GOP plan reminder of state tax burden

Did Kevin Dayton’s article on the effects of the GOP tax plan deserve front-page billing (“GOP plan may sting taxpayers in Hawaii,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 1)?

While a lot of numbers were presented, more could have been done to show how the individual Hawaii resident would be affected by the plan.

Assuming his numbers were correct, the average resident would lose $10,000 worth of deductions. Using Hawaii’s highest marginal tax rate of 11 percent — which very few people qualify for — that means $1,100 more in taxes. Yet averages are irrelevant because, as the author notes, 95 percent of higher-income tax payers are the ones claiming the deduction, not the average Hawaii taxpayer.

The GOP plan benefits the Hawaii resident by reminding us that our per-capita tax of $5,708 is the problem. Being able to deduct our state taxes at the federal level in essence “hides” the costs we each bear for excessive state spending.

Maybe we should focus on reduced state spending, leading to reduced taxes — something we could all be proud of, and not have to hide behind the smokescreen of a deduction.

Jeffrey Alameida

Waialua

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Fans mistreated at Stan Sheriff game

The understatement of the events Sunday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center is appalling (“Crowded house,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 2).

If you watched the start of the game on TV, you would have noticed barely 2,000 fans in the stands. If you had been outside, as my family was, in the voggy humidity of the afternoon, you would have seen 7,000 fans waiting and sweating patiently to get inside, or at the very least to hear an explanation of the cause of the holdup.

None ever came and by the start of the second quarter and no movement in sight, we all went home with crying children and very expensive and unused tickets.

The audacity to only offer tickets to the Tuesday game as re- compense is laughable. The only thing that prevented a riot was the aloha spirit of the people of this island. But this reticence is the same reason the Stan staff thinks they can get away with mistreating their patrons.

Chad Pata

Kapolei

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Prepare for game, not for the haka

The University of Hawaii football team is notorious for its slow starts. The reason is the haka.

Before a game, most teams are concentrating on their assignments and visualizing on what they need to do to win the game. But Hawaii is instead concentrating on its performance during the haka. The haka is a distraction a mediocre team like Hawaii doesn’t need.

Lee Kaneshiro

Maunalani Heights

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Don’t allow opioid prescription abuse

I am sick and tired of hearing about young people dying from prescribed pain killers.

Every doctor who prescribes these opioids should be held accountable for malpractice.

It’s so easy for them to quickly scribble a prescription and move on to their next patient.

It’s obvious these drugs should not be prescribed. Why do we let doctors off the hook so easily?

John Wong

Aiea

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Loss of housing funds upsetting

I am 13 years old and I read your article about Honolulu losing $2.4 million in federal housing funding (“City loses $2.4M in federal funding,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 1).

That is very upsetting. I participate in feeding the homeless and other projects to help the less fortunate, and I find it very frustrating that our government isn’t more concerned about this issue.

Our government is spending time and effort on issues that can wait. The homeless problem in Hawaii is very large and urgent.

I have seen the people. They deserve the low-income housing that we are supposed to be providing.

Also, is there anything that the city can do to get the lost money back? For example, are there any projects on the drawing board that could be expedited and shown to the federal government to get an extension?

Jacob Hansen

Nuuanu

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Mayor missing in funding stories

Regarding the editorial, “Fix city’s dismal homeless efforts” (Star-Advertiser, Our View, Oct. 1), I’m totally appalled that in this editorial, as well as in several related articles, we’ve yet to hear from the mayor, who is always very visible when he thinks his administration has accomplished a lot with the homeless situation.

There is absolutely no valid excuse for losing funding that supposedly is to help his No. 1 issue. Sad, sad, sad!

John Toillion

Mililani

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Welcome LGBT folks the way Jesus would

The argument that the LGBT lifestyle is kosher because Jesus never mentions it is fairly weak (“Churches urged to open to LGBT people,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 30). The fact is, the Gospels never recorded his take on other important social issues, such as incest or spouse abuse. Are we to take omission as license for commission?

And the sociocultural argument that prohibitive verses on the topic are limited to Old Testament holiness laws is also lacking, in that they also are found in the New Testament.

To claim that Jesus discounted all laws except love is selective thin-ice theology. Maybe the bigger question is: What is meant by “open”?

I would hope that all churches openly welcome LGBT folks as Jesus would: full of grace and truth, and watch His Spirit’s transformative work in all our lives, if we are open to Him.

Tim Miller

Hawaii Kai