Editorials

Cut government spending instead ABOUT two weeks ago, the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee conducted a public hearing on the tax-hike measures that were passed (i.e., rubber-stamped) by the House, and expressed concerns about their rationale. As the Senate floor leader noted, raising taxes on commodi…

No biz like showbiz ONE of the perils of being a politician is that, sooner or later, you’ll end up saying one thing and doing another. Consider the House BOOST probe. Early last year, the House leadership declared that their previous BOOST investigation was “Mission Accomplished!” They said the of…

Been there, done that, don’t tell anyone THE CNMI government is staring at a potential $20 million shortfall this fiscal year, and so House members last week spoke about many things that have absolutely nothing to do with the problem at hand. It is as if they’re in a living room where an elephant i…

Stop kicking the can already INSTEAD of scraping the revenue barrel for leftover funds, snatching money from agencies like NMHC or preying on taxpayer wallets, lawmakers should pay more attention to how the local tourism-based economy works, and its slow recovery. As MVA’s acting chair reminded law…

The choice  MVA recently reminded House members that Korea is the only tourism market showing signs of life. Korea is about 50% of the market. The two other markets, China and Japan, have yet to recover even as the CNMI government continues to spend as if happy days are here again for the local tou…

Shoot first, aim later “The mischiefs wrought by uninstructed law-making, enormous in their amount as compared with those caused by uninstructed medical treatment, are conspicuous to all who do but glance over its history.” — Herbert Spencer, “The Man Versus State” (1884) IN 2006, lawmakers passed …

Higher taxes, higher prices, higher deficits AT a recent public hearing conducted by the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee on Tinian, those who testified on the tax hikes proposed by the House were already counting the chicks before even acquiring a hen that could lay eggs. No one mentioned anything …

Thank you CNMI Senate A HOUSE member is unhappy that the Senate is “sitting” on 45 House bills. Our initial reaction was, 45 only? Considering that many bills introduced each year are ill-advised and may even create more problems than they intend to solve, lawmakers in both chambers should block th…

No to hurried lawmaking THE ongoing brouhaha over the AG subpoena bill demonstrates the value of having two legislative houses. As shown by the spirited debate over H.B. 23-22, a bicameral legislature provides an additional layer of scrutiny to prevent the hasty enactment of  “popular” but ill-cons…

A cause for concern IN May 2023, the House of Representatives passed H.B. 23-22, which would authorize the investigators of the Office of the Attorney General to “serve subpoenas, arrest and perform all other functions lawfully authorized for police officers.” The bill was introduced in March, and …