Cut costs and find new revenue

The recent bill to increase taxes on each soda and alcoholic beverage container has generated a lot of opposition, which tells me there should have been a public hearing before taking this desperate measure.

While I understand Rep. Flores and the House for trying to generate new revenues, this was not the way to do it, as it isn’t enough to make a real difference economically and everyone has already been adversely affected by the increase in the cost of living in too many ways to mention.

The first rule in taxation is “never put more taxes on the people than they can bear,” which even has a Biblical origin that says “God won’t put any more on you that you can bear.” In fact, it was taxation from England without representation that created the American Revolution—the Boston Tea Party!

This tax bill is just like the casino bill that disrespected people. They should have been looking for new revenue sources on Day I, but instead they only focused on cutting cost, which is why I asserted that our leaders need to learn how to chew gum and walk at the same time—cut cost and find new revenues.

Raising taxes without a public hearing is disrespectful and avoids doing the real work of generating new revenue sources. I’ve been trying to get our leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate to attend the international hemp expo this month, which offers the opportunity for the CNMI to directly interact with major hemp investors to promote the CNMI as an American destination for hemp production and manufacturing. I don’t have to tell readers what a new industry that is not labor intensive but AI-driven with high paying jobs can do for the CNMI. But as usual, it’s Ambrose’s idea so the idea was shot down, yet the hemp industry has been legalized and nothing is being done to get the industry started nearly four years after becoming law! Maybe one day, our leaders will start listening to Ambrose on how to be great citizens and public officials. Drop the ugly racist politics, revenge, and denial of the truth that has only served to stall and prevent economic and social progress, which ends up hurting people, like we see with this tax hike on soda and liquor!

The governor is right about chasing IPI for the money they owe the CNMI but I think the Casino Commission is helping IPI to stall. They are also going at it wrong by trying to get money, as the CNMI should be trying to attain partial ownership of the IPI hotel/casino. IPI can’t delay the transfer of IPI stock to the CNMI in court for debts as the buildings are, there, unlike the money they don’t have. Heck, there has never been a lawsuit filed by the Casino Commission for our money that amounts to $77 million, which tells me the commission is stringing things out on purpose just to keep getting their big salaries for meeting only once or twice a month. If we can go to the moon and other planets, I’m sure we can learn how to catch butterflies in the CNMI.

Let the governor take control with an executive order to negotiate with the power of being a partner with IPI and temporarily retire the Casino Commission until there is an operating casino, as it’s a waste of money when the commission is only doing settlement work. The governor only needs the commission’s attorney to negotiate and collect what is due while transitioning the casino/hotel into a productive operation, as opposed to this never-ending legal drama for money IPI does not have. We are talking about $64 million owed the government and $77 million owed people that amounts to more than our budget ($141 million), which is far better than raising taxes on soda and liquor. This is too much money to just be chasing butterflies, as we can get IPI stocks to sell immediately and/or keep some of the stock for a future new continuous revenue source once IPI’s operation is functioning again. We must devise a real plan to end this quickly and finish the eyesore hotel/casino. Instead of complaining about taking down a crane, they should literally be fighting with teeth and nails to take down all the Chinese symbolism, which is one of the prime reasons preventing the Japanese from returning as our primary tourist market.

The CNMI needs real reforms, not taxes and butterfly nets, in the way our leaders are doing things. The House is even sitting on a bill that would give NMDs tens of millions, but instead the House chooses to focus on raising taxes their people don’t have the ability to pay.

The business sector is even against this tax, even though they won’t pay the tax; it will be passed on to their customers. Wake up and initiate the economic reforms we need as we need you to be better stewards of our Commonwealth.

Ambrose M. Bennett

Kagman III, Saipan

Letter to the editor