Leadership Crisis!
The Issue: Inability of two chambers to approve this year’s budget.
Our View: The budget gridlock has become as perennial as the grass.
It’s election year and those seeking re-election aren’t about to return home with an “F” in their report cards. Each wants his or her share of the teeny pie that has shrunk since four years ago when revenue generation declined significantly.
What may have gone wrong in the budget discussion in the joint committee? Was the bone of contention premised on real needs or is it riddled with small packages that lawmakers wish to take home to justify their re-election bids?
Indeed, both arguments are legitimate given that performance carries greater mileage than a who bag of gastric hot air.
But then, the CNMI coffers isn’t as healthy and strong as it used to be. It is suffering from a prolonged syndrome of assorted crisis, including leadership crisis. On top of this setback, most lawmakers are still out with their canopies and tables, picnicking!
It is mind boggling that even to this day most of our illustrious lawmakers still think we have the means to defray pet projects. Have our men of wisdom really buckled down to reality that our local government is basically bankrupt? This reason alone is sufficient to force policymakers to settle for basic needs, i.e., education, health and public safety, no more, no less! Well, it’s everything else except basic needs.
But some have ignorantly pushed for bonus pay in the middle of a financial crisis. Gentlemen, is it too hard understanding that we can’t even pay-off our debts with Honolulu hospitals? Is it too hard comprehending that we really don’t have the resources to be juveniles in what programs are funded this fiscal year?
This adolescent attitude confirms–and it is self-inflicted too–that other than the deepening economic crisis, the greater crisis is, yes, leadership! Si Yuus Maase`!
