Posted on: Friday, July 18, 2003

Letters to the Editor

Hypocrisy alive, well in Gov. Lingle's GOP

KITV was the only TV station to cover Gov. Lingle's recent legislative session wrap-up speech. Then, mysteriously, the governor asks HVCB to use taxpayer money to pay for KITV's crew to travel to Japan and cover the governor's trip to Japan. Coincidence? Doubtful.

What is truly amazing is that those Republican legislators who always complain about taxpayer waste are silent on this one. In fact, some even are defending Lingle's actions. Apparently, hypoc-risy is alive and well in Lingle's Hawai'i Republican Party.

Would ACLU file suit over 'Gay Pride Day'?

The ACLU is suing the city because of the "discrimination" it practiced by supporting Family Day. The ACLU calls it "discriminatory" because Family Day was a Christian event.

Now suppose the city had supported a "Gay Pride Day." I doubt we would even hear a peep from the ACLU, and it certainly wouldn't have sued. That seems to be rather ... well ... "discriminating" on the part of the ACLU, don't you think?

Democrats didn't get message on finances

The six veto overrides from the Legislature's Democrats should prove once and for all that "they really don't get it."

At the beginning of the 2003 legislative session, I remember distinctly House Majority Leader Scott Saiki saying "We get it." Everyone assumed that with statements like that, we really were on our way to restructuring and cutting out the wasteful practices of the past.

Overriding Gov. Lingle's vetoes, particularly the veto that now requires the more expensive means of solving public-worker pay-raise demands through binding arbitration, will leave the state millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars further in debt.

The Democrats would do well to remember the old saying, "When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging."

Our nation's treasury clearly hemorrhaging

The major media have reported that the new estimated deficit for the fiscal year ending this Sept. 30 is expected to be a whopping record of $455 billion. And this record will only stand for a year, since the new estimate for next year's deficit is an even more outrageous figure of $475 billion.

Our nation's treasury is clearly hemorrhaging. And what has caused this enormous flood of red ink? The answer lies in the gross mismanagement of our nation's finances by this administration, aided and abetted by a Republican-dominated Congress and a weak opposition party.

The costly fiasco that is unfolding day by day in Iraq drains another $3.9 billion plus every month out of our treasury. How can we sit idly by, watching this disaster in the making and not demand an end to this draining of our resources and an end to the misadventures and senseless wars and violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Philippines?

The Bush tax cuts, so unwisely approved by Congress at this time of war-making, huge spending increases and deficits, benefit mainly the rich and the corporations, and will leave our children and grandchildren with immense obligations and undermine their standard of living.

Shame on the politicians and media voices who failed to comment on or question these policies more critically and who did not oppose them.

So many lies have been told by this administration and so much harm is being done, for the sake of the most crass and unworthy interests. It's time we all stand up and demand an end to this sacrificing of our kids' and grandchildren's futures — and now!

Special session was just political rhetoric

Even to a casual observer, the recent special session of the Legislature did not come as a surprise. But what did the special session really accomplish? Substantively, very little.

Politically, some officials may have gained a little publicity for themselves. Back in the day, we used to call the political game of drawing the public's attention to one issue in order to sneak other legislation past "shibai," which was derived from a Japanese word meaning an elaborate stage play.

In the final analysis, despite everything else that was said or done, the only real accomplishment of the recent so-called "special session" was the veto override of SB 768, which restores binding arbitration involving the HGEA and will eventually cost the state millions of dollars it can ill-afford. This was nothing more than a blatant attempt by Democrats to win back the hearts and minds of public workers.

Other veto overrides were either unnecessary or rendered moot because of the governor's line-item veto authority and amount to nothing more than political rhetoric.

Greed doesn't justify racial discrimination

My Portuguese ancestors were citizens of the old Hawaiian sovereignty. OHA and the activists want a new sovereignty, with no pure Portuguese. How come?

Portuguese citizens of the kingdom didn't cause the revolution, bring the disease or suppress Native Hawaiians. Rather, they loved and married them and still do.

They merely came to Hawai'i at the invitation of Hawaiian ali'i who were exercising self-determination on behalf of their people, and were asked to blend in, work hard and help Hawai'i grow. We kept our end of the bargain. What about you, OHA?

Help everyone in Hawai'i who needs it — all of the Chinese, English, Germans, Japanese, Norwegians, Samoans, Scottish and other descendants whom Hawaiians invited, and all of the persons who would now be citizens by birth had there been no revolution.

We could care less about what blood flows through our veins, but it seems to matter too much to you.

We don't discriminate against you and really do love you. Please do the same to us and stop using public funds to seek our exclusion. Greed doesn't justify racial discrimination.

Vision teams bypass City Council, boards

The July 13 commentary by Eric Crispin paints a rosy picture of the vision team concept. However, it only confirms to me the mayor's desire to bypass the City Council and neighborhood boards. Since Mr. Crispin is part of the administration, I would expect nothing from him but support for the mayor.

Despite Mr. Crispin's affirmation that the process gives everyone a voice, the voices listened to are those of the mayor's supporters.

Mr. Crispin points to several projects he considers beneficial to the community. Why couldn't these projects have been implemented through the neighborhood boards? At least these folks are elected by the community (despite poor voter participation).

OHA also presenting other side of Akaka bill

Yes, it is true that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is devoting intensive resources in support of the Akaka-Stevens federal recognition bill ("Federal recognition is based on a big lie," Letters, July 10). As the only public body currently elected to represent Hawaiian interests, OHA's board of trustees unanimously considers federal recognition and Hawaiian self-governance to be the best means of countering the current legal threats to our native rights and assets.

However, Isaac Harp's charge that OHA is not doing enough to publicize both sides of the issue is unfair. For example: On Aug. 7, we will be sponsoring a live televised forum on KFVE to present arguments both for and against the recognition bill. In addition, the current edition of OHA's Hawaiian-issues show on 'Olelo NATV Channel 53, "Ho'oulu Lahui Aloha," which airs Wednesdays at 7 p.m., features prominent recognition-bill opponents.

While OHA's trustees believe that the ultimate form of native self-governance should be determined by a vote of participating Hawaiians, the nation-to-nation model currently enjoyed by Native American and Alaskan tribal governments would not even be an option for Hawaiians without federal recognition.

Genetically modified coffee not OK in Kona

I am writing in response to Sean Hao's July 14 article about Integrated Coffee Technology's research to create a genetically modified decaffeinated coffee. I have been an organic Kona-coffee farmer for 25 years, and I feel that Mr. Hao misrepresented the Kona coffee farmers when he interviewed one farmer who thinks genetically modified coffee in Kona is OK as long as it tastes good.

What the farmer failed to mention is that Kona coffee, which commands the highest price of all Hawai'i coffees, would become a non-gourmet, non-specialty product if it were to be genetically modified. The gourmet market and Japanese consumers in particular would not buy genetically modified coffee. So even though you may save a little by not having to decaffeinate the coffee, in the long run you would be shooting yourself in the foot.

Also, all the organizations representing Kona coffee farmers have unanimously supported the Hawai'i County resolution passed in September 2002 to keep genetically modified coffee out of our districts until a regional regulatory protocol can be established.

Kona coffee is a heritage crop. We don't want or need to fix something that is not broken.

UH misusing funds

Stop wasting money looking for a new UH logo; use the current UH seal and Warrior "H." UH has already spent and wasted $73,000 on this boondoggle. You had your chances. Money from logo merchandise sales should go to more pressing needs, not to search for another logo design.

Child safety must be on state's front burner

A July 12 Advertiser editorial recognizes "Child welfare is a job for the whole society." However, some clarification is required.

The comment by Lillian Koller — "Hawai'i will fail an upcoming federal review of our overall child welfare program, as has every other state that has been reviewed to date" — is actually a call to action.

This first-of-its-kind federal review purposely sets high standards for states to use as a yardstick to measure their progress and to spur strategies geared to improving performance. According to federal officials, very few (if any) states are expected to meet all of these standards.

The Children's Budget Analysis Child Safety Brief is the end product of a partnership between the Blueprint for Change and The Children's Budget Project. It documents spending for child safety in Hawai'i and gives an overview of major policy issues threatening Hawai'i's child safety net (http://blueprint.ehana.com).

What was stated at the Child Safety Issue Brief press conference was there is a challenge of coordination and leadership in our state system because the responsibility for child safety is spread among numerous departments. These agencies must work together to plan and coordinate programs sensitive to Hawai'i's unique demographics. As to the "duplication of services" statement, this is clearly not the case in Hawai'i. The safety net for Hawai'i's children is barely patched together through a collaboration of nonprofit, public agency and volunteer services.

Another major policy concern is the high incidence of substance abuse (a key factor in about 85 percent of all cases of reported child abuse and neglect), but there are few resources devoted to substance abuse prevention or treatment, especially for women with children.

A state strategy should be developed that deals not only with harm already done to our children. Cost-effective prevention and diversion programs work to remove the harm factor, not the child, from a home. The annual cost of a child entering foster care is $14,740 to $21,000, where prevention and diversion programs cost a fraction of that.

With 13,000 children currently in the care of the Department of Human Services, we have to think of them as our future, not as the "tragic wrecks" your editorial referenced.