Posted on: Friday, April 1, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Red Lake massacre has been downplayed

I am sick and tired of hearing about the Schiavo ordeal. Why is this family getting so much press? Why was this family's situation so important that the president had to get involved?

This is a private matter that should have been left private. Families are faced with this situation all the time, so move on already.

Meanwhile in Red Lake, Minn., the nation's deadliest school shooting since Columbine took place. A 16-year-old Native American boy went on a shooting rampage, killing nine people and injuring seven others before turning the gun on himself. How much press has this story been given? Not much. Why is that?

If the crime hadn't been committed on an Indian reservation and the shooter had been white, would this tragedy have been given as much press as the Schiavo story? My feeling is yes.

President's actions point to hypocrisy

Rhoads Stevens (Letters, March 29) calls foul on Dick Adair's depiction of President Bush as a hypocrite. Let me see if I can clarify the issue for Mr. Stevens.

Bush authorized the killing of many prisoners while he was the Texas governor. Review of those cases (authored by Alberto Gonzales) was given 30 minutes or less, and he refused to look at exculpatory evidence — including DNA evidence that might have proved that some of the condemned were innocent. Stevens then implied that those prisoners weren't worthy of compassion. Well, so much for the culture of life that Bush espouses whenever he can play to the fundamentalist camp.

Thousands of people are dying every day in our country because they don't have food or medical care, or safe home or work environments. Why doesn't Bush, the "compassionate conservative," do something about those lives? Hmm ... seems hypocritical to me.

Now we come to Terri Schiavo. She told at least three people that she did not want to be kept alive in a vegetative state. Several courts, including those presided over by conservative judges, agreed that Michael Schiavo is his wife's guardian and that he is carrying out her wishes. Why doesn't the state's rights/family values crowd support the Schiavos' decisions?

Our president, who has cut Medicaid payments for patients like Terri, and who signed a bill authorizing the removal of life support for patients who can't pay, and who waged war against a people who did nothing to us, is a hypocrite.

Mixed messages

Mahalo, David Shapiro, for your March 30 column regarding the seeming waste of water on government properties. I think we have all seen those sprinklers going full blast in the middle of a rainstorm or at high noon, not to mention the geysers caused by broken sprinklers. What's up with all that? The TV spots are right on, but this very visible wastefulness is sending a very different message.

Riley Wallace has done as well as possible

Every basketball fan in Hawai'i wants the UH basketball program to be as successful as that of a Duke or a Kentucky. However, C. Silberstein's call to remove UH basketball coach Riley Wallace (Letters, March 29) is misplaced.

With very few exceptions, Hawai'i does not produce high school talent that can play Division I basketball, and it is difficult to recruit players from elsewhere to play in Hawai'i. Riley Wallace has done as good of a job coaching as can be expected with the players he has been able to recruit.

In recent years, Hawai'i's basketball fans have had the opportunity to see many exciting games and to watch such exciting players as Alika Smith, Anthony Carter, Pedrag Savovic, Carl English and Michael Kuebler. Wallace's teams have gone to the NIT and NCAA tournaments. It may be that he is a victim of his own success, which has raised the expectation level of fans.

However, fans have to remember that not every year can be a great year. Even the most successful collegiate basketball programs have down years, and this past season was a disappointment for UH basketball fans. Overall, though, Riley Wallace has been successful in raising the quality of UH basketball to a higher level.

Don't mess with trees

I hope the city stops before it begins ripping out the trees that are making our island a better place for residents and visitors. If they are creating a true safety hazard, OK. If they're planted too close together, thin out a few.

But if they're coming down because people like things the way they were before, or because cars can't go as fast as before — forget about it.

But whatever you do, don't say it's because we can't afford them. Each tree is worth more to the quality of life in Honolulu than it could ever cost to maintain them.

Senior citizens can't afford tax increase

I am 75 years old, retired and living on a fixed income. How does our mayor expect the senior citizens to keep up with the rising cost of living in Hawai'i?

We are stuck with X number of dollars each month, which in and of itself is hard enough to budget for our daily needs, forget about wants. Typical of Democrats: Find funds short, raise taxes — never mind the citizens who don't get raises and are living hand to mouth.

Go, mayor — raise taxes and see if you are re-elected.

UH financial aid program confusing

Beverly Creamer's article "Tuition increases 'scary' for some" is timely. But the "Who gets UH financial aid" graphic accompanying the article puzzled me.

Does "Pacific & Asian students" simply refer to students of Pacific Islander and Asian family heritage? If so, is that intended to imply that Asian and Pacific Islander students are not included in any other likely aid-recipient categories?

Surely that is not the intention! For example, Asian and Pacific Islander students will be found among every one of the following categories of financial assistance: "merit," "needy," "graduate assistants" and "athletes."

And does the same category also refer to undergraduate and graduate students majoring or specializing in Asian or Pacific Island studies?

Again, there are designated tuition waivers for students whose undergraduate major or graduate specialization is in those fields.

In other words, does the graph undercount, double count or do both? Or not?

Tuition probably will continue to rise. The University of Hawai'i, the state Legislature and local organizations should continue to work to increase the amount of direct scholarship assistance to deserving UH students.

Higher minimum-wage argument doesn't hold up

Reading James Weatherford's March 29 op-ed, I couldn't help but point to problems in his argument for an increased minimum wage.

Mr. Weatherford refers to the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Economic Policy Institute when rebutting the "doomsayers." He does not inform your readers that both of these organizations are clearly biased toward organized labor and receive support from labor unions. Of course, labor unions want a higher minimum wage to provide a higher basis for their collective bargaining agreements.

According to Dr. Bill Boyd of the University of Hawai'i, less than 4 percent of Hawai'i's workers earn minimum wage.

While I would concede Mr. Weatherford's assertion that 60 percent of minimum-wage workers are women and that 72 percent are age 20 and over, I do not believe that the typical minimum-wage worker resembles his fictitious "Ms. Cleaning Lady" trying to feed a family. She is more likely to be a server in a restaurant who makes close to $20 per hour in tips. She probably lives with a roommate and spends her money at Starbucks and at clubs.

Miss Server's mandated minimum-wage increase would allow her to buy that new skirt at Neiman Marcus and would prevent her employer from giving the raises most needed in her place of employment — the kitchen workers.

Furthermore, it does not take a researcher to open up any Economics 201 textbook and find "wages" and "inflation" in the index. In these textbooks, most readers will easily find evidence to what is often referred to as the "wage-price spiral" in which wages go up, prices go up, cost of living goes up, so then wages must go up, so then prices must go up, so then cost of living goes up, and so on.

A mandated minimum-wage increase would only hurt the people it is supposed to help.

Assistance program in jeopardy

Last year, the state of Hawai'i received $15 million in federal funds to operate a TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) program. Today, nearly 200,000 Hawai'i residents receive aid through Hawai'i QUEST or Medicaid's Fee-for-Service plan. Federal TANF funds supplement both of these programs. House Bill 1060 jeopardizes the future of these programs by limiting funds and adding bureaucracy to the application process.

First, HB1060 repeals TANF appropriations offered by the federal government. TANF provides assistance to needy families, promotes self-sufficiency through job training and marriage, prevents unwanted pregnancies and encourages the formation of two-parent families. Although previous administrations limited the use of TANF, the Lingle-Aiona administration seeks to use TANF for all of its intended purposes.

TANF's main benefit is its flexibility. States are encouraged to use TANF funds in innovative ways to accomplish the goals of the program. Initiatives to increase students' self-esteem by providing counseling services and career training are among the many possible uses for TANF funding. Without TANF funds, the state would be left to finance similar programs with state monies that are needed elsewhere.

Second, HB1060 would require the Department of Human Services to obtain legislative approval before seeking Medicaid waivers from the federal government. Under this bill, DHS would become dependent on the legislative timetable, which may not coincide with federal deadlines. If the Legislature is not in session, this bill could slow the application process, which would lead to payment problems for service providers and eventually a decline in service for needy individuals.

For example, the Centers on Medicaid and Medicare Services require a waiver for the continuation of the Hawai'i QUEST program. Although the waiver has already been submitted, the joint committee created by this bill could withdraw the waiver for deliberation, causing the state to miss the CMMS' June 2005 deadline. Missing this deadline would result in the dissolution of the QUEST program, which currently provides approximately 150,000 Hawai'i residents with medical aid through local healthcare providers such as HMSA and Kaiser Permanente. These 150,000 QUEST recipients would need to be shifted into a state-run Medicaid program that is currently staffed to serve only 40,000 recipients.

HB1060 is dangerous to people receiving aid from the state's QUEST, TANF and other aid programs. It delays aid from getting to those who need it by requiring aid providers to obtain legislative approval before applying for federal money. It also places the burden on Hawai'i's taxpayers to support the needy instead of using available federal funds.