Senator Hooser’s Ideas Not Enough

Sen. Gary Hooser’s commentary (“Across the board layoffs do not create savings”, Honolulu Star Bulletin, 9/24/09) offered no real solutions to the state’s budget crisis. All I read was an attempt to gain votes by criticizing others.

Sen. Hooser tried to mask Gov. Lingle’s executive leadership in a time of crisis as “fear-based decision making.”  His idea of action includes lengthy discussions for problems that need immediate attention.  For a problem that President Obama has deemed a “vast and complex economic crisis,” Sen. Hooser’s call for community meetings is not an adequate response. Is this the decisive leadership and problem-solving we can expect from Sen. Hooser as he runs for higher political office?

Read between the lines of Sen. Hooser’s commentary and you will see the only idea he has is to increase taxes on Hawai'i’s already overtaxed citizens.  We need elected officials who can make difficult decisions and solve complicated problems, not hope someone else will find a solution.

Jonah Ka'auwai

State Chairman, Hawai'i Republican Party

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