Letters to the Editor

Pay for the past

I take issue with Jade Moon’s attitude regarding the sequester as stated in her column “Taking Sequester Effect Personally.”

She asks if we need to throw a tantrum to get “them” to listen. The “them” did listen. And they spoke.

They warned us that “we” needed to do something about our deficit. “We” took no action. In my house, I can throw a tantrum, but that won’t get the bills paid. Too little money necessitates spending cuts. That is reality. We need to confront it, deal with it and stop complaining. Most people will suffer to one extent or another, but maybe that is the actuality we need to face to get our country on the straight and narrow.

Karyn Abe
Makiki

No new raises

Ludicrous, out of control, hypocritical and just plain insanity! Recent headline: “State salary commission votes to recommend pay raises for the governor, judges and legislators.”

The audacity during this critical time of sequester with layoffs, furloughs and budget cuts for programs such as Head Start for our keiki, Meals on Wheels for our seniors and disabled that our politicians have the audacity to even consider such madness.

Children, seniors and the average American suffer while politicians continue on with their narcissistic and selfish quest.

Politicians are public servants – they work for us. Politicians should all have to live on minimum wage and go fight wars on the front lines – maybe, just maybe, they would acquire some empathy and change of heart.

We can all fight back during the next election cycle and re-elect nobody.

James “Kimo” Rosen
Kapaa

Scary clowns

Thanks to Bob Jones for a thought-provoking column on North Korea. While it is a criminal regime – in the most literal sense of the term as it counterfeits money, sell illegal arms, etc. – as Mr. Jones points out, the U.S. has given the Kims and their henchmen reasons not to trust us over the years. It would be easy to just laugh at the North as a bunch of clowns, except these are clowns with nukes and missiles.

Ed Morita
Honolulu

Go Bows!

Mahalo to Ron Mizutani for writing about Steve Chinen’s efforts to revive the name Rainbows for UH men’s athletics. The whole Warrior business goes back to June Jones’ homophobia. In this day and age, we should be past that.

Yes, Hawaii has a tradition of native warriors, but Manoa, home of UH, may be the rainbow capital of the world. I could live with Rainbow Warriors.

David Lee
Kaimuki