Letters for Saturday, March 14, 2009

• About socialism

• Take take, no give

• No new taxes!

• Make farming attractive

• Drugs are a universal problem

• Keep them coming

About socialism

There are those who claim that President Obama is a socialist with a socialist agenda, not to name names, party, or religious association.

But when taxes are taken from my paycheck twice a month, by state and federal government, used to fund many things — for example, social security and welfare — isn’t that socialism already? Redistribution of wealth, is it not? My money is given to others, since I do not collect social security and I’m not on welfare.

Then again, socialist countries dictate what its citizens can and cannot do. Our government does tell its people what they can or cannot do with their bodies (a woman’s right to choose), or who they can be married to (civil unions/gay marriage), or what they can or cannot do with their own vehicles (put lift kits on trucks or use them on beaches), right?

It also tells us what religion we should or shouldn’t practice or believe, (“this is a Christian nation”, “it is God’s will that we free Iraq”). At least we can say what we want (freedom of the press/speech), within reason or by law, and not fear about being thrown in jail. They don’t have that freedom in socialist or communist countries, and don’t have a lot of freedoms in those places.

To finish this letter I’ll say that I voted for President Barack Obama. Is he perfect? No. Do I agree with every decision he’s made so far into his first 100 days? No. Will he be the “savior” of this country? It’s too soon to call. Give him a chance to fail or succeed, At the very least, don’t hinder him from doing his job.

I didn’t care for former President George W. Bush. I was critical of him and many of his actions and decisions but I didn’t want him to fail. I just wanted him to live up to the values of this country, his religion and his god. He failed on his own, he didn’t need any help.

Matthew L. Morita,  Kapa‘a

Take take, no give

Island Helicopters got their approval from the Planning Commission to fly tours into Manawaiopuna Falls on the Robinsons’ land. (“Helicopters to land at Manawaiopuna Falls,” The Garden Island, March 11)

This was bad judgment for many reasons that were explained, one of which is the precedent it will set; other companies will now want the same right (waterfall landings), which is prohibited.

I would request a reconsideration of this mistake but I couldn‘t bear the daunting task of testifying again before commissioners who really don’t seem to care and consistently err on the side of the applicant, rarely on the side of the people, the ‘aina or the laws.

But now I’m wondering about the crisis that’s been going on with the Ni‘ihau people who couldn‘t get their necessities, such as food, flown in because of the Robinsons’ helicopter and the barge, and the fish in the waters around that beautiful, remote island have been poisoned adding insult to injury. (“Ni‘ihau waits for news on fish kill,” The Garden Island, March 13)

One question is: Why didn’t Island Helicopters step up to the plate and offer their services? Maybe the Niihauns can’t afford their fees. After all, it was Robinson that gave them permission to fly tours into Manawaiopuna Falls.

Also, why did Ilei Beniamina point a finger at the rodenticide application at Lehua as the cause of the fish poisoning? Don Heacock, our very own marine biologist who we believe to be competent and trustworthy, has stated there is no evidence of rodenticide poisoning. Is this a ploy to draw attention away from the Pacific Missile Range Facility’s possible and likely fault of marine mammals and fish mysteriously dying?

There is one remedy to solve the mystery, and it is $15,000 for the additional tests required on the fish. Evidently the state does not consider this an important use of money.

Elaine Dunbar, Lihu‘e

No new taxes!

Here we are in the midst of the worst economic downturn in 26 (possibly 79) years; jobs are rapidly evaporating and once hearty retirement accounts are virtually wiped out and set back at least a decade.

Incredibly, in the face of this dire situation, what do the economic dunces in the state legislature do? They are moving a bill to selectively increase the personal income tax and up the viciously regressive general excise tax.

Are these airheads for real? Do they somehow think that this will stimulate the economy and cover the $1.8 billion budget shortfall all at the same time? I have a better idea. The state should cut taxes across the board, leaving us, the ones who actually do productive work and earn an income, with more of our money.

Concurrently, it should drastically reduce spending and lay off people. After all, that’s what businesses and individuals in the real world do when tough times come. What makes government people so special that they should be conferred the status of sacred cows while the rest of us suffer? Why should it always fall onto the shoulders of the private sector to suck it up and make all the sacrifices, while the rats in the legislature, rude bureaucrats and bloated state (and county) workers carry on with business as usual? No wage cuts or layoffs for them. But come good times or bad, they always have their greedy hands stuck in our pockets.

I wonder if the illustrious Gary Hooser, while preparing to confiscate more of our hard-earned income, remembers what it was like back in the real world. After all, he didn’t pay up like a good little citizen when he was running his business until some alert journalist brought it to our attention after he was elected to the Senate. Well anyway, he shares a special place in our hearts — along with Timothy Geithner, Tom Daschle, Charlie Rangel and the other cheats who, along with their colleagues, live off our sweat and hard work.

Rafael DeSoto, Kapa‘a

Make farming attractive

While I appreciated the coverage of the farm worker housing issue, I want to correct a statement attributed to me the article (“Farmers harvest high hopes for farm worker housing bill,” The Garden Island, March 10).

As every “old timer” (including me) knows, there were plantation camps of worker housing on every plantation. Workers lived on the plantations. Even when labor was cheap and even though they were large corporations, the sugar plantations found that it worked best for them to provide housing for their workers.

So it is for farmers today — especially the small family farmer, but also, at times, for the larger corporate farmer. The economic realities of farming do not allow a farmer to pay high wages. Thus, even when a person would like to do farm work, he is often compelled to choose a non-farming job, instead, to be able to adequately support his family.

Lacking farm workers, farming becomes impossible or very limited. If a farmer is able to offer low or no-cost housing for workers, he is much more able to attract and retain good workers, and the workers are able to exist on low wages because their housing costs are covered.

If we want to expand and grow agriculture on Kaua‘i, we need to effectively address this farm worker housing problem on Kaua‘i. That’s what Bill 2293 seeks to do. When the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and agricultural subdivision laws were first passed, the drafters provided for farm worker housing by allowing several dwelling units per lot. However, when it became legal to turn those units into separate property interests, those units were separated from the original lot and were no longer part of the “farm.”

The ability to fragment the interest also allowed the per unit price to sky rocket beyond the reach of real farmers. That’s why there are so few real farmers in our “agricultural subdivisions.” Besides enabling farm worker housing, we need to reform our agricultural subdivision laws.

Finally, the description of Roy Oyama as a “stocky Hawaiian” must surely have generated forgiving chuckles or unforgiving indignation from your readers. Roy Oyama, a long time leader in the Farm Bureau, is a Japanese-American, and a very fine representative of the Japanese-American farmer in Hawai‘i.

JoAnn Yukimura, Lihu‘e

Drugs are a universal problem

This letter is in response to Christian Potter’s opinion about public middle schools on Kaua‘i (“Parents should know more about kids at school,” Letters, March 3).

The thing about Christian’s letter is that he almost sounds like he thinks all public school kids are druggies. Public middle schools on Kaua‘i aren’t all full of kids like Christian states.

You can’t say that all private school students are happy-go-lucky kids either.

In most schools, there are only a few students that do drugs. There are TeenCare Programs that are here to help keep students away from drugs. Personally, I don’t know anyone that is so hooked on drugs in school that they go out and do the things he claims in his letter.

There are many things that happen each day at school, why focus only on that?

Like TeenCare, there are other programs that are trying to keep students away from drugs. At my school, I go to the trip program. It is here to keep kids occupied after school, keeping them away from the wrong people until 5:30 p.m. Their main goal is to keep us away from drugs and alcohol, and any other problems.

Yes, there are problems with public middle schools, but not all of them are drug issues. Plus, these kinds of problems don’t only happen in public schools. Private school students aren’t always what they seem; they try to be better examples because they are paying for their education, but there are drug issues everywhere; it’s a universal problem.

Maile Keliinoi, 8th Grader, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School

Keep them coming

For the last few weeks, The Garden Island has been publishing letters from the eighth graders in Mr. Steinbacher’s class at Island school, but until I saw the authors of the letters, I would never have guessed they were authored by eighth grade students.

The letters were about significant local issues like dogs on the pedestrian coastal trail, supporting the farmers market and the local economy, halting the use of sonar in Hawaiian waters, parents’ involvement in their kids lives, poor traffic conditions, limiting driving on the beach to emergency vehicles, cleaning up our island and more.

I am sure there will be more letters from our future generation of scholars. Each one of these opinions was well worth the read, they were all well-written and thought out.

The students of Island school are blessed to have Mr. Steinbacher as an instructor  who can show them one of the many ways our world works outside of the classroom.

 James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a