THE question GovGuam needs to be asking is “how do we get the job done as best as possible?” Our island is in grave economic danger and cannot afford to defer critical economic problems any longer. In fact, it is largely our government’s tendency to ignore or postpone financial decisions that have placed our island in the moribund predicament that we currently face.
Even remarkably astute and well-informed decisions lose their beneficial potency when they are belatedly executed. We are at a crossroads and must realize that we have arrived at that crossroads in an unenviable position in which we have very few options available. Worse yet, none of the options at our disposal will lead to an immediate and comprehensive resolution of our economic woes. Regrettably, this fact remains unrecognized by many in our government.
Yet for all of this bleak news, there is much we can do to improve our island’s economic prognosis, and the answer lies in an approach tempered by both moderation and pragmatism.
The problem is identified simply enough as one of debt. Guam has spent and is continuing to spend more than it is generating. Three approaches can be taken to solve this problem, each with its own benefits, while a blending of all three would prove most expedient.
Guam can reduce its expenditures to a level below its revenue intake; it can seek alternative means to extend and increase revenues to a level above its expenditures; or it can augment usage of extant assets, resources, and revenue sources.
The first two methods require both considerable planning and time to implement properly. The third method can be implemented swiftly and deliver positive results equally swiftly. Senator Jesse Anderson Lujan has proposed such a measure in the form of Bill 82. While I am not privy to Senator Lujan’s thoughts on the bill he has placed before the legislature, it is reasonable to assume that he has set upon an effective manner to quickly alleviate some of Guam’s current debt load.
Undoubtedly, Bill 82 will not recapture all money owed on existing debts owed to Guam, but it is not intended to. Rather, this bill represents an acceptance of reality. GovGuam needs instant revenue, and in pressing times, which is what Guam now finds itself, less than ideal measures must be taken to offer practicable solutions.
We need realists in our legislature, not ivory tower theorists and idealists who have hamstrung our government into feckless passivity. Lujan should be commended for taking action where others have resolved to do nothing but allow our island infrastructure to further devolve into what is fast approaching an irrevocable state of debt.

NESTOR GOGUE
Agat, Guam