Individuals, officials, organizations, and government entities all have offered solutions but none attack the basic problem: that of balancing spending and income. The legislative and executive branches of GovGuam, those centers of power that might correct this problem, offer solutions that are little more than nonsense.
For example: our Governor and some legislators want to float a bond, thus to repay income tax refunds and address other shortfalls. Consider an analogy: imagine that you are a person that owes money to a bank. You now go to that bank and ask for another loan. The loan officer asks you what the loan is for. You tell the officer that you want to borrow money, thus to pay off the loan you owe to the bank. That sounds simple enough; that’s called refinancing. The loan officer next asks you to define your repayment schedule. And you, the borrower, says, “Oh, I’m not going to pay off the loan; the bank will pay off the loan.” Does this make any sense at all?
That’s what the Governor and his supporters are proposing. The unpaid refunds are in effect moneys GovGuam has borrowed from the taxpaying public. The proposed bond is a second loan made to pay off the tax refunds, the money borrowed earlier from you, the taxpayer. And who pays off the loan? Not GovGuam, certainly; you the taxpayer pays it off through future taxes.
Private businesses, media editors, and individuals all have so-called solutions but few if any address the root problem, the imbalance. In the legislature particularly, these positions have been surrounded by debate over details: how big is the debt, how much income can be expected, and so on. This rhetoric, while perhaps important, is secondary to the basic issue: GovGuam refuses to match income and spending.
Our leaders plead to the public to accept their solutions as an alternative to balanced budgets, thus to avoid layoffs and reductions in service. Their plea is an effort to persuade the taxpaying public to accept their solution or accept responsibility for the unpleasant consequences that might accrue from correction of the basic problem. But the responsibility for any unpleasant consequences rests squarely in GovGuam’s lap.
GovGuam created this problem. GovGuam hired too many people and allowed them to continue their employment beyond any reasonable expectation of productivity. GovGuam has continued personnel practices that no rational private business would allow. GovGuam has squandered money on wasteful projects and practices. And now, GovGuam is asking you the taxpayer to bail them out. The people that you, the taxpayers, have hired to represent you and make your government function have failed miserably in this primary responsibility. For years, no one in the government has demonstrated any inclination to realistically address this misbehavior. Without determined opposition from the grassroots, those presently in office will continue to fail miserably.
Will you allow them to continue?
JAMES W. CAFKY
Dededo, Guam
