Court should cancel isle visit

While it’s good for Hawaii’s economy to be a location for conventions and business gatherings, I think your editorial missed the point ("Hawaii is just right for business, leisure," Star-Advertiser, Our View, May 29).

While some minimal amount of business might be conducted at this convention, this 9th Circuit Judicial Conference planned for Hawaii in August is nothing more than a free vacation for a bunch of over-compensated government bureaucrats, paid for by money that has been extracted from the pockets of hard-working taxpayers.

You fail to mention that they will receive per diem that starts at $289 per day. If this money was left with the people who earned it, they might be able to afford to come to Hawaii themselves and thus help our economy and at the same time enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Considering that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has historically had its rulings overturned more than any other appellate court in the nation, maybe the public would be better served if they stayed home and read the Constitution.

Pete Barrett
Kaneohe

Taxes are big part of gas price

Regarding Richard Dinges’ comments asserting corporate greed being responsible for high gas prices ("High gas prices due to corporate greed," Star-Advertiser, Letters, May 27): TheHawaii gas tax where I liveis north of 50 cents per gallon. That’s 17.5 cents to Honolulu, 17 cents to the state and 18.1 cents to the feds. Not to mention a .05 cents a barrel tax that you and I pick up at the pump.

More difficult to quantify is the onerous cost of regulatory compliance, from unelectedbureaucracies that we also pay for at the pump.

Oh, and "corporate greed" from publicly traded entities goes to fund pensions andretirement investments and paychecks and benefits of hundreds of thousands Americans.

Demand that politicians check their greed.

Carl Wilson
Kapahulu

All rail positions lacking details

It’s fair for the Star-Advertiser to ask mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano about his transit plan.

However, to be totally fair, the same question should be asked of candidates Peter Carlisle and Kirk Caldwell.

We know they are for rail.But since rail is a small part of relieving traffic congestion, what is the rest of their plan to relieve congestion for eastbound Leeward commuters?

How much time are they willing to spend working with the state Department of Transportation to improve merges such as the H-1/H-2, where the congestion starts?

What is their plan to find the millions of dollars per year to operate and maintain the rail?

It seems that all of the transit plans have left plenty of questions about how they will relieve traffic congestion.

Earl Arakaki
Ewa Beach

Hooved animals are destructive

So Hawaii County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong wants to ban aerial shooting and set up a game advisory council to decide what gets to live.

That would be hooved animals, which are too numerous and still increasing. What is dying is darn near everything else.

Feral pigs destroy taro fields, macadamia nut crops and vegetable gardens.

A recent study on Maui counted $1 million in losses from axis deer.

Anti-farm, anti-conservation activists win allies not because meat is scarce but because misinformation resonates in a vacuum.

The facts about overabundant hooved animals and their devastating effects on the resources we really depend on should be front and center in the public messaging from the state Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

Mary Ikagawa
Kailua

Let physicians dispense meds

Having practiced community orthopedics for the past 25 years and treated hundreds of thousands of injured workers, I am extremely dismayed by the transparent attempt by insurers to limit physician dispensing.

Countless delays in authorizing care by the workers’ compensation system leads to patients not receiving their medications at the pharmacy, thus not getting the treatment they need, prolonging their pain, suffering and disability.

Simply allowing physicians to dispense solves this problem, and helps the patients, the employers, the workers’ comp system and the economy.

It’s a no-brainer — except to the insurers concerned about only their bottom line.

Gary J. Kelman
Miami, Fla.