidelity, anger and abuse—until it is too late to save a marriage.