REPUBLICAN WIN WAS DAN INOUYE'S FAULT

Robert Cence had me thinking the man must be deaf, dumb and blind (Letters, May 26).

He's pointing the finger at the wrong culprit when everybody else knows Dan Inouye is to blame for this fiasco.

Cence's letter indicated that Neil Abercrombie was desperately needed in Washington. But I didn't notice Washington blowing up just because Abercrombie decided to come home at the behest of thousands of Hawai'i's people who want him to become our next governor. Don't we have the right to ask Neil to run for governor?

Naturally, being akamai, Neil resigned his congressional seat because he's not an idiot to run a campaign long-distance, despite what Mufi Hannemann and James "Duke" Aiona expected.

Besides, everybody knows Mufi is using his mayor's office to campaign and will resign two years ahead of schedule anyway. Yet he has the audacity to criticize Neil for resigning his congressional office months ahead of schedule. What hypo-crisy.

ABERCROMBIE

STATE DOESN'T NEEDHIS 'PUBLIC SERVICE'

I thought a public servant was a person who puts the needs of the public ahead of his own personal agenda. Neil Abercrombie has lost the trust of the public. Hawai'i knows the importance of seniority and faithfully elected Abercrombie 10 times to build up seniority so little Hawai'i could have a big voice in the House of Representatives.

By resigning his seat and the precious seniority with it, missing countless important votes to campaign and forcing the taxpayers to spend a million dollars for the election, he has shown he doesn't care about Hawai'i and only cares about feeding his own ego.

Hawai'i doesn't need "public servants" like Abercrombie running for office.

HEALTH CARE

COSTS WILL INCREASE UNDER OBAMACARE

Does Rep. Jim McDermott think we're idiots ("Health care bill dramatically cuts costs," May 23)?

Why is it that the government is collecting money for three to four years for health care before the health care coverage goes into effect?

Also, how can you add 10-20 million more people to the pie and not expect costs to go up unless you get lesser quality of health care?

Wake up, folks — look what's happening to Canada and Great Britain. A simple MRI examination will take months, not weeks. Why are people from Canada and Great Britain coming here for medical care? Because they'll die before getting medical care in their homeland.

WHO'S THE MORON?

LETTER PAINTS VOTERS WITH BROAD BRUSH

I refer to Rico Leffanta's letter ("Victory photo was perfect image," May 26), wherein he paints all voters as morons if they did not vote as he did.

I wonder how many Democrats would be included in that ridiculous description. Voting is everyone's responsibility and we all know there are too many who do not accept this responsibility.

But to call those of us who do accept this responsibility "morons" is disingenuous. So who is the moron here?

BOE SELECTION

PROPOSED PROCESS BYPASSES DEMOCRACY

The Legislature passed legislation that purportedly allows the governor to appoint the members of the Board of Education. The current system is not working, so a change had to be made. But the change must fit within our system of government.

The legislation, House Bill 2377, requires the governor to appoint people to the BOE from lists developed by a newly created advisory committee. This new committee will have seven members, one each appointed by the governor, the speaker of the House, and the Senate president, and four appointed by the Hawaii P-20 Council.

The Hawaii P-20 Council is not established by statute, not elected by the people, and not appointed by any elected official. Few people have even heard of it, let alone know who its members are, or what it does. Regardless, this group would select the majority of the new advisory committee.

The governor usually has broad discretion in appointing individuals to various posts in the executive branch. But this legislation gives a little-known group control — or at least great influence — over who is appointed to the BOE.

Gov. Lingle should veto this legislation not only because it will severely limit the discretion of future governors, but also because it is not democratic.

DO WHAT'S RIGHT

BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES SHOULD BE BIPARTISAN

John James (Letters, May 28) scolded Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa for splitting the Democratic vote and went on to recommend that Djou should temper his partisanship.

That statement should have been directed to the Democrats as well. Our Democratic president along with all of the Dems in Washington — including our Hawai'i delegation — have done nothing but practice partisan politics since taking control.

They forced a faulty health care bill upon us while totally disregarding the fact that the majority of the citizens of this country were against it. Our president, with the backing of our Democratic representatives, has tried to turn Arizona's attempt to enforce the federal laws against illegal immigration into a race issue — once again, against the wishes of the majority of this country's citizens.

Rep. Djou is the perfect example of what this country and our state badly needs: a politician that believes in fiscal responsibility, as well as the constitution and laws of this country.

I must admit, I voted for President Obama, but I've since apologized to my grandchildren for that mistake and am now focused on correcting it at every opportunity.

HUMBLE SERVANT

AIONA DOESN'T SEEK POWER, AUTHORITY

Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona is my friend, an honorable man and a humble public servant.

He is not a professional politician who seeks power and authority, but rather a man who seeks what is good for the people of Hawai'i.

He is answering a call beyond that of personal gain. He is a man of God. Our state and our country are upside down. We need Duke Aiona to continue on the good and hard work that he and Gov. Lingle have started.

We look forward to victory in November as we vote Duke into the governor's office without the assistance of special interests and corrupt unions. I am a member of HGEA and I wholeheartedly support Duke Aiona, who will continue to serve us well.

Disparaging and dishonest words by your paper will not stifle the spirit and voice of the people of Hawai'i who seek a government by and for the people.