OHA entering brave new world
Reading between the lines, the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs admits that the Akaka Bill is gone ("The tools we need," "OHA trustees committed to self-determination process for Hawaiians," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, March 19).
It took courage for OHA to admit following the wrong path after spending millions of dollars. Now it’s in the Native Hawaiians’ court, right?
In 1999, a Native Hawaiian convention was convened with 85 delegates discussing forms of a nation for Native Hawaiians.
Privately funded Aha Hawai‘i O‘iwi stands in recess for lack of money. There was no participation by OHA then.
OHA has a budget of $4 million to build the nation. Additional funding may be needed to elect representatives to the new nation.
It will truly be our Age of Intelligence as we begin the transfer of assets of OHA and state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to the new nation.
Jimmy Wong
Heeia
Rhoads and Luke also are hostile
Jim Shon correctly pointed out how the state Legislature has become increasingly hostile to the general public when it comes to airing out issues at hearings ("Public input increasingly scorned at ‘public’ hearings," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 26).
But his example of last year’s special session was far from being a high point for lawmakers.
The special session on same-sex marriage was a cruel introduction to the indifference of our Legislature.
Just like state Rep. Faye Hanohano, House Judiciary Chairman Karl Rhoads and Finance Chairwoman Sylvia Luke preached a message of tolerance and equality, yet failed to reciprocate.
Footage of both legislators berating testifiers is widely available on the Internet.
Just ask the hundreds of testifiers who took time off from work and waited for hours on end just to have two minutes to speak.
If Hanohano is to be punished for her actions, so should Rhoads and Luke.
Rachel Rivers
Kaimuki
Medicare would be single payer
Regarding Mark Felman’s letter ("‘Single payer’ will be all who pay taxes," Star-Advertiser, March 16), single-payer health care premiums are collected by a single entity like Medicare, which is the single payer of everyone’s health care bills.
Medicare for all covers everyone for life, using the unused premiums paid by the healthy 85 percent of the population to cover the health care bills of the 15-20 percent with end-of-life and chronic health issues.
And when you’re in that minority percentage, the remaining majority covers you.
Canada’s single-payer system costs half of our health system — about $3,500 per Canadian compared to our $7,000 per person — while covering everyone fully for all medically necessary health care, including catastrophic illnesses, without co-pays or deductibles.
Single-payer doesn’t waste tons of money on paperwork or insurance industry profits. The single payer’s single computer system reduces costs by catching duplication and fraud, with health care provided largely by private practitioners and institutions.
Hawaii should create single-payer here, saving lots of money and giving us more for our health care dollars.
Renee Ing
Makiki
Exemption bid is deplorable
The Honolulu police exemption regarding sex with prostitutes is shocking, embarrassing and indefensible. The police ought to be embarrassed to have such a law on the books. The Legislature should not hesitate to stand up for the rights of victimized sex workers and strike this law immediately.
Matthew Cohen
Salt Lake
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