“It’s not about electing the right people. It’s about narrowing responsibilities.”
— John Stossel
JOHN Stossel, the former ABC News correspondent and co-anchor who won 19 Emmy Awards, launched an online channel, StosselTV, in 2019. Many of the episodes are short: five to seven minutes. Like his syndicated columns, they’re to the point, and are always interesting if not compelling.
Early this month, he zeroed in on then-presidential candidate Joe Biden’s claim in 2020 that he “knows how to make government work.”
“You’d think he’d know,” Stossel said. “He’s worked in government for 51 years.” But after over three years as president, he added, Biden still hasn’t made government work. “Look at the chaos at the border,” Stossel said, “our military’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the rising cost of living, our unsustainable record-high debt…” And what do the American people think of their President? According to the latest national ABC News/Ipsos poll: “Just 35 percent of Americans approve of [Biden’s] job performance, with 57 percent disapproving; that’s 2 points from his career low in approval in January and well below the level historically associated with reelection.”
President Biden is no political amateur. Far from it. Government, moreover, especially the U.S. government, has so many intelligent, experienced and well-meaning officials. Government’s primary tasks, to begin with, are not a lot: protect individual rights, maintain the rule of law, uphold public safety, provide national defense. It is when government attempts to do more that trouble begins. But perhaps government can’t help itself. It has so many intelligent, experienced and well-meaning officials who want to do more for us — whether we like it or not.
Nevertheless, the policy failures of government are legion and well-documented. “Yet politicians,” Stossel said, “want government to do more!” Why? Because voters want it to do more.
In the CNMI, many voters, like their counterparts in other jurisdictions, do not see any connection between basic arithmetic and running a government. What many of us believe is that intelligent, experienced and well-meaning leaders can usher in better times by crafting and implementing good laws. Never mind U.S. laws. Check out the CNMI’s public laws online. Many of them are indisputably well-intentioned with lofty missions, drafted by lawyers with the help of other experts. But how many of them have been implemented? Among those that were enforced, how many achieved their goals? How many led to unforeseen or unintended consequences? Why is it that so many of the problems that they intend to solve are still problems to this day?
Consider the CNMI government’s annual budget law. It is based on what? “Projections,” which is short for “I hope it’s a lucky guess.” Did the current budget take into consideration Hyatt’s impending closure? Of course not. The FY 2024 budget was submitted to the Legislature in April last year, and it was passed by the Legislature in September. Hyatt announced that it was shutting down on April 29, 2024. The FY 2024 revenue projection also did not include the financial impact of the CW touchback rule. So far, the “good news,” according to the Department of Finance, is that the revenue shortfall in the second quarter of FY 2024 was $4.1 million “only.” The first quarter shortfall was $5.3 million. Two more quarters to go. Meanwhile, the government continues to operate on a wing and a prayer.
Can you imagine if a hotel struggling with historically low occupancy rates was government-run? First of all it would have raised rates. Then it would have imposed fees on guests who use the swimming pool — or who want to relax on the beach. Then it would have charged for parking. Once it realizes that higher costs have further reduced its occupancy rate, it would convene a “summit,” federally funded, of course, which would be followed by the creation of a multi-agency “task force,” which would come up with pages and pages of “findings” and “recommendations,” none of which would see the light of day.
“The private sector,” Stossel said, “creates things that work because it has to.” If businesses don’t have enough customers, they go out of business. But government never goes out of business. When it’s out of money, it will try to get more of yours — in the name of “the people,” of course, especially “some of the most vulnerable in our Commonwealth.” That is, the elected officials seeking re-election or higher office this year.
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