Resetting buttons a must

Some of us are curious of the way forward amidst projections of significant revenue losses prompted by two disasters. More specifically, what’s the projected loss versus recovery figures and would projections on sustainability a workable amount?

As much as we’d like to be optimistic, if everything begins at point “A” for the entire business community, CUC, CHC, and other Cs then it makes for some nervous and very uncertain projections ahead. Would there be sufficient funds for the settlement fund, $60 million for CUC’s diesel fuel, $30-plus million to pay old debts with CUC; at least $82 million for PSS and CHC and other obligations?

Of the projected $145 million for this fiscal year, how much does the administration and Legislature see as losses at this point, an optimistic figure for recovery and is the figure a sustainable number? It’s all subject to speculation, right? So the $145 million may only be met at the halfway mark, right?

In brief, the worse of the bad times has just started creeping in. Are we seeing this on the monitor on an “eye level” basis? Is there at least some perceptual idea what’s coming down the pike and realistic alternatives for when our fiscal titanic topples over?

We already hit rock bottom fiscally before the two disasters came. Another creeping disaster on permanent order isn’t going to help us any. We’d definitely engage use of insanity juggling the same figures hoping for different results! There’s nothing but pessimism up that alley, people. Troubling!

We could only create a picture and a fuzzy one at best on what’s in the near term. Trust me. This isn’t going to be a walk in the park but more like inching our way in the dark.

Moreover, the administration is set to ask the federal government for a postponement of the next increase in federal minimum wage. It would have raised it to $6.55 per hour over the current rate of $6.05 per hour. Keeping it at bay at this point makes sense. You would want to spare folks their jobs!

With an economic depression loaded with the unpredictability of heavy revenue loss, there’s no imagining how do we re-arrange the chairs on the deck that is halfway down. It’s bad enough that the NMI has had to endure nearly a decade of income stagnancy where basic goods and costs have skyrocketed while salaries remain the same.

I tried to retain some semblance of hope in what lies ahead. But it’s steadily drowned in the sea of “hopelessness” somewhat helplessly. When the third wave of real hardship hits it really doesn’t matter what your political stripes may be. It’s hell all over the Marianas, an excellent historical point for a novel or movie!

Is there still resiliency to wave off the deepening hardship with a strong declaration of “this too shall pass?” Well, it seems hope now has headed down divinity path riding heavily on speculative investments. Hence, the only certainty is uncertainty!

Every corner of a huge seismic fiscal destruction would be difficult to take for granted, navigate or rebuild. The future moves forward never backwards! Trying to make up ground where funds are scarce would entail unprecedented juggling between here and Washington, D.C.

Politics of donations
As revenue generation heads south, something else slowly makes its way up north: donations from big firms here. Remember the $10 million utility subsidy that came out a day before the last gubernatorial election? This is what’s building up, slow as it may seem. What does it mean?

Business firms with tons of money to throw around are into loyalty buying. It changes what we as citizens have learned about the responsibility of building strong governance relying on personal integrity to make such determination. Now, we’ve been corralled to a stock auction to sell to the highest donor. Screw personal integrity as citizens in a democracy.

Good work by the newest Samaritan on the block. Nonetheless, if it matters to you as responsible citizens, then you need to probe responsibly: Why the generosity? For instance, the donation of thousands of dollars to a certain office would cover employment of temporary employees. But then who covers for liability? Or is this a new way of financing the budgetary shortfall in the unnecessary layers of local government?

Well, let’s play some preliminary insanity game with budget figures. The much publicized $145 million FY 2016 budget would fall by the wayside big time. In other words, take some $40 million to $50 million right off the top, less 80 percent for payroll. We would have less than $20 million for ALL others. PSS and CHC need not less than $82 million. Do you get a sense of shortfalls all over?