It’s getting better. No, really.
THE CNMI Constitution states that the governor “shall report at least annually” to the Legislature “regarding the affairs of the Commonwealth and new measures that are necessary and desirable.” That report, more commonly known as the State of the Commonwealth Address, is typically a full-throated effort to tout the incumbent administration’s “achievements” while attempting to explain away its shortcomings — ideally without using that word.
One of the more memorable SOCAs was the first one delivered by the CNMI’s first governor in Feb. 1979. “I would have liked,” he said, “to be able to report to you that all the hopes, dreams and objectives that were expressed in my Inaugural Address have been achieved…that those objectives, like a guiding star, have led us securely through this first year of self-government; and that each of us in the Administration and in the Legislature…became ‘instant successes’ in jobs that none of us understood very well; and that all of us, sensing the sheer magnitude and grandeur of our Commonwealth experiment, have been working together joyfully and with constant mutual support. But, of course, I cannot say this….”
Such candor from an elected official was unusual — and disarming.
Twenty years ago, amid a sputtering economy, another governor stood before the public and, in essence, asked, “Who are you going to believe — me or your lying eyes?” as he insisted that the State of the Commonwealth was “pretty darn good.” To which the then-House speaker replied, “If [it’s] ‘pretty darn good,’ why [did he] declare a state of emergency?”
Incidentally, the governor back then also claimed that he was running a “fiscally responsible” government, which was “developing a solid, sustainable economy, producing steady growth.”
On Thursday, the current governor said the State of the Commonwealth is “getting better.” Yet he is asking for a massive amount of federal assistance, which he says is not a bailout request. He plans to take out another loan. He wants lawmakers to raise taxes and government fees in this economy. Tourist arrivals and hotel occupancy rates have plummeted. Businesses are downsizing or shutting down. Residents, including workers, are leaving the islands.
But not to worry, he tells us. It was much worse during the TT days.
What a relief.
An alternative (and way shorter) SOCA
THE governor should have said that in this third year of his administration, it would be embarrassing to keep blaming his predecessor for the dismal State of the Commonwealth. After all, he won the 2022 election by promising to do better. Nearly three years later, to still point fingers — as a former Federal Reserve Board governor would put it — is an unbecoming declaration of impotence.
In 2022, a majority of voters concluded that the previous governor was not doing a good job. That’s why they chose someone “new.” Right now, they’re not interested in hearing recycled campaign messages and promises. They want real answers to two simple questions:
1) When will things get better?
2) How will that happen?
According to the current governor: eventually — and through “hard work.”
That’s not quite how we’d put it.
Progress will begin when two things happen:
1) The tourism industry is revived.
2) Voters elect a new and economically competent administration next year.
