Letters for Friday — October 15, 2004

• Kusaka ad

• Hooser article

Kusaka ad

Is anyone else out there old enough to remember the TV series, “Dragnet?” If so, then you can remember Jack Webb saying over and over again to hysterical witnesses: “Just the facts, ma’am.” Well, where is Jack Webb when you need him?

The political ad from Maryanne Kusaka run in Wednesday’s Garden Island was so full of innuendoes and distortions that it made me yearn for good old Jack.

Example: “Would you re-elect a Senator who raids special funds to balance the budget?” If this is about Senator Hooser’s voting to use the excess funds in the state highway fund to balance the budget (and I have to guess what it’s about, because Maryanne carefully doesn’t say) then the fact is by law only funds in excess of 135% of what is budgeted for the Department of Transportation can be spent for any other purpose. The fact is every dime the Department of Transportation has requested has been give to them. The fact is, rather than letting the excess funds sit there idle, Senator Hooser favored using them to balance the budget. Those are the facts.

But I guess maybe Maryanne isn’t comfortable with the facts.

She probably didn’t like “Dragnet” either.

Even Jack Webb stuck to the facts and the United States Constitution.

James J. Gotelli

Kapa‘a

Hooser article

This letter is with regard to Tuesday’s article on State Sen. Gary Hooser’s failure to file taxes and submit withholding taxes. It took 11 years before the State was able to collect. Had we known there was a problem, as you claim – my question is, “Would the people of Kaua‘i have elected you as a councilman? I don’t think so! Your claim that this is old news is false, and that doesn’t make it right either. Many people have problems with taxes, but failing to file for five years is, in my opinion, just plain intentional. How can you expect the people of Kaua‘i to trust you? It makes me wonder – is there anymore we should know?

Dennis Barretto

Kapahi