When an army officer asked President Lincoln if he could write an article defending the administration against attacks that were being made by the Committee on the Conduct of the War Lincoln replied: “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how — the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”
— From “The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln” by Michael Burlingame
I FIND it remarkable that despite the problems his administration is facing, the governor still finds time to answer his critics, including those who didn’t even personally criticize him. Previously he chided the former CPA board chair for something she didn’t say. Recently, he lashed out at a former colleague and ally for urging CNMI leaders to “do something today, immediately” about the dismal local economy.
If he believed he had to reply, the governor should have mentioned what he is doing to boost tourism arrivals and the local economy. That should have been the “lead” of his op-ed. The more specific, the better.
Instead, he claims, astonishingly, that it was on a former lt. governor’s watch that “the biggest exodus of Japanese hotels, airlines, and other investments happened….” In 2001, then-House candidate Arnold I. Palacios was elected on the GOP ticket that included the former lt. governor, Diego T. Benavente. The then-GOP governor was Juan N. Babauta, who would later declare that the local economy was “pretty darn good” even if it wasn’t. Under his administration, the CNMI secured China’s seal of approval as an “approved destination” for Chinese tourists. “China’s population of 1.4 billion people can provide the CNMI with a steady stream of visitors from a previously untapped market. The possibilities are tremendous,” then-Governor Babauta said. At the time, the CNMI had to address the loss not only of Japanese tourists and investments but of the garment industry as well. The former governor — a supporter of Governor Palacios — tried to “do something.” Today, it would have been great to hear the current governor discuss the results, so far, of his preferred policies after 19 months in office.
Incidentally, he is a former lt. governor himself. Can we say that the alleged corruption and abuses of the previous administration happened “on his watch”? But that would be ridiculous. As lt. governor, he wasn’t in charge.
In his op-ed, Governor Palacios noted that 32 Republican members of Congress want an end to the visa-free entry of Chinese tourists to the CNMI. But there was no mention that the Republican administration of Donald Trump recommended the implementation of EVS-TAP, which the CNMI also supports, to address federal concerns. In any case, it should not be surprising for a politician of any party to prioritize the needs of his/her constituents. (In the states, prominent Democrats are opposed to fracking, which Democrats in Pennsylvania support. According to a New York Times report, a fracking ban in that state would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Pennsylvania Democrats did not “miss the memo” from their fellow Democrats about fracking. They ignored it.)
It is not surprising, however, that the current administration seems to relish rehashing political arguments over the past — or their blinkered version of it. This is an election year, but let’s pretend that the year is still 2022. It’s better to talk about past issues than what is happening right now under their watch.
But for many island residents, what is the point of this pointless back-and-forth? The InDems resoundingly won the 2022 election, but this is 2024 already. The discussion among public officials should focus on the direction in which this administration is leading us, the result so far, and if there is a way to improve it.
Government employees, retirees, business owners, their employees, and other members of the general public — what do they care about a “debate” over old issues that not many of us remember anyway?
Toward the end of his op-ed, the governor vowed to, among other things, “execute plans for long-term improvements….” But the governor serves a fixed term — four years, and four more if re-elected. What if the next governor has other plans? And how “long” is “long-term” when it comes to finding ways to boost tourism arrivals and stanch the islands’ ongoing economic bleeding?
Early this year, in an interview with the Voice of America, the governor was asked, “Is there a revenue source to replace lost income from the Chinese tourism market?” He replied: “Not right now, so it’s very significant. We’ve had to make drastic sacrifices in government operations and public services. People are leaving the Commonwealth because of the depressed state of the economy right now, because of the major impact of losing close to half-a-billion to a billion dollars’ worth of economic activities.”
That’s what he said in January. Which is why I find it odd that he would now say to struggling businesspersons and workers who have lost their jobs or who have to endure pay cuts and/or loss of benefits that “it’s not the end of the world.”
Not an insensitive remark at all from an elected official.
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