Letters for March 22, 2016

Letters for March 22, 2016

Mistake to separate the church and state

In response to Jonathan McRoberts’ letter in Sunday’s paper regarding, first of all, separation of church and state.

Once again, there is no such thing, much as a lot of people would like to believe. The First Amendment was written not to keep churches out of government, but to keep government out of churches. It cannot be interpreted any other way. There is no law that forbids churches to be involved in politics.

Secondly, there should be no compromise when it comes to the U.S. Constitution, it is not to be re-written, but is to be taken just as it was intended.

Thirdly, this country was originally founded upon Christian principles and upon the Bible by Christians who placed God first in their lives. This has not changed over the years, nor should we adjust it to fit in with today’s changing morals. Once upon a time, schools also had Bibles in every classroom and the Bible was also taught in all the schools just as God wanted.

Taking the Bible out of schools was our first mistake. Teaching the Bible instead could have been made an optional class so that nobody was forced to read it, although that is not that bad an idea, thereby allowing those who do not believe in God to have a choice. To this day, there is still a chaplain in our federal government who prays for Congress, just as was instituted when the U.S. Constitution was first declared the Law of the Land.

Barbara Ferraro

Pahoa

Too much wasteful spending going on

Here we go again. County officials can’t properly control tax revenue spending so we may as well charge visitors more.

When will the populace of Kauai get fed up enough and start blaming the real culprits and demand some answers to where all their taxes are going. To show you as an example, myself, as a visitor pay around 14 percent tax on my rental unit.

For a car rental of $680, I pay $373 in tax, a whopping 54 percent.

I’m sure that many of you have been witnesses to wasteful spending all over the island by the county council. I think you should demand a more transparent government and maybe the idea of a city manager should be looked at more seriously. I know that most people will just think to themselves, “if you can’t afford it — don’t come.”

Well, I hope that the way things are going that you don’t scare away your primary source of tax revenue.

John Marconato

Vancouver

Please heed ideas to improve traffic flow

I know residents of Kauai don’t like advice from us “flatland furriners” (as Snuffy Smith used to say), but we’ve been wintering — January to April — on Kauai for the past two years, and driven the Kapaa Krawl dozens of times. I see the problem, and have a solution that will cost only a few hundred dollars in signs, paint and pylons.

First, turn off the traffic lights on the Kuhio Highway (Rt 56) at the 580 and Haleilio intersections. Those traffic lights back up traffic for miles, just so folks can turn left. Ban left turns onto 56 North. Make cars turn right, cross the Wailua River, and make a U-turn.

This will allow traffic on the Kuhio Highway to move unimpeded north and south.

Second, put up big signs for the Bypass that say: “Kapaa Bypass to Princeville This Way,” and “Kappa Bypas to Lihue This Way.”

No, not the 2 x 2 inch signs you have now. Big signs that tourists can see. Nobody knows the bypass exists except locals.

Third, put “through lanes” on the northbound lanes at all intersections from Foodland northward so northbound traffic can continue unimpeded. Model the traffic lights at the Hanamaulu intersection, which works nifty.

These three solutions should cut the traffic through Kapaa.

If not, I have a similar really cheap solution for making the Kuhio Highway four lanes through Kapaa. You won’t like it, though.

I also have really cheap solutions for your homeless problem and lack of industry, but let’s not go too far. You won’t like those ideas, either. I’m a flatland furriner, and what do I know?

Rich Merritt

Cedar Rapids, Iowa