Tax surcharge likely to stay

The half-percent general excise tax surcharge to finance the Honolulu rail transit system for a limited period has always been a sham.

The surcharge was always intended to be forever. It also may have to be raised, now that the true costs to construct and complete the purchase of necessary land reveals budgeted amounts were materially understated.

It would be less costly to have a system of small neighborhood buses covering every neighborhood, transporting people to and from a central station with express buses between the stationand downtown.

Since the first leg of rail transit is from Kapolei to Pearl City, no significant revenue generation will occur when this leg is completed. The most realistic and practical first leg should have been from downtown outward, whereupon that leg could generate revenue upon completion.

Norman Tyau
Downtown Honolulu

Keep lobbyists away from PUC

The approval of the purchase of Hawaiian Electric Industries by NextEra Energy is in the hands of the state Public Utilities Commission.

This is a corporate and regulatory issue.

The Sierra Club, Blue Planet and that whole gang are trying to tell the PUC what to do.

That is not their function. If they want changes to suit them, they need to go to the Legislature, not the regulatory agency.

These organizations think that they should be able to run our energy system.

The answer is no, they should not.

They already make hefty contributions to our politicians; they should stay out of our appointed regulatory agencies.

Bob Dukat
Pahoa

Obama seems to ignore voters

There are numerous areas where I strongly disagree with President Barack Obama, but here I will deal with only one.

At numerous times, Obama announced he would work with the new Congress — but if he didn’t agree with them, he would do his own thing.

Numerous polls prior to the November election indicated dissatisfaction with both Obama and Congress.

Election results proved more people wanted to give Republicans a shot at finishing legislation. That probably will happen more easily since both houses are controlled by Republicans.

In a democracy, the majority rules. There is no position in the U.S. of king or emperor. Obama may veto many bills coming out of Congress, but in most cases he has no reason to do so other than that his single opinion varies from the majority in Congress.

Jim Pollock
Kaneohe

NFL exploiting federal tax law

Imagine Netflix, Facebook and Google declaring themselves nonprofits to avoid paying taxes.

People would be in an uproar.

Now imagine the National Football League declaring itself a nonprofit. Quite the contrary. How can an organization where its top executive, Commissioner Roger Goodell, makes $44 million a year be a nonprofit?

The NFL is protected under an obscure clause in the Internal Revenue Code that states "professional football leagues’" deserve the same tax breaks as soup kitchens, charities and endowments for the arts.

The NFL is taking advantage of loopholes that seem to primarily benefit the rich.

For those down on the New England Patriots for allegedly cheating with deflated balls ("Deflategate"), remember the league itself cheats every American by not filing taxes with its nonprofit status.

James "Kimo" Rosen
Kapaa, Kauai

Equal rights is U.S. heritage

We can’t choose our sex, the color of our skin, our country of birth or our ancestors’ births.

We can’t change our sex, skin color or ancestry.

In our nation, all adult citizens have the right to vote and are afforded equal protections by the 14th, 15th and 19th amendments.

The Supreme Court has historically ruled against discrimination.

While the majority of America’s population is heterosexual, a significant minority are members of our LGBT population.

One measure of a people’s humanity is how it treats its minorities, even if those minorities have different beliefs or lifestyles.

While many religions define marriage, marriage also has legal standing.

I pray that our Supreme Court continues to uphold protections consistent with equal rights for all.

Roger Kimura
Moiliili