State House Speaker Joe Souki may be on to something that will solve our never-ending funding increases for rail (“House speaker wants city to help fund rail,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 13).
Souki insisted that the City and County of Honolulu has not stepped up to pay its fair share of the construction costs for rail, even though the rail tax surcharge applies only to Honolulu. If Honolulu residents and tourists haven’t been paying for rail construction, who has?
Raising property taxes will only further tax those who already are paying.
The solution is so easy. Apply the 0.5 percent tax surcharge statewide so all counties will contribute to rail construction. We already use state taxes to pay for road repairs and construction statewide, so why not for rail? Even Souki’s district on Maui should be proud to contribute their share to this project.
Garry P. Smith
Ewa Beach
—
Generous formula determines benefits
Your lengthy article regarding the sorry state of the state Employees’ Retirement System was enlightening, while equally depressing in what it may potentially cost taxpayers (“Nest egg shortfall tops $12 billion,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 10).
I think the public would be surprised, if not shocked, to learn how generous government retirement benefits are calculated. It is my understanding somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 percent per year of service is used as a factor, times the average of three years of salary to determine an employee’s retirement. Additionally, unused vacation is converted into service time.
The Star-Advertiser should do a study to compare retirement computation formulas used in the private sector versus that used in government. How would retirement benefits from local banks, major retail stores and even the Star-Advertiser stack up to what state or county employees get? It would be interesting, to say the least.
Steve Chang
Chinatown
—
Police chief deserves better treatment
I, for one, am appalled at the treatment being given to Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha (“Police chief to retire,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 7). This is punishment before any crime or misdoing has been proven. I should have expected this to happen in this state.
Kealoha deserves to be treated the same as any other citizen. Convict him, then punish him.
Patti Adolphson
Wahiawa
—
Obama’s failures will be hard to fix
President Barack Obama insists the nation is stronger and better, and asserts, “Yes, we did.”
To what is he referring? Instead of pushing for single-payer health insurance early in his term, when he had congressional majorities in both houses of Congress, Obama signed the now-Unaffordable Care Act. Under that law, premiums have skyrocketed and fewer than 50 percent of uninsured people obtained coverage. Meanwhile, the unsustain- able employer-based and insurance company-controlled system remains.
Obama kept the U.S. in wars worldwide for more days than any president in our history. The labor participation rate is at its lowest in decades. The economic “recovery” benefited the wealthy while the poor became poorer. The black-white household assets gap widened and poverty during Obama’s eight years increased overall.
The Obama presidency was an abject failure. It will take years to repair the damage inflicted by his administration.
Michael Kappos
Waikiki
—
Trump hypocritical about Clinton
The apparent acceptance of hypocrisy is getting to me. How does one explain the following:
>> Donald Trump excoriated Hillary Clinton for trying to “reset” relations with Russia when she was secretary of state, but now that he is basically planning on doing the same thing, he expects to be applauded.
>> When Hillary and Bill Clinton agreed to remove themselves from their family foundation and leave their daughter Chelsea on the board, Trump fulminated that it would not suffice: a daughter was too close. And yet he announces that he will put his business empire into the hands of his sons.
>> WikiLeaks exposures and fake news were acceptable when their target was Hillary Clinton, but reprehensible when against Trump. Trump himself created fake news with his “birther” attack on President Barack Obama.
>> FBI Director James Comey’s letter about investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails was initially a brave deed; his recommendation that no charges be brought was not, according to Trump.
The list could go on. Please, may we have the same standards for all players?
Wendy Pollitt
Kaneohe
—
Legalized marijuana could raise tax haul
The reality is that we’re in need of additional revenue sources to fund projects such as rail transit, cooling schools and infrastructure improvements.
Based upon projections, massive funds will be needed in the near future to address the impacts of climate change.
There are seven states that have legalized recreational cannabis: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maine and Massachusetts. According to the Tax Foundation, “marijuana tax collections in Colorado and Washington have exceeded initial estimates, and a nationwide legaliza- tion-and-tax regime could see states raise billions of dollars per year in marijuana tax revenue.”
Hawaii polls show significant support for legalization. What are we waiting for, higher real estate and sales taxes to save us? Our legislators apparently still believe in the “reefer madness” narrative. The war on marijuana was and is a complete failure; it destroys families, and bloats our prisons.
Chuck Cohen
Kalama Valley
