Ambrose M. Bennett
THE Truth of the matter is WE are continuing to experience the same-old-you know what which amounts to nothing going forward with taxes being the talk-of-the-town. More than anything I hoped and wanted to see Arnold become a great governor but when he was afraid to even try reading from a teleprompter for his inauguration was my first signs of doubt. Now WE are two years in and still TAYA NEW on the horizon FOR the People. I knew the 902 Talks would be just that “talks” and now it seems they were completely worthless with a different administration taking over America. It is also obvious to me that our Governor was putting a lot of his stock in the military to come and save our economy, which ain’t going to happen anytime soon, thus WE are right back where WE started two years ago and even worse off for those who had to suffer under austerity. It’s very apparent now that our Governor is just “going through the motions of governing” while WE experience the same-old dysfunctional government when it comes to rebuilding our economy and the Legislature is following the Governor’s lead with only a little bit here and a little bit there when WE need to be taking some giant leaps for REAL!
While I understand the genuine need to give MACS a tax break, it should NOT be for 25 years, as 5 years is more than enough time for a business to establish itself because if it isn’t successful after 5 years then MACS & Governor WE have a Problem. It is totally unreasonable to give them a 25-year tax break and for CEDA to be the so-called experts who refused to even give me a grace period with my Trike business forcing me to make payments with the money they loaned me before the Trikes even arrived on island — pathetic and favoritism for MACS. I have to laugh to keep from crying especially when CEDA does NOT have a real Economist on staff unless they were just hire and if so WE the People want to KNOW who to hold accountable! CEDA hasn’t done anything to lead in our economic infrastructure & reforms, just made loans and not offering any professional assistance to loanees. The Governor is aware of my appeals for him to identify who our economist is, and I guess this is his effort to shift the blame, as I’m sure it has been him & his Lt. making the poor and even nonexistent economic decisions that have gotten us the same-old you know what. Maybe next election the majority will finally had ENOUGH of Republicans, especially if Democrats can get their act together with a full slate of candidates!
As for Our Future & Greatness!!!
The Truth of the matter is that “I get it, the desire for a White Conservative America is REAL and now In-Power.” While WE must accept the results of the election and do our best to continue to contribute to solving the many problems of America on the mainland and here in the CNMI. WE know there is trouble waiting just down the road but the great thing about trouble is “trouble can’t last always,” as my MaDear would say. For the mainland it looks four years before real progress and GREAT things for the average American while the rich will be getting richer but it’s only two years before WE have an opportunity in the CNMI to address and even change our leadership for the BETTER to real change & progress. Our economy and quality of life in the CNMI won’t automatically change because of the election, as WE are virtually in the same place economically and our quality of life as WE were two years ago when the present administration took office. In fact it’s WORSE with the cost of living which is why I’ve been screaming ECONOMIST for the past two years — duh! One must ask, WHAT has been or is being done to really overhaul our economic engine (NEW/Replacement Economic Features) that will fuel our economy/economic growth. It seems that WE are just “waiting to see what is going to happen instead of making sure things happen.” It’s obvious the Governor is putting a lot of Real Estate in the military buildup in the CNMI but as Chris says at MVA “Tourism is Our Business,” so WHAT is being done about our Tourism Industry? Heck, now WE can’t even get pass IPI to resurrect Garapan “A New” for the Casino Commission playing games to keep sitting and hoping they can get paid eventually.
But there are virtually two kinds of politicians, “those who watch things happening and those who MAKE things happen,” as WE know the ones who make things happen are often considered the “great politician,” which is what the political doctors (scientists) are prescribing for the CNMI — a GREAT Politician! But great politicians are “rare & few,” which is why, with no disrespect intended, the CNMI has yet to experience that truly GREAT leader that have evolved on the mainland. So, the question is, WHO wants to and WHO is willing to do the work to accomplish GREAT things FOR the People of the CNMI, as the opportunity for greatness is virtually everywhere you look within our society from the cost of living to the need for a robust tourism industry to fund our Government. WE just had an election, and I didn’t hear anything that even hinted to “making the CNMI GREAT” which tells me the CNMI is in desperate need of a GREAT leader who will actually DO Something to improve our economy and quality of life. I have great hopes for our new Delegate to be successful but a lot of her success with our economy will depend on our government doing its part, as asking for CW assistance from the Feds when WE have yet to create a real “Systemic Workforce Transition Plan” will surely hurt her efforts.
All of our newly elected leaders have a “clean slate” with the opportunity for GREATNESS and for TRUE the People are going to be watching now more than ever given our declining Tourism Industry and with the election for Governor being just around the corner now. In fact, I heard the Democrats’ acting Chair started working on the 2026 election the day after the election. But WE as a people must also start doing OUR due diligence as citizens which is really simple to do. “Be an informed citizen knowing what our Governor & Legislature have done & failed to do and be active in sharing your knowledge with other citizens who may not know” so that when election day comes YOU are READY to make the Right & BEST decision FOR all of us and the CNMI.” So, buckle your seatbelts for the next four years on the mainland it’s going to be a rough-one and for the next two years in the CNMI and be ready, come 2026 that will be here before you know it. WHO will finally desire to be GREAT for the CNMI and step up to the plate to hit a homerun(s) FOR the People. One People One Direction
Ambrose M. Bennett is an Economist who minored in Sociology, a Political Scientist, a retired teacher & former CNMI Board of Education Member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. Constitutional Scholar), a Fulbright-Hays & lifetime Humanities Scholar who resides in Kagman III.
