Oppose tax cuts for the wealthy

In a time of unemployment and recession, our priority needs to be the 98 percent of Americans who need the most support. Millions of Americans are in danger of losing their homes and millions more are currently out of work.

Extending tax cuts to wealthy Americans would cost our country $700 billion in new debt while lining the pockets of our nation’s richest people with an extra $80,000 apiece.

Help the majority of Americans: the middle class and the poor, not the richest. The latter’s benefits never trickled down to help the economy.

Call your representatives and tell them to say no to tax cuts for the wealthy.

Airport security like doctor visit

Mary McCarty of the Dayton Daily News is afraid to fly, so she writes about her and her friends’ fears. The Star-Advertiser then publishes this under a bold heading of "From scary to worse" (Nov. 30).

Instead of printing why someone is afraid, how about printing the statistics on the safety of flying as opposed to just driving to the airport?

Going through security is, at most, a half-hour boring activity; the Transportation Security Administration is not the enemy. When I go to a doctor I get far more invasive poking, prodding and picture-taking for basically the same reason: to ensure nothing is lethal in or on my body.

Which flight would you prefer to board: the unscreened or screened?

TSA is not perfect but it is the best we’ve got to date. Give those employees a little aloha and holiday cheer.

Public schools violate our trust

The article in Monday’s newspaper about the severe lack of "highly qualified" teachers in Hawaii’s public schools is truly shameful.

We rely on the public schools as a trust of faith. When an entity is put in a position of trust, the public relies on it for good judgment. When it has results like those reported, the value of what it is doing must be questioned.

Public educators have been at it for hundreds of years; surely it’s time they got it right. They are paid to do a job — that of teaching our kids. Let’s see them get on with it without all the complaining and blaming.

The most successful mix for our American economy is where private industry does the job with strong government oversight and regulation. With the current public school system you have the government providing the service with little or no independent oversight. However, when you add the strong involvement of the teachers union to the mix (who are the protectors of the teachers and who don’t show too much care for the education of our kids), it’s a guarantee of trouble.

If the same statistics were presented by a private company to its city, state or federal regulators, it would be immediately closed down.

Worse, with substandard teachers, they are jeopardizing our country by lowering educational standards and thereby endangering our country’s future freedoms and security. It’s an unacceptable breach of trust.

Hawaii risks road to ruin

I am wondering why this state continues to tilt to the left politically when it is clear that most of the rest of the country has moved to the right.

If I am naive, then so be it. We don’t need Neil Abercrombie in the governor’s office right now, as that will bring new taxes and more regulations to this wonderful state of Hawaii.

If we don’t start to wake up politically, we will be heading down the path of California and New York to financial ruin.

I hope that the Democrats in the state Legislature begin to reduce taxes and regulations to help small businesses. If we hide our collective heads in the sand, we will not get to see a bright future for our state. 

Please drive responsibly

As we approach the holidays, I feel compelled to beg everyone to drive carefully and respectfully.

In my 30 years of emergency medicine, I saw countless injuries and deaths related to the tragic mix of poor decision-making and the ingestion of alcohol and other drugs. If one chooses to drink at parties or holiday gatherings, please use a designated driver or stay where you are. Everyone’s safety depends on good choices.