Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawaii Daily News Read

Current Articles | Archives

Tuesday, August 20, 2013
August, 2013 Letters to the Editor
By Letters to the Editor @ 12:01 AM :: 3747 Views

Resolution 158-13, A High Stakes Game

Dear Editor,       August 19, 2013

I am writing to share my concerns about the proposal before the Hawaii County Council to include Hawaii County Resolution 158-13 in the 2014 Hawaii State Association of Counties legislative package. It proposes legalizing High Stakes Bingo for a source of revenue. I believe that this resolution is bad for Hawaii, nor should it be fast tracked, bypassing community discussion.

Hawaii's citizens have strongly expressed a desire to keep gambling out of Hawaii at the Legislature. The Hawaii County Council should not attempt to undermine this desire through the false hope of new revenue. Studies clearly show the negative effects of gambling after it is introduced into a community, often costing the state money in the end.

Resolution 158-13 would also generate revenue from High Stakes Bingo which is a tax that will target the most vulnerable in Hawaii, hurt our economy by diverting money away from struggling businesses, and will pave the way towards legalizing gambling in Hawaii.

A perfect example of why Hawaii should not legalize High Stakes Bingo is the 1980 Jefferson County, Alabama constitutional amendment. It allowed charity bingo, which opened Pandora's box for allowing legalized gambling within the state of Alabama. Hawaii should learn from Alabama's mistake. The lesser of an evil is still an evil.

Lee McIntosh

Naalehu, Hawaii

  *   *   *   *   *

Kakaako Development Promotes Inequality

Dear Editor,        August 3, 2013

While the City of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii join forces with the Kamehameha Schools Trust to develop Kaka'ako into a residential 'Waikiki West' that caters to some lower-income residents, they pander to those who want to look down from $2M perches twenty or more floors above the rest.  Meanwhile, two Mainland professors received the 2014 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought by studying poverty, inequality and well-being.

Government intends to develop our natural environment so that it yields greater tax revenue.  For the Kamehameha School Trust it seeks to increase the cash flow that funds private education for an indigenous ethnic minority.

One professor, Angus Deaton, focuses on the effect of economic upheavals that affect the health and well-being of all of us.  James Galbraith, the other professor, has shown that inequality isn't an outcome driven by factors outside our control, but instead results from the policy choices we make.

Before the rest of us cannot afford to live here, we might focus on the unintended negative consequences that insure that many residents may have to leave Hawaii earlier than they anticipated to survive elsewhere.

Robert Tellander

Waikiki, Oahu


Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii