Hypocrisy of Clinton’s Policy

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands watches helplessly as its fragile island economy is assaulted and brought to its knees by the devastating effects of the Asian Crisis. It is an external influence that is beyond our ability to cope with in any substantive manner. It demonstrates the fragility of a resource-poor island economy often at the mercy of external influences.

Of the 5,000 plus businesses in these isles, over 2,000 have closed shops over the last two years, primarily tourist related businesses. We were hoping for a big bang with the opening of the Tinian Dynasty, but our hopes are dashed when we learned that the gaming sector isn’t immune to the devastating effects of the Asian economic crisis.

As such, the business sector has contracted, therefore, isn’t hiring for they also had to downsize to muddle through these difficult times. On the flip side, the public sector is seriously planning measures of last resort and has begun work hour reduction. If revenue generation plummets any further, it would have to swallow the bitter pill of a reduction in force.

With combined external influences of the Asian Crisis and persistent agenda from the other side of the Pacific for a federal takeover of the NMI, current businesses had to downsize while prospective investors have second thoughts of infusing lasting investments in these isles. Our economic future looks even more bleak. Tidings of an economic recovery in Japan and tiger countries are at best, riddled with uncertainty.

All these bad experiences are measured against a somewhat discordant policy pronouncement by the Clinton administration to ensure that the “economic good times” doesn’t “leave anybody behind”. How we wish we could swim with the current of the “good times” alongside other US Citizens in mainstream America.

But as the local economy heads halfway down the abyss of joblessness and helplessness, confirmed by an 18 percent increase in the number of food stamps recipients, perhaps Clinton would be so disappointed to learn that his very policy of “welfare to work” has in fact taken a complete reversal of “work to welfare” in this American soil.

As much as we wish to partake in the “economic good times” that has descended upon most communities throughout the country, ours is a bag full of sighs as we ponder the hypocrisy in the Clinton administration’s unequal application of economic policy. We humbly ask: What are we (however small a group of US Citizens) under the eyes of our country? The lights are on but nobody seems to be home!