In an hour I created a top 10 list of ways to help generate income for our state/city rather than the 10-minute "let's raise taxes" idea.

1. Establish a lottery system.

2. Establish a flat tax; anything over 40 hours is tax-free.

3. Revisit smoking ban — let businesses decide if they want to be smoking or nonsmoking; if smoking is chosen then a fee will be charged monthly.

4. Create an event coordinator — I will be willing to pay to go see a BMX bike competition or a skateboard championship rather than just paying more tax for no entertainment.

5. Lease median strips for possible advertisements.

6. Revisit the billboard ban to bring in more revenue through advertising.

7. State and city "park anywhere pass" legal parking only renewed monthly.

8. Political funds raised during elections goes into general fund after elections.

9. Rent out space on state/city buildings to cellular/broadband carriers; monies also go into the general fund.

10. Progressive fines for getting caught going through red lights and blocking intersections. First offense $500, fifth offense $5,000.

These of course are just more creative suggestions than just raising taxes and if you decide to use any of these ideas, I would like to be appointed head of the Hawai'i Visitors Bureau to bring more visitors to our Islands. New times require new ideas.

TAXES, SPENDING

UNTIL WE WAKE UP, MONEY WILL DISAPPEAR

It's amusing to see the public outrage now that their taxes are going up. This state has voted the same "tax and spend" Democrats into office for decades. What did you expect? A few years ago we had a surplus due to a real estate market that we all knew was temporary. Did we save that money? No, the Democrats in charge gave all that money to the unions in the form of long-term raises. This was payback for keeping them in power. Until people start to wake up and go to the polls to makes changes, enjoy watching your hard-earned money go out the window.

ABU GHRAIB

LAW MUST BE APPLIED TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE

With liberty and "justice for some?"

I find it truly amazing that as a country we have 2 million people behind bars. That is the largest percentage of people in jail of any country in the world. We were able to find a way to put Lynndie England and others of her class in prison, while the people largely responsible for what took place at Abu Ghraib slandered and scapegoated them.

If it was not obvious already, the recently released Office of Legal Council Memos and the report from the Senate Armed Services Committee make it abundantly clear that torture was a policy emanating from the highest levels of our executive branch.

Yes, that includes the P and VP, Rummy and friends, and definitely the lawyers writing the now infamous "legal" memos. Is there a different justice system for the politically connected? Can we really talk about this as if there is an option to ignore it? If we expect the citizens of this country to respect the law, we have to show that the law applies equally to everyone. This is fundamental stuff. We are a nation of laws, and what happens in this embarrassing episode will determine whether or not that is true.