Plastic bags plan will just add cost

Personally, I treasure the plastic bags from the grocery stores. I need them to throw my scrap food away (which is recommended by the city), pick up dog droppings and a whole lot of other things. I even have to buy plastic bags to bag these.

The latest proposal to charge customers 10 to 20 cents per bag is absurd and not well thought out. It does not solve the problem of disposal and environmental concerns. Also, this plan is totally unmanageable and would simply add costs to everything else.

The last thing I need now is to wait in line at the grocery store while the guy in front argues with the cashier about the amount of bags he got charged for.

Gerald Hamamura
Aiea

Deficit a signal to stop spending

I do not understand the logic of the state buying a meat slaughterhouse plant in Kapolei.

I am in business and if I am broke, I stop buying and rein in my expenses. It seems every group feels it has an exemption to this rule, stating that their situation is different.

From the Hawaii Government Employees Association to European rail cars, now we are rationalizing to spend money for this "necessary" slaughterhouse.

If you are in a deficit, you just need to stop spending and put off buying until better economic times.

Francis Martin
Honolulu

Strengthen laws on puppy mills

Perhaps after the next horrific puppy mill operation is discovered, our Legislature will see fit to pass a law prohibiting such operations, and courts can enforce stiff penalties against the cruel operators.

Until then, defenseless and blameless animals will continue to be bred. Thousands of dogs will come into this world to sit in their own waste until they can be cleaned up and sold for high prices at pet stores and on the Internet.

Last month, the County of Los Angeles amended its statutes to require not only animal facilities to be clean and the animals to have sufficient food and water, but that the facility that sells the dogs must post the breeder’s information, including a license number for breeding.

Try getting that information in Hawaii. What a sad commentary about us.

If you suspect this kind of activity is going on, please call the Honolulu Police Department and the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Judy Mick
Kailua

Public union pay should be less

The government is a business monopoly without any competition. Public-sector union demands are routinely met by politicians who have no financial stake in that business called government. This game has led to overpayment of public employees compared to private industry, especially because a large part of the real compensation is slyly hidden in pension and health care benefits. And communities all over the U.S. are driven to the verge of bankruptcy and have to raise taxes again and again. And even essential services like road maintenance and garbage collection have to be cut or neglected.

Therefore, collective bargaining must stop.

Compensation, including the important pension and health care benefits for public employees, must be determined by an independent accountant panel. It must be based on what private companies pay minus 10 percent. Minus 10 percent because jobs in government are much more secure from layoffs than in private companies.

Volker Hildebrandt
Kaneohe

We can’t tighten belts any more

How do our government leaders expect us to survive?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned the city for years that our sewers were in dire straits. Where do our leaders plan to get the money for that? More taxes? We can’t tighten our belts any more. It seems like the cost of living and taxes get higher and our pay, and soon, pension checks get smaller. Where are the jobs that were promised? When are the work furloughs going to end for our state and city government employees as promised? Where are the jobs related to this rail system — the jobs for locals, not mainland contractors?

Wyman Chang
Honolulu