Richard

al Guacamole wrote:
> On May 9, 6:40 am, "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj...@hawaii.> wrote:
>
>> Let me suggest that the tourist industry is also not dependable.
>
> Obvious. But the casino industry is not the silver bullet for Hawaii.
>
>

As If there is ANY "silver bullet". The success or failure of the State
(or, for that matter, the country) is no different in principal than
that of any investor. Diversification is key. Anytime you put all your
eggs in one basket, you risk losing it all with one misstep. Hawaii will
probably always be an attractive travel destination, but excluding
unrelated businesses is foolhardy.

You must also build a solid foundation...this begins with education.
More, and better education. Most importantly, for the state, you must
take steps to attract business...ALL business. How? What are the
obstacles to business in this state? High land costs. High Union Labor
costs. Taxes. Regulation....just for starters.

What if the state, that ultimately controls land use, took steps to make
large areas available for residential, light industry, office, and
especially mixed use so that small business owners could live right
where they work? Making large new areas available will lower the land
prices for everyone (which is exactly why they DON'T do this, in cahoots
with the Big 5), lowering the cost of doing business.

What if we eliminate Unions? As a group, union workers are less
productive than non-union counterparts. This, in conjunction with higher
wages and more benefits, compounds the overall expense to business,
driving up costs.

Taxes and Regulation go hand in hand...let's simplify this and shift
more of the responsibility BACK to the individuals where it belongs,
instead of government "protecting" every squeaking wheel that rolls by.
The government should focus on infrastructure and education. Let the
market self-regulate business.