GOVERNOR, UNIONS: WORK TOGETHER

I have finally read an editorial that says it perfectly. I, for one, am sick and tired of the unions grandstanding on this issue and accomplishing nothing in the meantime for the workers they are supposed to represent. The governor and her administration have been straightforward and logical in proposing to deal with the budget shortfall from the beginning.

Enough with the potshots! Everyone must face reality and work toward the best solution for all of us who live in Hawai'i.

TED PEISTER JR. | Honolulu

WORKERS NEED TO GET WITH THE TIMES

I'm surprised that I haven't read one letter describing the positive side of furloughs with regard to the state budget talks. Is it really that major of a sacrifice? Labor members would keep their jobs.

Wouldn't they still receive paid vacation days, sick days and overtime? Who hasn't wished they didn't have to go to work some days? Spend time with family, play golf, go surfing, go to the beach, garden, finish household chores, sleep in and relax, enjoy time with friends.

Enough already, let's get with the times and approve the budget!

Tim Baier | 'Aiea

AL QAIDA PLOT

CIA WAS RIGHT NOT TO TELL CONGRESS

Let me get this straight. The U.S. House of Representatives is investigating the CIA because it was plotting to kill al Qaida leaders — and didn't tell Congress?

In the "leak culture" of Washington, to tell Congress is to tell The New York Times, and to tell The New York Times is to tell al Qaida.

This would all be funny, if it wasn't so scary.

Ray Gagner | Laupahoehoe, Hawai'i

HEALTH CARE

WEALTHY PROTECTED WHILE CHILDREN SUFFER

Apparently Gov. Lingle cares more for the welfare of the wealthy than for the welfare of children who are at-risk. She refused to raise taxes on our wealthiest residents, she vetoed House Bill 989, a funding bill to extend the Hawai'i health care program that provides health insurance to children, and she slashed funding to the child abuse prevention program Healthy Start.

According to Phoenix Marketing International's aggregate wealth ranking, in 2009 Hawai'i had the most millionaires for the second year in a row, with 6.41 percent of households having net wealth of $1 million or more.

These rich people should be asked to contribute, but I guess the governor wants our neediest and vulnerable children to be the ones who sacrifice to help the economy.

Lyn Pyle, RN | Honolulu

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

DOE SHOULD FOCUS ON ACHIEVING RESULTS

Last week state education officials predicted that more public schools would fail to meet federal goals under No Child Left Behind. The test scores came in and they were right — 66 percent of Hawai'i's public schools are, in fact, failing to meet federal "adequate yearly progress" goals.

Despite this disheartening news, the Department of Education seemed to be telling the public not to worry, explaining that schools are improving and that the bad results are because the test is too hard and doesn't measure the right things. This sounds like just another excuse.

I heard these same statements while serving as a board member on the state Board of Education from May 2005 to December 2006.

Several years ago the BOE approved reducing the goals set under the federal government, No Child Left Behind requirements; it is difficult to accept continued excuses about why our students are not testing and performing at a higher level of academic achievement, as measured by NCLB.

We need solutions from the Department of Education on how to improve test scores and achieve real results, not more spin trying to convince the public that it's acceptable that less than half of public school students are proficient in reading. We shouldn't discount national tests or statistics simply because they don't reflect what we want them to.

PAUL VIERLING | Kailua

TECH TAX CREDITS

ACT 221 CHANGES ERODES CONFIDENCE

The version of Senate Bill 199 that state Rep. Isaac W. Choy champions in his commentary (July 20) was based on a false assumption.

Choy assumed that the only reason people invested under Act 221 was to avoid paying taxes. If this is true, those people will now find other ways to avoid paying taxes, and Choy's bill will save nothing.

Choy changed the rules of the game and further eroded investor confidence in Hawai'i. Act 221 was bringing Hawai'i, Mainland and foreign investors to the table. They were investing in honest, hard-working entrepreneurs building tech companies that were paying great salaries, buying goods and services, and generating state tax revenues.

Choy turns building a diversified economy into an "us versus them" proposition. The tech industry was and is sensitive to Hawai'i's economic difficulties. It offered a version of SB 199 that would have saved just as much money as Choy's bill without drastically changing the rules.

Choy's bill was motivated by a twisted sense of class warfare. The governor allowing the bill to become law makes a joke of her promise to let Act 221 "run its course." The tech sector was "Superferried."

Hawai'i entrepreneurs' ability to raise capital for their tech companies has been crippled. We can only imagine the lost opportunities. It did not have to be this way. We need success, not just survival.

BILL SPENCER | President, Hawai'i Venture Capital Association