Just what is wrong with
the County Council?
They’re qualified to ask that the state Legislature propose that students must be taught about fiscal responsibility? Isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
When I examine how the state (and county council) are always short of funds, and looking to the next higher level of law makers to alleviate the situation; I scratch my head and wonder where will the funds come from? Ah ha, the taxpayers, of course!
I own my home and pay no mortgage for that luxury. Also when my credit card bills come due each month, I always pay the balance in full. This is what my parents taught me as I was growing up, not what was learned in school. If I want something, I must first think of how I’ll pay for it. I use credit because of the benefit of not having to carry a lot of cash around, not to delay covering the expense for months on end, all the while paying interest for the purchase.
But if today’s parents have no idea about how to allocate the funds that they receive, then maybe, just maybe their children do need to be advised as to how to manage funds.
If Matt Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder is still learning how to write a check, what is he doing managing county funds? Here’s a tip: on the top right of the check write the date of the check. Then in the middle, next to Pay to the order of, put the person or company that will receive the check, etc. Finally, don’t forget to sign your name. That’s it … not too difficult.
To have a county or state legislature propose this to anyone is just idiotic!
Maybe I’m wrong. But I doubt it!
Michael L. Last
Na‘alehu
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Profit from war?
Regarding columnist Kathleen Parker’s Sept. 1 opinion piece, “U.S. departures from both Vietnam and Afghanistan raise the same haunting question”: “Who really knows what we were there for?”
I do not pretend to “really” know, but wish to share my long-held suspicion.
Who, in America could possibly have benefited from either of these two major U.S. military actions? Somebody sure did, otherwise the huge expenditures of American blood and treasure would not likely have risen to such enormous heights.
Unquestionably, those who design, manufacture, and sell military weaponry and supplies profit immensely. Sixty years ago, in January 1961, outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans to beware of the undeserved and disproportionate influence in our U.S. government of what he called the military/industrial complex. At that time, he was speaking of 1950’s U.S. weapons production. Now, those “old” products of war have been replaced and far surpassed by today’s weaponry in technological sophistication, and destructive power. These newer model weapons, like all others before them, will soon likely be obsolete. And, they will also continue to far surpass the older ones in price.
Were he alive today, Eisenhower might well ask: “why haven’t you been listening”?
David M. Bouchier
Kailua-Kona
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