Of, for, and by the people—CNMI impotency! (Part 1)

First of three-part series

The ominous phrase “of, for and by the people” is too often taken for granted, especially when you don’t hear it being said in any shape, form or fashion coming from the ones you depend upon most—our leaders! The politics of China has prevailed over our economy and our very social fabric for at least the past decade and now it seems to finally be coming to an end, as arrivals continue to decline after the latest push for Chinese tourists. So, what is Plan B coming from those (Republicans) who were pushing for China? After the past decade if casino talk and what Ralph did, one would think that maybe Ambrose is not the enemy, as no politicians has never said any of my ideas were bad, just continued to ignored me and denying prosperity for the people.

Being an “adopted son of the CNMI, with no rights like a Chinese adopted child, a recognized U.S. constitutional scholar by the U.S. Congress and a real economist,” I want to see our economy boom while our politicians only worry about re-election! There was nothing on fixing the many problems until election season and true to form a bill on marijuana is passed. as Republicans used marijuana for two elections before finally legalizing it after Ambrose M. Bennett had done all the heavy lifting of educating the people, as I was the only one educating the public. I actually had people at church to tell me “I was against legalization until I read your articles in the paper.” The recent law was more about getting votes than fixing the cannabis industry

I must reiterate the Cannabis Commission and director was supposed to have been temporary to get the industry started, as I wrote an 89-page draft for the original bill but the final bill was only 29 pages, which explains why the industry is still dysfunctional and costing more than it brings in. The purpose of paying the Cannabis Commission the high salaries was because they were supposed to have been working 40 hours a week like a regular job. But they only meet once or twice a month which explains why they have yet to promulgate any laws to govern over the industry for the Legislature to approve and the AG to prosecute after nearly six years—pure impotency. They are still playing political games with legalization and the recent bill that did nothing to improve the industry is proof, especially when political operative Clyde Norita of Saipan Select surfaces to speak, but he refused to even meet with me and other dispensary owners in the Office of the Governor to try and fix the industry, as he.

Heck, commissioner Joe Palacios even wrote to dispensary owners telling them not to work with me trying to protect an impotent commission, as Clyde didn’t want to see a level playing field for all dispensaries and Joe didn’t want to lose his high-paying job for doing virtually nothing! FYI funny people in the comment section, I’ve been writing and working, not for Ambrose but for the many people who don’t have a real voice even though they have elected officials who more often than not do not speak out and don’t even try to fix the problems nor address the challenges for the people—for true! Just look at how all of them totally ignored the $500,000 increase in our budget by restructuring the governance structure for the cannabis industry. Our politicians don’t want to save money nor fix the industry for the people, as its Ambrose’s idea and why the industry is messed up from ignoring and trashing Ambrose—pathetic and why I continue to pray for the people.

Heck, the tax that the governor just approved on construction is good for the military construction, but it targeted everyone when the regular folks know that “one shoe does not fit all.” The tax should have only been applied to “commercial construction” who can afford it and not to local people trying to build their own home, as the tax is surely going to be passed on to the whomever is building. This is just another clear example of why a real economist is needed on the Hill to end the “picknick table of political operatives brain trust” that is and has been for years the ones who have made the awful economic decisions

Ambrose M. Bennett is an economist who minored in sociology, political scientist, a retired teacher, and former CNMI Board of Education member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. constitutional scholar), a Fulbright-Hays and lifetime humanities scholar who resides in Kagman III in the CNMI.