DEMOCRATS DRAWING OUT POLITICAL DRAMA

The House Democrats really stooped to conquer this time around, didn't they? I don't think anyone disagrees that Rep. Wilson's outburst was inappropriate, but he apologized to President Obama and the apology was accepted. Case closed, one would have thought.

Yet it seems the opportunity to play politics was too much to resist. So instead of Rep. Wilson's outburst probably ending up just a footnote in history and his political fate being left up to the voters of South Carolina, the partisan bickering will go on and on with each side demonizing the other and Rep. Wilson may end up a Republican hero/martyr.

Maybe President Obama could invite all the House members over for a beer.

Alika Campbell | Kailua

EDUCATION

NO BOOSTERS, NO ONE TO BLAME BUT SELVES

How much do we really value education? Not much, as far as I can see. If we did, we would do everything possible to improve it. We have to think of it as a life-or-death situation. Education, schools, teachers and students are special.

If food went up in price, would we stop eating for 21 days a year? No, we would try to get more money to buy it. Raise taxes, have a one-time lottery, ask for donations, ask those out of work to donate their skills to help repair the schools, etc. When we have band boosters, and athletic boosters, but no academic boosters, the system is truly broken.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. We are our own worst enemy.

Erron Yoshioka | Honolulu

PROPERTY TAX

WHY SADDLE SMALL BUSINESSES FURTHER?

L. Tomar's letter (Sept. 13) advocating that a business property tax rate be charged to residents and businesses alike and then let 90 to 95 percent of them apply for an exemption is pure naivete, at its finest. Who is to pay for that bureaucratic mess?

The advocate argues that these home small businesses get tax advantages so it's OK to charge them more. IRS has come down so hard on those types of deductions that in many cases it is not worth the time to track and calculate the expenses. Plus, for most small businesses that start at someone's home, except maybe for "tech" business, most of their time is spent out of the "office" establishing one-on-one contacts.

Small business continues to be the economic driver for the state, and why the proponent of this idea would want to further saddle them with increased costs is mystifying. Costs and getting back a fair return for those efforts are some of the biggest stumbling blocks beginning small businesses have to deal with.

Let's don't even consider more to hamper this job-producing, tax revenue-generating, economic activity.

Tim Lyons, CAE | President, Hawai'i Business League

RAIL TRANSIT

HONOLULU VIEWS ALREADY BLIGHTED

Check out the Honolulu skyline from a mile or so inland and then ask if the elevated rail will really harm an already blighted view. Especially when weighed against the traffic congestion created by a street-level system through town.

Paul K. Funkhouser | Wahiawa

TURTLE BAY

NEW SUPPLEMENTAL EIS MUST BE DONE

In regard to whether a 24-year-old environmental review should clear the way for a planned resort expansion at Turtle Bay:

Could an environmental assessment conducted in 1985 possibly be relevant today? Even if we believe that the natural, social and economic aspects of the North Shore of O'ahu have miraculously remained unchanged since the assessment was conducted 24 years ago, certainly the technology, tools and expertise used to gather and analyze the information required for an environmental assessment have changed.

To ensure that decision-makers have the best information available today, we must require a supplemental environmental impact state-ment be done with today's technology, using today's tools, and today's knowledge. Science and technology have progressed far too much in the past 24 years to disregard their advances and accept the antiquated impact statement written at a time when the Internet was in its infancy and fax machines were cutting-edge technology.

There must be a new supplemental environmental impact statement done to allow truly informed decisions to be made about one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Todd D. Sells | Hale'iwa

COURT SHOULD SEND RICH FOLKS PACKING

I don't understand why the "powers that be" feel the need to do Turtle Bay the favor of not requiring a supplemental EIS. If Turtle Bay can afford to build its monstrosity, it can certainly afford to do an EIS. What is it afraid of? Might it actually find that its plans are no longer acceptable? I certainly feel they are not acceptable, in many, many ways — traffic, burial sites, turtles and monk seals, loss of green space.

The rich folks already have enough of our island — we don't need to allow the building of more "resort living" spaces for them — let 'em buy out some other rich folks' place. The state Supreme Court should take up the case — and send 'em packing back to the Mainland.

Brian Emmons | Honolulu