Legislature cares only about itself

A spiritual darkness has fallen over our state Capitol.

In the name of progressive policies, we see marijuana — an unlawful drug with potent impact on one’s brain — being decriminalized; physician-assisted suicide replacing an existing liberal advance health-care directive; same-sex marriage in a bill called civil unions; legalization of gambling, which endless studies show hurts the poor and families; and the release into the community of up to 1,000 prisoners who a jury and judge already found should be kept in confinement until rehabilitated.

Last but not least, our legislators are increasing costs to every citizen who must seek mandatory government services, as well as taxing everything sweet and liquid, and the sweet little old non-contributing elderly senior-citizens’ pensions.

I submit nothing is sacred to the majority of our legislators, even including the compromising of our values, if it can re-grow government coffers and thereby provide payola for special interests.

Time to step up and contribute

I read with dismay the news that so many programs for the needy must be cut ("Social services funding dries up," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 4). Many of these programs enormously help students at the school where I teach.

Also, my daughter has been a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters since she was old enough to be a big sister. I have loved hearing her stories about how her two little brothers have matured.

I could not discern which programs were being eliminated or were being funded less and therefore must downsize. Perhaps it is time for those of us who can to contribute to Aloha United Way and designate to which programs we would like our donations to go.

Morita qualified to lead PUC

This letter is in support of the appointment of state Rep. Hermina Morita as chairwoman of the Public Utilities Commission.

Morita has been a longtime strong advocate for the environment and for her constituents both in the Legislature and in the community.

My husband and I have resided in her district for more than 20 years. She has demonstrated executive skills as chairwoman of the Energy and Environmental Protection Committee as well as in the private sector.

Managerial experience? She served as business manager of Kong Lung Co. and as business and property manager for Makawae Partners.

From 1990-1993 she was an active member of our County of Kauai Planning Commission.

Judicial experience? She has been a member of the Judiciary Committee, as well as of the Consumer Protection and Commerce, Water, Land and Ocean Resources, and Housing committees.

Rentals relevant for Hawaiians

I think rental units, condo style or in apartments, are relevant for today’s Hawaiian population, especially for the elderly and the single men and women.

I would strongly encourage state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands representatives to bring these ideas to fruition, as many of the homeless population are native Hawaiians.

Also, provide some kind of assistance for homeless native Hawaiian families with children. There are many who are not financially able to afford housing and are not eligible for assistance. This would provide the ‘opio with a hope for their future.

Egypt highlights wealth disparity

We can learn from the protests in Egypt.

After much deprivation, the Egyptian people rose up to demand better circumstances and more opportunity. Like Egypt, the United States has a stark disparity between the rich and the poor, and it is only getting worse.

In the United States less than 5 percent of the people own more than 90 percent of the income and assets.

We need to pass laws to tax those couples earning more than $600,000. This would raise billions of dollars, which could help fix our infrastructure, our roads, buildings and highways, and provide many needed jobs. There would be fewer foreclosures, and the improvements to our country would allow us to compete effectively with other great nations.

Army helicopters a nuisance again

The recent unscheduled landing of an Army helicopter on the Koko Head Elementary School field takes me back a little over a year ago when I wrote a similar letter to the editor, noting that many military helicopters were flying low and often over homes across the east side of Oahu.

The helicopter traffic subsided greatly thereafter and we were most thankful to have some peace and quiet, and yet they were still able to train — just not over our house.

However, in the past two months the helicopters are back and are low and as loud as ever right over our house and the eastside bedroom communities.

Fortunately the helicopter that landed was able to find a spot to land safely and no one was injured.

Perhaps this is time to rethink the flight patterns again for military helicopters so they are safe for all and they can accomplish their training effectively, safely and perhaps away from bedroom communities.

Pension tax not just on ‘wealthy’

The governor’s proposal to tax pensions is really premised on the view that after 40 years of not taxing pensions, it’s time for a change.

The governor said that wealthy pensioners come to Hawaii because of the absence of the tax on pensions, but doesn’t say how many. I would wager that the number is extremely small. The burden obviously falls on most of us who have lived and worked here for many years. I take little comfort in his statement that "less than half of current taxpayers would be affected."

With taxpayer fees doubling, including the vehicle registration/weight fees, water and sewage charges and other fees, a federal adjusted gross income of slightly above $35,000 for single filers and $75,000 for couples is hardly representative of a "wealthy" filer, as he implies. Further, there’s no explanation on why the federal adjusted gross income was chosen instead of federal taxable income. Isn’t the taxable income more representative of that which represents income for living purposes?