My response

This is in response to Paul Beebe’s four-page letter titled “Putting the blame where it belongs.” Let me tell you about myself. I have two bachelor degrees, one of which is a BA in business with a minor in economics. This background has helped me obtain audiences with the POTUS, several members of Congress, governors and local state representatives, not only in the United States but in three other countries as well. I think I know a little about economics and how local and national economies work. I also have written several books that are available on Amazon.com, one of which is a book on how to build personal wealth and become successful. With that said, I hardly doubt that I have blinders on when it comes to economics.

I have stated quite clearly, in the past, that products should be made on island in order for the CNMI to prosper. Not everything can be made in the CNMI but numerous items can. This will create jobs and improve the economy. This is called wealth building. If you understand economics, you would understand that money needs to be spent locally if the local economy is to remain strong. Let me show a case study. In 1974, the Laurel-Langley agreement was repealed in the Philippines. Many U.S. businesses had to sell a majority share to local nationals. I’m all for this, except the president of the Philippines decided to become everyone’s partner. The president and his cronies then began pulling money out of the Philippines at an alarming rate. The Philippines, in 1985, had no money to pay its national debt payments or to pay its own budget. Almost all the money was stolen. The IMF came in and tried to resolve this.

To put it on a smaller scale, when a female working at Louis Vuitton in Galleria sends half her money to her family off-island, that money now isn’t spent locally. This means that local stores cannot profit, they cannot hire new employees or give pay raises, and they cannot pay taxes. No alien conspiracy, as you allege, just plain economics. When money is spent locally, the money trickles around to each person and eventually to the government. You don’t need surveys, polls, or elections, just an understanding of economics. If you never studied it, you will never understand it.

I have never blamed any alien for the CNMI budget woes. I said that by sending money overseas, the CNMI government cannot generate tax revenue and therefore the government doesn’t have any income. In Korea if anyone sends more than $10,000 overseas, accumulated during the entire year and kept track of, that person pays tax on that money. They do it to prevent money from leaving the country and thus hurting the economy.

Force retirees to move back here? How about this? You move back here first and work for $5.05 an hour. Be an example. Show the locals that you like this island and you accept those wages. That is what is needed—someone to do it first. Hawaii’s mess was largely due to the Japanese buying up land and driving up land values to a million dollars an acre. The locals were priced out of the market. Japan’s bubble burst in the 1980s and it hurt Hawaii’s economy. That is why Article 12 should stay intact.

The only racism I heard of was you calling Gov. Fitial “Uncle Ben,” which is a derogatory term used in the United States. It’s insulting and shows immaturity. I have never used any term to degrade any person, culture, and/or religion. I have stated that wages are low because the same people who destroyed the economy with the garment factories are the same people paying $5 an hour. Many locals won’t take the $5 an hour job because it’s degrading. I won’t either. The minimum wage should be $10 an hour.

If aliens are related to U.S. citizens they should be protected under U.S. laws until they get their green cards. I got my ex-wife’s green card within six months of being married. I didn’t wait 20 years. And yes, I have gone through hassles with immigration several times and that’s why I moved to this beautiful island in order that I could be with my fiancée without the hassle of going through the immigration process again. If immigration tried to screw with my family I would just move to her country, or take a job in another country, and then go from there. I have done it before and I will do it again.

What do you think, if all aliens were to leave that all jobs will disappear the same day, the entire island chain would cease to move or no one would know what to do? One shipping company moved from here to Washington State, maybe you know that company. Life went on. The problems facing the CNMI were not created by the U.S. government as you stated. They were created by the garment factories and one Sen. Al Franken, who tried to politicize the conditions the CWs faced instead of trying to help improve their status. Where is he now? What do you think his motive was? Hint—to embarrass the other party. Thanks Al.

Homeland Security was started because of 9-11. Do you remember that? President George Bush and Adolph Hitler do not belong in the same sentence. Bush reacted in ways to help save Americans from terrorist attacks. President Franklin Roosevelt, on the other hand, rounded up U.S. citizens (Japanese, Italian, and German descent) and placed them in prison camps just because of their ethnicity. Who was closer to Hitler? Hint—the one on the coin.

Calling local politicians inept? They were freely elected because the God-fearing people of the CNMI believed in them. By saying there are inept politicians in this government is like saying the voters are inept because they voted for them. I have never told anyone on this island who they should vote for. Why don’t you run for office here and fix the problems. You seem to know everything.

To prove my last point about aliens going on the government dole, one writer recently wrote that it wouldn’t be fair if people lose their food stamps for their children if they had to leave the CNMI. I don’t need any hard facts, her letter states it all.