THE truth about our former Godfather Governor is coming to light even before the State & Federal Courts can finish with him. The sad part is that WE the People are the ones who will be stuck with the “tab” he left us to pay-off the tens-of-millions. How could HSEM even be operating with a 123-million dollar deficit. How can the BOOST Program and all these People & agencies have abused and misused OUR money without Ralph’s help. It’s truly pathetic what he has DONE! Ralph & David conspired, as it is now clear why Ralph’s “bag-man finance secretary” hurry-up and got on a plane to places unknown. I’m actually glad the Governor shutdown the Casino Commission who wasn’t even trying to collect OUR 77-million and he needs to shut down other Boards & Commissions that are being over-paid for just making decisions in meetings a few times a year. But Tina Sablan was so right to call what Ralph has done as being a “heist” that will surely not go unpunished, as it was done “in broad daylight with thousands of witnesses.” I just hope and pray “the heavy & strong-hand of the Feds will prosecute this recent theft of OUR money,” as WE are all in a state of shock over what Ralph has DONE!
No one has even seen Ralph since he got fired, but I hope that when the media catches up to him they will ask WHY did he do us like this with the ARPA funds that we were so heavily depending upon. The BOOST Program is really a good program, as some businesses really needed the help but Ralph used it like a “smoke-screen” to just dump money into the hands of HIS people who didn’t deserve a penny. I wonder if the Feds are “following the money for kick-backs.” Ralph purchased vehicles for DPS but didn’t buy the Cannabis Commission a car, as those dedicated people are using their own cars & gas, which reeks of “pillaging & unnecessary waste.” There are so many ugly examples of how Ralph just wasted money that are too many to mention but I hope and pray the people, especially Ralph supporters, have learned their lesson about TRUTH & listening to the LIES of the WRONG people. I’m sure poor Vinnie must be wishing he hadn’t listened to Ralph. No one can say they didn’t at least have an idea about Ralph being wrong and even criminal, yet over 6-thousand souls followed him to this embarrassing point, just like I Told Them So would happen and there is even MORE to come!
I know Governor Palacios and anyone in his situation would first respond with cutting cost, which is inevitable. However, we can’t let the despair of the moment distract us from the prize and what we really need most now, which is NEW revenue sources, as our destitute situation demands that we “turn adversity into prosperity” — an opportunity for GREATNESS that I previously wrote about. Governor Palacios now has the difficult task of balancing “cutting-cost & creating new-revenues,” which can be done but he will need the help of the legislature to turn things around and this is no time for anyone in the legislature to start talking & playing politics. Ralph has truly left the CNMI in a “deep hole” and there is NO lifeline being thrown which is why the Governor is rightfully reaching out to the Department of the Interior for help. But the recent “heists-fiascos” are mainly the fault of the People of Tinian for having elected and even had the nerve to re-elected Senators from Tinian who chose to be “puppet-shysters for Ralph over their oath to our Constitution and the People.” Just think, if Ralph had been stopped with the impeachment, he wouldn’t have been able to squander the hundreds of millions he spent, especially in his last months in office. I Told Them he couldn’t be trusted. Now the People can see why I was screaming that he was using Retirees and anything to get 100% programing authority but he did it anyway illegally and now WE are all looking like “you-know-what” with All of our ARPA money GONE!!!
Maybe just ONE-DAY the people of the CNMI will truly start giving my admonishments the weight they deserve because I am truly sick & tired of knowing & saying I Told You So! It is time to stop believing my critics and start paying more attention to the TRUTH, as there is no reason for me to lie to the people like our previous Governor who did with impunity and now look at how he poli-tricked us and the mess he made like I virtually predicted —
TRUTH & I Told You So! 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.
Ambrose M. Bennett