Taxpayers would use breaks better

It is very apparent that “;loaning”; money to multibillion-dollar companies does not work. They care about only themselves and not the American public. And the politicians are no better.

As an alternative, the U.S. government should give each American taxpayer a tax-free gift of, say, $500,000. Individuals would then have the funds to pay creditors, individuals would have increased purchasing power, and this would stimulate the economy.

This is a very oversimplified approach to stimulating the economy, but it has to start with the people and not with the corrupt corporations.

Taxpayers not golden geese

The Hawaii state unions audaciously endorse Sen. Norman Sakamoto's bill to use our Hurricane Relief Fund and raise the general excise tax 1 percentage point so the teachers will go back to work on Fridays.

Not such a great idea, unless you're in the Senate because of unionized backing.

How important could Hawaii's Hurricane Relief Fund be anyway? Don't ask anyone on Kauai.

And what about our poor children? Who cares about them? Don't ask the teachers. They're refusing to work free on Fridays for our poor little darlings. But wait! Sakamoto can fix that by adding just 1 percentage point more to our 4.714 percent general excise tax. What's 1 percentage point more? Load it on; we need more burden right now tagged onto whatever we are buying.

The state of Hawaii is out of money and so are we—and it is not getting any better.

Too bad rail not built in the '80s

It is amazing that this rail issue is still ongoing. Did we not put it on a referendum? And, yes, the majority voted for it. The Council voted for it. But in good times we did not build it and now the excuse is that in a recession there is no money? Can you imagine if we had built it in the '80s, and what would have been the cost compared to today? Try imagining Hong Kong with no rail transit system, or Singapore, or even Naha, Okinawa—island states/nations very similar to Hawaii.

Perhaps when Gov. Linda Lingle is out of office she can move to the west side and try commuting daily at rush hour to enjoy sitting in traffic and be one of us. Respect the wishes of the public who voted for it because we need it.

Court authorizes freedom to bribe

“;Freedom of Speech”; as enshrined in the Constitution is a far cry from “;Freedom to Bribe,”; which is the result of the recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision allowing corporate funding of political campaigns. This is beyond scandalous—it is anti-democratic and insidious.