Use budget surplus on vital services

"Tax surplus should go back to the taxpayers" (Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 20) is the same argument President George W. Bush used to get his tax cuts.

The cuts replaced surpluses with record deficits, hurricane relief with the Katrina fiasco, federal inspections with pollution spills and E. coli outbreaks, and economic growth with stagnation and decline.

The state doesn’t have a tax surplus, it has a spending deficit — a deficit in repairs to crumbling pavements and bridges, a deficit in pay to attract and retain the best teachers, a deficit in health and safety inspections, a deficit in mental health and correctional services, a deficit in funds for aid in emergencies, and more.

The state should use this unforeseen budget surplus to erase the deficits in vital state services to taxpayers.

Milton L. McAngus
Kaneohe

Pay down liabilities, cut taxes, fix roads

Unfortunately, it seems all too typical for Gov. Neil Abercrombie to look at every upside blip in state monies as an opportunity to better resource those he anticipates will vote for him.

Abercrombie needs reminding that state money is not his money, and that his plans would be unwise even if it was.

Hawaii has among the highest levels of unfunded liabilities of any state and our productive citizens are already overtaxed.

Hawaii should expend every "spare" dollar on three things: paying down the state’s unfunded liabilities (instead of adding to them); cutting taxes; and fixing our horrible roads and other infrastructure.

He also needs to keep in mind that fiscal "rainy days" inevitably return.

Michael P. Rethman
Kaneohe

Maybe nature has right to speak, too

Citizens United may have a positive side ("4 years later, Citizens United goes beyond political speech," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 19).

If the Supreme Court can grant corporations the same rights as people under the Constitution, then might coral reefs, soil and the vast array of nature have rights to "speak" in our public discourse and have consideration in the courts?

The framers of the Constitution knew nothing of the finitude of the continent lying so vast before them. No wonder they did not afford constitutional rights to the natural world. We, however, on the verge of environmental collapse, have little choice but to "listen" and check the power and privileges of corporations and our own unsustainable consumption.

This reconsideration of "rights" could be not only an issue of enlightened public self-interest, but also a profound political and spiritual recognition of our place within the web of life.

Daniel Benedict
Waialua

De Blasio ate pizza as an Italian would

There is an adage that states, "You are what you eat."

We could add, "You are how you eat it."

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is one of about 25 million Italian-Americans living in the U.S. Like many of us hyphenated Americans, he has a split personality, one based on a traditional Italian upbringing and the other on a contemporary Anglo one.

Which is the true self? By eating pizza with knife and fork, de Blasio was correctly consuming a popular Italian dish as an Italian would. Eating it in Staten Island was geographical and hence the Anglo reality of who he partially is and where he lives and works.

Apparently, it is all very vexing for Jon Stewart, the social commentator and comedian ("Food flubs hurt when they arouse deeper suspicions," Star-Advertiser, Maureen Dowd, Jan. 16). I bet Stewart twirls his overcooked spaghetti with a spoon and fork while drinking a Coke. He who knows little should speak less. Buon appetito!

Thomas Gambino
Vice president, Friends of Italy Society of Hawaii

Bus ads are hardly as bad as homeless

Week after week, month after month and year after year there are letters in your newspaper and lots of talk about the homeless, but nothing is done.

The state now has extra taxpayer money. Why not use some of it to start to solve the homeless problem?

My wife who is in the hospitality industry tells me that more of her guests are commenting on the homeless people who sometimes stop them from venturing out in the evenings or returning to Honolulu. Then we have the continual building of condo skyscrapers. The city wants to place ads on buses, which some people say would degrade our beautiful city.

Won’t graffiti, the homeless and city skyscrapers destroy the beauty of Honolulu far more than a bus ad? Go figure.

Toby Allen
Kaimuki

Require helmets for bikers under 21

Since Hawaii repealed its mandatory helmet law in 1977, measures are introduced on an almost annual basis to restrengthen the use of helmets in our state.

These measures endure fierce opposition and do not often survive the legislative process.

This year, Senate Bill 2071 aims to increase the age limit of mandatory helmet use by motorcycle, motor scooter and moped riders from 18 to 21. Protecting our youth should be a top priority in Hawaii, and SB 2071 affords us an opportunity to do just that. While a helmet does not guarantee survival in the event of an accident, it’s the only proven method for protecting riders from traumatic brain injuries.

Research demonstrates that the part of the brain that controls reasoning does not fully develop until age 25. For this reason, we should not expect young adults to make the most rational or conscious decisions regarding their safety. Let’s give our young riders a fighting chance at life and give SB 2071 the attention it deserves.

Brian Connors
Diamond Head

Sea could swamp Obama library

Every time I read about proposed sites for the presidential library, I can’t help thinking that in a planet that is heating up at an accelerating rate, and has so much water tied up in polar ice packs, a site a few feet above sea level isn’t a very attractive option.

George Grace
Makiki