Posted on: Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Advertiser Staff

Wakai's projects just aim to grab spotlight

Rep. Glenn Wakai is up to his usual publicity tricks again. His latest stunt with his "rent a cop" for Moanalua Valley is an example of how he grabs the spotlight and credit, then dumps the responsibility into the laps of others.

He gets lots of publicity for his "projects." But once the spotlight fades, Wakai disappears.

He abandoned his chicken traps. He ignored the appeals for assistance concerning mudslides. He disregarded attempts to deal with falling rocks. Speeding last got his attention two years ago.

Any attempt to reduce crime and speeding is greatly appreciated. However, these efforts should be well thought out. Wakai's stunt was clearly a scheme to grab publicity. He was advised by the police and community association that a single, two-hour police patrol would not be cost-effective and not be a sufficient deterrent to crime. Furthermore, he is quick to dump the financial responsibilities on the community associations, especially since he is not a member.

Public pressure to halt the establishment of a University Affiliated Research Center has been increasingly mounting since the proposal was made public late last year. It is unacceptable to many students, faculty and the community in general for UH to continue advocating for classified military research on any scale.

UH Chancellor Peter Englert has stated that the central question regarding the establishment of the research center is whether the opposition is a majority or not (Honolulu Weekly, Feb. 23-March 1).

Well, the UH Faculty Senate, the state House, and student and faculty petitions have all endorsed measures against the nature of a UARC. At two public forums organized by Englert recently, almost all in attendance opposed the proposal for a variety of reasons.

The chancellor also has said he is a strong advocate of the Hawaiian cause. Yet, when a Hawaiian student repeatedly asked him what a Native Hawaiian place of learning meant to him, the chancellor refused to answer, and then said he could not answer that question.

The large majority of the community opposes secret classified research at UH. I would like to urge Chancellor Englert and Interim President David McClain to halt the proposal now.

Voters should hold Kanno accountable

In approaching and then threatening the cruise line, Sen. Brian Kanno abused his senatorial powers. The Ethics Commission should review his behavior.

Sen. Kanno also admitted to his constituents several years ago he "messed up" when he failed to support the ouster of the Bishop Estate trustees. This is a senator who "messed up" again and used poor judgment in his decision to wield political power.

The voters in his district must take him to task and hold him accountable for such poor decision-making, abuse of political power and disregard for the people who voted him into office.

It's nice to see things getting done again

As a taxpayer and voter, I find it so refreshing to see things finally getting done: potholes, relicensing, frivolous and expensive projects canceled.

Now, I don't mind paying taxes for "needed" projects to get done after the previous city administration raided the sewer fund.

Although Lee Cataluna's columns said to stop "bashing" the previous mayor, I feel this is a natural venting process after eight years of neglect of much-needed services.

I feel the days of getting things done a la Mayor Frank Fasi is back — alive and well.

I look forward to the future with the cooperation of the city, state and federal governments working together.

All involved in Kuhio tree project to blame

The Kuhio Avenue trees should go?

Maybe it is those in the city offices who approved this beautification project who should go. While former Mayor Harris was ultimately responsible, he didn't do this project by himself. It is difficult to believe those given our public trust would proceed doing such a project without a feasibility study.

Makes one wonder who benefited financially for the installation and now who will benefit from the removal.

Shame on all of you involved in this situation.

Senate should reject Bolton's nomination

The Bush administration's choice of John Bolton for United Nations ambassador is disgraceful. Mr. Bolton has made a career out of belittling the United Nations, once suggesting that if the U.N. building lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make any difference.

Mr. Bolton led the campaign against the ratification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and for U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, which will allow the weaponization of space. He has opposed conventions seeking to limit land mines, children soldiers and small arms and is a strong opponent of U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court.

More than 60 U.S. ambassadors, Republican and Democrat, have come together to oppose his nomination because of his contempt for international law and his disdain for cooperation. I urge our Hawai'i senators and the U.S. Senate to reject this controversial nomination.

It would be better to enhance bus system

Rail transit won't work.

Mike Rethman's March 25 letter said it all in a nutshell. I agree with his views 100 percent.

It is high time our legislators do some in-depth research about existing rail systems on the Mainland before our precious tax dollars are spent on something that will wind up a millstone around our necks.

How will riders get to and from the train stations? Are they supposed to be dropped off or catch a bus to and fro? Or will huge parking garages be built at the stations and at what cost to the person parking there?

What about those who don't work downtown, but have to get to UH or Waikiki?

What about all the commuters who have to drop their kids off at school before heading for the office?

What about all those who have to run errands before work, during lunch hour and after work?

How many of these folks can be reasonably expected to catch a train instead of driving their car?

Our tax dollars would be better spent adding a few hundred more buses, increasing the frequency and routes these buses take, hence making them more convenient and attractive to commuters. Nobody wants to walk two miles or more to get to a bus stop and then have to wait 45 minutes or more for the next bus.

Please put safety first; our children are precious

Addressing the relocation of bus stops and adding others for the safety of our children, the state and city may have acted quickly with regard to traffic safety at Makakilo Drive. Unfortunately, it was not soon enough for 15-year-old Nathan (Curry) Ackerman.

My niece, Marilene Bacani, a 16-year-old girl, lost her life after an accident at the Fort Weaver crosswalk in front of the Child & Family Service center. Right after the accident, the state and city took action: They improved traffic signs, reduced the speed limit and, a year later, installed pedestrian-activated traffic lights to make the crosswalk safer. Good job for the state and city, but none of these actions brought Marilene back to life.

Before Marilene's accident, some 'Ewa residents were against the traffic lights at the CFS crosswalk because they would increase traffic time for them. Their main concerns were promptness and convenience, not safety. They want to be where they're going sooner, and they don't want to be stuck in traffic any longer than they should.

Some Makakilo residents had the same mentality; they were against some traffic-calming proposals because they would increase traffic time for them, and the least they thought about was the safety of our pedestrians, most of them children who just need to get to their schools.

I hope that lessons are learned from the deaths of Nathan Ackerman and Marilene Bacani. I hope that whatever is discussed, agreed upon and decided at the next meeting about the Makakilo Drive traffic issues, that everyone will think safety first for our children, for when life is lost, there is nothing anyone can do to bring it back.

And today, I ask (again) for the Housing & Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i to please install our long-overdue crosswalks and traffic lights at Kapolei Parkway fronting Kapolei High School, and the corner of Kapolei Middle School, before any of our students get hurt or killed.

Social Security good for decades

In his April 10 letter, Rep. Galen Fox, in claiming to set the record straight, misrepresents the facts himself about the Social Security trust fund — not once, but twice.

First, he implies the revenue from Social Security payroll taxes paid into the trust fund doesn't exist. It does. He then predicts that dire consequences will occur in 2017. They won't.

In fact, the money paid into the trust fund is on the books in two forms: Social Security funds and Treasury notes. The Social Security trust fund is now running a hefty surplus. The payroll tax currently brings in more dollars than it pays in benefits. By law, Social Security invests that surplus in Treasury securities, which it deposits into a reserve known as a trust fund, which now holds more than $1.5 trillion.

The U.S. government has never defaulted on payment of these securities — or IOUs, as the president likes to call them. However, by 2017, as large numbers of baby boomers retire, the system will edge into a deficit, paying out slightly more than it takes in. Rep. Fox states that at this date there will be nothing left to pay Social Security benefits.

Mr. Fox claims it will then be necessary to (1) go into more debt, (2) cut programs or (3) raise taxes. He is mistaken. In 2017, in order to pay benefits, the government will begin redeeming the $1.5 trillion in Treasury notes it holds to make up the difference between the amount coming in and the benefits being paid. The Treasury notes in the fund will continue to pay full benefits until 2041, according to the Social Security trustees, at which time the system still won't "go broke." Instead, it will only be able to pay around 80 percent of the promised benefits, if nothing is done in the next 36 years.

What Rep. Fox doesn't say is that he bases his erroneous prediction on a "best guess" scenario by the Social Security trustees. The Social Security Administration's actuaries, in fact, produce three scenarios, or cases, each year when reviewing the system: a worst-case scenario, an optimistic case and an intermediate case. The intermediate case is the trustees' best guess, and the one that Mr. Fox and most news reports cite.

Of course, given important unknown factors, like the rate of increases in wages and immigration, no one can predict exactly how the trust fund will fare. But in 2003, the David Langer Co., an independent actuarial firm, made a study of Social Security's previous projections, comparing the three scenarios with the actual results and found the "optimistic" case to be the most accurate. Over a recent 10-year span, the trustees' intermediate "best guesses" turned out to be overly pessimistic. The optimistic guesses, however, were dead-on, while the pessimistic case — sort of a doomsday situation — was miles off the mark.

If Social Security continues to follow this identified trend, then there will be no need for tax increases or benefit cuts until 2080, at the earliest. The president's and Rep. Fox's claims that the sky is falling just don't stand up to the facts.