Letters to the Editor

Social workers have high stress, low pay

I am so sick of hearing bus drivers, police officers and concrete workers complaining about their pay. Trying being a social worker.

We spend at least four years in school to get a college degree, most will go on to get their MSW, which is an additional two to three years, and then we're lucky to get a job above $30,000 a year.

So what if our work isn't physically taxing? We have to work with people who have serious psychological, emotional and physical disabilities daily, and that is high stress in itself. We don't have unions to bully our employers for higher pay, and we rejoice if and when we get raises (which never happens).

Compare the training we endure to what these other guys go through and then tell me they still don't make enough.

State GOP has forsaken Bush, traditional values

Lately, it seems that Hawai'i Republicans are focused on locally electing new candidates and re-electing their incumbents. Maybe they conveniently forget that the White House, occupied by a fellow Republican, is also up for grabs this year.

Most of what I read in the dailies talks about what a wonderful job Gov. Linda Lingle is doing while failing to mention that she has stayed as far away as possible from our Republican president and traditional GOP values.

Sure, the Hawai'i GOP hosted President Bush in Hawai'i late last year and helped him raise some money; however, the state party also raked in $200,000 for itself at the same time.

I rarely, if ever, read or hear our GOP leaders show support for President Bush when the political left attacks him. I constantly read and hear Hawai'i Republicans in the state Legislature, including the party leadership in general, saying how much money they've accumulated and how much more they'll need in the upcoming elections.

It's extremely sad that the Hawai'i Republican Party has chosen to go in a more liberal direction rather than stay in line with its traditional conservatism for the sole purpose of political gain. Steering clear of President Bush is but one example of this liberal direction the Hawai'i GOP is traveling.

As a card-carrying Republican, I strongly urge the Party of Lincoln in Hawai'i to stop using President Bush when it's convenient and to stay consistent. If Hawai'i Republicans aren't going to publicly support Bush when he's attacked, they should stop using him as a cash cow.

Blame the president for faulty intelligence

I know that Iraq is better off without Saddam Hussein, but removing him from power was never the reason for a pre-emptive war.

The American people and the world were told of imminent danger, a progressing nuclear program, and stockpiles of chemical and nerve agents. To date, we've found exactly nothing, and I don't think it's from a lack of looking.

There sure were intelligence breakdowns, and who's ultimately to blame? Look no further than George W. Bush, who still has yet to account for his miscalculations and rush to war.

Global economy elite thumbing their noses

On Tuesday's editorial page, UCLA professor Tom Plate writes that the United States as a whole is better off by competing in a global economy.

To prove his point, he tells us he is flying off to Asia on a foreign carrier because it offers better price and service. Our professor sublimely lets us know that he is part of the global elite, albeit on one of its lower rungs.

This elite (i.e., people who through luck or pluck are not competing head-to-head in mortal competition to hold a job) have spoken loud and often about the plight of those whose jobs are threatened. Their message is simple: tough luck.

Gasoline price caps are not a solution

Anyone who passed an entry-level economics class can tell you that mandated price caps are a folly that eventually leads to shortages.

If the government arbitrarily imposes controls, then as costs rise (which they always do), there is no incentive to produce more, or for competition to enter the marketplace (which is the real solution in open-market economies). There is also no incentive to conserve if the price is artificially low.

If you want to spend less money on fuel, use less of it — it's not as if there aren't alternatives to driving Hummers, Escalades and the like. Who really needs those silly lumbering things in the tropics anyway?

Do you really want a government that has enough trouble keeping up with infrastructure in the petroleum business? How much of the current price of a gallon are they responsible for already?

Cut down traffic; ride a motorcycle.