‘Gov’t overly bloated, spends too much’

The CNMI government is overly bloated and it spends too much, according to Rep. Vincent S. Aldan (Ind-Saipan), who suggests cutting the government to size and scaling back its expenses.

During the miscellaneous portion of a House of Representatives session last Thursday, Aldan said that, with all the problems the government is facing, he suggests a solution that he concedes might be unpopular—reduce the size of the government, reduce spending, and pay debts to vendors.

In taking on the role of a devil’s advocate, he said, the solution doesn’t just go for the Legislature, but goes for every government agency and branch.

He said one of the biggest things that he has found and is nothing new is that the government is overly bloated. “As much as I don’t want to say it, it needs to be said,” he said, adding that there’s jobs outside of the government that need to be filled.

He said everybody that works for the government has to be responsible for everything the government owns—from paper to pen to staplers, and so on.

“And if we do hold ourselves accountable to make sure that all of those things are used properly, wisely, and responsibly, then maybe we could just save some money and we wouldn’t have this big of a headache,” Aldan said.

He said people need to start looking for jobs outside of the government, as the government cannot afford it.

People have to also understand that when they keep demanding for the government to provide some sort of service, that service is not free, he said.

“If you’ve got a big government, guess what? You’re [going to] have a big taxing problem that nobody wants,” he said.

Aldan said when the government pays its debt, then the vendors can pay their Business Gross Revenue Tax.

He underscored the need to reduce the government, but at the same time the public also has to stop demanding that the government do all kinds of things, because it costs money.

“And the only way the government makes money is by taxing, as much as we don’t like it. The more you ask the government, the more the government is going to tax [you],” Aldan said.

Rep. Vincent Seman Aldan