• Lyons the errand boy • Let’s set out hydro differences aside • Elected to represent Lyons the errand boy Gene Lyons (as usual) blames conservatives for the collapse of the economy. Somehow, in his mind, Republican tax cuts caused
• Lyons the errand boy • Let’s set out
hydro differences aside • Elected to
represent
Lyons the errand boy
Gene Lyons (as usual) blames conservatives for the collapse of the economy. Somehow, in his mind, Republican tax cuts caused federal deficits.
But tax cuts have time and again, led to an increase in tax revenues.
By keeping more of what is earned, the private sector is allowed to produce wealth and more wealth means more tax revenue.
What causes deficits and the massive federal debt is too much spending.
Even Obama is forced to admit his gigantic infusion of handouts is a flop, but soft-peddling 20 months of 9 percent-plus unemployment as a mere “bump in the road.”
Obama and his Democrat Congress have run up more debt than all former presidents combined — something Lyons forgot to include in his essay.
The biggest cause of our current dire economic state is the Community Redevelopment Act which goes back to the Carter “stagflation” years and was pursued vigorously under Clinton.
Housing lenders were forced to issue mortgages to unqualified buyers under threat of racial discrimination suits from the feds.
These junk notes were combined into mortgage-backed securities which were leached into the economy at large, resulting in the unholy mess were in now.
Yes, Obama inherited the results but did nothing as a senator to stop the abuses of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, the quasi-government banks that were at the heart of the abuses.
The aftermath includes the death of major financial firms and the destruction of the life savings of hard-working citizens.
Bush the younger and even John McCain, one of the dimmer economic bulbs, warned of the coming collapse and urged reform of Fannie and Freddy, to no avail. Yet MSNBC, Obama’s cheerleaders, had the gall to give air time to Democrats Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, the two most culpable members of Congress in the collapse, to tell us how to fix it.
The GI’s other liberal contributor Donna Brazile is at least a serious person. Lyons is nothing more than an errand boy for destructive big government and its advocates.
John Burns, Princeville
Let’s set out hydro differences aside
I believe there is more to life than counting our “wins” and “losses.”
There are times when we need to go beyond the joy of being victorious or feeling dejected in the agony of defeat.
We have seen the “Holy Wars” rage on for centuries with no end in sight. Do we need to add another conflict to this sort of misery? Good, bad or otherwise, we cannot undo what has already been done.
If, however, there may be ways in which we can start afresh; ways in which we can promote clarity, transparency, accountability, and trust in our collaborative efforts; and frankly, however possible it may be to find common ground in the pursuit of hydro-powe here on Kaua‘i, these are the starting points for all of us to consider.
I choose to move forward with these possibilities in mind. We need to get past the points and counter-points that have been raised.
We need to look at what is feasible and affordable by bringing all parties to the table to discuss “up front” what can and should be done.
With that said, I hope others will be willing to come to the table with “open minds and willing hearts” to set our differences aside.
We need to work together to actualize hydropower as a leading approach in generating energy on Kaua‘i. This is our shared responsibility.
Jose Bulatao Jr., Kekaha
Elected to represent
We don’t need to go back into history to understand the concept of “process” and “trust.”
We are engaged everyday in our efforts to bring order into a community composed of thousands of people divided into segments each with its own concept of what is “right” and what is “wrong” and, more importantly, what is best for all the people. “Process” and “trust” is ever present in all the actions and decisions encountered, for example, by KIUC.
KIUC was created as a process — a means — to make the determination for providing electrical sources, its distribution, its cost, etc. to its members. Since it is an impossible and unrealistic task to gather all 34,000 members to a meeting to make decisions affecting KIUC whenever minority objections are voiced, a process called an elected “Board of Directors” was created within the organizational structure of KIUC to make, hopefully, unanimous decisions, but effectively with a majority vote.
I make reference to “elected Board” because, presumably, by election, members have voted for a director or directors who are “trusted” with representing the best interest of the member-voter.
If the “trust” has been fulfilled or is no longer deserved, the process provides for election of three new board members at each general election, or the re-election of an incumbent director. And if the board voted unanimously in favor of the FERC process which meets all you objections… then what?
Al Laureta, Lihu‘e
