‘Nothing is free’
Heard on the news that one of the bills in front of the Legislature this session would let the state match your down payment for a house, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000.
Owing a home used to be considered “the American dream.” Now, I guess it is just another “right” to add to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Politicians sure like to give your hard-earned money away. Add house down payments to free college, free day care, free medical, and free whatever.
As the old truism goes, “nothing is free.” Unfortunately, when the primary goal is re-election, and it is not their money, you have the perfect political storm.
There’s even a proposal this session to give the Department of Education taxing authority (to be approved by the voters, because it requires a constitutional amendment). Last I heard, we don’t elect the DOE board. However, we do elect Office of Hawaiian Affairs positions and prosecutors. Why not give those governmental agencies taxing authority, too?
(By the way, if more money is needed for K-12, legalize gambling.)
When politicians take more and more of your money, you have less to spend on what benefits you. That’s the basic “right” (or freedom) politicians and government should be concerned about — letting you decide how to spend your own money.
Fred Fogel
Volcano
No to gambling
Why would anyone think about legalizing any form of gambling (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 25) when the attitude of our politicians is still tangled up with the Thirty Meter Telescope, the homeless, guns and negative video games for our keikis?
Let’s all make our “gratitude our attitude” and work together and give our new year a ray of sunshine.
Lynise Tarring
Hilo
Trump and climate
This is in response to Abolghassem Abraham Sadegh and his letter (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 26) regarding the need to impeach Donald Trump on the grounds that he is making climate change worse.
Climate change is caused by global human overpopulation. That is the core forcing dynamic of climate change and environmental destruction that no one will discuss. It is taboo.
Donald Trump will do more to combat climate change and environmental destruction by lowering the rate of population growth in the United States via mass illegal immigration than by all other greenhouse-gas abatement strategies combined.
That is not his intention, but that will be the outcome.
If, however, you feel that it is a basic human right to increase your carbon footprint 20-fold by illegally migrating from a poor country with a rapidly increasing population to a developed one with a stable population where you can afford to have a large family with state support, then climate change is really not the issue.
John Powers
Pahoa