Editorials

Lawmakers say you can’t have your pugua and chew it too MOST, if not almost all, politicians have the ability to hold two or even three opposed ideas in mind at the same time — without acknowledging that they are contradictory at all. This is especially true about bills that aim to ban, restrict or…

Cut government costs instead of raising taxes THE CNMI government cannot tax its way out of its latest financial crisis. The new administration’s proposal to grab more money from a business community that is struggling amid all this economic uncertainty may not even result in additional revenue for…

And so it begins IN his first press conference over three months ago, the new governor said everything was “on the table,” budget-wise, and “spending like there’s no tomorrow” was “not sustainable.” More importantly, he said he didn’t “want to go out and raise taxes again and impose the penalty on …

What else is new THERE they go again. Introducing legislation to “solve” what they say is a “problem.” (Like littering. Or blighted properties. Or juvenile delinquency. Or illegal drugs.) The Marpi toll fee measure or House Bill 23-2 claims that “there is a pressing need for funds to provide for th…

‘The future ain’t what it used to be’  CONGRATULATIONS to the newly sworn in youth senators! We wish them well, and we hope they make the most of their two-year term by learning as much as they can about government and the lawmaking process. The 1993 law that created the Youth Congress aimed …

True that THE new administration and Legislature will mark their 100th day in office on Wednesday, April 19. And so far, they are doing what can possibly be done when dealing with the CNMI’s biggest problem: a declining economy that cannot generate enough revenue to help pay the government’s never-…

Same old… ONE of the dictionary definitions of “junket” is “a trip, as by an official or legislative committee, paid out of public funds and ostensibly to obtain information.” For most of us, however, such trips are government-paid vacations. And many politicians agree — until they get elected and/…

Unsurprisingly THE bill that renamed the medical referral program “Health Network Program” was touted as, more or less, the “solution” to the program’s “long-standing issues.” However, it did not address the biggest and most persistent of those “issues” which is lack of funding. The legislation was…

Economic literacy SINCE 2004, newly elected lawmakers have been attending a seminar conducted by the judiciary on the Covenant, the U.S. and CNMI Constitutions, as well as common law and the judicial process. Ideally, individuals who run for office should be knowledgeable about these subjects alrea…

Just the facts  THE CNMI’s (struggling) economy needs workers. They’re already here, including those on CW-1 permits who were vetted and approved by federal authorities. But then there’s the “touchback” rule which is as arbitrary (and mindless) as any government rule that was concocted mainly for p…