The Tinian mayor, moreover, has announced that he will appoint a gaming commissioner, who gets $100,000 a year, so that the commission will have a quorum. (A quorum for what? To discuss why the Dynasty is not yet out of business?) Except for a resident who declined to be identified no one’s complaining.
On Rota, there’s no money to pay the nurses and no gamblers playing at the casino, but the mayor says he’ll appoint a new gaming commissioner. No one’s stopping him.
The CNMI government is running out of funds but it is still wasting taxpayer money on political hires. The government is already in a deep financial hole and it is still digging. But the people, if ever they complain — anonymously of course — are asking: When will the austerity measures end? When will the government subsidize the price of gasoline and my power bills? Where’s my government job? Where’s my pay raise? My scholarship check? My homestead lot?
In the CNMI, public funds are considered the spoils of election day victory. The winning politician’s task is to reward his supporters with jobs or contracts — and to bribe voters with promises of jobs or contracts and other favors. But since the economy tanked in 1998, politicians are having trouble living up to their campaign pledges and instead of admitting that the entire setup is a Ponzzi scheme that has already collapsed, they’re now promising such quick-fix “solutions” as casinos and marijuana legalization with no regard whatsoever for basic arithmetic. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are willing to believe such cure-alls. To shift metaphors, the car has conked out already, but politicians insist that all it needs is more gas — and that they can turn water into gas.
The real solution is as obvious as it is simple. The government must cut costs. It must make tough choices and prioritize spending. What is more important? Giving jobs to unqualified but loyal political supporters or providing health care? The high salaries of government officials or public schools?
The people, for their part, must realize that they should rely on their own talents and abilities to get through this crisis. They, too, must make better choices. They must spend less and save more. They have to change their lifestyle to prevent avoidable health problems. They must be better parents, better neighbors and better voters.
They have to realize that there is government mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power because they allow these to happen.
It’s not as bleak as it seems
AMAZINGLY, despite the staggering incompetence of most of its elected officials, there is still hope for the CNMI.
All it needs, really, is to re-learn how to be content with what it has and to make the most of it.
Thanks to local schools and NMC, the islands continue to produce young men and women who are eager to excel, learn more and contribute to their community. The economy may be in tatters but the people of these islands are always willing to help those in need. There are always volunteers for community projects and organizations.
We live in a beautiful and serene community whose people are citizens of the greatest, richest and most powerful nation in the world. This is not the Third World. (Those who say it is should try living in a Third World country.)
We are on U.S. soil where people are free to speak out, where important questions are decided peacefully and democratically, and where the rule of law and real prosperity are always within the reach of citizens.
