Single-payer plan is best way to go
Gov. Neil Abercrombie is considering a single-payer health plan for Hawaii.
He should move forward aggressively in getting a single-payer plan implemented instead of the imperfect Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
However, to get maximum benefit at minimum cost, it should be both financed and administered by the state rather than using private intermediaries.
Hawaii should lead the way, as it has in so many ways, to get the rest of the nation to follow.
Harold Meyer
Hawaii Kai
‘Single-payer’ was always goal
Gov. Neil Abercrombie favors a single-payer system ("Governor favors single-payer health care," Star-Advertiser, March 9).He voted for Obamacare, likely without reading it.
So, one of the legislators from the single political party that broke America’s health system now wants to fix it? Enter a "single-payer" method.This has been the goal all along.The Affordable Care Act is neither affordable nor about care. It never was.It is about wealth redistribution and control, and single-payer is the modus operandi.
The article says that "the government pays for health care through tax collections."Really? Roughly half of Americans pay nothing in income tax.There are only so many dollars available.When demand outweighs supply, health care will be rationed.
Health care decisions will not be made between you and your doctor, but rather by some politically appointed bureaucrat, because that’s who’s paying the bill.
Dave Verret
Mililani
HCDA should drop ‘community’
A major argument for dense buildup in Kakaako is the creation of a viable community,yet the words of development apologists in the "No Place for Green Space" article (Star-Advertiser, March 9) show they feel no obligation to provide a decent neighborhood environment.
First they say that retail space can really be community space (so tell your kids their park will be the shopping mall!), and then that someday, somehow, all will become a good living space.
Since most citizen input has been ignored by the politicians and at the so-called community forums, I offer a modest proposal: How about some legislator introducing a bill to drop the word "community" from the present HCDA? The new name of Hawaii Development Authority would at least make the actual situation clearer, since the present setup promises no community in Kakaako, just day-long shadow on narrow strips of pavement between the high rises.
Dan Binkley
Makiki
Kakaako needs open spaces
It is cause for celebration that citizens are appealing to the Legislature to protect Kakaako Makai ("No place for green space," Star-Advertiser, March 9).
But it is also cause for despair because the state and the Hawaii Community Development Authority have failed the community completely. Community input has been in HCDA’s imagination, not a reality. And parks and open green spaces cannot be founded on assumptions they must be self-sup- porting or profit-making.
HCDA has hidden behind these assumptions as excuses for never creating, improving or showing vision about parks and protection of shoreline. Capitalist profit-making state agencies fail to demonstrate the value of parks and shoreline protection. Protests and laws will help in the moment, but longer term, public-private collaborations must be established, just as New York City saved Central Park.
It is time to rise above backward thinking and forge the vision and organization to sustain park space and shoreline protection in Kakaako Makai.
Nancy Hedlund
Ala Moana
Waikiki great for disabled visitors
I recently enjoyeda two-week trip to Waikiki.
This trip was special since it was one year after I was diagnosed with sepsis, a disease that resulted in loss of both ofmy legs.
I was impressed with the many ways in which disabled people were made to feel welcome.These included swimming pool lifts, free beach wheelchairs and floating wheelchairs, the free shuttle at Hanauma Bay and TheBus wheelchair service. I definitely recommend Waikiki as a great place for the disabled.
Tom Guthrie
Leavenworth, Wash.
Judge Wilson a worthy choice
Honolulu Star-Advertiser stories and an editorial allude to rumor and innuendo about questionable behavior of Circuit Judge Michael Wilson, behavior that doesn’t square with what I know of the man. ("Senate committee endorses Wilson for state’s high court," March 7; "Hawaii Bar ratings should be transparent," March 8).
I worked with the Save Sandy Beach Coalition in which Wilson played a very important leadership role. This was community service rendered long before his formal service to the people of Hawaii as a judge. We should be thankful for the governor’s choice for the type of man I feel we need in the State Supreme Court.
Could it be that right decisions rubbed certain lawyers in the Hawaii State Bar Association the wrong way?
John C. Nippolt
Kaneohe
Teachers need more prep time
Act 167, the "instructional hours bill," promised Hawaii’s keiki protection from furloughs. As we approach the 5.5 instructional hours per day targeted for 2014-5 (six hours by 2016), three bills to be discussed Wednesday seek to kill these requirements.
The problem is, and always has been, a lack of will to adequately fund education. A teacher can’t possibly stand in front of a class for six hours a day. Like a musician who never practices, or an athlete who never trains, a teacher with inadequate time for preparation, grading, meetings and planning would be a disaster at teaching.
We can only get six "quality" hours of instruction per day with more teachers in the schools. Parents had hoped that Act 167 would force the issue and adequately fund education. Instead, legislators are again playing politics with our keikis’ future.
Marguerite Higa
Treasurer, Parents for Public Schools Hawaii
Manoa
Kudos to teacher and his students
Sincere and hearty congratulations to Sung Park and his math students at Washington Middle School ("Are you smarter than a mathlete?" Star-Advertiser, March 8).
It is a great testimonial of the positive influence Park has on students. I hope that the educational system’s administrators in their offices downtown recognize him as a true educator and make it a point to ensure his continued association with the local school system. Pay him properly; private industry would defi- nitely do that. Hopefully he remains an educator/ teacher and does not aspire to be an administrator.
Three cheers to this group of great young people. This makes me proud to claim that I was once a student at Washington "Intermediate" School many, many years ago.
Ralph H. Oto
Manoa
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