• Kudos for Ka‘auwai • Speeding ticket • ‘Ice’ article • Sugar highway • It’s Time For a State Earned Income Tax Credit Kudos for Ka‘auwai Hats off to Officer Ka‘auwai for the ingenuous move at the Hanma‘ulu Bridge traffic
• Kudos for Ka‘auwai
• Speeding ticket
• ‘Ice’ article
• Sugar highway
• It’s Time For a State Earned Income Tax Credit
Kudos for Ka‘auwai
Hats off to Officer Ka‘auwai for the ingenuous move at the Hanma‘ulu Bridge traffic light. We need a second Officer Joe. Why discriminate…give us the same at the Wailua River cane bridge lane going through the Kuamo‘o light.
And was your article August 19 in The Garden Island accurate? You mean another lane over the Wailua River would be only a meager $10 million? Why that’s hardly more than two times the Olohena Bridge cost.
Planning ahead is cool…Officer Joe Ka‘auwai for Mayor!
Speeding ticket
I was given a speeding ticket last week on the Kilauea side of the Wailua Bridge heading into Lihu‘e. I am not contesting the ticket, but rather to discuss the procedure in which it was given.
It has nothing to do with the particular policeman who I dealt with; he was business like and nice enough, but rather the way he jumped into two lanes of traffic from the side of the road so that he would get my attention to pull me over.
I have talked to numerous people since that day who have also witnessed the same procedure and are also aghast at the potential danger to the policeman and the traffic he stops so abruptly!
My point is that as a 30-plus year tax-paying resident of Kaua‘i I feel that this procedure is going (not if but when) to lead to either the bad injury of the policeman or a multi-car accident, or both! When that happens I assure you that either the family or the policeman will sue the county or the car accident victims. Either we as tax-paying citizens will pay! There must be a better way to catch speeders!
‘Ice’ article
Excellent article by Andy Gross on KPD’s stepped up efforts in “Ice Busts” under Chief Lum’s administration (The Garden Island August 16). The results have certainly reaffirmed my decision in selecting K. C. Lum to the position of Chief of Police.
Instead of supporting and encouraging the Chief and the Kaua‘i Police Department, our elected officials constantly undermine and interfere with the Departments efforts to improve law enforcement on Kaua‘i. Anyone reading the article can see the lack-luster response of the mayor to this great achievement.
It is time we give credit where credit is due. The credit goes to the entire department, who has worked hard in achieving these new goals and to Chief Lum for making “ICE” a primary target.
I wonder what our elected officials will conjure up next?
It’s time for Kaua‘i to support the Kauai Police Department in its efforts against ICE.
- Stanton Pa
Former Police Commissioner
Kapa‘a
Sugar highway
We can now grow our own environmentally friendly, sugarcane-based bio-roads!
Ecopave Australia has recently announced a synthetic asphalt product that is made from molasses, a waste material derived in the process of refining sugar cane.
This sticky pavement is highly resistant to damage caused by salt, solvents, plant growth, ice and wear.
This is a positive contribution to the safety of motorists, the health of asphalt workers, and support the existence our fresh water and air supplies.
These sweet roads can be laid at a cooler temperatures than their petroleum-based roads, they absorb about half as much heat, they are non-toxic, they do not require hot storage, they are non-slip and can be made in just about any color we want! Purple or Green?
The arrival of this product is especially timely because the world is heavily engaged in the push towards non-petroleum based products and environmentally sustainable production.
We are very fortunate here on Kaua‘i as we have such vast experience and exposure to sugar manufacturing and refinement, demand for new roadways and a real commitment to the planet and our species!
What an opportunity!
- John-Paul Gutweniger
Kapa‘a
It’s Time For a State Earned Income Tax Credit
Tax relief for Hawai‘i’s most over-burdened families is long overdue. Now that the State is looking at a large state budget surplus, we must take action in this upcoming session.
Governor Lingle wants “attention on relief for those who need it most.” To this end, she is proposing an increase in the standard deduction and new tax credits on food and medicine. These aren’t bad ideas, but there’s a better, more cost-effective solution.
A state earned income tax credit is a proven policy that smartly focuses tax relief on those families with children who earn less than a living wage.
“Red states” such as Kansas and Oklahoma, and “blue states” like Massachusetts and New York have passed refundable state EITCs for the simple fact that they make a bigger difference in people’s lives.
For example, under the Governor’s $22 million plan to increase the standard deduction, a single parent with two children making $20,000 per year would see a measly $2 more in every paycheck. A refundable state EITC would provide that same family with a tax refund of over $600 which could be used to pay off high interest debt, create a savings account, get childcare to go to job interviews, invest in starting a small business, or pay for vocational training.
The Governor has opposed a state EITC before taking a good look at its merits. Her tax relief plan is scripted by the Tax Foundation of Hawai‘i, which calls the EITC, “backdoor welfare” despite the fact that President Reagan called the federal EITC “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, and the best job-creation measure to come out of Congress.” As the conservative Wall Street Journal correctly observed, “There exists a serious program in the form of the earned income tax credit that actually helps the working poor in a way that promotes work and discourages welfare. The EITC was originally a Republican idea—started by the Ford administration in 1975 and expanded by the Reagan administration during the glorious 1980s and the Bush administration in 1990.”
Rather than take her cues from the single entity that opposes a state EITC, I urge her to listen to the community. Last session, Good Beginnings Alliance, Aloha United Way, Alu Like, homeownership advocates, rural economic development organizations, volunteer tax preparers, policy researchers, and many others provided convincing evidence for a state EITC.
