Dow Jones a poor measure of economy
We need to come up with a better way to measure the strength of the American economy than the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow Jones average is simply an indication of how confident investors are about their prospects in the near future. We need something broader that measures the economic well-being and prospects of the general population.
We speak of ourselves as one of the richest nations on Earth. Yet on any given day, even when the Dow Jones is up, more than 10% of Americans live below the poverty line, and 1 in 6 children do.
Fifty-three million people working full time don’t quite make enough to live on, and many have to choose among paying for food, rent, medical care and life-supporting medications. More than 13 million American households are food insecure, and 1 in 6 children do not know where their next meal will come from. And these were the figures before COVID-19. Imagine now.
Let’s redefine economic success in more human terms, address these problems, and invest in becoming a genuinely prosperous nation, by any measure.
Sue Cowing
Niu Valley
Find a better way to protect passengers
More than 80% of the country is infected with the coronavirus at higher levels than in the Hawaiian islands. Please tell me that we are not allowing passengers to board Hawaii-bound flights who have not completed the testing requirements, letting potentially infected people sit next to others who have been cleared, exposing those poor souls to 5-1/2 hours of close contact and possible contamination — then compounding the problem by releasing the untested folks into the general population to quarantine themselves.
It’s a prescription for disaster. Is this the best we can do?
Michael Long
Hauula
Japan should take visitors from Hawaii
I don’t think Hawaii should accept Japanese visitors unless Japan accepts Hawaii visitors on the same terms.
Jonathan Carr
Waikiki
WCCC does beautiful Kailua landscaping
It was so nice recently to see the Community Service Workline women from the Women’s Community Correctional Center back at work again in Kailua beautifying our roads and scenic areas, after a six-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What a difference their hard work makes!
The Kailua Road median coming into Kailua and the lookout and parking lot at Alala Point at the entrance to Lanikai are once again looking beautiful.
Kudos to these dedicated workers for their efforts. We are so glad to have them back again!
Diane Harding
Kailua
Legislature should revamp its rules
The legislative power of the purse is especially vital during extreme economic disruptions. Setting new priorities during the 2021 session will require collective wisdom to make better than just across-the-board cuts.
New rules should be considered before the end of the year (assuming significant COVID-19 disruptions next year).
For instance, bills without appropriations should not need to pass through finance committees. Priority can be given to those bills that crossed last session, but were not considered during the 2020 special session, yet now need to be reintroduced.
If bills are heard remotely, perhaps joint House/Senate hearings on companion measures could be held, at least for the initial tier committees such as Health and Human Services. Briefings often are held jointly.
A fine-tuned Legislature will be key to the underlying challenges of diversifying our economy, deciding when to issue bonds (acquiring more debt), and where to make substantial budget cuts while including innovative ways to receive public testimony.
Bob Grossmann
Manoa
Trump protesters the new Comic Con
Comic Con is where gamers, movie buffs and comic book enthusiasts get together at a convention.
Cosplay is when they dress up as their favorite character from comics, movies and games.
Trump-supporting protesters are engaging in cosplay. They dress up like their favorite character, a soldier.
They wear camouflage with scary Middle Eastern-type scarfs, military helmets and guns.
They are not real soldiers. No real patriotic ex-military service member would cosplay with a bunch of fake soldiers with guns.
It would be hilarious if it were in a sitcom, but this is America in 2020.
These “patriots” give Comic Con a whole new meaning, a literal meaning, of each word.
It’s comic. And it’s a con.
Sad.
Dennis Chaquette
Keaau, Hawaii island
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