Mr. Borja’s bluster

Former Lt. Governor Jesse Camacho Borja is back at it again (playing politics). In his bid to be our next governor, he recently criticized the Teno administration and the Republican Party.

The Republican Party, let me remind you, also includes House Speaker Benigno Fitial. Mr. Fitial is a remarkable leader–a truly reform-minded man.

Mr. Fitial is certainly no Diego Benavente. He is no Juan Nekai Babauta. Mr. Fitial, in other words, is no anti-business, former pro-federal takeover Republican incumbent. Unlike Senator Kiyu, Mr. Fitial has never called for a sharp tax hike on the beleaguered garment industry.
But rest assured, House Speaker Fitial is indeed a true Republican.

So Mr. Borja would have been far more accurate condemning “most so-called Republicans” rather than the Republican Party as a whole. But he is right to fault most Republicans (except Mr. Fitial) with failure: failure on the economy, failure on the federal takeover question, and, yes, even failure on education.

However, in all fairness, it should be noted that at least one Republican, Representative Heinz Hofschneider, valiantly attempted to make a real difference in the CNMI’s educational system. Unfortunately, the statists at the PSS–ever fearful of losing their jobs to free market competition–successfully thwarted his bold school voucher initiatives.

Mr. Borja, however, never openly endorsed the school voucher proposal. Indeed, it is doubtful whether he offered any specific or concrete plans in the realm of education when he was running for governor back in 1997.
Beyond vague, trite promises of supporting educational reform, I certainly do not recall any promising solutions proposed. Do you?

As for our relationship with the federal government and the question of the economy, Borja’s 1997 position, as I distinctly recall, was to raise our minimum wage to the federal level. With the exception of Resident Rep. Juan Nekai Babauta, who has since backed off from his former position, no CNMI Republican–not even Senator Kiyu–has openly embraced the federalization of our minimum wage–a move that would surely spell disaster for the economy as we know it.

Furthermore, no CNMI Republican has ever been endorsed by Guam Governor Carl Guiterrez, admittedly a Democrat. Will Al Gore and Bill Clinton (national Democrats) endorse Jesse Borja next?

I don’t know about you, folks, but I am not about to let a Guamanian Democrat tell me how to vote for my governor. Biba CNMI. Pot fabot bota si Peppero pat si Lang. Biba Marianas! Baba Democrat.