State Rep. Chris Lee pulled out one of the oldest justifications for enabling state workers to receive free tuition at the University of Hawaii, saying that many private-sector salaries and benefits outpace what the public sector has to offer (“Bill would pay tuition for state workers,” Star-Advertiser, March 5).

For decades, this argument has become cliché for government officials and unions to secure enhanced salary and benefits for their employees. Please, where is the current data to support this?

Most of us understand that Hawaii’s private sector consists largely of small businesses. If you’ve ever worked for one, you may soon believe that their rank-and-file workers have lesser benefit and pay packages than their government counterparts. Glibly requiring private-sector employees to support greater benefit packages and add-ons for public employees is unfair and demeaning.

Can someone provide accurate, complete, unprejudiced data to demonstrate the truth of this issue?

Jim Mistysyn

Kaimuki

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Caldwell sells trash pickup fee

There’s an old saying that in order to make a sale, “reduce it to the ridiculous.”

That’s what salesman Mayor Kirk Caldwell is trying to do with his plan to impose a new fee of $5 a month for trash pickup (“City budget figures prompt objections,” Star-Advertiser, March 3).

For the past two years he has asked for a $10 a month fee; now he’s sliced it in half. Who could possibly object to paying a measly $5 a month fee, even if we already are paying for trash collection through property taxes?

But like rail, it won’t take long before the fee doubles and triples so the mayor can make good on his promise to the state that the city would “put more skin in the game.”

So, this is the beginning of an all-out effort by the city to pay whatever it costs to keep the rail project going. Reduce it to the ridiculous.

Garry P. Smith

Ewa Beach

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Fix Red Hill tanks without delay

The editorial urging the state to require the Navy to quicken fuel storage fixes at Halawa concerns all of us (“Red Hill fuel ruling must quicken fixes,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Feb. 26).

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires protection of water sources such as the underground Halawa aquifer, our source of life-sustaining water for more than 400,000 residents and visitors extending to Hawaii Kai. This includes our vital downtown business district, shopping malls, Waikiki and densely populated residential communities.

The Navy’s underground storage site, located a mere 100 feet above this key aquifer, is of high strategic value and deemed essential to enabling the U.S. military to preserve peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. But upgrading this aged World War II facility to meet federal and state standards is required to protect the aquifer from catastrophic damages.

Assuring safe, clean water on Oahu must take precedence. The state and Hawaii’s congressional delegation should act to ensure that the aquifer is fully protected from all possible threats.

Charles Ota

Aiea

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2nd Amendment needs amending

Jacob Sullum used the various reasonings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to strengthen the court’s arguments regarding the Second Amendment and the right of American citizens to bear arms (“Supreme Court must clarify boundaries of gun rights,” Star-Advertiser, March 3).

However, Thomas’s argument is built on the fiction of “original intent.” As Sullum quotes Thomas, “I find it extremely improbable that the Framers understood the Second Amendment to protect little more than carrying a gun from the bedroom to the kitchen.”

Rather than simply speculating as to what the Founding Fathers meant and didn’t mean, shouldn’t we support an amendment to the Constitution to reflect the political, social and moral changes that have taken place since 1789? If not, we would still have slavery and a franchise limited to males. If not, we will continue to struggle with the hocus-pocus of what was probable and improbable.

Mark Helbling

Manoa

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NRA waves flag for gun makers

The National Rifle Association is deceiving members into funding its support of gun manufacturers under the guise of patriotism. It uses scare tactics to convince followers that a socialist movement is scheming to pry all guns out of the hands of their owners, when this is absolutely not true.

Its goal is to push the belief that the Second Amendment allows unrestricted gun ownership rights, when no amendment is absolute. If you don’t believe this, try exerting your right to free speech by shouting out that you have a gun while standing in front of the White House.

Once enticed into joining the NRA, new members are offered cheap hats, bumper stickers and wallet cards to give them the sense of wrapping themselves in the American flag. Then their dues money is spent to further enrich the gun industry, which undoubtedly loves this arrangement.

Kurt Lemon

Kailua