The new laboratory of tyranny

It’s hard to believe, but the CNMI was actually once referred to as “a laboratory of liberty”–a phrase coined by Mr. Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute.

Under Governor Froilan C. Tenorio’s remarkable administration, free market aficionados from around the United States paid homage to our growth-oriented policies.

In 1996, we not only had no inheritance tax, no sales tax and no property tax, we were also embarking upon a promising flat tax proposal–which, along with the school voucher program, was to be the first such system in American history. At the time, we had no labor moratorium, no arbitrary three-year alien restriction, no $100,000 security deposit. The CNMI was America’s closest version of Hong Kong.

Today, that promising laboratory of liberty has been thoroughly destroyed. Governor Froilan Cruz Tenorio has been booted out of public office, and local leaders–if you can call them leaders–no longer speak of vibrant free markets.

All we hear from our local politicians today is the constant threat of more regulation, new fees, and higher taxation. We have gone from a promising laboratory of liberty to a dreadful laboratory of tyranny backed by expanded government controls.

Free market think tanks no longer think of us and, indeed, are probably even embarrassed to have previously endorsed us.

That, my friends, represents the real shame of Saipan: that we had something unique–something special–and our elected leaders have proceeded to systematically destroy it.

Look at the newspaper stories today. Observe how the Commonwealth Ports Authority is destroying the Tinian Shipping Corporation with higher fees. Note that we now have an estate tax. Observe how the debt-ridden Commonwealth Ports Authority, which should have been privatized long ago, now wants to charge for CNMI airport parking.
Note how the looters are already seriously speaking of sales taxes, property taxes and drastically reduced tax rebates.

What has become of our once promising laboratory of liberty?

The CNMI is no longer America’s freest territory. At this very moment, our government, incredibly enough, is lauding the federal take-over “flexibility” of the Murkowski Bill!

We should all be alarmed. The CNMI is sinking fast under the new laboratory of government-sponsored tyranny.

Ben Fitial, Eloy Inos–somebody, anybody–Help!