Distrust in government

Appalling how the elected elite has simply clobbered more than half the local workforce here when it initiated the following:

• Increased their salaries by 80 percent without blinking.

• Ignored increases in hospital fees that went up 20-50 percent.

• Gave Cabinet people some 30-percent salary increase.

• Dumped breadcrumbs of 5 percent on civil servants.

• There’s zero sum for private sector employees!

How could you have missed the fact that some 14,000-plus employees are still earning poverty income level and below? So your callous insensitivity is the prized trophy for half of employees here, literally drowning in the misery of poverty?

Your actions send distrust in government deeper than meets your nimble mind. Haven’t you met the people you’re representing whose conditions you’ve dealt complete negligence?

Sure, your marshland reed decision did nothing but slam families further into the depth of misery of abject poverty. Don’t they deserve better days too? Whatever happened to common decency?

I’ve honestly taken a retreat to the quiet corner of my mind dissecting the beast. I was hoping that the aura of arrogance and negligence floating atop the hill were the figment of my imagination. Nah! It’s as real as you wanted it to be! And the airheads thought, “We was born yesterday.” Woe!

And so we become more distrustful of government. Like President Reagan once said, the “government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem.” Government is the problem! While ours mirrors what Reagan said, the mess you’ve inflicted are despicably intended to sink more than half of our hardworking folks.

Constitutional: There’s the “out of focus” crisis that has sent the CNMI reeling for realistic answers. It includes shirking constitutional responsibilities in favor of self-picked meddlesome activities. This trend must cease forthwith!

The Indigenous Affairs Office is a constitutionally established agency of government. It is literally the advocate of the indigenous people on issues of concerns. It is tasked to do the following under Article 3, Section 23. They are:

– Coordinate the development, distribution, adoption and translation of a comprehensive history of the Marianas.

– Ensure local participation in executive managerial decision-making in the government and private sector.

– Assist and promote local entrepreneurial development.

– Establish a community foundation for the advancement of the indigenous people.

– Coordinate the translation and distribution of such official documents as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Covenant and the analyses thereof.

– Plan for the establishment of the Indigenous Cultural Center and the Indigenous Hall of Fame.

– Coordinate an annual cultural festival.

– Develop and implement a long-range plan to assist and promote the entry of the indigenous people into professional and technical institutions of higher education.

– Serve as an advocate of positions taken by indigenous people on issues brought before them.

The IAO could step in and seek postponement of the new hospital fees until some meaningful approach is reached how to dispose of it. After all, it should be understood that the growth of the economy of 28.6 percent didn’t trickle down to family pocketbooks. It has gone elsewhere! New hospital fees hit home directly!

Ocular: Moreover, the new fees would be harder for private sector employees who earn far less than those in government. Would not this imposition force some to stay home rather than seek healthcare when they really need it? What about those on fixed income, like retirees? No one is immune to the cost of basic goods taking to the skies!

The IAO should seek for postponement of new fees that allows implementation on a gradual basis or over a 10-year period. Family income is still woefully low. A gradual increase grants households the opportunity to slowly get used to the new fees while hopefully there’s also increases in their income over the same period.

Remember? About eight years ago there was a dual exodus: Nippon investments just upped and left while nearly 4,000 of our own evacuated the CNMI in search of greener pastures elsewhere. The former rendered the local economy some $12 billion poorer.

Indigenous folks who had sniffed opportunities withering withdrew their retirement contributions and left instantly. Evacuating to new communities across the country, they found good schools, outstanding healthcare centers, and a decent place in small towns conducive for their children’s growth. Home would have been a hellhole.

It makes these issues highly urgent and relevant for IAO to explore what went wrong in paradise. Indeed, opportunities have gone south, though new business infusion has placed the CNMI in some form of recovery.

It takes focus and dedication to fully figure out the beast and a sense of vision to rebuild real opportunities once more.

Humility: In the early ’80s, I accompanied the governor and legislative leadership to Washington to justify a request for some $60-plus million for a new hospital or what today is CHC.

At a park along the Potomac River, the thought that we didn’t even have enough locally generated revenue for a hospital clipped my wings into complete humility. Yes, I was sitting in the most powerful seat of government the world over. But I couldn’t imagine taking that much money from fellow Americans, some 43 million of whom are drowning in poverty.

The list of assistance didn’t end with the hospital. The feds pay for food stamps, Medicaid and Medicare, in addition to other federally funded programs throughout government. I felt so small I started lamenting, “Eh, lucky I live in da kine islands!”

Anyway, Uncle Sam was generous under the agreement that includes a seven-year guaranteed funding for basic infrastructure designed to allow us gradual self-support. We made it in the mid-’90s! I know that self-government is a process, a protracted journey, until we could ably stand firm in what we generate annually.