• We deserve better •
• Bring your own bag
• A tax on ignorance
• Two things
• Here’s some advice
We deserve better
You can be sure the job of the special interests is to try to get special treatment. And the job of fat cats is to try and get fatter.
That’s exactly what happened this week when Gov. Lingle’s handpicked Campaign Spending Commission sided with the gubernatorial candidates who want everything to stay just the way it is — Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona.
Talk about a double standard.
The Campaign Spending Commission probably can’t look at themselves in the mirror after their double-standard ruling to stop Congressman Neil Abercrombie from moving his surplus campaign funds into his race for governor — funds freely given to him to support previous campaigns.
Of course, the commission had no problem when Mayor Mufi Hannemann and Aiona transferred their surplus campaign money into their campaigns for governor. The Lingle administration couldn’t have made it any clearer they want Hannemann to win the Democratic primary if they planted one of his campaign signs in front of Washington Place.
But this is only half the story. The campaign fundraising reports of July 31 show Neil Abercrombie raised $486,000 from 851 donors since March 8. Some 411 people donated $100 or less.
Hannemann raised $582,000 but how much was from small downers? Just $78.
That’s right; half the contributors to Neil Abercrombie’s campaign for governor were small donors who share Neil’s commitment to make state government work better for everyone. And 99.99 percent of the contributions to Hannemann are from big donors.
We don’t deserve more politics as usual. We deserve better.
Walt Barnes, Wailua Homesteads
Bring your own bag
One hundred billion plastic bags are used each year in the U.S.
People think of plastic bags as being free. Instead, they actually cost taxpayers millions every year. In San Francisco alone, city officials estimate that they spend $8.5 million annually to deal with plastic bag litter. That equates to around 20 cents for every bag distributed in the city.
More plastic bags are ending up littering Kaua‘i’s environment. Once they become litter, plastic bags find their way into our waterways, parks, beaches and streets. And, if they are burned, they infuse the air with toxic fumes.
About 100,000 animals such as dolphins, turtles and whales, are killed every year due to plastic bags. Many animals eat plastic bags, mistaking them for food, and die.
And the worst environmental effects of plastic bags are that they are non-biodegradable. The decomposition of plastic bags takes about 1,000 years.
Together we are making Kaua‘i more beautiful, one less bag at a time. Bring your own and bag it right.
Diana LaBedz, Kekaha
A tax on ignorance
On a recent family vacation to your lovely island, I was enjoying your paper when I read the Talk Story about approving gaming in Hawai‘i to fund education.
As a Floridian, here is what I would tell you. Don’t do it. Years ago, our Florida Legislature and the voters approved a Florida lottery system. It was sold to the voters as a boost for education, because all of the funds (profits) will go to support education.
Well, that sounded great, but what our tricky legislators did was use the lottery funds to replace existing budget dollars already going to education. The existing budget dollars went elsewhere. Dollars to education in Florida changed little. It was a scam perpetrated on the voters.
The St. Petersburg Times described the lottery as “a tax on ignorance in the name of education.”
I could not agree more.
Bob Doyle , St. Petersburg, Fla.
Two things
First, to Darryl Perry, if you care so much for Kaua‘i, then stay, complete your contract and finish what you’ve started. It’s as simple as that.
Second, Carl Tashima, affordable housing for Native Hawaiians and Kaua‘i residents, “Yes!” More timeshares, “No!” Keep Hanapepe the quaint “small town” that it’s known for — the only place that’s hardly changed. I don’t get out there as much as I’d like, but I love it just as it is.
Kilinoe Okami, Anahola
Here’s some advice
I think that the county would do well to send County Attorney Al Castillo back to law school for a refresher course.
He must have missed it when they taught the part about attorneys serving their clients. Clients engage the services of attorneys; not the other way around.
Mr. Castillo’s statement that “You must comply with the advisory opinion of the county attorney” is ridiculous. Attorneys are asked for their advice and clients may either accept it or reject it. Why do you think that they are called “advisory” opinions. It is advice; nothing more.
By the way, “advice” is defined in the dictionary as “a recommendation with regard to a course of action.”
Linda Estes, Koloa
