No Child Left Behind is part of the solution

A May 24 commentary in The Advertiser regarding the No Child Left Behind Act contains some points that themselves need to be "revamped" — or at least rebutted ("Failing No Child act must be revamped").

Point 1: The law is working — the vast majority of states are hard at work closing the achievement gap for poor children, children learning English and children with special needs.

Point 2: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has pledged to take a common-sense approach to the implementation of No Child Left Behind, allowing flexibility where possible for states that show academic progress and abide by the law.

Point 3: The U.S. Department of Education's FY 2006 budget provides $56 billion in federal education funding — an increase of 33 percent since the president took office. Hawai'i's share is 51.4 percent greater. Despite all the competing priorities for our tax dollars — including strengthening our economy and defending our nation — the president's strong commitment to education continues.

What truly needed to be revamped was a broken education system that shuffled children from grade to grade, even when they were not learning the basics. Today, millions of teachers and students in classrooms across America are getting it done. Put aside the misconceptions and misinformation, and you'll see that No Child Left Behind is part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Legislators ran out of steam on muffler law

I sympathize with the plight of an April 27 letter writer concerning the coqui frogs, but the priorities of our state should be to first eradicate those obnoxious mufflers that plague our Islands. It's become increasingly common to be skeptical of our lawmakers' ability to take on new challenges facing our Islands, when at times they seem incapable of accomplishing the basics.

I'm referring to House Bill 291-24.5, which was written to address the alteration of a vehicle's exhaust system so that it is noticeably louder than those delivered from the factory. Unfortunately, the way the law was written, it left interpretation somewhat subjective, and therefore unenforceable.

According to the motor vehicle reconstruction division, there is nothing it can do to prevent anyone from removing and installing the loudest contraption imaginable. It was suggested that our legislators work with our state reconstruction division to devise a comprehensive decibel-metering plan to curb this issue, which has spiraled out of control.

Unfortunately, this is not an issue that our state or county considers necessary.

Besides the reasons cited when this law was originally enacted, our roads and communities would greatly benefit from a less antagonistic atmosphere created by these mufflers. In addition, considering that our community has been looking for ways to combat street racing, this is a start.

I hope our legislators can finish what they started and rewrite this muffler law to make it effective. If nothing else, they should do what they do best and tax the heck out of them.

Rats can do major damage inside house

I'm writing in response to "Drats! Here come the mice, rats" that was posted on May 4. People should be preparing to prevent rodents from going inside their houses.

I have experienced wiring problems in my home caused by rats. The wiring to my computer had been chewed up, and I wasn't able to use the Internet.

My parents have been putting mouse traps in the house and it is working, but all of the rodents have not yet been cleared away. Other people should also be checking for mouse problems because mice spread diseases. Mice are a major problem because they go through the foods we eat, which could transfer disease to us humans. I had to throw away an untouched bag of Doritos that was chewed by rodents because I don't want to take chances.

We should all be aware that rodents are small creatures, but they are deadly.

I'll take the pledge on campaign gifts

Regarding your May 26 editorial "Campaign probes will be well worth money": I couldn't agree more.

Your final statement is, "All it will take is for our elected officials to take a pledge not to solicit or accept any campaign contributions from those who do government work.

"Who will go first?"

I will go first.

I'll sign the pledge, since in nine years in the Senate, and three elections, I have never solicited or accepted any campaign contributions from those on government contract.

When I run for re-election next year, I will continue to honor that pledge, as well as to not hold fundraisers during a legislative session, and will keep my promise on the Taxpayer's Pledge not to vote for, or support, any measure to increase the tax burden on our citizens in Hawai'i.

Seat-belt law is just government thuggery

I own a truck that requires me to wear a seat belt to start the engine. Seat belts are good things to use, but I do not believe government should be telling people what to do in their cars.

The last time I checked, Americans are supposed to be blessed with choices (good and bad). Freedom means having choices. Yet, so many Americans have become accustomed to having government run their lives and steal away more freedoms.

The seat-belt law is no more than government thuggery. State and federal lawmakers are taxing (stealing) from good people who are not injuring others.

We need the police officers to spend more time chasing speeders and red-light runners, not tagging soccer moms without seat belts.

I also wish the Department of Transportation would stop squandering tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on their brainwashing seat-belt campaign ads and get with repairing our roads. Start doing some real government work.

Try cigarette deposit

The May 21 article on trash found at the beach during a cleanup ("Cleanup found 22% more debris") makes me wonder why we don't have a 10-cent deposit on cigarette butts so they won't get tossed out of car windows, thrown on the ground or in the sand at our beaches. I bet this would either reduce the number of cigarette butts thrown wherever the smoker may be or increase our tax revenues.