Maybe this is why the government is so messed up

It looks like political incest. In the past 36 years, the CNMI House of Representatives has had only nine family-named representatives for 127 House years. That means 41 percent of all House members are from just nine families and they served an average of 14 years each. The other 67 family names in the House served only 179 House years or 59 percent and just 2.6 years each. In the last 36 years in the Senate, only six family names have served for 66 Senate years, or 41 percent, and for an average of 11 years each. The other 28 family names served a total of 96 Senate years, or 59 percent also, and just served for 3.4 years each. Only one family name appears on both lists but if I add middle names, two more will join the list. You see voters, if your country has been messed up for 36 years and you keep electing the same people, from the same families, over and over, and things don’t get better, sooner or later you have to assume maybe, just maybe, it’s because of the people you are electing, over and over.

Like this guy, Joseph Deleon Guerrero, current Speaker of the House. Here is his Mission Statement, in his own words, not mine. Pay attention to Nos. 1 and 4 because he voted with Inos and the other members on the secret, midnight, casino bills.

1. Promote transparency. People should be able to see what happens in their legislature and be able to have a voice in the decision-making process. To the extent possible, all legislative proceedings including sessions, committee meetings and public hearings should be televised, open to the public, and allow for public comments.

4. Maintain checks and balances. Exercise vigilance and protect the public welfare against special interests, corruption and abuse of power through legislative oversight and if necessary the employment of legislative powers as authorized under the Constitution.

Every one of you need to go to www.cnmileg.gov.mp and check out every senator and House member to see what their promised “Mission Statement” is. Do not vote for any of them that have lied to your face. It’s time for accountability from your elected leaders, not rhetoric. Anyone only representing their family names (relatives) need to be removed. The way to remove them is to only elect people that have shown they truly represents all of us.

Tax beer, sodas and betel nut, or cancel rebates
I know, I know. People have been talking about it for a long time and opponents have practically brought out the machetes in defense of it. Since there is not one statistic, not one single bit of information anywhere, one can only estimate how much is sold in the CNMI every year, but if you add all the ingredients that go into a really good chew, it’s got to be $8 million to $10 million a year. Everyone will scream about all the taxes they already pay but in reality, the people of the CNMI hardly pay any taxes at all. If your 1040 CNMI taxable income is $25,000, your tax is only $2,861 if you file as married. You get 90 percent of that rebated, which is $2,574, so you paid $287. Your CNMI tax is 6 percent or $1,500 so you paid $1,787 total taxes or about 7 percent. If you live in Guam your tax would be about $6,500 or about 25 percent. Since no one here, especially those making more than $50,000 a year, want to pay for their government, you need to look at every single possible source of revenue and going after large sale items just makes sense. Besides rescinding the rebates, look at other possibilities. It very well may be that betel nut chewers were instrumental in shooting down the increase in cigarette taxes. Try raising the tax on beer and soda by $25 cents a can, impose a 25 percent tax on betel nut and other ingredients, earmark the tax only for the Retirement Fund, and voila, the Retirement Fund can almost pay the full amount again. Pay now, or pay later, but somebody will eventually have to pay.

Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan