Regurgitation: New GOP trend

When irrelevant politicians have petered out, they’d sit like cows in a pasture at night bringing swallowed food up to the mouth to chew on, in a word, regurgitation.

And so they regurgitated replacement of the Department of Public Land with its less than sterling version that preps it for failure more than anything else. It’s another case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Historically, the constitution established the Marianas Public Land Corporation (MPLC). The corporation has absolute power on anything pertaining to public land.

A former governor dissolved and ignored it after he failed a scheme to give away about five hectares in Marpi. He tried dividing it so it avoids legislative review. Under another governor a staff used the same scheme but was soundly slammed. Neither scheme got anywhere!

Then came the infamous Marianas Public Land Authority (MPLA) that failed to follow the basic tenet of pertinent constitutional mandates. It included giving some $2.7 million in land compensation for a marshland property allowed to be appraised as though prime land. Its operations was unbridled and so far removed from its fiduciary constitutional duties.

MPLA was dissolved under PL 15-2 placing it once more under the executive branch. A former secretary upheld the basic tenet of the land agency and denied large parcels of land that would have benefited friends of a former governor. Do you recall DPL employees named in an alleged bribery case by a Korean firm KSA? It still is under litigation.

If there’s serious determination to do good improving the land agency, which model would you pick? MPLC that once had absolute authority, MPLA that ruined it all or the current arrangement easily manipulated by politicians on the hill? Even more importantly: are you ready to think outside the box to improve land leases in favor of indigenous landowners or grab authority in the disposition of segregated funds for pet projects?

In other words, it’s time to engage in mindfulness in the disposition of indigenous public land. Must buckle down to forging lasting decisions that sees beyond the years. Did you get this pal?

Cost of goods
The Guam Port Authority recently decided to raise tariff charges by some 7 percent upon approval by PUC. It means the cost per container (20- and 40-footers) would be going up too, including those destined for the NMI.

It means the cost of basic goods for the NMI would be increasing soon. Brace for it! The increase isn’t going to help Tinian and Rota consumers by any stretch of the imagination.

But I heard we have the self-appointed price control guru Sen. Esteban Mesñgon who promised two years ago to reduce the price of goods on Rota. What would his people do if his promise fails? And so far it has failed because they haven’t seen any decrease in the price of basic goods, sir! Or was it simply a highly deceitful offer from a clueless politician?

With the Guam Port Authority increasing tariff charges it means goods destined for the NMI would increase by another seven percent, right? By the time other charges are tagged for goods headed to Rota from Saipan, the cost would be far higher before it gets to consumers.

You see if you could come down to earth and work at home you’d probably be able to employ the concept of “attribution” to understand full measure why events happened as the did. Junketing like Rafaet and Biktot do every week derails thoughtful working hours into waste!

It’s the perfect recipe to neglecting the needs of the people you represent if you haven’t already. Are you the latest enrollee in the republican elite culture?

Solution: Hire retirees
It’s comically ridiculous for Rafaet Torres to say that the NMI would find ways to control the number of foreign workers for the islands. Isn’t immigration solely the purview of the feds?

Did you forget that we sued and lost where the federal court soundly reminded us that border control issues rests with the feds, not the states and territories?

We could beg U.S. Homeland Security for administrative leniency but even that has its own sunset. Let’s not kid ourselves what is Caesar’s in this case. It means, returning to square one where we plan our future according to what the law would permit. The feds are saying, “fix your mess”, the direct result of internal negligence.

A realistic paradigm is to reset the education and training of our local workforce to get engaged in skills acquisition. This should be done via fully thought-out programs for the next ten years. Otherwise, it turns into the usual annual redundancy quizzing our own awareness. What with weekly junkets between Raffy and Biktot! Everbody home?

In the interim, we should rehire retired teachers, re-deputize retired officers of the peace and other skills. It grants us time to realistically get our ducks in order, so to speak.

Weird silence
We could feel the eerie silence everywhere and though we ponder upon it momentarily, we’re used to fending for ourselves moving forward in strides amidst the hardship. I don’t find this troubling. It seems an established modus operandi.

It’s the lack of leadership trumpeting a course of action on significant issues that is so deafeningly troubling. The deathly lull rings loudly in our ears bewildered by the boastful arrogance and apathy descending from imperial Capital Hill. We ponder our future under such hopeless condition. No worries! It’s in the palm of our hands or “we the people.” We can recapture what’s ours! Let’s replace the useless bunch with fully credentialed candidates!

Lessons for Politicians:
Lesson I: Read.
Lesson II: See Lesson I.
Lesson I: Read! Stupid!