Letters to the Editor
Lowest wage earners don't merit a tax cut
Your editorial and several letters to the editor regarding the elimination of the lowest wage earners from the tax cut collectively are so far off the reality meter it is sad.
The lowest of wage earners pay no income tax with the current tax structure. The top 50 percent of wage earners pay 96 percent of the federal taxes.
Low-income earners might pay Medicare and Social Security taxes, but they pay no income taxes. These are usually the same individuals who receive some form of government assistance with housing, food stamps, and free medical, dental and auto insurance. How can a person receive a "tax cut" when that person does not even pay taxes?
Your editorial advocates something called redistribution of wealth or, more commonly, socialism. Those of us who work two jobs to stay ahead should get some of our money back, and if that causes the government to cut spending, then so be it; the alternative is I cut my spending, which makes the economy worse.
Those who pay the most should get the most back, and those who do not pay should not receive. The rest of us fall in the middle.
Robert Thurston
Hale'iwa
Kalakaua Avenue represents problem
Kelly Yamanouchi's important article ("Waikiki's visitor woes multiply," June 1) failed in one major respect. The article neglected the general ambient decay. In short, the "woes" may not be essentially marketing, but rather in the product.
The problem is most intense on Kalakaua Avenue every night of the week. Previous letters to the editor have emphasized the blocking of sidewalks, the noise from metal drums and alpine horns, the coarse language. I suggest this problem is worse now than ever before.
There are many examples in Waikiki of adverse image-taking. One small example: the permanent movie-screen structure on the beach. A few hundred see the movies. The screen comes down and thousands must then view the assemblage of bare pipes.
The state and city government agencies must decide what they are selling and to whom they are selling. People the world over dream of the sun, the sand, the beaches, the surfing and the Polynesian languor suggested by swaying palms and beautiful flowers. And most important in our case, Hawaiiana.
What do our visitors actually get in Waikiki? Step onto Kalakaua Avenue any night. Who are we attracting? The youngest and least affluent. Who is not coming? Those turned off by excess noise, rowdiness, crowds — i.e., the affluent.
The immense attraction we should have and could have is the aura of Polynesia, of Hawai'i. It is now essentially buried under the cheapness, neglect, tawdriness and failure to understand what our tourist product should really be.
W.G. Corley
Lahaina, Maui
Organizers, volunteers are something special
My son has been a participant with the Central Terminator Special Olympics team for the past three years. Each year I am overwhelmed with such gratitude for our team organizer, Arce Baysa, and her family, parent coaches and volunteer coaches, and especially all the numerous volunteers from all over the state, including the military, PHNSY, corporations and numerous others.
Their endless hours of hard work and donations do "Inspire Greatness" for all our special athletes and their families. I am deeply thankful to all of you because without you my son, Bryant, wouldn't be involved in such a wonderful organization.
Jamie Pang
Mililani
Tony Ching was carrying dog at time of accident
Before Jean-Jacques Dicker (Letters, June 3) absolves Tony Ching, and all moped drivers, of responsibility relating to accidents involving cars, he should be aware of news reports the night of the accident stating that Mr. Ching was carrying a dog while driving his moped when the accident occurred.
I, like every fan of Tony's, hope for a complete recovery. However, who wasn't driving safely?
Mark Nakamura
Golf courses drink up a lot of our water
As an apartment dweller, I have no lawn to stop watering, so let's look at our golf courses. There are 39 of them, and seven are municipal, thank you, taxpayers.
Each golf course takes up an average 100 acres and uses about 500,000 gallons of water a day. How many gallons of pesticides and chemical fertilizer, I don't want to know.
Barbara Ikeda
City, state should be conserving water, too
Once again, the city is asking the residents of Honolulu to conserve water while the city's Parks and Recreation Department continues to waste water. As I rode past several parks, the following were encountered:
• Watering during the hottest part of the day, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Pulse sprinklers leaking at the connection.
• Sprinklers left out for several hours in the same exact spot.
• Broken sprinkler heads spouting water and flooding the sidewalks or road.
The state's public schools are also notorious for watering during the hottest part of the day. They are also guilty of leaving the sprinklers in one place for hours on end.
As the summer progresses, our drought situation will be getting worse and the videos and pictures I have taken will be collected and submitted to our four local TV news stations.
Ever wonder why the city and state ask us to conserve water? So they can waste it. When will it stop, you say? When there's no more fresh water in our aquifer and we start pumping sea water.
Delwyn Ching
'Okolehao venture must conserve ti
While Steve Thompson ("Will new 'okolehao be your cup of ti?" June 10) is planning for an 'okolehao distillery here in Hawai'i, has he also planned for the impact on ti forests still remnant from ancient and historical times here in Hawai'i nei?
When 'awa became popular again a few years back, ancient 'awa groves were ripped off and destroyed all over the state. Each time a grove was destroyed, it opened a scar on the landscape that allowed for soil erosion and invasive plants to take hold. A few farmers looked ahead and began to grow Hawaiian 'awa, but they needed several years lead time to get a good product. The only thing that saved the few remaining ancient groves was a crash in the export market due to negative health reports about its use.
Everyone is counting the contributions of this new business (number of jobs, taxes paid) before they consider the costs of its impacts on the environment.
Thompson would greatly add to the quality of his venture by partnering now with farmers to grow ti for the roots he needs. Does he know how many years it takes for the ti to acquire the size and quality of roots he needs?
It would be easy to work with one big agriculture company, but the economic contributions of his new business to Hawai'i would expand tenfold beyond the X number of employees he would support if he were connected to a large network of small farmers and backyard growers. And the "added value" of that type of connection would spin him many miles of positive support and good P.R. wherever his product is sold.
Penny Levin
East-West Center losing its neutrality, objectivity
The East-West Center was founded in 1960 by the U.S. Congress in partnership with the state of Hawai'i. Its original mission was to "promote better relations and understanding between the United States and the nations of Asia and the Pacific through cooperative study, training and research."
To meet these objectives, the center developed a distinctive style that strives for neutrality, objectivity and balance in what it does and how it does it. This was in keeping with a clause in its state of Hawai'i enabling legislation that forbids the center from "conducting non-educational foreign policy goals of the United States or any other government."
This is the ideal. Unfortunately, it may not be the reality.
In 1999, the responsibility for direct oversight of the center passed to the U.S. State Department. Not long thereafter, center leadership declared that it wanted to bring "Washington perspectives better into both center agenda-setting and into specific projects," and to promote "U.S. values, ideas and interests."
More recently, the center formed the U.S. Asia Pacific Council. The council's mandate includes promoting U.S. values, ideas and business in Asia.
At its inauguration, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell commended the center for forming the council "to be part of this great crusade." Robert Zoellick, U.S. trade representative, speaking at the same occasion, explained that "we want to expand the U.S. security platform to include free trade and openness."
These developments could undermine the carefully nurtured reputation of the center as a neutral and objective institution and adversely affect the ability of its international staff, students and visiting scholars to fulfill its mission. It is urgent that the center's board of governors, particularly the new members, review the direction of the center and whether it is conforming to its original ideals and vision.
Mark J. Valencia
Kane'ohe
Bidding system saves state money
I am responding to John Scalera's June 4 letter and the original May 28 story, "Bid system called unfair." Let me address this from the point of view of a buyer for the state.
Mr. Scalera claims that the savings obtained by using the CommercePoint (CP) system come mostly from reduced paperwork and not lower prices. This is not true. We immediately realized savings of 10 percent to 30 percent when we started using the system. It is great to have cut so much paperwork out of the process, but to claim this is the only source of savings is wrong.
He argues that Mainland universities aren't soliciting business in Hawai'i, so UH shouldn't solicit business from the Mainland. What other universities do has no bearing on my purchases for the state. My goal is to get the best product for the best value. Period. This often means buying from out of state, whether I use the CP system or not. There is absolutely nothing "unfair" about this.
Mr. Scalera argues that the cost of the system is passed on to local vendors and that this is unfair to them. In fact, the cost is passed on to any local or Mainland vendor who wins a bid. As a buyer, I am happy to have a vendor add the 0.5 percent cost to my price. Compared to the 10 percent to 30 percent savings I'm getting, this is nothing.
He mentions a system where vendors don't have to pay, but then who does pay? That's right, the state. I wonder if the benefit of buying something locally outweighs the benefit of saving the state 10 percent or more on the purchase to begin with.
Finally, he suggests it may be unethical to require use of the system because CP makes money on every sale. To me what borders on unethical is the awarding of contracts and bids that have not gone through an open and fair bid process. Perhaps he can point to a similar system that is completely free with no profit motive for anyone involved.
I understand that doing business in Hawai'i is tough and that local purchases help the local economy. Local businesses must compete on their merits and strengths, not by complaining. For instance, only local companies can provide local support and service that are often needed. Also, while local vendors must charge sales tax, Mainland vendors must pay shipping.
Mr. Scalera's company, TIG, used to be one of the most active bidders on the system. Any registered user can verify that it currently has the 14th highest number of bids won on the system among over 1,200 vendors. I am left to wonder why it now has so much animosity toward the CommercePoint system.
T. Ludwick
University of Hawai'i
