A dissenting pol

Now that Mr. Fitial’s comprehensive economic reform bill appears to be headed for approval, the CNMI business community can now breathe a collective sigh of relief. Maybe now the economy can finally rebound.

Because of these reinstated market incentives, foreign investment might start pouring in again. More jobs might then be created. Tax revenues should rise.

Everyone should be happy. Everyone, that is, except for Mr. Juan Nekai Babauta, our current Resident Rep. and “Republican” gubernatorial aspirant. In his June 1, 2000 “Reporting from Washington,” Mr. Babauta makes his position perfectly clear: he wholeheartedly opposes Mr. Fitial’s comprehensive economic reform bill.
He opposes the lifting of the labor moratorium. He opposes the lifting of the three-year guest worker limit. He opposes the lifting of the $100,000 security deposit.

Mr. Babauta, in other words, completely opposes the CNMI House’s decision to ratify the bill. He opposes the Senate’s concurrence.
He opposes Governor Teno’s willingness to approve the bill and overturn these damaging economic restrictions. He opposes the fervent desires of the entire local business community: of the garment industry (as represented by the SGMA), of the tourism industry (as represented by the CNMI Hotel Association), and of businesses in general (as represented by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce). All of these vital industries supported Mr. Fitial’s pro-growth reform bill.

How do we know that Mr. Babauta opposed all of these legitimate interests? Well, we can read it in his latest self-promotional newsletter.

“What can the CNMI do to avoid a federal immigration takeover?” he asks. And he answers his own question by saying: “stop making laws today only to change them tomorrow.” Can there be any doubt that the business reform bill is included here?

But there’s more. Mr. Babauta not only wants to reject Mr. Fitial’s badly needed reform bill, he wants to go even further–much further. At a time of serious economic decline, Mr. Babauta wants to damage our economy even further. “Raise the local minimum wage,” he says.

At the moment, Mr. Babauta is the only local politician openly calling for a wage hike. He wants to discourage businesses, to discourage economic growth–to discourage productive and profitable investments.

“Stop the open door policy,” he says–as if the labor moratorium, the three-year limit and the $100,000 “security” deposit all represented a wide-open door policy. I say, stop Mr. Babauta’s quest to be governor instead.