Obama adviser considered us fools

Jonathan Gruber, a mathematics professor at M.I.T., was a major adviser to President Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on the Affordable Care Act, for which he was paid more than $400,000 by the taxpayers.

Gruber admits numerous visits to the White House to craft ACA.He has admitted in various video clips, as shown on Fox News, that the actual costs were hidden from Congress and the public.He repeatedly stated that this was OK, as the taxpayers are "stupid."Perhaps as stupid as our congressional delegation that voted for it without reading ACA’s thousands of pages.

As a member of the Fourth Estate in the islands, the Star-Advertiser has not covered this in a timely way. I suggest its staff watch Fox News and tell the public about this Democratic fraud.

It will cause massive heartburn, but it is a part of the newspaper’s mandate.

Edward Gencarelli
Kailua

Smaller Army here could be a blessing

Remember: "The love of money is the root of all evil."

Does Hawaii want to be on perpetual welfare?

We could do a lot more to become self-sustaining. A reduction in military forces may require us to do that. It may be a long-term blessing rather than a curse.

William. H. Russell
Mililani

China still behind U.S. standards

Your article by Robert Bryce ("Climate change and coal: Hard truths," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 12) brings back memories of the extreme shortage of electricity in Beijing years ago.

Back in 1975, I lived with my wife and three children in Beijing for one month. We knew a Chinese man who had fled from persecution in Indonesia to Beijing. He had title to a four-room dwelling and rented two of his rooms to us.

This was convenient, but the extreme shortage of electricity was shown by the fact that the bathroom was lighted by no more than a tiny flashlight bulb.

Today, China’s economy as a whole is set to overtake the U.S. economy, but because of her gigantic population, the per-capita income is still low. Thus China’s per-capita residential consumption of electricity is only one-tenth as much as that of the U.S.

Consequently, the obligation to cut back on residential energy consumption falls on the U.S. ever so much more than on China.

Oliver Lee
Aina Haina

Politicians fiddle while Hawaii burns

The results of the election went exactly the way I expected: poor voter turnout due to lack of interest with business-as-usual candidates.

While they vow to fight for us, work to keep Hawaii’s values, and humbly ask for our support, Nero will fiddle and Rome will continue to burn.

Thomas Arnott
Kaimuki

Republicans should have heralded Djou

It has been decades since we have seen two-party representation in the state Legislature ("Hawaii has become a one-party state," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 13).

One lone Republican in the Senate does not represent a two-party system.

Many Democratic voters aren’t truly Democrats. An inherent trait from generations of voting for Democrats is a herd instinct.

Republicans made a fatal mistake in not concentrating on electable candidate Charles Djou, who needed only a few percentage points more to capture a congressional seat.

As a lifelong Republican, I am very disappointed with party strategists. Of course, there’s always another election.

Yolan Garrett Chan
Kaimuki

Money seems to be running the islands

The people of Hawaii have been sold out to the highest bidders and mainland campaign money once again.

Niihau is privately owned, as is my island of Lanai, which was bought by billionaire Larry Ellison, while the islands of Maui and Molokai appear to be owned by Monsanto, which spent more than $8 million to buy GMO votes.

We all know the unions own Oahu. So who can we count on to take over the remaining islands of Kauai and Hawaii island?Will Monsanto strong-arm the powers that be, or will the people continue to stand up and fight their Goliath like the people of Maui County will continue to do?

Is it any wonder why people choose to stay home on Election Day in Hawaii?

Margaret Peary
Lanai City

DHS just relayed what Kaiser said In response to your article "Quest bungles plan flier" (Star-Advertiser, Nov. 19), I would like to point out that even Kaiser Permanente’s own website said it wasn’t accepting Quest applications.

Kaiser’s site said it is "currently closed to new QUEST members" (with a few exceptions) and that "the state will not offer Kaiser Permanente as a health plan choice for new enrollment."

It’s not fair to blame the Quest program for getting the wrong information when even Kaiser is contradicting itself.

Christopher Abe
Kapahulu