Taxpayers always get short end
I checked the status of our Hawaii state income tax refund this morning. We filed in mid-January this year, and all previous inquiries stated, “not yet processed, allow 16 weeks, etc.”
Now it reads, “filing received, allow 16 weeks … ” this would mean our refund should be received sometime in late July or August. I wonder if I owed money, would I be allowed to file on April 15 with the notation, “please wait 16 weeks for my payment.”
Lately, government’s treatment of taxpayers seems to be a one-way street in government’s favor. Their idea of balancing the budget is to raise taxes and fees, while flaunting their financial power by delaying our refunds. All you need to do is compute the interest earned daily on the millions of dollars being held and you can see why the taxpayers are being hammered yet again.
Brock Miller
Honaunau
Magic club says mahalo
The 30th annual Magic Spectacular has come and gone and on behalf of the Big Island Magic Club and The Society for Kona’s Arts and Education (SKEA) I would like to thank our community for the continuing support over the years.
Two full houses! We never expected to have this show go on for so many years. We are humbled and proud to be able to bring so much joy to generations of Big Island families while raising money for wonderful organizations. We plan on continuing this tradition next year and for years to come.
Barry Gitelson
President Big Island Magic Club
Captain Cook
Ethics board changes needed
The continued inability and intransigence of the current Ethics Board to reach any decisions speaks loudly for the need to have more members. Is there any real doubt that every county district should be represented to ensure the board functions as most of us would want?
Come on, County Council, let’s get this on the November ballot and let the people decide. What are you afraid of?
Neal Herbert
Hilo
Writer should use words correctly
While I disagree with several of the opinions expressed by Jake Jacobs in his op-ed column (Jake’s Take: “Tulsi is one tough politician, April 7), I think he might be more convincing if he used words correctly and not merely trusted spell-check.
He writes that Daniel Inouye “seemed to waiver(sic)” from his principles. I guess you can waive them, but “waver” seems to be what Mr. Jacobs meant. Later in the piece he bemoans “most politicians who only pretend to stand on principal(sic).” Even if you didn’t like being sent to the office during high school, it really isn’t polite to stand on the principal. You can, however, stand on principle (a word Mr. Jacobs did use correctly earlier in the piece).
Speaking of being impolite, he also chooses to belittle CNN’s Wolf Blitzer by mocking his name, calling him “Blitzinmouth.” That may be a joke for some, but does it really add anything to the political discourse? Haven’t we already sunk low enough into the mud this political season? Whatever happened to disagreeing without being disagreeable?
Alan Silverman
Kailua-Kona