We can’t afford more tuition aid

A recent Big Q poll asked if undocumented immigrants should be eligible for resident tuition (Star-Advertiser, March 22).

The answer was not at all surprising: 91 percent said no.

I definitely agree with them.

Our government, both state and city, is forever saying, "We don’t have the money." Your front-page story was about school buses, a very needed service that will lose several routes due to budget constraints.

Pray tell, where is the money for the resident tuition going to come from? I applaud the one lone senator who voted against it. He was the only one who made sense. I believe that the rest of the senators should be ashamed that they would even consider passing such a horrible bill.

Remember, this is an election year and people are paying more attention to what is happening around them.

Yvonne McFarland
Kaneohe

Penalize drivers lacking insurance

Here’s a great way to get some cars off the road and ease traffic congestion in our state: If you break the law and do not have liability insurance, you should lose your vehicle and the right to drive until you get insurance.

If you are in a traffic accident or are pulled over by law enforcement and are unable to provide proof of insurance, your car should be towed right on the spot.

Not only must you provide proof of insurance to have your car released, you would also have to pay for the cost of the tow, court costs and a fee for every day your car is kept in the lot.

Insurance should be considered essential to driving, just like gasoline. No gas, no go. No insurance, no go.

Marianne Rogers
Makakilo

A mutual desire for transparency

I wonder how many other readers were struck by the juxtaposition of, "Don’t scrap rules to allow development" (Star-Advertiser, Our View, March 25) and Ben Cayetano’s, "Telling the truth is no disservice" (Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, March 25).

While not dealing with exactly the same issues or levels of government, there was an overlap of concern that state and city government ensure what Office of Environmental Quality Control Director Gary Hooser called "thoughtful review, complete transparency and opportunity for public input."

I am glad to see that our state’s only major newspaper and candidate Cayetano are in sync on how to deal with what Cayetano called the "big unanswered questions."

Daniel Benedict
Waialua

Health care case somewhat ironic

Isn’t it ironic that the U.S. Supreme Court justices who will decide the fate of America’s first attempt at national health care are enjoying the finest, most generous, comprehensive employer-paid health care available anywhere?

Rike Weiss
Niu Valley

Voters oblivious about debt crisis

In over a thousand days, the Senate Democrats have not passed a budget.This despite the fact that the federal debt is at $15 trillion and rising.

How can this be?

It is because President Barack Obama is a smart man and he is betting that the American people don’t have the maturity to deal with their fiscal problems. He is betting that Americans want a free lunch and would rather stick their heads in the sand when it comes to the coming fiscal demise of the country.

He is probably right.

Obama will probably win re-election in 2012 because we are not willing to make the hard choices needed to save the republic that the Paul Ryan budget is trying to get us to make.

Shame on us.

Lloyd Lim
Makiki

Crackdown on drivers welcome

Kudos to the Safer Streets program that the Honolulu Police Department recently launched.Keep at it. We need our streets safe from speeding cars, drunken drivers, non-insured drivers (who raised my car insurance)and the like.

Also, ticket those illegal zip lane and HOV lane users in the morning and in the afternoon, those who don’t signal before changing lanes and other illegal drivers.

The city needs cash in its coffers.

Rosita Sipirok-Siregar
Makakilo