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  • Darn Democrats

    Since the discussion evolved, I have moved it here to keep the thread on-track.
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    Originally posted by mel View Post
    We need to FREE our wallets from the wrath of high taxes imposed by DEMOCRATS on Hawaii's citizens, business and tourists. The nightmare of more taxes must end.
    I see Democrats as a mixed bag. While they strive to create freedom for the oppressed, they burden the rest of us with religious-type laws against victimless crimes, with the increased taxes you mention to support their oppression.
    Not all Democrats are evil. Many are people devoted to equality. If they were equally dedicated to freedom and minimal government they would have my support.

    But the party is misguided. I have a friend in jail for the rest of his life in California. He was decorated as a hero in Vietnam, he has 2 purple hearts, a silver star, a bronze star and an ARCOM. He saved many American and Vietnamese lives between 1968 and 1970.

    Because he did not register his seven firearms in California (many were legal war trophies, some not even functional), he 'earned' seven consecutive 10-year terms. 10 years for each firearm. Laws created by Democrats. Victimless crimes; he hurt no one, and was in no danger of doing so.

    I believe in a Libertarian viewpoint, but don't support current Libertarian candidates because of their extreme views.
    Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
    ~ ~
    Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
    Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
    Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

  • #2
    Re: Darn Democrats

    Originally posted by Kaonohi View Post
    Because he did not register his seven firearms in California (many were legal war trophies, some not even functional), he 'earned' seven consecutive 10-year terms. 10 years for each firearm. .
    Something tells me we're not getting the whole story here. Why didn't he simply register them?
    Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

    People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Darn Democrats

      Originally posted by mel View Post
      We need to FREE our wallets from the wrath of high taxes imposed by DEMOCRATS on Hawaii's citizens, business and tourists. The nightmare of more taxes must end.
      I hate taxes more than anyone. Rather than ranting, how about some constructive proposals?

      Hawaii State budget

      Approximately, 50% of Hawaii's State budget goes for personnel expense with no other category more than approximately 10% of total budget. So Mel, what do you do? Cut personnel expenses? Wait that won't work because the welfare portion of the budget then goes up. Cut personnel expenses? Wait that doesn't work because local business will suffer. Cut personnel expenses? Wait that doesn't work, they are locked into long term labor contracts. Cut some other portion of the budget that makes up 10% or less of the budget? That would be about as effective as pi$$ing in the ocean as far as reducing taxes. So Mel, blame the Dems all you want, but until you have a better idea, it is just ranting.

      Federal budget

      The big three line items in the Federal budget are defense spending, Social Security, and Medicare. Each of these accounts for approximately 22% of the budget or together about 67%. All the other line items together account for about 34% of the budget. So Mel, do you want to cut my Social Security and Medicare? Trust me, Mel, you don't want to do that. Do you want to cut a portion of the remaining 33% of the budget? That's like pi$$ing in the ocean as far as reducing taxes. So Mel, are you going to ignore the remaining 800 pound gorilla in the room? Mel, blame the Dems all you want, but it is the Reps platform to maintain a strong military.

      Mel, I would like to hear your specific proposal for cutting taxes at any level. I want to cut taxes too, and I propose we start with the military. If the military wants a new jet fighter or nuclear submarine, let them hold a bake sale or car wash.
      Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

      People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Darn Democrats

        Originally posted by matapule View Post
        I hate taxes more than anyone. Rather than ranting, how about some constructive proposals?

        Hawaii State budget

        Approximately, 50% of Hawaii's State budget goes for personnel expense with no other category more than approximately 10% of total budget. So Mel, what do you do? Cut personnel expenses? Wait that won't work because the welfare portion of the budget then goes up. Cut personnel expenses? Wait that doesn't work because local business will suffer. Cut personnel expenses? Wait that doesn't work, they are locked into long term labor contracts.
        So what if the state has long term labor deals? The governor's office can and has (in the past) imposed layoffs. Collective bargaining agreements that unions like HGEA have do not magically create money out of nothing. If the tax revenue is shrinking, even in the midst of tax increases, it leaves the state administration with little choice but to either furlough or layoff part of its labor force. Unlike the federal govt., the state can't print its own money.

        Mel doesn't offer a solution, but he is right about Hawaii being taxed out as it is. We already have the highest tax burden per capita in the nation.

        http://www.statemaster.com/graph/eco...den-per-capita

        And with the new increases that we can look forward to when it comes to property tax, fuel tax, weight tax, and hotel room tax, it is very likely that Hawaii will continue to lead the nation in this measure for quite some time to come.

        So we're already being taxed to the max. And any further increases will only be counterproductive if businesses start closing down or moving away, which will further erode the already shrinking tax base. If you ask me, govt. needs to find a new source of revenue rather than further increasing the tax rates.

        My common sense solution? We need to legalize gambling.

        But like so many common sense solutions, it probably won't pass in the immediate future. It's a proposal that will not be acted upon until things get really bad, like they are in California right now.
        This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Darn Democrats

          Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
          My common sense solution? We need to legalize gambling..
          And that is under discussion. Whether it would solve Hawaii's long term financial problems is unknown and subject to debate. But at least you have made a viable suggestion
          Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

          People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Darn Democrats

            Originally posted by matapule View Post
            And that is under discussion.
            And that's the problem! It's been "under discussion" for well over 40 years now. Various forms of legalized gambling has been proposed at the state legislature. All of them went nowhere. Gambling has already been discussed to death. We need action.

            Originally posted by matapule View Post
            Whether it would solve Hawaii's long term financial problems is unknown and subject to debate. But at least you have made a viable suggestion
            There's no single "magic bullet" that will solve the state's budget woes. It will take a number of solutions for the state to increase its revenue. Gambling is one of them.
            This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

            Comment


            • #7
              Gambling, the Hawaii State Lottery

              Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
              My common sense solution? We need to legalize gambling.
              FrankieM, I'm with you 100% on this.
              At the VERY least, let us have a State Lottery. Many US States manage them quite well with no vice & corruption increase, plus, just think of the tourists buying "Hawaii State Lottery Tickets!"
              I'd buy at least one a week instead of sending my money to the New England lottery.
              This is a no-brainer, as in, those people with no brains oppose a lottery which could benefit schools, local infrastructure, etc., with no "organized crime" involvement.

              If the Hawaiian community gets "American Indian Kine" status and opens casinos on their reservations, who would suffer? Lost Wages, Nevada, that's who! Who would benefit? All of us, plus who knows what Hawaiian agencies or clicques?

              Gambling is happening, like it or not. I can go next door and access an even-odds crap game 7 nights a week. (Legal cause there's no 'house.') I don't.

              But, a lottery could benefit our schools (as it has done in many other states), and we are all aware that our schools, which should be over-funded if we want our state to move ahead & make progress, are sorely UNDER-funded.

              Let's stop burning witches, let's stop letting religion run our government, and move at least into the 20th century! (We can delay the 21st for a few more years, if necessary).

              Kenny Rodgers, The Gambler
              Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
              ~ ~
              Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
              Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
              Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Darn Democrats

                Originally posted by matapule View Post
                Something tells me we're not getting the whole story here. Why didn't he simply register them?
                I don't know, Matapule. I haven't spoken to him face-to-face since 1968.
                He was a gun freak. In the Nam he carried a BAR, as well as his M-16, and usually had a 1911 .45 and at least one other firearm as well.
                He was a good guy to have on your six, never had to worry.

                The things he carried back from Nam had to be cleared through military customs (no full automatics), but that was when the laws started changing. I ask him about it and he avoids the issue. Maybe he resented registration because usually confiscation follows registration (as it has in so many other countries).

                1. Don't worry, we just want to register your guns for YOUR protection.

                2. Oh, my, things have changed now, and all your guns that are registered are now illegal - turn them in or be arrested!

                Barry, tell them about the 'United Kingdom." Tell us about Australia. And tell us also about the rising rates of violent crime that follow confiscation.

                Remember: registration and confiscation only get the guns that protect honest citizens. Criminals will always have guns, because they get them through illegal channels.

                K.
                Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
                ~ ~
                Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
                Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
                Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Gambling, the Hawaii State Lottery

                  Originally posted by Kaonohi View Post
                  But, a lottery could benefit our schools (as it has done in many other states), and we are all aware that our schools, which should be over-funded if we want our state to move ahead & make progress, are sorely UNDER-funded.
                  Do you have facts to back up your sttement about a lottery benefiting schools?

                  In California, when a lottery was proposed, all the profits were to go to funding education. Wow - what a great idea!!! and people bought into it & voted to have a lottery. Come to find out - sure, the lottery profits were going to schools BUT (drumroll here)...............schools were not getting any more funding than before the lottery because the state was simply replacing budget money with lottery dollars. It worked out well for the state budget and for those few who won $$$. But, it didn't really help education. This situation may have changed by now, but I don't know. I do know when I learned all of this - I never bought another lottery ticket.

                  While I totally agree that schools need to be better funded (especially Charter Schools), I don't know that a lottery would be the best idea unless there were functions built into it that it was to SUPPLEMENT the current budget, not REPLACE the current budgeted amounts.

                  (PS: I believe the Akaka Bill specifically forbids any kind of gambling for Native Hawaiian lands)
                  "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
                  – Sydney J. Harris

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Gambling, the Hawaii State Lottery

                    Originally posted by anapuni808 View Post
                    This situation may have changed by now, but I don't know.
                    No anapuni it hasn't changed, same old tu'u mama'o (or as they say in Mexico, caca de toro) in California.
                    Peace, Love, and Local Grindz

                    People who form FIRM opinions with so little knowledge only pretend to be open-minded. They select their facts like food from a buffet. David R. Dow

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Gambling, the Hawaii State Lottery

                      Originally posted by anapuni808 View Post
                      Do you have facts to back up your sttement about a lottery benefiting schools?
                      No, just political rhetoric & promises.!

                      Originally posted by anapuni808 View Post
                      In California,.....schools were not getting any more funding than before the lottery because the state was simply replacing budget money with lottery dollars.(....) I never bought another lottery ticket.
                      Originally posted by anapuni808 View Post
                      While I totally agree that schools need to be better funded (especially Charter Schools), I don't know that a lottery would be the best idea unless there were functions built into it that it was to SUPPLEMENT the current budget, not REPLACE the current budgeted amounts.
                      I hear. I agree. What do we do???

                      We know our needs.
                      We know our (corrupt) politicians.
                      We know other corrupt governments.

                      Any ideas about what we can do to make it right here?

                      Politicians don't even WANT a lottery!
                      How can we force one, and then keep it honest?

                      (Maybe we can't?)
                      K.
                      Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
                      ~ ~
                      Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
                      Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
                      Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Darn Democrats

                        One thing we can do is fully PARTICIPATE in the election process. Instead of sniping at sign wavers and other similiar manini issues - work for candidates who believe as you do. Don't buy into the rhetoric & promises - they are pure BS. No politician can truly promise to make changes - they all have to work within the system in place at the time they are elected.

                        What we can do as citizens is help the candidates we think are most able - even by standing on a corner just waving a sign. What we can do as citizens is confront these candidates and make them tell us the truth instead of the most "political" answer (as coached by their managers). I have stood face to face with candidates, asked a direct yes or no question - and been very amused to see them veer right off into rhetoric. They will keep doing this until we, as voters, confront them and make them change.

                        I will admit to being a bit of an idealist about the election process but I'm also very pragmatic when it comes to politicians. I will vote for the person who I have met, talked with, looked in the eye and seen their integrity for myself. and I tend to not vote for a lot of folks because they show me nothing but fluff. I worked on a campaign some years ago and found out that the candidate was not being truthful about his stand on some issues that mattered to me. I had a private discussion with him and ended up walking away from the campaign. He won anyway but not with my vote.

                        I'm a very proud Democrat and will continue to be because this party comes closest to my own vision of what the world should be like. Their platform puts issues and ideas out there that mirror my own values. The other parties don't. I'm not saying I will support every Democratic candidate, and I don't always support the actions of my party. But, for themost part I think they do a pretty darned good job.

                        My best hope would be for a "Unicameral" type legislature which would prevent electeds from hiding behind their party labels. and would also make them more accountable for their actions to everyone, not just their parties.
                        Last edited by anapuni808; July 3, 2009, 06:08 PM.
                        "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
                        – Sydney J. Harris

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Gambling, the Hawaii State Lottery

                          Originally posted by Kaonohi View Post
                          But, a lottery could benefit our schools (as it has done in many other states), and we are all aware that our schools, which should be over-funded if we want our state to move ahead & make progress, are sorely UNDER-funded.
                          Are our schools really under-funded? Or is the BOE inefficiently and/or misusing funds allocated to education? An administrative top heavy BOE never made sense to me.

                          I'm for Hawaii having a lotto, perhaps trying to become another member of the Mega Millions lotto instead. With 12 states already participating, the payout is big for the winner as well as the state. But the proceeds can be applied to other state needs. I personally believe the BOE needs an overhaul.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Darn Democrats

                            No comment
                            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Darn Politics!

                              Originally posted by anapuni808 View Post
                              One thing we can do is fully PARTICIPATE in the election process. (...) What we can do as citizens is confront these candidates and make them tell us the truth instead of the most "political" answer (as coached by their managers). I have stood face to face with candidates, asked a direct yes or no question - and been very amused to see them veer right off into rhetoric. They will keep doing this until we, as voters, confront them and make them change.
                              You present a very sensible approach. Mostly I am with you in that we have to make the politicians represent us, not the other way around, which seems to be the status quo.

                              I'm against sign-waving on the side of the highway because I feel it turns the political process into a popularity contest and name recognition issue. I have never seen this tactic used in any place other than Hawai`i!

                              I'm friends with Clayton Hee, and a supporter of his, but every time I see the street lined with signs saying, "HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE, HEE," I feel like the politicians are laughing at our naiveté.

                              I remember the great presidential debates of years past, where we learned about what our politicians stand for and what they believe. In Hawai`i politics all I get are empty slogans and promises unfulfilled.

                              "Do we need it? Can we afford it?" Indeed. We don't, we can't, but we will - and we'll do it MY way!

                              Honest government is dead, or dying. And we are losing our freedom. And I don't know what I can do to make it right again.
                              Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
                              ~ ~
                              Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
                              Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
                              Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

                              Comment

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