Church should open to homeless

On the issue of the city plan for a “;Housing First”; project on River Street, Bishop Larry Silva has said, “;Nobody wants the homeless in their back yard. We don't, either. That's why we want to provide them a home.”;

Well, the bishop can. All he has to do is open Our Lady of Peace Cathedral to the homeless, let them sleep there overnight, and by proselytizing to them he might even gain converts. This would be a win-win for the bishop and the community.

Insurance profits not so obscene

We have heard much in recent weeks from the White House about the “;obscene”; profits being made by medical insurance companies. Here are some profit margins (after-tax profits divided by total revenue) for comparison:

Medical insurance: Wellpoint at 7 percent; CIGNA at 7 percent.

Food and beverage: Coca Cola at 22 percent; McDonald's at 20 percent.

Now you know where the obscene profits are. And it's not in the health insurance industry.

People eating way too much

The new Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund now has the flexibility to deal with the spiraling cost of health care so as not to “;create significant financial hardships for state taxpayers.”;

Of course, health care costs are going to spiral out of control. People do not take responsibility for all the food they shovel down their pie holes. Do you ever observe shoppers at Costco and Sam's Club? I see carts full of processed lasagna, tamales, ice cream drumsticks, cakes, chips, cookies and candy. People are getting fatter and fatter. This is going to put a big strain on our health care: diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary problems, optical problems. Not only is Obamacare going to cost us (and future generations) big time, the health care cost of this state is not sustainable. People exercise no self-control when it comes to eating, and we're all going to have to pay for it?

Does anybody get it? We're out of control. Health care will hurt taxpayers because most of us are not taking care of our health.

Abercrombie did a good job

Froebel Garcia got it wrong when he said Neil Abercrombie “;abandoned”; universal health care and the Akaka Bill (”;Abercrombie has some gall,”; Star-Bulletin, Letters, March 24). Abercrombie got the Akaka Bill passed—three times, in fact—through the U.S. House, and he championed health care. He voted with the majority when the U.S. House passed the health care bill in November. And though there were sensationalized reports that Abercrombie's single vote could cost health care reform, the House passed it 219-212 on March 21.

Mr. Garcia is entitled to his opinion that his candidate, the mayor, is doing the right thing by not yet resigning. But he fails to point out that Hannemann will quit the mayor's job with two years left in his term. Today, Mayor Hannemann continues to draw a six-figure mayoral salary as he devotes most of his time and his office as mayor to run for governor. Meanwhile, the $5 billion rail transit system, which we taxpayers are paying for every time we make a purchase, suffers setback after setback.