Social programs are under attack
Members of the Vladimir Putin wing of the U.S. Congress and others are hell bent on underfunding and defunding the fruit and vegetable benefit of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Title X family planning clinics, Head Start by 6%, Title 1 education for disadvantaged students by 77%, and all funding for safe and clean drinking water (think Red Hill) by shutting down the federal government, again.
This is tantamount to a young, immature brat declaring to his or her parents that if I don’t get what I want, I’ll hold my breath until I turn blue!
To that end, I’d say, “Take a deep breath, and call me in the morning.”
If they succeed in shutting down the government, then their pay should be withheld for the duration. Their goal is to eliminate social programs that many in Hawaii use, while overpaying many incompetent and questionable defense contractors with the money they claim to be saving.
Dave Kisor
Pahoa
Mahalo to HTH’s Connor Whitt
The BIIF sports stories and pictures by Sports Editor Connor Whitt are what I most look forward to in my morning Tribune-Herald.
I told him as much when I met him at a baseball game last year. He seemed like a very nice guy, and I thought to myself, “I hope the paper keeps this guy around.”
My son plays football for Pahoa but was sidelined for Thursday’s game, so he brought his camera to photograph the game. My son is very new at photography and just learning to use his camera. Mr. Whitt saw that he was having trouble with his camera and offered to help.
Mr. Whitt adjusted and spent considerable time teaching my son about his camera. Earlier in the evening, a young lady photographer (sorry, I wish I could thank her by name) also offered my son some helpful advice.
Those acts of aloha meant a lot to my son.
J.C. Kocher
Keaau