Ambrose M. Bennett
THE TRUTH is, the Republicans RULE the CNMI as there is no other way of saying it and if the CNMI is to ever CHANGE for the BETTER, then it must start with the People, or our economy will continue to suffer and so will the migration to the mainland continue. I do want to THANK the Honorable & former Chief Justice Jose S. Dela Curz for his editorial “to find constructive solutions to CNMI economic issues,” as he is so right about a lot of things he said. However, and no disrespect intended, but “prayers & hoping” won’t work as I have been writing ever since COVID for the Governor to use a “Real Economist” to address our economic woes. If you have a heart problem, you want a real heart doctor and if our economy is suffering, WE need a real economist, it’s just that simple. Trying to bring the stakeholders together is a noble effort for setting the table, but it will take Economic training to prepare the food (the plan), as getting Republicans to listen (accept) to the input of others is useless because they have Absolute Power that has created Absolute Corruption right in our faces without any “checks & balances.” WE just witnessed the Cannabis Commission nepotism and now the failed monopoly attempt but TAYA from Dems. Arnold even changed his title and only Republicans complained which tells me the Dems don’t care as ARROGANCE seems bliss with both parties.
Heck, I have even written about the standing Federal Mandate for a “Government Systemic Workforce Transition Plan” but still no government sponsored program, just watching PSS, NMC and NMTI struggling to do the government’s job when the Government should be leading. You can bet Republicans are going to let this come back to haunt us in 2029, just like the immigration issue that the Feds took over and for TRUE. The Feds are going to implement their OWN program come 2029, if WE don’t get our act together. WE have two major problems “Republicans & Our Economy,” and it will take a total shift in our voting to fix these two problems. BUT if there are no real takers in the next election for Governor it’s going to continue to be the Same-O Republican you-know-what.
Chief Justice Dela Cruz mentioned the last five years of OUR economic recession, but I’ve been calling for “a New Tourism Model and Economist for over a decade and WE still don’t have either, as WE now know CEDA was just a smoke screen for more Republican Poli-tricking instead of Governing “fairly & equitably” FOR the People. Arnold BOLDLY chose his relative Joe Palacios and even tried to create a monopoly to control OUR interisland air travel without a single check from Dems — a complete failure to govern protect nor serve the People. I offered 33 things and MORE that would have put the CNMI on a totally different course for rebuilding our Economy but not even the Democrats said nor did anything as if I never said anything — pathetic! For me and many citizens, if the Democrats are not going to do or say anything FOR the People, then they need to take their sign down, as its False & FAILED Representation.
I’m sure Chief Justice Dela Cruz is not the only one witnessing the Economic Decline of the CNMI that has taken place under Republican rule for nearly two decades, yet it still continues, as its clear Arnold is trying to set us up for his return in 2026 with no opposition even in sight! Heck, the Dems can’t even handle Ambrose, a disappointed member of the Party, so what makes them think the People will ever have faith in them to do anything, as burying their heads in the sand is NOT what Liberals Progressives do! We can’t follow the very basic expectations OF a Party FOR the People, as I’m not going to just blame the Republicans when the Dems are supposed to be OUR best hope as the ones STOPPING this economic downturn & fiasco from continuing but they don’t have a plan either and won’t listen to the only person with an Economics Degree in the fight — it’s pathetic with bigotry at the very core of the problem. One would think that if a Black man was going to get any support in the CNMI it would come from the Dems, but their moral compass is just spinning crazily with no clearly defined direction consumed by you-know-what.
Chief Justice Dela Cruz is so right about a lot of things in his editorial, but the only real solution is FOR the People to CHANGE first, as WE continue to put Republicans in charge of EVERYTHING for the past two decades taking us “nowhere quick, fast and in a hurry.” WE have a “two party Adversarial Government for Good Reasons,” read the Federalist Papers. But if the People don’t change in the next election to a Democrat Governor, it’s going to be the Same-O Same-O, as I been warning. OUR Dems are not taking advantage of the great opportunities to FIGHT FOR the People, as Ambrose is clearly proving to really be doing more to lead the charge to “protect & serve the People.” But I don’t mind going it alone, as I’m sure that ONE Day it will sink in that the Dem’s strategy of “silence and playing ignorant” foolishly thinking they can work with Republicans rather than Ambrose is NOT a winning strategy FOR the People. Ambrose is not going to go away, and the question is WHEN or IF the Dems will drop their arrogance and even Show-Up to fight FOR the People. It’s time for CHANGE Dems & Voters, as the solution to governing and most of our Economic woes is just that simple!
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 in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
