Any candidate can say he’s for education, the environment, the economy, public health, public safety, paying the Retirement Fund, etc. He will be anything you want him to be, and he will tell you what you want to hear. And when you vote for him in November you’ll get exactly what you deserve — which is more of the same problems the CNMI is now facing. Problems, moreover, that are getting worse because solving them requires making painful choices. But politicians don’t get elected into office for promising pain. Hence, they will have to promise more band-aids to apply on a raging tumor. And most of them will win.
In any case, you should know what you’re getting into when voting for certain candidates in a small community where everyone can know a lot about anyone.
Voters, to be sure, choose their candidates based on various reasons. These include the candidate’s likeability, credentials, stand on issues or blood ties.
Now despite the CNMI worsening crisis, there is no clear consensus among the voters.
What do they want exactly? They say “change.” But what “change”? Change for the better? How?
Government employees want job security — and a pay raise. Retirees want their pensions now and in the future. Businesses want tax breaks and more government contracts. The public wants more funding for PSS, CHC, DPS and NMC. Everyone wants to pay less for power and water utilities that are more reliable. They want to see a leaner government — as long they retain their jobs. They also want more scholarships, more medical referrals, more homesteads, new roads, new basketball courts and new baseball fields. They want their government to pick up the trash, clear the highways of road kill and get rid of stray dogs.
And they want their rebates.
They want to vote for someone who can do all that.
Voters, in other words, want their politicians to sign up for a “mission impossible” and are upset that their elected officials can’t, well, walk on water.
Let me put it this way. If there’s no demand for b.s. then there will be no reason to supply it.
The main issue in this election remains money, and the CNMI government’s lack of it. Compounding this problem is the government’s obligations, and they are a lot.
The government can either reduce its expenses or raise more revenue. But the government, which is expected to be Santa Claus, only cut costs when it has to. And cutting costs for this government usually means not paying vendors, CUC, the Retirement Fund and the taxpayers while terminating the contracts of certain government employees so that more politically reliable personnel can get on board.
All these measures are not enough. So the government has to raise fees and create new ones. Meanwhile, the CNMI continues to sink into a financial swamp of its own making.
Some say that if you want to collect more revenue then the economy should get better. But the CNMI, or any other jurisdiction, has no control over this globalized economy. What the CNMI can do, however, is to create a better business environment for investors through the enactment of stable laws — laws that are actually enforced — and the creation of a level playing field that rewards entrepreneurs and visionaries, not well-connected crony capitalists and their token managers.
But that will take time. A long time. The federalization of local immigration will make it more difficult for businesses to get the workforce they need, and without a healthy private sector, the CNMI government will remain the primary employer of voters who will keep electing officials whose main task is not to make things worse…for the next two or four years.
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