It is interesting to note how the GOP leaders are all scrambling to find anything to unseat Donald Trump as the party candidate for president. They have no one else to blame than themselves.

The financial collapse in 2008 was caused by eliminating laws to prevent financial malfeasance by brokerages.

Blocking logical gun laws have resulted in numerous shooting rampages that killed innocent people.

By blocking the possibility of a Supreme Court justice being selected by President Barack Obama, countless attempts to repeal Obamacare, refusing to fund the federal government every year as well as being the least productive legislature in decades, the GOP has only itself to blame.

The American electorate is fed up with all the shenanigans the party leaders are getting away with. Whatever happened to “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” which the great Republican President Abraham Lincoln so proudly proclaimed?

Jon Shimamoto

Mililani

Gitmo inmates cost a fortune

As usual, Ben Boychuk is way off when he says that “appeals to cost savings are weak” (“Has the time come to close Gitmo prison?,” Star-Advertiser, RedBlueAmerica, Feb. 28).

Last I saw, Guantanamo Bay is costing the Department of Defense $1.25 million per prisoner annually. Add in the private contractors, and it balloons to more than $3 million each.

There is no question that we could ensure the protection we require at any high-security federal prison in the U.S. for a fraction of that cost. But nobody wants to put that front and center. Once again, an uninformed citizenry is a quiet citizenry — sad.

Imagine what that amount of money could provide for our schools, hungry children, homeless families and more.

Tom Tizard

Kailua

Help available for caregivers

After reading Anthony Lenzer’s commentary on long-term care benefits, I could not help but think how correct his comments are (“Modest help for long-term care better than nothing,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 29).

For $65 a day, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., there is a senior day-care facility in Kailua that a loved one with dementia can go to so as to provide respite care for a caregiver. They are even open on Saturdays.

I realize this does not address Lenzer’s personal-care issues for his wife, but I just wanted to point out there are other options available to caregivers. Contacting a social worker for assistance or having the city’s Elderly Affairs Division (EAD) provide a case management company would be other options.

As an advocate for caregivers, I feel that caregivers just don’t know what options are available to them. There is a need for more public education on this subject.

Ken Takeya

Kailua

Erosion forecast much greater

In your recent editorial about beach erosion, you repeat an error that has recently found its way into your stories about erosion: “Parts of the shoreline could retreat inland as much as 20 feet by mid-century” (“Beach erosion needs more than short-term fixes,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Feb. 29).

This is an underreporting of our model results. Our work shows an 80 percent probability that erosion by mid-century could cause shoreline retreat up to 79 feet, and by end of century, up to 200 feet.

Chip Fletcher

University of Hawaii

Get rid of laws that are ignored?

Regarding Wim Blees’ suggestion to accommodate drivers who already exceed posted speed limits (“Change speed limits, not driver behavior,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 29):

Using his line of reasoning, we also should get rid of stop signs and red lights because so many people don’t bother stopping.

While we’re at it, we should double the legal alcohol limit since there are so many drunken drivers.

And why bother with irritating laws governing noisy mufflers since so many moped riders and motorcyclists, as well as car owners, drive with defective or third-party mufflers designed to amplify noise?

Finally, let’s scrap driver licensing because there are so many drivers blatantly ignoring basic traffic laws.

By eliminating such inconvenient and unenforceable laws, scofflaws will be less stressed out because they won’t have to worry about breaking the law. After all, aren’t laws made to be broken?

Ray Tabata

Manoa

Too-slow drivers a problem, too

Have you ever come upon a solo bike police officer on the side of the road while driving on the freeway? It is amazing how everyone slows down to the posted speed limit.

Traffic seems to flow nicely at this location.

House Bill 2746, which allows drivers to determine the “normal” flow of traffic, is ridiculous and insane. I’m doing the legal maximum speed limit. My friend Tailgate Tommy thinks I should go faster. How much faster? What is normal? Is Tommy “normal”?

To help the situation, realistically re-sign the freeways (65-70 mph depending on location), and let the appropriate enforcement agency take action on slow-moving as well as excessive speeding vehicles. Both are a problem.

While the slower driver in the left lane may be a temporary inconvenience, the real problem is our impatience, which only you and I can correct.

Edward Lingo

Kailua

Kauai ‘squatters’ act like homeless

It’s interesting that our state officials and the Star-Advertiser repeatedly refer to the people who illegally camp out and leave trash on Oahu sidewalks and private property as “homeless,” but for the same activity on Kauai, they are referred to as “illegal squatters” (“Squatters are making mess of scenic Kauai valley, officials say,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 22).

Aren’t these one and the same? Aren’t both groups exhibiting the same obnoxious behavior of trashing and damaging property? The “illegal squatters” at Kalalau Valley now call themselves “outlaws.” This is madness. Unfortunately, it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Lisa Adlong

Hauula

China a threat to its neighbors

I hope all readers of the article, “Missiles add to South China Sea row” (Star-Advertiser, Feb. 18), are as concerned as I am over China’s latest provocative, militaristic actions on the Paracel Islands. This is a very big deal, notwithstanding the other hegemonic provocations going on in the Spratly Islands, and a page right out of Russia’s playbook, “How to expand your empire at the expense of your neighbors.”

What’s the purpose of missiles on Paracel if it isn’t to intimidate China’s neighbors, command more of the South China Sea, and threaten trade routes to other countries?

All this added to Beijing’s choking off much of the flow of water and the natural migration of fish from the Mekong River, devastating the livelihood of millions of its neighbors.

Let’s not forget what the Red Army is still doing to poor, little Tibet.

Art Todd

Kaneohe