Ghost of deception

The elected elite was sitting pretty in their white dove nest enjoying the blue skies, view of the sea fading into eternity and relaxing green savannahs. Admire the setting so fitting for deep thinkers definitely not the incorrigible.

Though they take stride in the usual balmy weather, something’s amiss. Their eyes flicker nervously while struggling to hide the blinders of deception.

The perplexing stomach butterfly keeps winging in their tummies as they quiz: how could they stop the leak of surrendering as lap dogs to rich donors? In brief, how do they shift the disgust and mistrust that has sunk into the minds of the electorate? It’s a monumental task.

The brewing storm has shaped public perception that now heads down the path of serious expulsion. It’s all a matter of time. Someone said that in politics “perception” is everything. Well, deal with it! You betrayed the trust we had on your promise of responsible representation.

Many are familiar that their reputation is awash in the filthy swamp of deception and could very well land them in prison as their familiar warm seats on the hill. With questionable values and loyalty what did you expect from “we the people?” Why would you treat “we the people” as villains?

Listen to the economic and societal turbulence that is brewing beneath the surface ready to erupt. With a rudderless administration that does more traveling than timely problem solving distressed villagers are doing worse as their anger and resentment builds. Moreover, the fault lines are finally shifting, grinding like opposing forcers of abutting tectonic plates, signs of an impending social earthquake.

Some of the more prominent ones would head to the Horiguchi in Garapan where they would be subjected to a different kind of debate or more like direct and indirect exams from prosecuting attorneys and their very own. This is where the boys would mumble and stumble garbled words when direct queries zero-in triggering possible self-incrimination. It would be sad when they leave their white dove nest for rooms surrounded by rock cement walls somewhere downstairs.

Well, you’d be sowing what you planted in your own garden! No one inflicted major paradigms in the lack of trust from “we the people” coming from your staples of negligence and crony associations. Deal with your ghost of deception!

Meaning of Deficit: When you hear or read the term “deficit” it simply means debt. You’re right on that score. Conservatively, this government is in debt by as much as $1.2 billion. You add the current deficit of some $510 million plus the $789 million the NMI owes the NMI Retirement Fund and you’d arrive at the cumulative deficit shown herein above.

The immediate impact of a huge deficit is the urgency of whether the local government can still pay for hospital operations, meet the needs of the public school system, settlement fund, payment due CUC and other vendors. When there’s a shortage then it could mean CHC can’t order more for its in-house medical and regular supplies. With PSS, it may mean repeating last year’s exercise where kids bring their own toilet tissue from home.

It’s time to reduce the size of a huge government payroll, excess baggage slammed against taxpayers by clueless elected officials of the mounting hardship at familial level.

In the absence of major sources of revenue to meet obligations that jumps by leaps and bounds, it could very well mean the imposition of taxes as the option of last resort. What does it mean for taxpayers? It means every household would have to pay an additional $23,196.42 cents in taxes to pay off the NMI’s ballooning deficit or obligations. So much for the 3 percent economic uptick!

Immigration Debate: We’ve gone in and out of the debate whether children born here of foreign parents are U.S. citizens or not. The discussion usually implodes like it’s the Fourth of July that often border on racism rather unfairly. But since when were we assigned disposition in the propagation of the species?

Are these kids U.S. citizens? Yes! Here’s what the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says:

“Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

There’s the human side to this provision: These isles are their place of birth and have grown up here since then. This is the only home they know. They a part of this community and have seen how well they work with indigenous children in brotherly fashion. Since birth they’ve become the sons and daughters of Mariana! Let’s retire the term “stateless.”

Problems: As we try to deal with federal immigration on labor needs there’s recent news article how nearby Guam is also running into problems meeting its needs. There’s a lot of rejection from U.S. Immigration. Employers could go around it to speed up the review process but it would cost $1,250 per application. The rejection involves nurses, construction workers, and others jobs as well.

The lack of an overall economic plan fails the NMI in that we can’t project our labor and other needs other than discussion in D.C. about the environment and corroboration with Micronesian governments. When do we exit planning by eventualities? Eh, it’s planning the future of our children so they have a decent and meaningful place under the sun versus the deepening effects of the economic depression that has turned paradise into a hellish hole!