We can’t afford Obama library

Apparently there is no end in sight to the spiraling cost of Honolulu’s rail transit system.

Now the ivory tower set wants us to partially pay for a $100 million-plus presidential library to be erected on Kakaako’s beautiful oceanfront ("Renderings raise hope for hosting Obama library," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Dec. 14).

This is being touted as a way to preserve the rather dubious legacy of the Obama administration.

In spite of what the library proponents say, this project will require more than $2 million a year to maintain.

It’s not difficult to predict that the state’s general excise tax will soon be pushing 6 percent to support these and other wasteful projects.

Realistically, President Barack Obama’s heart is in Chicago’s South Side, and perhaps that’s where the library should be.

Wakefield Ward
Kuliouou

Spare us from bungling officials

The bungles discussed in your editorial and the lack of response by the bunglers, and/or failure to take corrective actions, are astonishing ("City, state must perform better," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Nov. 28).

The numerous errors by entities of the city and state government and failure to attempt to correct them or to penalize those responsible for them evidence arrogance toward, and even contempt for, the citizens of Hawaii. They make a mockery of the purported aloha spirit.

The Department of Human Services is especially egregious in this regard.

I wonder what happens to applicants for health insurance who either cannot sign up for the type of coverage they want or, even worse, are denied coverage because they were given incorrect or confusing information?

Do they fail to get needed medical care for which they would be eligible absent mistakes of the DHS?

The people of Hawaii deserve better and should demand it.

Dorothy Petras
Kaneohe

Could NextEra be Trojan Horse?

Electricity should not be a private commodity.

Electricity, like water, should be controlled by the people who use it.

Isn’t there a regulation regarding the control and sale of our natural resources?

Being from Florida especially, the home of the multibillion-dollar GOP Super PACs, who knows? The proposed buyer of Hawaiian Electric Industries, NextEra, could be the oil companies’ Trojan Horse.

NextEra could flip its purchase of HEI to the oil companies, and then we’re sunk.

Sylvia Thompson
Makiki

Rail’s finances mind-boggling

It’s no surprise to hear that Oahu’s rail project is already suffering from cost overruns because it was always sold to skeptical taxpayers using the most optimistic scenarios for cost and ridership ("Price tag soaring," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 19).

I don’t understand from your article how the overruns relate to lagging tax revenues, though. I can understand that lower tax revenues can add to the risks of completing projects, but I don’t see how the tax issue would cause the overruns. Obviously these risks have been known for a while, if leaders have been discussing keeping the tax surcharge forever. Just another instance of how once approved, taxes never go away.

The proposed solutions are very risky: diverting $200 million from the bus system that people are using today, and repackaging work into smaller pieces so the bids look smaller even if the total is bigger.

It just boggles the mind.

Lester Iwamasa
Wahiawa

Kudos for terrific UH hoops games

Congratulations to the Rainbow Warriors basketball team and coach Benjy Taylor for terrific games against Nebraska and Wichita State.Man, they are fun to watch!

Thomas Dye
Downtown Honolulu