Veterans Choice a good program

I would like to share a different point of view than that in Sunday’s article (“Vets care program remains fragmented,” Star-Advertiser, March 19).

My primary heath care is through the Hawaii VA, and I have seen outside doctors both through Veterans Choice and at Tripler Army Medical Center.

There is no question that Veterans Choice has added another layer of bureaucracy and takes longer. However, the program does find good health providers and the results are positive.

The requirement is that the veteran has to stay on top of it. You have to ask for and hand-carry the results, if necessary, to your VA doctor. Previously the outside appointments were made by VA staff, primarily at Tripler, and could be handled more flexibly if changes were required.

I have found the Hawaii VA staff to be competent and supportive, but they have been leaderless for a year, which is another story. Why?

Paul Tyksinski

Kailua

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Divided country cannot survive

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

President Donald Trump obviously is not a good politician. But rather than help him, Democrats are doing everything to hinder or sabotage his progress. The Democratic leaders don’t even caution those protesting Trump to refrain from violence. They seem to enjoy what’s happening.

If our country falls, it’s because we were not able to work together. The Democratic leadership for years have put us in such demoralizing debt. We are financially crippled, owned by other countries. Trump is trying to solve this problem and bring credibility back to our country. And with no help.

Can’t we work together for the betterment of our country? No? Then let the violence continue to escalate. Let martial law take over. Soon, there may be no free America.

Clarence Chun

Kalihi

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None of us should tolerate lying

Let’s be clear: Any message delivered loudly, emphatically and repeatedly, won’t pass the litmus test if:

>> It’s false (Three million illegals voted in the 2016 national election. More people attended the 2017 presidential inauguration than the one in 2013).

>> It’s deceptive (Mexico will pay for the wall. The White House is running like a fine-tuned machine).

>> It’s invented (President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower).

>> It’s inaccurate (Trumpcare will cover every single American).

>> It’s disingenuous (We’re bringing back coal- mining jobs).

>> It’s outrageous (Barack Obama founded ISIS. He’s a Muslim born in Kenya. The media is the enemy of the people).

We teach our children not to lie, to admit their mistakes and to accept responsibility. We cannot ask less of our current president, his staff, his Cabinet — and Congress.

Joyce Torrey

Waialae-Kahala

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Federal workers served our nation

With the ongoing denigration of the career federal work force on an almost- daily basis, it is an appropriate time to remind everyone of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Almost 22 years ago, two individuals took the lives of 168 men, women and children, born and yet to be born, only because they, or their parents, worked for the federal government to serve their friends, family and neighbors.

Across from a chain-link fence, where teddy bears, tricycles, beer cans, flowers, notes and toys were left to remember the lives lost — and while the bombed building was being taken down and the permanent memorial built — St. Joseph Old Cathedral, also damaged in the blast, erected a statue of Jesus, with his head in his right hand and back to the bomb site, facing 168 niches for prayer candles.

At the base of the statue are the words “And Jesus Wept.”

John Priolo

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association

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Illegal rentals divert wealth

To understand illegal vacation rentals, it is necessary to follow the money.

In the course of enriching themselves by monetizing Oahu’s residential neighborhoods, the owners of illegal vacation rentals have removed at least 4,000 units from the supply of rental housing on Oahu, driving up prices in the remaining supply.

Oahu now has at least 5,000 homeless people, not counting the young and the elderly who must share space with relatives or be homeless. According to recent Star-Advertiser reports, the state has allocated millions of dollars to address homelessness, and the city plans to subsidize developers of affordable housing with free land, property-tax waivers, tax-free bonds, free sewer hook-ups and other benefits.

The indirect financial effect of illegal vacation rentals is thus a large transfer of wealth from law-abiding taxpayers to organized scofflaws.

Neil Frazer

Kailua