1998, 1999

For many business owners, 1998 was a truly trying, depressing and devastating year. Tourist arrivals declined every month throughout the year, as both Korea and Japan continued their economic tailspins. Hotel occupancy rates plummeted to well below 50 percent. Real-estate prices dropped by as much as 70 percent. New car sales stalled. And while the Asian fallout only worsened, our local government continued to tax, regulate and spend, heaping enormous burdens upon the taxpayer: employee, large and small business owner alike.

Observe, for instance, the damaging effects of the new health regulations, implemented earlier this year. Recall the agonizing frustrations of employers, as they struggled to comply with extremely bureaucratic and often confusing Department of Labor and Immigration regulations. Note the $100,000 security deposit still in effect, which has discouraged countless foreign investors from risking their capital on our fair shores. Also note the labor moratorium — and its adverse effect upon the free flow of nonresident workers, the fuel and very life-blood of our entire economy, by which all investment capital, foreign or domestic, might be gainfully employed.

CNMI government spending has reached an alarming frenzy; despite the economic contraction, the welfare state is still blooming. A new “child care bill” is now before Governor Pedro P. Tenorio. If adopted into law, this new instance of unadulterated socialism would establish “a public nursery and provide for the adequate care and protection of ‘the children.” Parents need not be responsible for their own children. Big Brother, big government, is always here . . . and, unfortunately, so is a monstrous $100 million projected budget deficit.

As if our own government ineptitude were not enough, we also have the rapacious federal government to worry about: Patsy Mink, George Miller, Al Stayman, the Department of Interior and the rest of the forces for our federalization. But this time we also have the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to contend with, a federal agency originally created to end discrimination against blacks in the states, but now exploited as a tool against CNMI self-government and economic development.

To be sure, 1998 was an extremely difficult year, and many of the same challenges — Asia, government policies, federal issues — still lie ahead. But we must look to 1999 with renewed confidence — with hope and with optimism. This is yet another golden opportunity to make good on the Commonwealth promise: as the freest, most independent and prosperous American territory on earth.

Happy New Year, Marianas!