Editorials

The taxmen cometh   Don’t ask me what I want it for If you don’t want to pay some more ‘Cause I’m the taxman Yeah, I’m the taxman  — George Harrison   THE House of Representatives has passed a bill to make tobacco products more expensive. This is a “popular” measure, a…

Talking points LIKE New York City — and with apologies to NYC — politics never sleeps, and so seven months after the last elections, and 17 months before the next one, some of our energetic politicians want us to talk about, again, the cabinet officials’ Yutu OT pay and the office of the governor’s…

When the cure is worse than the disease AS required by the FY 2021 budget law, CHCC has submitted a report on “universal health insurance in the CNMI.” It has 29 pages, but it can be summarized by the last sentence of its first paragraph: “More than ever, local health care capacities must be streng…

And do it properly   REPRESENTATIVE Leepan Guerrero introduced his internet gaming bill, H.B. 22-47, on March 23, 2021. A similar measure introduced on March 12, 2019 was passed by both houses of the previous (21st) Legislature, but it was also amended by the 21st Senate in Dec. 2020 and required t…

Long story short  THE medical referral program has always been a problem for the CNMI because quality healthcare is costly, and the government is expected to pay most if not all of it. Not surprisingly, the medical referral program has been discussed ad nauseam, but it seems that many politicians a…

Good job MPLT is opposed to a Senate legislative initiative that would allow politicians in the executive and legislative branches to exert more control over the public land trust and its board members. We agree with the trustees. Based on its annual independent audit reports, there are no serious …

Excellent choice THE NMC regents have selected the frontrunner for the job to be the new college president. Bravo. Galvin S. Deleon Guerrero, Ed.D., is one of the island’s foremost educators with an impressive educational background, and vast experience as a teacher, administrator and policy-maker.…

Regarding Article 12 IN his 1966 book, “A Reporter in Micronesia,” E.J. Kahn Jr. wrote that the U.S. wanted to “protect” the people of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands against the possibility of losing their most permanent and precious asset — their land. (Administered by the U.S., the TT…

No we can’t  THE frontpage of this newspaper’s Sept. 8, 1972 (not a typo) issue included a photo of a big pile of trash dumped on the side of a public road. The caption quoted the chorus of the NMI anthem: “A thousand times and more, I will honor and salute you beautiful islands….” The caption writ…

Go Youth Congress! CONGRATULATIONS to the re-elected youth senator and the four youth senators-elect! Clearly, you care for your Commonwealth and are eager to serve the community. As you know, the aim of the 1992 law that created the Youth Congress was “to provide a system which allows the youth to…