Egregious indecisions

My support for the implementation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program doesn’t convert my conservative views into one of a liberal progressive. But it’s vital to point out to our elected and appointed elite of life in paradise they’ve turned into a hellish hole for grandly failing governance.

Comparative analysis has been done and it shows that SNAP would spur economic activities when consumers (SNAP recipients) begin spending at local grocery stores and vendors by the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There’s the empty ideological and philosophical assertion of becoming a “nanny island state.” Well, the program requires recipients to search and find meaningful employment in about two years. That doesn’t leave much room to detrimentally rely on a perceived largess from Washington. You secure help but must in turn help yourself out of the program.

The problematic issue is simple: Would this administration spur sufficient economic recovery to grant these recipients a shot at earning their dues? This is the greater question that places a challenge on the elected and appointed elites to resolve. If this doesn’t materialize, then and only then can we call these isles “nanny island state.” But guess who introduced such embarrassing state of affairs: Leadership who failed their people in “wealth and jobs creation.”

It makes sense to introduce SNAP now for the following substantive reasons:

Work hour reduction is an issue employees could claim under SNAP. NAP doesn’t allow any room to maneuver under the prevailing austerity measure.

This privilege allows victims of austerity to claim what they’re denied in order to ably pay for their utilities and other familial obligations, i.e., real estate loans for the first family home

It would grant the 6,000 retirees some breathing room for survival when they receive the last of their pension checks. It’s SNAP that would cover the inadequacies of this administration that simply decided to quit remitting its share to the imperiled Fund.

If income limit on Guam is anywhere between $3K to $4K a month, then it simply means more help for a large group of underemployed and unemployed. Is this the perceptual fear of this administration? Is it a justified fear when most people in the villages are truly underwater? And please note, most aren’t munching and slurping on cholesterol loaded lobster or steak fat either. Most are dealing with breadcrumbs and leftovers re-cooked to make ends meet.

This administration can’t ignore the fact that small businesses, the backbone of the local economy, have consistently shut their doors because it’s no longer profitable doing business here when utilities are prohibitively high.

As this phenomenon occurs translating into far less revenue and jobs, severe unemployment would force more people to relocate elsewhere. Some 2,000 plus of our own have already left the island over the last several years when employment and other opportunities contracted beyond their wildest imaginings. And this is supposed to be home.

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Blame it on the cha-cha-cha

Oooops! The boys at the Legislature just approved allowing active Fund members to withdraw 50 percent of their contributions. Understandably, the money belongs to vested members, but wouldn’t this fast track the demise of the Fund by doling out some $113 million for this purpose?

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Concerning the decision by the board of the Retirement Fund to file for Chapter 11, the former chair said everybody must now get together to help the Fund. Excuse me, sir! Why must we partake in resolving a mess created by this administration for failing to pay employer’s contribution since fiscal year 2006? It’s all about leadership competency, isn’t it, sir? So why haven’t you told the governor in no uncertain terms to start paying? Your fanciful and irrational excuses led to the bankruptcy of the imperiled Fund. Why skirt the issue? You’ve vacillated over loyalty between your boss and retirees a bit too long. It’s called weak-kneed decisions, sir!

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Feud of the Month: The Senate president refuses to meet with the governor. The latter asserted that the former ought to visit his office for a meeting “because the people are suffering.” The obvious question is: Under whose charge? Is it Paul’s or Nigno’s?

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It isn’t surprising that this administration has imposed tyranny, preying upon the ignorance of retirees they wish to subjugate. Knowing that it is easier to deprive people of their rights if they are unaware of their rights, it often forsakes its responsibilities in order to further its own political goals. In other words, it seeks to preserve ignorance, rather than advance knowledge. Nice try!

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Threats from political dinosaurs

Magoo and Magee moved to the edge of their seat when Republican and Covenant incumbents started discussing how to rebuild and grow the economy.

As the conversation ensued, their minds were racing through the hallmark or legacy of incumbency-a do-nothing bunch that left governance in hopelessness and abject poverty.

Said Magoo: “Surprisingly interesting that these guys now have the energy to discuss a complex issue that has sailed above their heads since three years ago.”

“It’s election year and the guys are trying to figure out if there’s such a thing as the sixth sense in regurgitation, you know, juggling the same issue hoping for different answers.”

“Isn’t that what Einstein called ‘insanity’?” quizzed Magoo.

“Forgive them, pal, for they know not that they know not and rambling seems the safety valve to unload their ignorance,” said Magee.

“We once had hope that in spite of the tough times, the elected and appointed elite would be more than able to burn the midnight oil employing tough minds to domesticate loss of major investment,” related Magoo.

“But then how do you pound a sense of urgency to brace for any further investment loss when the effete are inebriated by their mañana attitude, leaving fiduciary responsibilities to the birds,” noted Magee, adding, “it’s sickening, isn’t it?”

“You have to remember that most of these folks aren’t necessarily people of substance other than their special ability to sport dismissive arrogance, confident that voters have no choice but to prolong the status quo for political dinosaurs,” said Magoo.

“That’s the dangerous aspect of the prevailing attitude where voters complain of ‘do-nothings’ but partake in prolonging the agony by voting for the same bunch of incompetents time and again,” said Magee.

“This self-inflicted mess must change and only governance or the voters can inflict it by proactively embracing the tip of their pencils as the real agent of change,” related Magoo.

“What then could we do when failure is repeated once more by our voters?” asked Magee.

“I’m optimistic things would change for the better. I’m also a staunch believer that the dark precedes the bright lights of dawn.”

It need not be this way if only we could calm down and smell the scent of freshly mowed grass around the yard by sticking to fiduciary responsibilities.

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Delrosario is a regular contributor to the Saipan Tribune’s Opinion Section.