Senate bill takes away our liberties

Shocked and saddened described my feelings when I learned that our senior senator, Daniel K. Inouye, voted with the Republicans in support of S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.

The American Civil Liberties Union had strongly urged everyone who loves liberty and the Constitution to ask our senators to vote against it.

Why? Because in the name of defeating terrorism, it gives our government the right to imprison, without recourse, any of us who is suspected of being a terrorist.

Sounds reasonable and harmless? It is not. Any American citizen could be fingered and sent to Guantanamo Bay, or another country, and held without a trial.

We have already given up too many of our rights and liberties in the name of terrorism. It’s time to call off the dogs.

Call the White House and ask President Barack Obama to veto this infringement on what liberties we have left.

Jo An Gaines
Honolulu

Editorial erred on city tax exemptions

The Star-Advertiser editorial, "Reduce complexity of tax exemptions," contains misrepresentations and factual errors that confuse readers about real property taxes and exemptions (Star-Advertiser, Our View, Nov. 22). First, it erroneously refers to Punahou and Iolani schools’ $37,000 and $105 million assessed values, respectively, as "taxes." Both schools qualify for a real property tax exemption and pay the minimum tax of $300 per parcel.

The editorial also erroneously quantifies the tax savings associated with the homeowner’s exemption program. A $40,000 exemption actually amounts to $140 in taxes and not $1,400 as indicated in the editorial. Likewise for a person who qualifies for additional exemptions, those who are more than 75 years old and meet low income requirements, would realize an additional tax exemption equivalent to $70 for each subsequent five-year age bracket and not $700, as stated in the editorial.

The city welcomes any opportunity to provide taxpayers with accurate information and assistance.

Mike Hansen
Department of Budget Fiscal Services director

All GMO foods should be labeled

Please add my voice in support of the Hawaii GMO labeling bill, requiring labeling on any and all products in the state of Hawaii. I believe that the public needs to know the origin of its food products, and whether the product is organic or manipulated by scientific engineering. We don’t yet know the long-term effects of genetically modified organisms to our environment or our bodies. For those of us wishing to regulate our intake of food products, we need to know what we are ingesting.

Andrew Fitts
Anahola

Jesus would stand with 100 percent

With regard to Bruce Lee’s comment that Jesus would stand with the 99 percent ("Jesus would be with 99 percent," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 30): Does that mean he would stand against the 1 percent? Joseph of Arimathea, who provided Jesus’ burial site, was a 1 percenter. I don’t believe Jesus sees a distinction between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, he loves the 100 percent. And even if he had the 99 percent, he would still seek the 1 percent.

Kathleen Novak
Honolulu

Drug war a failure, world leaders agree

The war on drugs should be ended. It has filled our jails, cost taxpayers millions, and fueled organized crime. In June 2011, an alliance of world leaders declared the war on drugs a resounding failure. The Global Commission on Drug Policy included former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and ex-presidents of Colombia and Mexico. Their recommendations to the U.N.:

< End the criminalization of drug users who "do no harm to others";

< Use legal regulation to wrestle controls from criminals;

< Institute addiction treatment programs if needed.

Hawaii County voters passed an initiative declaring that marijuana have lowest enforcement priority. Cannabis Minister Roger Christie is now facing marijuana distribution charges. He has been jailed for more than a year and not permitted bail, yet we witness bail offers to those accused of horrendous murders. Our community is disheartened with this injustice.

Mary Marvin Porter
Hilo

Rail would be a permanent mistake

Thank God people are actually coming to their senses about the monstrosity being planned for our fair city. With several of our island treasures plus the well-respected Outdoor Circle speaking out, we at last have folks who have nothing to gain financially, telling it like it is. I’m not kamaaina, but have lived here more than 36 years and cherished every moment of it.

The biggest problem with a permanent rail system is precisely that it is permanent. No matter how our population shifts, the huge concrete pillars will remain just where they are. Other systems can be flexible — trolley/bus lines or whatever — but concrete is forever. Meanwhile countless homes, power lines, etc., will have been destroyed so as to make jobs for construction workers, and our children will be saddled with such a debt that they will have to leave their longtime beloved home. Money, money, money. Shame, shame, shame!

Ruth M. Isaak-Lyle
Hawaii Kai