Jones Act ensures US jobs
Here we go again with Mr. Akina and his republican-leaning Grassroots Institute’s claims that the Jones Act is responsible for higher-priced goods in Hawai‘i compared to mainland prices. This claim is based on their selective study that is one of zero others.
Besides ignoring the loss of U.S. jobs, I wonder exactly what is in it for Akina and his institute? Money to be made investing in foreign rust bucket container ships? Or starting up his own shipping company?
Most of the pricing difference we see is not due to the cost of shipping, it is due to our isolation. In other words, we are captive consumers paying what the traffic will bear. However, our prices for almost everything have come down over the decades due to competition from retailers we once did not have, such has Walmart and Costco.
The Jones Act provides U.S. jobs for U.S. workers, from shipbuilding to crew workers. Once it’s gone those jobs will go out to the lowest bidders from foreign-flagged countries like China or others paying substandard wages, while more U.S. workers are left without jobs.
Let’s be sure to keep U.S. jobs in US hands.
Paulo Tambolo, Wailua Homesteads
Give the Lt. Gov. some respect
I am not a Democrat, however, I am appalled by the way a good portion of the general public and many of those that are ‘Democrats’ are now eating their own.
Hawai‘i Lt. Governor Dr. Josh Green has been working tirelessly around the clock to help the people of Hawai‘i fight the pandemic.
The woke police and cancel culture are after the wrong guy again. When was the last time you spent weekends as an ER doctor? The Lt. Governor does. When was the last time you volunteered your time to fly to Samoa and go door-to-door to give the measles vaccines to the Samoan people back in December of 2019 when they had a Measles outbreak that was killing many, including keiki? The Lt. Governor did!
The measles vaccine was welcomed as a Godsend back then.
When was the last time any politician volunteered to give the COVID vaccine to his constituents? Dr. Green did, and still does!
Protesters a few days back protested in front of the Lt. Governor’s personal residence because they don’t like the way he’s handling the COVID crisis. The Lt. Governor has a wife and young children living there. That was callous and heartless. Dr. Green mentioned he has no problem with protesters going to his office but his personal residence, really?
To all the community leaders and social media junkies busting the Lt. Governors chops about his handling of COVID and his endless work ethic of trying to keep us safe, I say where and when did you get your medical license?
When was the last time any of you volunteered to administer vaccines, or fly to a foreign country during a medical crisis and volunteer your Kokua while holding down two full-time jobs? The Lt. Governor did.
God bless Dr. Green!
James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
