Dole says “Pineapple business hard.” Small farmers: “Hold my taro.” Now the public is being asked to bail out a wealthy multinational corporation, and letting it keep 60 percent of our water.

Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is now $16 an hour. This hard-won raise is a down payment, not a solution. The data shows a true living wage is over $22 an hour for a worker with no children. The fight for a true living wage must continue.

There are always winners and losers in every proposed budget, but some of the guests at this year’s budget banquet might be consuming more than makes sense, while others could use more than breadcrumbs.

The knee-jerk reaction of government officials to an outbreak of violence on the underserved, neglected West Side communities of Oʻahu is to prescribe more police. A better solution would be to create a society in which folks can prosper in happiness.