Tax structure too much like Europe

Enough taxes already!

For the past six months, all I have heard from our presidential candidates is "income tax reform."

I reviewed my budget for the past two years and found that 45 percent of my income went to taxes. Federal income taxes were a small portion of my overall tax bill.

Federal taxes included income taxes, Social Security and federal taxes on gasoline. State taxes included real estate taxes, income taxes, sales taxes and taxes on gasoline. Local taxes included vehicle registration, sewer taxes and utility taxes.

I have a lot of friends living in European countries controlled by true social-democratic governments, and they pay about the same percentage in taxes as we do. They get more services than we do, such as full medical care and college tuition, and they are going broke.

We need to learn from mistakes in Europe and get our tax structure and spending under control.

Nelson Lampert
Kapolei

Outrage at private school comments

Is anyone else outraged that, according to Ryan Tanaka of Saint Louis School, former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona said, "A private school education is no longer a luxury for college hopefuls; it’s a necessity for the next generation to compete in and contribute to the workplace and society" ("Enrollment up at Saint Louis," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 16)?

Grace Craver
Kaneohe

Public schools offer quality education

This is in response to Ryan Tanaka ("Enrollment up at Saint Louis," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 16). I am a Hawaii public high school senior and my parents, who chose public school for my brother and me, also expect that we "will make better decisions, learn in a safe environment, enter circles of like-minded emerging leaders, and get placed into top colleges."

Like many other Hawaii public school graduates before me, I have been accepted at a top university where I expect to do well.

I realize Messrs. Tanaka and Aiona work for Saint Louis School, and feel strongly about the value of a Saint Louis education. However, as I and other college-bound Hawaii public school graduates can attest, a private school education is certainly not a necessity to compete in and contribute to the workplace and society.

Paris Bell
Kalaheo High School, Kailua

Palama keiki learn hands-on pottery

I enjoyed Nancy Arcayna’s article about Palama Settlement ("Celebrating a Centennial," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 13). One of the photos of Palama’s keiki was taken during a Hawaii Potters’ Guild "Building with Clay" after-school session. HPG has provided ceramics instruction in collaboration with Palama Settlement for two years. The classes are free to the children. They learn clay hand-building techniques including pinching, slabbing and coiling. They glaze their artwork and the pieces are fired onsite in a kiln donated by HPG. Our Palama keiki have created everything from octopuses, pumpkins, vases, ice-cream bowls, and most recently, a 9- by 15-foot sealife mosaic wall which was installed in time for the Malama Palama celebration on Nov. 20. HPG is proud to be a part of the rich history of Palama.

Rayna K. Galati
Director, Hawaii Potters’ Guild education outreach program

Marines make too much noise

The nighttime generation of noise from the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay is a real problem. As seven-year residents on Kaneohe Bay, we have adjusted to the daytime flight noise from the MCBH. However, Marines performing nighttime maneuvers over the bay and mechanics jarring their neighbors out of sleep at 3 a.m. by revving and racing helicopter engines is rude and most probably unnecessary.

As a contractor, I know that the noise section of the Department of Health would never let my construction company emit noise of those decibel levels before 7 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

With airfield operations expected to increase 50 percent in the next few years, MCBH should limit nighttime helicopter and airplane maneuvers to outside the bay over the ocean. The Marines should perform only quiet aircraft maintenance at night or build a sound wall to direct the high-pitched helicopter engine noise away from their neighbors attempting to sleep across the bay.

Cliff Tillotson
Kaneohe

State should help Micronesians

State officials are understandably unhappy about having to foot the bill for Micronesian immigrants to the tune of $115 million last year while the federal government provided only $11 million ("Revise pact with Pacific islanders," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Nov. 16). But with the current budget-cutting mood in Congress, increased funding for this purpose is highly unlikely. Nor is the proposal to increase federal funding for education and health care in Micronesia a better bet.

However, Hawaii can’t protest too loudly about the unfairness of this situation. This is supposed to be the Aloha State, and surely our Pacific island neighbors should receive some aloha treatment. Morever, the failure of Washington to help more pales by comparison with the massive federal expenditures in this state for other purposes.

The U.S. interest is not altruistic. Although nuclear testing in the atmosphere at Bikini and Enewetak atolls is a thing of the past, Washington maintains the base at Kwajalein for missile testing. More important, the U.S. wants to deny use of the islands to a hostile power. With the ascendance of China, this concern has acquired fresh significance.

Carl H. Zimmerman
Salt Lake