Attitude determines altitude

I wrote about our attitude several years back because I saw this day coming. It didn’t do any good then but maybe now that the economic slump I predicted is a reality the government and the people may want to give this letter serious consideration. It was the attitude of the British colonist in America that created this great nation and it will be the attitude of the government and the people in the CNMI that will determine the success or failure of the Commonwealth’s quest for an equal quality of life with the U.S. mainland.

The recent announcement by OPA to address the ever-growing deficit through a Constitutional amendment is noteworthy and I’m glad to see that OPA is doing its job while not being part of the politics, which is a bigger problem than the deficit. It was too much politics that put us in this deficit situation and not enough work to increase our economic altitude, which was driven by the wrong attitude. We now need to take it to the next level if we are to ever achieve the quality of life, health and education in the CNMI equal to our counterparts in the mainland. It has been 30 Years since the Covenant was signed and some people are still living almost in the same conditions—they just have running water and a power bill they can’t pay. We haven’t reached our goal of an equal quality of life, health and education as a people. You would think it’s time for a change in the way we think and the way we are doing things after 30 years.

To increase our altitude (improve our economy) we must change our attitude, which is our approach to doing things. We call it reforms, as mentioned by OPA. But the reforms must go far beyond what OPA is recommending because OPA only addresses the deficit, not growth. Growth requires investment and how can we invest when we are up to our necks in a deficit. We chased away the investors that did come and the Finance Secretary has informed us that the Feds don’t offer economic development grants.

We have downsized part of the government and we need to downsize the head of our government, which created the deficit. It was the attitude and thirst for power that created an unnecessarily larger government than needed. The Constitutional question to the people should also include downsizing the government in the Legislature and this is not an attack on any individual in the Legislature—it’s what’s best for the CNMI. The Legislature is just too big for the number of people in the CNMI that needs representation. Certainly, if California, New York and other states with millions of people can function with only two senators, it should be obvious we don’t need three senators for each island—only one or two per island, with the lieutenant governor as Senate President, like what we have at the Federal level. The representatives in the lower house should also be cut to seven or nine. The idea for a part-time Legislature is also good but I’m concerned that it won’t make them effective. But downsizing the Legislature will certainly be a multi-million dollar savings and it will improve the quality of work by forcing our government to work more cohesively, faster and much closer with and for the people. But you can be sure the strongest opposition to this suggestion will come from those with a personal interest of staying in office.

While the Washington Representative is lobbying the Feds for a water bill, we should also have him lobbying for our rights to federal economic assistance given our state of emergency. But the problem is we can’t ask for the Feds to help us with economic recovery primarily because of our attitude of not wanting the Feds to be involved with the use of the money for fear of them telling us what to do. Our condition clearly justifies the need for emergency funding (9/11, end of WTO, Asian economic slump, poor planning, etc.) but, if we don’t change our attitude, it is hopeless to ask for emergency Federal economic development assistance because our attitude in the past has been to ignore many of the Fed’s admonishments like raising the minimum wage and cutting back on the constant increase of alien workers.

MVA must also take a new attitude in our competition against the world for tourists but it can’t do much with no money. They are doing the best that is possible with the nominal amount they are getting but we need events by MVA to have a global or at least a regional appeal. They are doing a decent job but we must change our attitude to think bigger and better like a “Winter & Summer Break” for all Asian students and we are talking of a virgin market comprising thousands of students. This is just one example of why we fought so hard for our own immigration control beyond the labor industries. But it does us little good if we aren’t going to change our attitude, pool our resources and fully exploit the power of immigration control beyond labor and be reliable in our immigration control. We have already seen how successful Summer Break is for U. S. students and we could get free international coverage.

Finally, our attitude toward the high power bills will dictate how high or how low they will be. I agree with Rep. Torres that people need to wake up! I was glad to see him speak out, given the “emergency” that caused a 10 percent cut, which is really 20 percent or 30 percent for some families who have more than one government employee. But I don’t think we should have a public demonstration against Rep. Babauta because he can’t solve the problems by himself. I also have a lot of respect for Rep. Torres and Rep. Babauta and I don’t want to be in a protest that is more a political bashing than a protest for a solution to decrease our power bills. I know it will be assumed by lawmakers that we are dealing with the increase if the people don’t send a message. I am sure majority of CUC’s customers have the attitude and want to join Rep. Torres in a protest, including myself. But I don’t think many will show up unless the focus is changed from attacking one person to “legislative action” to give us some relief. I also think it is time to for the people to remind the government of its primary duty to “serve” and not to “rule over” the people, which they did with the implementation of the exceptionally high fuel charges that didn’t consider the people’s ability to pay. The quality of life has already begun to implode for many whose power is already off due to inability to pay and the poorest were hit the hardest—a sad state of emergency. People are leaving as fast as they can to try and save their livelihood but still no state of emergency has been declared. We are suffering for the sake of politics and our government doesn’t want to admit making mistakes in the past and that they are willing to change.

We only need to show up in numbers and the entire Legislature and the governor will get the message. The public meeting that drew only 200 people sent the signal that majority of people are not weighing in on the issue but if a couple of thousand of us show up, it will echo in the chambers of the Legislature and at the Governor’s Office where it will do the most good because 2,000 votes has the potential to determine any election in the CNMI. I’m ready, Rep. Torres, and given the letters to the editor on this issue, the people are also ready. Just make sure it’s not an attack on any individual and that it’s after school or a time when the entire citizenry can attend. We will see what is the will of the people and how much of an attitude the people have regarding the ridiculous power bills.

We need to change our attitude to achieve the desired altitude. We have certainly made progress but the people voted with the expectation of an equal quality of life as the mainland. If much of this letter sounds like the truth, smells like the truth and even looks like the truth—then it’s probably the truth. But the $174 million questions is ‘What are we the people going to do’—will power bills remain high, will the deficit continue to grow while our economy declines? I hope this will help the people of the CNMI realize we all need to go in the same direction for legislative action on our power bills and Constitutional changes to address the deficit and to downsize the Legislature.