Upsides, downsides to a ferry system

There is no doubt that the Superferry can bring a lot of benefits in terms of mobility of our population and ease of shipping palletized cargo truck to truck, eliminating containers and wasted time. But Moorea, across from Tahiti, dramatically demonstrates the social impact of this increased mobility and the need to anticipate some of the downsides.

One misconception is that there will be one ferry a day. Competition now has multiple companies running a continuous schedule back and forth with fares that have become very reasonable over time and have forced airfares down to little over the fast-ferry fares. Moorea has become a bedroom community with a morning rush hour to the ferry.

A tourist visiting Tahiti first, before Hawai'i, must conclude, having traveled in super-fast, super-smooth ferries there, that we in Hawai'i are woefully behind the times.

There is also a general misconception that Hawai'i's channels are rough. People who say this have no idea what they are talking about; compared to the North or Tasman seas where similar ferries are in regular service, we live in a millpond. Also it is possible to avoid the worst seas on bad days by heading cross wind and rounding up to leeward or traveling in the "shadow" of islands.

Five hours south of Hawai'i on Hawaiian Air, all this is laid out for us to see in every small detail. I would suggest that our political leaders and interested parties form a tour group so that they are aware of the issues, the upsides and downsides. While there, they can gape in wonder at Tahiti's new four-berth cruise ship facility, harborside underpass and below-sea-level parking structure.

Retirement at hand

It is time to send our senior senator of Hawai'i a letter of thanks for his service, give him a gold watch and retire him. Perhaps he might find some comfort in an igloo. In any event, it is time.

Senate labor panel needs new leadership

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why meaningful worker's comp reform or any business-friendly legislation will never occur as long as Brian Kanno remains Senate labor chairman.

His vindictive and punitive actions toward Norwegian Cruise Line in the defense of a convicted child molester is disgusting and shameful. No wonder Hawai'i has such a bad reputation with regard to fairness and balance toward business.

The leadership of this important committee must change in order to move forward and put this sordid affair behind us.

Driver's license hassle can be eased

Issuing and renewing driver's licenses are problems that need immediate action before they get worse. Suggestions:

• Allow the military to handle all military personnel and military retirees at Schofield Barracks.

• Another location should be at the Wahiawa Golf Course, where the Army has an office that issues post stickers. This would be perfect for Mililani, Gentry and surrounding areas.

• Renew licenses by mail for those with no traffic violations. The proper form would be included in a letter, payment to be mailed and the new license mailed back. If a photo is required, individuals would include it and postage for return mail. Initial license issue would be in person and include a road test.

This system works very well in Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Let's do it.

Good lesson for kids

The newly implemented recycling program for the state of Hawai'i has given our family three things. First, some pocket change for the redemption of bottles and cans. Second, less trash in our garbage and in our landfills. Third, and best of all, a lesson for my daughter to "learn the art of recycling."

Legislature must OK repeal of gas-cap law

I hope everyone read Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki's gas cap letter of April 7. He is a respected expert in the field and has nothing to gain either way. His comments were a great summary of what gasoline pricing and laws like the gas cap are all about.

It is pretty obvious that our Democratic legislators now realize the gas-cap law is not going to work and are looking for a way out before it goes disastrously into effect in a few months.

My understanding is that a bill to give the governor the power to not implement it unanimously passed three committees (House and Senate), and is now up to only Sen. Ron Menor's committee (which originated the law). I hope this final committee will take the prior passage of this bill as an indication of what the experts and common sense have been telling us for the past two years and pass it through. To kill it would reflect terribly on Hawai'i's legislative process.

I just returned from a road trip, from the Bakersfield area to Reno, and can report that not one gas station I saw had a gasoline price lower than Honolulu prices. In fact, one station was posting $3.10 for regular. We should be thankful that Hawai'i is not linked to Mainland prices. If the gas-cap law does go into effect, we will have higher gas prices, price spikes, gas station closings and other negative effects, as forecast by industry experts, consultants to the Legislature, DBEDT, the federal government and suppliers.

As Dr. Fesharaki points out, just because something seems simple and feels good does not mean it will work.

Hike in standard deduction would benefit many more

While proposals to provide a Hawai'i earned income tax credit are being considered by the Legislature, the Lingle-Aiona administration's proposals to increase the standard deduction are much better ways to help Hawai'i's most needy and all of Hawai'i's struggling families.

The Legislature is considering enacting a Hawai'i earned income tax credit pegged at 20 percent of the federal income tax credit. The EITC is not user-friendly. There is a high level of errors based on the Internal Revenue Service's experience. The complications require taxpayers to pay tax professionals to claim the EITC and would require additional resources by the Hawai'i Department of Taxation to administer and enforce the EITC.

While the purpose of the EITC is certainly noble in its intent to help certain limited categories of low-income workers, almost 72,000 tax filers, there is a broad range of taxpayers who will not benefit from the EITC.

The Lingle-Aiona administration's proposals, on the other hand, would provide greater relief to those at the lower end of the income scale. It would reduce the tax burden on an estimated 334,000 tax filers.

If the Hawai'i EITC is enacted and applied to 2004, a married couple with no children would not qualify for the proposed Hawai'i EITC if the couple had $12,500 in earned income (e.g., wages, self-employed income, etc.). In contrast, this same married couple would benefit from the Lingle-Aiona administration's proposed standard deduction increase. Additionally, those who are elderly, sick and disabled would receive no benefit from an earned income tax credit, but would definitely see tax relief if the standard deduction is adjusted.

The Lingle-Aiona administration is seeking to help Hawai'i's most needy. We hope the Legislature will agree that our first priority should be to cut taxes for the vast majority of Hawai'i's families who deserve tax relief, not just certain limited categories of workers.

Fears define Akaka bill critics

The April 4 Island Voices commentary by Thurston Twigg-Smith, William Burgess, et al., paints a very bleak picture of consequences flowing from the Akaka bill. Indeed, it paints Akaka supporters as rapacious and vengeful Hawaiians completely bent on economic disruption, seeking control of fiberoptic cables, regulation of bicycles, pedestrians, cell phones, traffic cameras and the like.

They preach that the very minutiae of our island life verges on ruin.

It seems that these "Island Voices" define themselves not by their principles but by their fears and by their hopes to infect others with these fears. We should examine the sinister fire hidden behind this oily smoke of fears. These "voices" are three plaintiffs in Arakaki v. Lingle, a pending suit before the Ninth Circuit that seeks to dismantle OHA and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. They are part of a coordinated effort that also seeks to dismantle the Kamehameha Schools and the Li-li'uokalani Trust.

The logic and purpose are clear. These Hawaiian institutions represent either money and/or land; OHA has a large treasury, Hawaiian Homes has large land holdings, and Kamehameha has both.

At its core, the Arakaki suit represents those who are affronted by their exclusion from these Hawaiian benefits, and who pound the courtroom rail and shout "racism" to gain a seat at this financial table and partake of this financial meal.

The Akaka bill would codify the basic underpinnings of the 1993 Apology Resolution, which belatedly recognized the long-standing political structure of the Hawaiian kingdom that peacefully existed prior to the American Revolution. It would recognize the political and social stability of the Hawaiian kingdom during the 19th century when America was dispossessing the American Indians and Mexico of their lands, and later engaging in a bloody fratricidal Civil War. American history is rife with racist treatment of nonwhites, including the African and Amerind experiences, slaughter of Filipino nationalists during the Spanish-American war, and extending through the internment of Japanese issei and nisei during World War II.

Hawaiians have not been exempt from this systematic diminishment, being threatened by the display of American force-of-arms in 1893, and also through imported disease, together with economic and cultural rape. How many remember the injustice of the Massie case?

The Arakaki suit seeks to perpetuate racism; the Akaka bill would preserve those works-in-progress leading to restoration of equality.

The aloha spirit, however widely touted and exploited, is not a Western invention. It is the outward expression of a cultural largess, flowing from a hardy group of Polynesians populating this remote archipelago for two millennia. We would do well to practice, honor and preserve this largess. The Akaka bill works to preserve.