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According to today's HTH, the council kicked the can down the road on the GET increase. They delayed the vote until past the legislature's March 31 deadline for counties to enact an increase. It will apparently now require an extension from the legislature to even bring this up for a vote. Our Puna Makai rep Eileen Ohara was one of only three firm "yes" votes. From what she has said, I think she has the delusional idea that a significant chunk of the money would be spent on Puna infrastructure, mainly roads. Yeah, right. She represents the poorest district on the island and wants to increase the most regressive tax after already raising taxes last year. Here's a link to the story:
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018...inccrease/
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Ohara ... has the delusional idea that a significant chunk of the money would be spent on Puna infrastructure
Puna is full of poor people. Poor people ride the bus. GET increase would be spent entirely on the bus system. That's "infrastructure", right?
Certainly no less delusional than Kim's "GET increase means tourists will pay their fair share".
I might have supported a higher GET that exempted groceries, medication, healthcare at the point of sale. A refundable tax credit is worthless if you can't afford to wait.
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The bus system (if you want to call it that) would be better off being privatized, as randomq has suggested. Of course, the county would probably give the contract to some good old boy insider, but there would at least be a possibility of improvement. As long as there are no consequences for failure, there is no reason a more heavily funded transit system would be any better. Giving the county more money is like giving a hopeless alcoholic more booze.
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The bus system (if you want to call it that) would be better off being privatized,
Look to Robert's and the school bus contract.
I was almost rammed by a Robert's school bus at the intersection of Hwy 11 and Kawailani. My light had changed to green, and as I entered the intersection I saw out of the corner of my eye a yellow bus blasting through the red light at full speed. I stopped in time and called Robert's to report the incident. The dispatcher told me, "Oh yeah, that bus lost his brakes." 15 minutes later I saw the same bus number, still dropping off kids. Downshifting?
Recycle Puna. Humans, although probably not you personally, have already left 400,000 pounds of trash on the moon. - YouTube's Half As Interesting
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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The bus system (if you want to call it that) would be better off being privatized
It already is: County subcontracts the tour operators to fill in for our broken bus fleet.
This means we pay for Mass Transit (staff, buses, baseyard) then pay again for actual bus service.
Think of the savings to be had if we only paid for things once.
