The future of PMRF In an article headlined “Aegis coming ashore at PMRF” (The Garden Island: Aug. 29, 20111) we learned that the ship-based Aegis missile was to be adapted for land basing and that a test complex to be
The future of PMRF
In an article headlined “Aegis coming ashore at PMRF” (The Garden Island: Aug. 29, 20111) we learned that the ship-based Aegis missile was to be adapted for land basing and that a test complex to be built at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) would be critical to the development process.
At a ceremony attended by Sen. Inouye and Navy officers, Rear Admiral Meyer (the “Father of Aegis”) was quoted as saying, “Build a little, test a little and learn a lot.”
This little bit of building and testing started at $3 billion in 1984 and reached $11 billion annually in 2009, when the Obama administration belatedly acknowledged that the Cold War was over and the system, which never worked reliably anyway, was obsolete.
Iran and North Korea are now the designated enemies America must fear so as to justify this multi-billion dollar weapons system, the largest single line in the Pentagon’s budget.
It’s hard to isolate the cost of the Aegis program because the Pentagon doesn’t parse those numbers for the taxpayer. We know that Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor, won military contracts worth $45.8 billion in 2010. That amounts to an annual “Lockheed Martin” tax of $260 on every American household. Raytheon, among many other contractors working on Aegis, billed the Defense Department for $25 billion.
Here on Kaua‘i we must take into account that jobs are provided by PMRF. The base doesn’t disclose how many of our local population are employed or how much their payroll is. Kekaha, the nearest town to PMRF, has the second-lowest per family income of all towns on the Island. The reason this is so is historic and complex, but it may be an indicator of what PMRF’s contribution to Kaua‘i’s economy really is.
If the cost to taxpayers on Kaua‘i for activities at PMRF is greater than wages and benefits paid to local residents by PMRF, isn’t that the basis for a conversation about whether some activities should be curtailed, or even that PMRF just shut down?
The conversation should include whether the activities at PMRF make us more safe or less safe. It should include whether Barking Sands achieved a higher and better use before Pacific Missile Range took it over in 1966, or if it can be even better utilized for Kaua‘i’s generations to come.
Kip Goodwin, Kapa‘a
About GOP response
In his Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, Gov. Mitch Daniels puts to rest a controverted truth by conceding and admitting that “Obama did not cause the country’s economic and budget problems.” He goes on to say, however, that Obama was “elected on his promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made anything but worse.”
Where, in fact, should the finger of accusation point to? The promise, the governor fails to mention, is predicated upon the cooperation of all parties in Congress, but events proved otherwise. Obstruction was the order of the day. Compromise was a naughty word.
Republican partisan intent was not in helping the president fix the economic and budget problems but was determined in their goal to prevent Obama from becoming a second-term president. They lost sight of their pledge, upon election, to work cooperatively in the best interest of the people.
What is the true test for determining whether the president or any elected official has lived up to a promise to fix the economic or budget problems of the country?
(1) By preventing or obstructing the enactment of proposed remedies, thereby disabling efforts to fulfill a promise, or
(2), by providing the requested tools, measures or means needed to “fix” the problem, which upon failure can then, and only then, give credence to Gov. Daniels’ claim that the worsening in the last three years are attributable to the presidency, when in fact the greater weight of responsibility falls on those who chose to deny the remedy and never gave the remedy the opportunity to prove its worth.
Alfred Laureta, Lihu‘e
Who pays
“Who will pay the tax?” is the title of the story in The Garden Island on Jan. 25. It states that, per the National Tax Foundation, “people on Kauai average an income of $74,082 annually.” Oh really? Don’t let these false statements be the cause for our property tax to double .
Howard Tolbe, ‘Ele‘ele
Childhood bullying
Childhood bullying is a severe stress on the child being bullied. When I was in third grade, age 8, a fellow female student, probably about 10, called me names and threw rocks at me as I began my walk home after school. This frightened me to the point that I was afraid to go to school even though I was the best student in class.
My guardian, my mother’s sister, notified the school. The school felt that one main reason for the anger from the other student was due to my scholastic ability, while the other girl had less educational background. The school’s solution was to have me sit next to the girl in class and help/tutor her in a friendly manner to improve her schoolwork.
We were not buddies but interacted in a mutually amicable manner after that, and I returned to school safely. Perhaps some version of this solution would work today.
Alice Parker, Lihu‘e
