State auditor should get praise

During my tenure in the state Legislature, I always trusted the information in state Auditor Marion Higa's audits of various departments. The fact that I was a Republican in a solidly Democratic Legislature, with Democratic state administrations, did not diminish my faith in Higa or her work. If I were in the Legislature today, my confidence in Higa would remain.

It's odd that the current administration highly touted Higa's abilities prior to taking office in 2003, only to drastically change course by recently criticizing the objectivity of her audits. Regardless of the Democratic majority control of the Legislature and of Washington Place during my time in office, the auditor consistently offered fair and impartial audits based on findings of fact, which I strongly believe her office continues to do today.

In addition to supporting the auditor, I consistently advocated for funding the Office of the Legislative Analyst to aid in the analyses of state departmental budgets. This position has never been funded. A legislative analyst would serve to further scrutinize government spending while improving public trust, which is precisely what Marion Higa has done so well during her tenure as our state auditor.

Public schools have good grads

This letter is in response to the one from Duke Matzen regarding public education (”;Tam can blame public education,”; Star-Bulletin, March 10). Excuse me, but you offended me because I am a product of public education. Not everyone is like Rod Tam. I sure am not. And a lot of citizens who have not had the privilege of going to a private school are very law-abiding, smart and have made very good lives for themselves. You should watch what you say.

Columnists vital to paper's value

This is a hearty second to the ideas expressed in J. Williams' letter (”;Star- Bulletin wins in content, form,”; Star-Bulletin, March 8). I am delighted to see the Star-Bulletin take over the Gannett Goliath, especially after the S-B's near-death experience a few years ago.

It has been obvious that eventually Honolulu would be left with only one daily, and I have been especially concerned because, as J. Williams pointed out, only the Star-Bulletin has an editorial section with several national columnists. This is the most vital part of the newspaper for me, and I would hate to lose it. Form I can adjust to, but without content there's little reason for a newspaper's existence. Keep up the good work.

Health care bill will be money pit

There are many serious concerns about the current health care bill that remain unanswered. I'll list just one: Overall, the bill does not control costs or reduce deficits. It has 10 years of tax increases of about $500 billion (How is that going to impact the economic recovery?), and 10 years of Medicare cuts worth about $500 billion (Just imagine that with an already fragile program and doctors skeptical of Medicare.), to pay for only six years of spending. Ten years of payments for only six years of benefits! That's a gimmick. If you look at the true cost for the first 10 years of benefits, it's estimated at $2.3 trillion. No one has figured out how to pay for it on a sustained forever basis — or if they have, they aren't sharing it.

There are better remedies available for reforming health care than this bill. It is simply irresponsible that such a flawed bill could be rammed through Congress, probably with zero bipartisan support, against the will of the majority of people, according to most polls. The consequence will be to leave the U.S. weakened forever trying to pay for it — or else cripple the overall quality of medical care because it can't be paid for. The responsible action that seemingly eludes Congress would be to work harder to get it right.

Reform overdue for health care

Genuine health care reform is long overdue. Health care is as essential as education and should be provided on a national basis rather than as a source of profit for a lucrative industry.