DEMOCRATS

OBAMA-CLINTON TICKET WOULD ENSURE A WIN

U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are to be commended for their dedication and commitment to public service.

With the requisite delegate count in hand, Hawai'i-born Obama is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

In order for Obama and the Democrats to claim victory in November, it is imperative that he select a running mate with domestic and foreign policy experience, nationwide name recognition, and the heart to best serve our nation.

An Obama/Clinton ticket would be the best option for America. Moreover, the combination of two powerhouse Democrats will ensure that the White House is returned to the Democrats — the people's representatives.

Go Obama/Clinton.

ROD TAM

DOUBT ANYONE HAS NOT USED NON-PC TERM

You know what I hate? Whenever a person in a political position uses a term that isn't deemed to be "politically correct," they get chastised for it.

I watched the testimony at the City Council meeting, and I was horrified. It was apparent to me that everyone who was there to criticize City Councilman Rod Tam was just there to get their five seconds of fame on TV.

I mean, who really watched the video? He was trying to find the right word to use to define that broad term of "undocumented" workers.

For crying out loud, I doubt there's anyone who has never used a non-PC term before. People, let it go!

SB 2396

NEW LEGAL PROTECTION FOR STATE HOSPITAL STAFF

On May 23, Gov. Linda Lingle signed Senate Bill 2396, which makes assaults on a person employed at a state-operated or state-contracted mental health facility a class C felony. This will take effect July 1.

As a nurse at Hawai'i State Hospital and one of the many staff who have been assaulted, I wish to thank Sen. Clayton Hee and Sen. Jill Tokuda for submitting this bill. Also to Kevin Mulligan and Nora Nomura from HGEA who helped submit our testimony.

Many nurses fought long and hard to get this legal protection, and we hope it will cause patients to think twice when they intentionally assault staff.

I also wish to thank Gov. Lingle for signing this bill that will no doubt boost the morale of the hard working staff at Hawai'i State Hospital.

IRAQ COMMENTARY

HANSON'S EXPERTISE JUST NEOCON IDEOLOGY

A comment on two May 29 op-ed columns. The neocon deadender Victor Hanson gave us a shrill, rambling article blaming the baby boomers for just about all our problems. Subtext, the Iraq war (robustly endorsed by Hanson) is a failure due to the values of the baby boomers. If the baby boomers understood real sacrifice and the evil in the world, we would have been successful.

Don Blakeley's Island Voices column, "Democratic ideals another casualty in Iraq," demolished Hanson's spin. Even if the absolutely best-case scenario emerged for Iraq, what will we have? A government in which Islam is the "fundamental source of legislation," a government whose constitution will violate "fundamental human values." Not to mention a government that will make Iran very happy.

Can there be little doubt that Hanson's so-called historical expertise is nothing but heavily filtered neocon ideology? The majority of historians warned that Iraq was a maddening pit of warring religious perspectives and a country of 30 million people with many ancient scores to settle.

Now look what our soldiers have had to endure because of "experts" such as Hanson. If The Advertiser wants to continue to have some conservative balance for its op-ed pieces, I suggest it pay some money for articles by New York Times writer David Brooks. It is time to retire Hanson from these pages.

COLA

ISLE FEDERAL WORKERS SHOULD READ SENATE BILL

I highly recommend that every one of the 19,500 federal and Postal Service employees in Hawai'i read and become familiar with the provisions of Senate Bill S. 3013, "The Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2008," and the section-by-section analysis that can be found at Sen. Dan Akaka's Web site.

This bill is much more favorable than the suggested language submitted by the Office of Personnel Management last year — it even allows those employees to choose to continue to be paid the full COLA or to adopt the pay provisions of the act.

Frankly, we can no longer afford to lose any more of the pay increases that we have had to endure since the implementation of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) in 1994, which now stand at over 17 percent.

This will probably be our best opportunity to improve our pay and retirement similar to the Mainland federal employees.

SB 2646

GOV. LINGLE SHOULD VETO AG LAND MEASURE

Incentives to promote viable agriculture are long overdue and SB 2646 was a pretty good bill until political tactics made it unacceptable.

A provision in HB 2807 to allow an expedited land-use change for 20 percent of an agricultural land petition effectively died in the Senate on March 19. The next day, the House Water and Land Committee gutted a dormant Senate bill from 2007 and inserted most of the same language as HB 2807. Fortunately, SB 546 was not picked up in conference committee, so it, too, would not pass.

Having failed to get approval for expedited land-use changes in previous bills, the House leadership held several bills hostage in committee for last-minute horse trading. SB 2646 was thereby amended in conference, without public input, to include a provision for an expedited land-use change for 15 percent of an ag land petition. Must we give away the farm to save the farm?

The Legislature should promote agriculture incentives without heavy strings attached by well-connected and powerful landowners.

The newspaper editorials are correct; the governor should veto SB 2646.