Guarding local complicity

The complicity of local government accepting federal programs without realistic fiscal assessment of their unintended consequences would present deeper fiscal trouble ahead.

Specifically, would programs we’ve embraced, i.e., Obamacare and Medicaid, help lift or sink our fiscal posture when money under these programs taper off?

Is our illustrious and esteemed delegate wary of this and what has he done to keep us abreast? Has Kilili donned the mask of the fattest beggar in D.C.? Where’s the courageous use of his intelligence or has he parked it in escrow?

The main contractor of Obamacare has been replaced for the massive rollout failure last year. Shouldn’t the CNMI step back until this mess is fixed, including resolution of 11 former AGs suing Obama for his unconstitutional cherry picking of provisions in the law he’s changed unilaterally without congressional approval? Does Kilili have anything to say on this score?

The other more egregiously paternalistic federal imposition is the takeover of immigration control. It’s a given that the U.S. Congress has sole authority on this matter. Nonetheless, was there in fact a need for it and did liberal progressives scaffold the local economy for the annihilating eventuality—exodus of about $7 billion in foreign capital or did it simply say, “sink or swim?”

Or was the takeover purely a political display of paternalism hailing from liberal progressives in Washington who never had to suffer the consequences of their imposition? Is Rep. George Miller an economist or at least sold drinks from a lemonade stand to know business transactions at the rudimentary level? Or is he just a bully of a fast disintegrating union organization countrywide? Glad to know he’s not seeking re-election this year.

This issue alone completely and irreparably drained the trust we once had with the feds. Fixing the mess via a dog and pony show could have done the job. But then came the Miller Trojan horse. Here we are today, a torched investment venue where dystopia turns into our daily bread. It pays to stay on top of this and other issues hailing from D.C. A snoozing delegate is the least we need today.

The seesaw debate on the fate of CW workers has turned into fearful blather. Locals are worried they may not find jobs while guest workers ponder their future.

Realistically, though, we don’t have the needed warm bodies to cover the tourism industry if extension is denied CW workers. The industry would take a quick nosedive into complete disarray. How do we replace 12,000 workers?

Over the years, we’ve gotten accustomed to “our way” on immigration. Now it’s the feds’ way, destructive it may be without reasonable transition period of at least 10 years. The training programs being streamlined to place more locals in the job market involve a process. The process is a protracted one, i.e., trainees must go through training sessions in the various trades, from simple cooking to gardening. Some would make it while others may drop out.

Locals aren’t necessarily lazy but any employee at the entry level bounces around to find which job pays more or what’s the opportunity for upward mobility.

We need to be civil about this issue by fostering and nurturing fellowship, reciprocity, and fraternity, given the immediacy of their services we can’t cover at this juncture.

We sound almost professorial when addressing the loss of self-government, blaming the feds and others for our obvious misgivings. But what did we lose under the agreement?

We grandly ignore that since 1978 we’ve elected indigenous folks to navigate the formation and strengthening of our democratic institutions. How do you rate the performance of leadership since 36 years ago?

Politicians have soundly ensured the insolvency and bankruptcy of the retirement program, piling it with excess baggage until it sank under its own weight! Do we blame Uncle Sam for this mess? What have we done to reform it into a “cash balance” institution?

The CNMI juggles fiscal impotence, steadily sinking in the filthy swamp of bankruptcy with some $478 million in cumulative debt. What has leadership—all indigenous folks at the helm—done in substantive fashion to stop the bleeding? Isn’t the CNMI basically a fiscal hemophiliac?

Did we lift a finger as some $7 billion in foreign capital took an exodus from the islands? Appalling how we’ve treated this issue like some fly by cotton ball.

Does the CNMI need a 29-member bicameral legislature with an annual expenditure of more than $4.8 million? What has it done to improve investments or ease the cost of living?

Then we have boards and commissions that also make rules and regulations (basically new sets of laws) and even charge fees—a form of taxation—that we must pay on top of our income tax and other forms of taxes. Why milk taxpayers of more than its share?

The CNMI is also riddled with redundancies in its operations we’ve accepted as part of self-government. For instance, we have a sizeable Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, yet there’s also Indigenous Affairs, Carolinian Affairs, Women’s Affairs, and other affairs in public office. The renegotiation being sought with the feds must begin right here at home among the elected elite groping for answers from its own inadequacies.

Two weeks ago on the front page of PDN was a couple from the CNMI who were awarded housing and land to keep upon completing the terms and conditions of the program.

Both were born and raised in the CNMI. The family moved to Guam in search of greener pasture. It’s finally found what it was searching for as they begin anew.

The opportunity given this couple brought a vital issue to mind: shouldn’t the CNMI work on reciprocal land policy for Chamorros from Guam?

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