Hope you like humble pie, Henry
Well, there goes Henry Scroggin again beating his chest — do you take the time to fact check what you write about? I don’t think so. After the revelations of the last couple days, I think you will be eating a little humble pie.
Getting your news from just one source does not make you the authority on the reality of today’s political climate. MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NPR, etc. have all reported on everything you mentioned in your letter.
I do think that the 38 percent approval rating for the “greatest man on earth” says something about where your average American stands. I’m wondering who is really looking at “real time” as Mr. Scroggin says — Eric Holder, the FBI and the Clintons or a whole bunch of other people on the opposite end of the political spectrum.
I am a registered Republican only because when I registered to vote in 1965 you had to register as a Republican or a Democrat. My parents were staunch Republicans so I followed in their footsteps but I have never voted by party — I vote on the merits of a candidate and over the years I have voted for candidates from all parties.
It is very sad and disheartening in today’s political climate where you have people on both sides hurtling insults, hate, half truths and outright lies, especially coming from an elected president. Get over the Clintons, Hillary was not elected and is not the president. I’m still waiting for our duly elected president to start acting presidential and make us proud of being an American in a country that has always been great.
Sally Inkster
Kealakekua
Rental scofflaws hurt Hawaii
James Duke’s letter to the editor is misleading. Hotels are not running Airbnb vacation rentals out of business, many Airbnb vacation renters are doing it. Hotels charge a lot of money for a room. Why? Because they pay their fair share in TAT, GET and income tax. Many vacation renters pay no tax.
In response to my original letter a couple of weeks ago, Nancy Bloomfield said that she pays her taxes as do many people whom she knows. I work full time and try to make a little extra money to help with expenses and I also rent my ohana to vacation renters. Like Ms. Bloomfield, I, too, pay my TAT, GET and income tax on that rental. I also know several people who rent out rooms and ohanas who also pay their taxes.
But there are always some scofflaws who don’t feel that they need to pay these taxes. I know of one local who feels that way. I also know of a mainland person who feels that they should not have to pay these taxes as they don’t live here. This same person owns multiple vacation rental houses keeping their rates well below average because they don’t pay taxes. This particular case generates thousands of dollars per month for them. They know that the state is too lazy or doesn’t know what to do about these scofflaws because they are too hard to track down, so they continue and take their earnings to purchase more vacation rentals, putting the average reputable vacation renter out because their rates are much higher to offset their taxes. How many more of these types are out there?
By vetoing the forced taxation of vacation rentals as Ms. Bloomfield pointed out, Gov. David Ige wants the honest vacation renter to pay for the Honolulu rail project, even to the point of raising the TAT and letting the dishonest vacation renter to do as they wish.
If enough dishonest vacation renters gather more and more rental property, they will bypass the honest taxpayer. Many neighborhoods are producing more and more vacation rentals.
Teresa Tagon
Keauhou