Eh, we’re filthy rich!

With less than a day and-a-half in the receding year, we peep with mixed reactions as the dawn of 2017 prepares to light up this verdant strand.

The adage the “past indicates the future” is something to expound upon as we look ahead. What are your expectations? Are you optimistic that we would see better days ahead, more of the same, or a hybrid of both?

How do we dispose of the usual irrational despondency fueled by the well-nurtured poker syndrome and mañana? What a mind-numbing recipe as we prepare for 2017!

U.S. taxpayers must do something about the 43 million fellow citizens drowning in the swamp of abject poverty. It’s time to spend your taxes where it counts.

Start by cutting your misguided compassion fostering permanent welfare state of the NMI with tons of your tax dollars. You have and still are paying for food stamps (SNAP), health insurance (Medicaid), housing vouchers, social security and school lunch program, among others. You are generously sending your hard-earned taxes to the NMI.

Dr. Cesar Chelala, a New York writer and international public health consultant, fittingly quoted U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Nonetheless, we’re filthy rich so leave us alone!

Fatal handouts: Meanwhile, I’ve been slammed that it isn’t their fault that our people have relied on freebies. Said a recipient, “The elected officials placed us here through negligence.” I understand where he’s coming from but I can’t fathom the collective failure of the “do-nothing” on the hill, allowing abject poverty to be ingrained as a way of life.

With a reported casino income of $3.9 billion monthly, we have more than sufficient funds to meet all our needs. This assertion should hold true if we tax this largesse. But someone just whispered, “Not yet, already!” Oh?

Hopelessness: How comforting the waning days of Obama for he would soon be complete history! Can’t stand his insidious plans that fostered a divisive country now mired in despair, not to mention his global apology tour. He insidiously reduced the strength of our country as a global power.

He impugned use of executive fiat, violating the concept of separation of powers between the three separate but equal branches of government. For instance, he unilaterally funded a certain aspect of his signature healthcare program shot down by the federal court. It told Obama that appropriation is solely the authority of the U.S. House of Representatives.

His wife Michelle went off on a tangent that her hubby leaves behind “hope.” Nah! The hope is in his departure from the WH. No mas! There would have been credibility in her spout had she and Barack sent their kids to a poorly funded public school system. But they sent them to an elite school to avoid the heavy traffic of kids who hail from homes drowning in poverty!

New wall: The shutter of capital flight—huge sums of money leaving China—has adversely affected casino industries in the Asia-Pacific region. It has derailed real estate investments in Australia and Canada. China further limited how much money could be withdrawn from ATM machines from outside China to crack down on corruption. The regional binge for casinos heightens competition in every corner.

The external wall of investments closing-in in stealth ways plus internal arrogance inflicted against other key investors shutter any hope of progressive strides on economic growth. The assessment by a global economic firm isn’t very encouraging in terms of future investments here. The Trump-Jinping relationship isn’t helping any either.

We elbowed Nippon investments in recent past, ignoring their pioneering efforts. Japan has turned its market into a fading sunset for the CNMI. It has headed to the Aloha State, exploring every island outside of Oahu. And we’ve basically done the same with South Korea. Is the NMI now teeming with investments it could afford boasting arrogance?

Across the Pacific Divide national Republicans are determined to cut through entitlement programs to pay up the more than $20 trillion in federal deficit. Trump is too busy working on wealth and jobs creation for ailing businesses and blue-collar workers across the country. Where do we fit in this equation?

Excuse me! Puerto Rico would be completely bankrupt or broke by February of 2017! Aren’t we following closely behind? “Not yet, already?”

What’s the NMI’s credit rating like today? It’s about assessing revenue generation versus the ability to pay off debts. Is it an “A” or below junk bond status?

Networking: Both political parties here have participated in national conventions. It is in fact the perfect venue establishing and nurturing what’s known as “networking.”

It simply means connecting with the powers that be so that when the NMI is caught in a bind on an issue before Congress, we could seek help from both sides of the aisle to get a measure through.

If the occasion is done with simple photo-ops then we’ve lost out on a vital opportunity to make the best expanding friendship whose help we may need down the stretch.

Ooops! As we part, it is rumored that Da Boysis are being questioned by the feds one by one. Happy New Year! Go ahead and recite the kids’ riddle, “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great…”