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POSTED: Monday, April 05, 2010

Tax rise better than more cuts

I am a retiree on a fixed monthly income. Gov. Linda Lingle has drastically cut state programs and services while attempting to balance the budget. So many markets in Chinatown are overrun with rats at night because of a lack of health inspectors.

Many seniors and retirees, who worked all their lives to help build Hawaii, need kokua so they may continue to live at home and not go to a nursing home. They cannot get help because of lack of funding. Many have been on long waiting lists. I'm tired of hearing about furloughs for our students, teachers and state workers.

Let's heed the opinions of some respected economists who have advised that a nominal increase in the general excise tax by 1 percentage point will actually help our economy recover, while further cuts in the state budget will have a much worse effect on our economy.

Enough already! I urge our legislators to raise sufficient revenues to fund our essential state programs and not slash them further. A temporary GET increase is one way to do it.

 

               

     

 

 

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Seat belts needed in truck beds, too

What am I missing? Our law enforcement officers enforce Hawaii's seat belt laws with “;Click it, or ticket,”; thereby making occupants inside vehicles safer. They say it saves lives and I believe it does.

Yet riders in the back of trucks do not have to wear seat belts nor do they have the protection of being inside the vehicle. What part of this logic am I missing?

 

Army respects native Hawaiians

The Native Hawaiian Covenant that was recently signed by the U.S. Army, and acknowledged by members of the native Hawaiian community, is intended to be a symbolic yet powerful first step in initiating a proactive dialogue between the native Hawaiian community and the U.S. Army Hawaii.

It establishes basic principles and common interests and a commitment to enhancing mutual understanding, and expresses a desire to work together to achieve common goals.

While the covenant doesn't deal with specific issues, it identifies a positive and constructive way forward to help resolve differences.

The Army is fully committed to open and transparent dialogue with native Hawaiian and other community leaders on a variety of issues. The covenant is a way of codifying this commitment and ensuring that those who come after us understand the benefit of establishing a mutually supporting relationship with the Hawaiian community.

During my time here, I've learned that native Hawaiian leaders are concerned with several Army-related issues on Oahu and Hawaii Island, including protection, preservation and access to cultural and historic resources and continued protection of threatened and endangered plant and animal species.

They are also concerned about the economic future of their people and the larger community. They are concerned about Army leaders and soldiers knowing and understanding the native Hawaiian culture and values as they move forward in their mission.

This covenant is an important first step in addressing these concerns and working together. Those involved approach this effort with a deep respect for one another and are committed to the work ahead.

 

Smaller districts easier to run

The good news is that Hawaii's eighth-graders showed gains in reading on a national standardized test when compared with eighth-graders in previous years, but the bad news is that fourth-graders showed losses (”;Isle kids' reading scores mixed,”; Star-Bulletin, March 25).

The fact that eighth-graders showed gains is not surprising because four years ago, gains were shown by fourth-graders (who are eighth-graders now). So the gains shown by eighth-graders should be attributed to the higher ability of this cohort compared with older cohorts, and not to improvements in the quality of education in the intervening years.

A few years ago fourth-graders showed gains. At that time state Department of Education leaders attributed the gains to improvements in teaching methods that had been implemented. But when a DOE official addressed the recent losses, he claimed that the figures were not statistically significant.

Apparently, the DOE leadership is willing to take responsibility for gains, but not for losses.

The DOE leadership has had little effect on educational gains or losses, which appear to be due more to random occurrences than anything else. Gains in some areas are offset by losses elsewhere, and there's not much movement overall.

All of this suggests that Hawaii's public school system is unmanageable. Progress will be possible only when the system is restructured to create smaller independent units that can be effectively managed.

 

Need for rail obvious on Oahu

I cannot believe there is any debate on an elevated rail system on Oahu.

On a recent business trip to Honolulu, I found the daily traffic and commuting challenges ridiculous. I spent 1.5 hours driving from my hotel in Waikiki to my business contacts in Waipahu. Then, I had another 1.5-hour commute returning to my hotel. Traffic is unbearable, yet there is no reasonable alternative.

Other major cities I travel to have rail systems that I use. After work, I have time to spend my money in local restaurants and shop. I had no such time in Honolulu; my extra time and energy were exhausted sitting in traffic.

The rail system will get you up and out of traffic. Without it, I will not return to Honolulu as a tourist and will avoid returning for business. I hope this message is a wake-up call for the debaters. Get rail going and return to paradise; now you just have traffic.

 

Health care law did take courage

Peter Oshiro's letter “;Congress finally shows courage”; (Star-Bulletin, March 24) is justified by much evidence.

Typical is the 2009 summary that “;Every industrialized country has fairer access to health care and lower costs for health care than the United States.”;

That is a quote from the book, “;The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care,”; by T.R. Reid.