Editorials

In case no one noticed the fine print  POLITICIANS opposed to this administration now run the House of Representatives where all revenue-raising, tax and budget-related measures must originate. The majority bloc members are in charge of standing committees that review bills pertaining to the CNMI g…

Cut the size of government, not our wallets  SEVERAL years ago, a U.S. lawmaker said that the federal government had all the money it needed; it just had to go out and get it. He meant imposing new and/or higher fees and taxes. This, sadly, is also what many CNMI officials, lawmakers especially, me…

Flashback THANKS to a Republican, the Democrats are back in the House leadership for the first time since the 15th Legislature (2006-2008) when the two Democratic House members joined the Covenant Party-led coalition and served as vice speaker and floor leader. In the 12th Legislature (2000-2002), …

It’s all about the math $258,139,107 That was the CNMI government’s total identified budgetary resources for fiscal year 2019 — before Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into Rota; before Super Typhoon Yutu devastated Saipan and Tinian; before Covid-19. With over $258 million in projected local revenue and r…

Approve Hyatt’s land-lease extension already IT seems that the ongoing land-lease discussion between Hyatt and DPL is nothing more than old fashioned, negotiated extortion. “You’ve got a nice hotel here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.” DPL may say that it is only following t…

 Tweedledee THE NMI Democrats have finally won legislative elections — the last time was in 2007 when a Democrat (now a Republican) topped the House race in Precinct 4. Some say that the Dems’ recent electoral successes mean that the Commonwealth has a two-party system once again. Right? NMI politi…

The dogma that lives loudly within us IN January 1983, the NMI Democratic Party responded to the Republican governor’s State of the Commonwealth Address by declaring, among other things, that “there is a need for imagination, for bold, new approaches to government and development. The ones we know …

 There is nothing new…except what has been forgotten THE Commonwealth’s most eminent historian wants to see “a complete history of CNMI elections” that will include a graph of the elections from 2000 to 2020 which he says “might be sufficient to demonstrate a meaningful trend.” He is hoping that lo…

Problems? HERE’S a “radical” suggestion to those who want to teach the youth how government works. Let’s tell them all about the many pieces of well-intentioned legislation that have failed to achieve their lofty goals, including those whose results were the opposite of the proponents’ intent. Let’…

Best of luck THE new Legislature will face many old problems that previous lawmakers, in previous election years, had promised to solve or at least to “address.” These include funding for PSS, CHCC, medical referrals and the court-mandated payments to the Settlement Fund. Also on the list: governme…