Politicians say the darndest things
WE want to believe that the governor’s (hefty) funding requests to the feds are not the basis of his proposed budget and its revenue projections — both of which this administration seems to believe are immune from the deepening local economic malaise.
To hear the administration talk about it, one would assume that the U.S. government “owes” the CNMI hundreds of millions of dollars — and would gladly hand it over to the Commonwealth. “I’d be very surprised if Congress says no,” the governor was quoted as saying in March. “Congress can do anything. They can introduce anything,” he added.
Surely he knows that Congress can say no — and can block anything.
As for the 902 talks, the administration apparently thinks that discussing the CNMI government’s financial predicament with Santa, er, the feds is the same as addressing it. Surely the governor is aware of the lengthy process involved in the 902 consultations, even before a set of recommendations is presented to Congress — which must then act on them. This is assuming that the Trump White House — and the Republican Congress — would agree to bail out the CNMI amid all these talks in Washington, D.C. about the need to reduce the size and cost of government.
The governor has also said that “you are never going to get there if you don’t try.” He’s right. But wishing for an early Christmas miracle won’t write the check.
Meanwhile, the CNMI government’s financial obligations are ongoing, and the governor’s latest proposed budget is actually higher than the previous year. It includes a request for exemptions from salary caps for appointees in fiscal year 2026 even as he asks the Board of Education not to bring the administration to court for its failure to provide PSS with 25% of the government’s general revenues as mandated by the CNMI Constitution.
The governor calls his proposed budget “fiscally responsible.” The math says otherwise.
Governing is hard
IN the 2022 gubernatorial election campaign, one of the oft repeated campaign promises of the eventual winner was the completion of “long-delayed disaster recovery and infrastructure development projects.”
Three years later, we learn that the CNMI has yet to complete 141 federally funded, Yutu disaster recovery projects. Yutu devastated Saipan and Tinian in Oct. 2018.
We’re not saying that the governor reneged on his campaign pledge. No, not really. He wants those projects completed as soon as possible — no doubt about that. But it should also be clear by now, that although politicians and elected officials can promise just about anything, many of those promises require funding and/or — in the case of major infrastructure projects — a confluence of events beyond anyone’s control.
To paraphrase what an American president once said in describing his job, “You’ll sit here, and you’ll say, ‘Do this! Do that!’ And nothing will happen.”
Ultimately, what we truly need are elected officials aware of their limitations — and voters who know the difference between rhetoric and results.
