• Bravo for ‘on-target’ letter • Not really amused • CEO’s legacy still unknown • Disheartened by Case votes Bravo for ‘on-target’ letter Bravo, Judie Hilke Lundborg! Your article (11/27) “Please bring our troops home” was right on target. No
• Bravo for ‘on-target’ letter
• Not really amused
• CEO’s legacy still unknown
• Disheartened by Case votes
Bravo for ‘on-target’ letter
Bravo, Judie Hilke Lundborg! Your article (11/27) “Please bring our troops home” was right on target. No matter where your political belief lies, left, center or right, it is obvious that we are in a lose-lose situation in Iraq and we must get our brave men and women out of there. They are being killed and wounded by people who have no value for life and there is no real defense for this type of warfare. We went into Iraq based on lies and most of the world including Russia, China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, France and many more knew that going there wouldn’t be about freedom but as Ms. Lundborg said, “about oil and power.”
The “coalition” forces that this administration talks about are minuscule beside our American troops and if one doubts this statement, then just look at our casualties and wounded beside those of the other nations. The house of cards built by Karl Rove and solidified by Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz et al are collapsing under these lies—WMDs, atomic weapons, the Al Qaida link to Saddam etc. And, no, the Clinton administration DID NOT start a war with Iraq and Saddam, they simply contained him and we didn’t lose a life by using this method. Saddam was NOT an eminent threat to the U.S. as valid information proved. In fact, the countries surrounding Iraq weren’t even concerned about his “threat” or they would have had an invasion of their own!!
So we throw out the above reasons for being in Iraq and become a nation builder—even W is on record saying that we would never nation build but so much for words. What right do we have to tell any sovereign nation that they need our form of democracy—we’ve got enough troubles making it work here in the greatest nation in the world.
America was always the shining light for the rest of the world to envy. We unilaterally went into Iraq and suddenly became one of the most hated nations in the world—from being a protectorate to an aggressor. Rumsfeld said that we had to go to war with the weapons and armor we had and not with what we wanted. Since when should we ever send our men and women into any war without protecting them to the best of our ability before even thinking about doing it??! To have mothers and dads sending protective armor to their loved ones is just another deplorable mistake by this administration.
No matter when we leave Iraq there will be huge problems with the many factions wanting power so let’s not say we are cutting and running, just saving needless deaths (OVER 2100!!) to our troops as well as to the thousands of Iraqis who will die. Whatever those Iraqis are going to do—tomorrow or 10 years from now—they will do. If freedom and democracy are what they want, then let their OWN people fight for it the way we did 227 years ago.
Not really amused
It is heartening that the County Council seems to be very concerned with budget over-runs, as exemplified by the huge ruckus being raised over a $300,000 over-run at the Police Department that has apparently escalated to the level of the newly formed McCarthy type investigation committee. This is good news to those who have long held the opinion that our little island empire had only culturally advanced to some-where in the mid 19th century. With the grand opening of the Asing Investigation Committee we have now advanced by a whole century to the mid 20th century!
While the Asing Investigation Committee is at it, how about looking into the over-runs in two of the better known Enterprise Funds in this County? An Enterprise Fund is one which by our county’s definition is one whose expenditure is entirely covered by the fees it collects from the users. The largest of the enterprise funds is Solid Waste, which in the about to be completed Fiscal Year 2004-2005 had a budgeted income (from fees collected from commercial haulers at $56 per ton) of $2.44 million but a total expenditure of $8.33 million. The over-run of $5.84 million (nineteen times the Police Dept over-run) is “transferred” from the General Fund. The Golf Fund collected fees and rents of $1.38 million, while the total expenditure is $1.77 million, the overrun being made up with another “transfer” of $0.39 million, about the same as the Police Dept. over-run.
In case you are interested, there is actually an Enterprise Fund that had a surplus! The Liquor Fund collected license fees of $0.44 million and spent $0.20 million, for a surplus of $0.24 that went into the Surplus Fund. It looks like one way to solve the perennial financial problems at Solid Waste is to have Liquor take over Solid Waste.
Please pardon the apparent levity; in such grim times a dash of humor might lesson the tension somewhat, even if it raises Kaipo’s hackles a bit. Not really amused…
CEO’s legacy still unknown
I agree with Ms. Lewis’ that the KIUC membership has a right to know the qualifications of its top executives.
It is misleading for representatives of KIUC to credit the leadership of CEO Achenbach with the rebates now being paid out. Success does not occur overnight. It is past efficiencies that have led to KIUC’s present success. KIUC is still reaping the benefits of Citizen’s “for profit” business plan and former CEO Miyamoto’s expert leadership and direction.
In one short year, CEO Achenbach has completely dismantled both the business plan and the leadership team that were in place during CEO Miyamoto’s tenancy. Don’t be fooled. It will be a number of years before we know the legacy CEO Achenbach will leave us with.
Disheartened by Case votes
I was heartened to read Mr. Triglia’s letter to The Garden Island referencing Representative Case and Case’s “emulation of President Bush as of late.” I see I am not the only dissatisfied with Representative Case’s voting record.
As it happens, I had an opportunity to speak with Representative Case on the radio Monday, 12/19/05 (AM 570). I, too, was disappointed with his vote to support the Patriot Act, and with his vote in support of the bankruptcy bill (which was pretty much written by the credit-card companies and/or banks). Social programs such as Medicaid, aide to children, Pell Grants, veterans benefits, etc., (are) all negatively impacted in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy, and to support an unjust war in Iraq. A person can hardly afford the co-payment for medical coverage if they are lucky enough to have medical coverage.
I asked Representative Case why he does not run as a Republican the next time, since he votes the Bush administration’s way a lot, that is to say, not in support of the poor or working class. He said he votes issues, not party line. The truth is he probably could not be elected as a Republican. Representative Case may have Patsy Mink’s seat, but he doesn’t have her heart or her conscience.
- Sherry Lynn French
Kapa’a
