It was really not a surprise to see the Speaker promoting a Casino AGAIN! With a casino on Tinian that is almost in swimming distance it truly defies common sense for the people on Saipan to be seeking to compete with their own family and fellow citizens on Tinian and not to mention Rota which is also trying to build a Casino. We (the people) have already gone down this road once with the Speaker which revealed that an OVERWHELMING majority of the people ARE NOT in favor of a Casino on Saipan, including the church which most locals attend.
The Speaker is indeed a fierce political fighter but it is my opinion that he has been fighting the wrong battles for almost a decade, which is why he wasn’t re-elected Governor for fighting with the Feds and now LOOK! I truly believe he cares about the CNMI but maybe more about himself and the enrichment that might come his way with a Casino because surely the owners will be indebted to him if it happens — it’s a common sense observation of the potential for self-enrichment that the average citizen should recognize.
The Speaker’s claim that the President’s visit is a waste of taxpayer money is totally wrong. First of all, it will be the money of taxpayers on the mainland and not the CNMI so why is he so concerned about their money when the CNMI has taken over 2 Billion of the mainland taxpayers’ money. Secondly, there hasn’t been a President of the U. S. in the CNMI since the signing of the Covenant and I guess the Speaker doesn’t understand the many intangible benefits of a visit by the President and I can’t educate him with this single letter. But I’m sure there are many people within our society who do realize the magnitude of the potential enrichment for the CNMI created by a visit from the U.S. President — the most POWERFUL man on earth. We (the CNMI) would have to be real idiots to not want to talk with the President — even the enemies of the U. S. want to talk with him. DUH!!!
The Senate and Representative Diego Benavente are truly on the right course by seeking an audience with the President in the CNMI and they also need to make sure the Speaker’s proposed legislation will not pass to put an end to this madness for a Casino on Saipan. The only thing is we need to have something very constructive and conducive for the U. S. and the CNMI to propose. I’m sure the President knows we need help and we need to present a real plan that will help both the CNMI and the United States. We need to show that we are trying to help America and ourselves and not just rely on Federal money. Although the Republican candidates for the executive office lost, there was a vital proposal for a Treaty with Japan and Korea that I proposed to the GOP, which would allow for these foreign governments and investors they approve for U. S. Investor Status to invest in the CNMI, which I believe is the answer to much of our economic challenges — not a casino. More recently President Obama was in Japan where he made it very clear that he wanted some kind of Economic Treaty with Japan and other S. E. Asian countries. I shouldn’t have to tell the average reader about the many economic factors that will be favorable to us in this relationship — we may actually be in a position to have so many investors that we will have to turn some away which is the position we need to be in and not begging for investors on junkets. We (the CNMI) only need to follow the President’s lead on this issue to be winners if we can stop playing politics and start doing the diplomatic work.
I’m now challenging our Government and our U.S. Delegate to come up with a plan that is better than the Treaty I proposed and if you can’t then you MUST pursue this endeavor with full speed ahead so we can get ahead of the economic crisis we face to find real prosperity for the CNMI. Having been educated to work in an Economic Think Tank I’m very confident a Treaty is a much better solution to our economic woes oppose to the Casino proposed by the Speaker who may have never even taken an economics course from the way he is approaching the salvation of our economy. I may be an outsider but sooner or later the majority of the people are going to realize that it doesn’t matter where the solutions come from as long as they WORK!!! You decide for yourself if you want to take the advice of a real economists or a speaker who has a one track mind to create a Casino. One people one direction for an Economic Treaty.
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman III, Saipan
