Ambrose M. Bennett
THE New Year is here, which calls for us to find “a new way of doing or not doing something” and in Economics/Poly Sci this phenomenon is known as REFORMS. So, is the CNMI going to start REFORMING or the Same-O Same-O? Zaldy & Ambrose have written about “the AWFUL two previous years” and I’m sure there are many citizens wondering the same thing of if WE will finally start to find some semblance of progress this year, or will it be the Same-O Same-O” experience. There were a lot of “good baby steps” taken last year from our Medical Progress to Education Achievements but I’m sure the major concern is still the LEAP to improve OUR Economy. We need to REFORM our “food supply” and the increasing “cost of living,” as a result of importation — self-sufficiency! What happened to the cattle industry & the slaughterhouse Republicans were supposed to have started on Tinian — duh! I won’t even list the plethora of other missed opportunities for real progress as a result of the same-o same-o picnic table economics & bigotry that yielded TAYA Economic Reforms!
Economics is one of the more complex of all the disciplines taught in schools & universities next to math, as Economics is an “Art & a Science” which explains why the picnic table economics by Republicans over the years has never worked. The Art of Economics is my forte and being an Economist seeing the CNMI being devastated economically right in front of me has been hard to watch, which is why I chose to continue the challenge from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who asked me along with other members of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) in Memphis the prophetic question of: “if not you (to fight for our civil rights) then who and if not now then when (will someone fight for our civil rights).” I took Dr. King’s challenge to heart and even applied it in the CNMI, especially after being urged on by the late Bishop “to help the church and to keep it up.” So, if not Ambrose holding our Governor Accountable for the subterfuge and failing to use a qualified Economist to resolve our Economic challenges, then WHO! And, if not now, then WHEN will an elected leader(s) step forward to hold our Governor Accountable, especially when it’s their fiduciary DUTY to protect OUR money/taxes!
The truth is Republicans are doing their best to ignore Ambrose, but Dems & Independents don’t have that excuse to ignore me given Ambrose is & was a Democrat before many of them were even born. Citizens can even see now after the Cannabis Commission & the MACS fiascos that Dems didn’t address means something is WRONG with the Dems, not Ambrose. Republicans have gotten away with Political MURDER figuratively & literally while Dems & Independents act like they have been issued “Republican Pacifiers” allowing the Republican subterfuge to go “unchecked”! For Dems to use the excuse that Ambrose is “disrespectful to the party & culture” has been the silent lie behind my back to breed bigotry, as those who know me can attest to “Ambrose being a respected religious author/servant who has totally conformed to the local cultures.” If there is any disrespect, it’s the Dems who pretend they didn’t read this, won’t return my calls & ghost me along with disrespectful Republicans in the comment section who use so much disrespectful ugly trash-talk decent citizens won’t even enter! I think my #1 fan, Saipan Man, is a Democrat from the way he talks but in either case he is PATHETIC — prayers.
It took me almost two years of me pleading for Independents to join the Democrats and I wonder how long it will take for the Party to Reform, as the same-o same-o ain’t working! But if not for Ambrose, the Casino Commission & the Cannabis Commission WASTE would have never been exposed. If not for Ambrose, the recent illegal scheme to create a monopoly using OUR Tax money would have never been exposed. The sad part is, still to date there has yet to be any official action taken BY the People’s Representatives who are supposed to be the guardians of OUR money. But instead, they ignore the waste because Ambrose discovered it first — I’m sure WE now know what this behavior is called! Any economist worth their title can take a snapshot of the CNMI and know that real REFORMS are the only things that can turn our economy & quality of life around to prosper. But the Governor told me “I don’t want this reform stuff,” as he wants the People to think “his infrastructure improvements paid for by the Feds are more important than executing a real Economic Recovery Plan” — gaslighting & deflecting! However, its worse as it seems Republicans, Dems & Independents would rather watch the People & the CNMI suffer than consider anything presented by the Economist Ambrose, avoiding a lot of economic mistakes — 33 listed!
So, can WE expect real progress FOR the People & the CNMI in 2025, given the Governor nor HIS so-call experts at CEDA have yet to deliver anything, especially an Economic Recovery Plan after 2yrs of this administration. The Governor is gaslighting us with CEDA & deflecting away from our economy with his “infrastructure BS paid for by the Feds,” when WE need Real Judicial, Social & Economic Reforms. WE can’t even prosecute our own high-profile cases, which needs to be REFORMED with a “permanent or rotating outside judge.” I will also reiterate that “the CNMI needs to REFORM our gaming industry that is governed by a scatter-brain approach with separate commissions on all three islands. Gaming is a “State issue, not a Local (island) issue,” which should be governed by an Elected State Agency, like the “Nevada Gaming Commission” that oversees the entire state. WE created a “triangle wheel to governor gaming” that continues to experience one problem after another and yet WE can’t reform our gaming industry for a permanent fix. I DEMAND FOR the People who can’t speak out themselves, that “WE Do BETTER,” which is why I have been explaining and yelling for years about the CNMI’s need for a “real Economist” that the Governor finally responded to with CEDA — LOL. As CEDA’s first act was an attempt to violate Federal Antitrust Law & possibly RICO, as Ambrose just saved the People millions and not even a thank you. Only Ambrose said something about the scheme FOR the People which seems to have stopped the crimes before the Governor signed, as I truly didn’t want to call the Feds. But what if I had kept quiet — see what I mean about Dems not on their job to check the Governor. My only real concern FOR the New Year & the People is will the CNMI continue to be a Political Sodom & Gomorrah or will there be “one or more to step up forward” and hit a homerun(s) for real progress FOR the People and OUR Commonwealth. Happy New Year for REFORMS, not the Same-O Same-O!
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.
