What does ‘pretty darn good’ really mean?

The State of the Commonwealth speech given by Juan Babauta began with, “The State of the Commonwealth is still pretty darn good.” I suspect it would be pretty good if you drove around in a government vehicle and did not have to shell out any of your money when the car needed gas; or pay for the air conditioning bill generated at the governor’s mansion; or did not have to pay for any trips all over the world and the food and lodging that goes with it. It will always be “pretty darn good” for the person who is not obligated to take it out of their wallet and when someone else is paying for it, i.e., the taxpayers of the island community.

The governor’s perception reflects his world and not the world of the average CNMI resident who has to pay for the gas in their car, air conditioning bill, and any trip made off island. The only “gratis” that the residents of the island community will get at times will be the “chenchuli” that the family gladly hands out because of tradition and culture.

The governor mentioned, “New hills to climb and his administration found the strength to climb them.” The hill that the governor must be referring to is the “mountain of governmental deficit” that has risen to nearly $115 million from $98 million in less than four years. And as far as strength to climb new hills, he must be referring to keeping up with the mounting deficit as the hill of governmental debt grows larger and larger.

The complete irony of the speech is that the governor proclaims that the economy is pretty darn good and then negates it with “a state of emergency,” and, at the same time, says that there is “$400 million in the bank and the retirement system is safe”. Gubernatorial candidate Benigno Fitial’s description of what Babauta said in his speech as being “an oxymoron and not jiving” was indeed very accurate.

The governor described the people of the CNMI as “resilient.” For those families who have been hit extremely hard with rising food, energy, and fuel costs, they are slowly but surely losing resilience because they have less disposable income every month. And since the governor does not have to worry about these things, his resilience will always remain intact.

A pessimist will say that the glass is “half empty.” The optimist will say that the glass is “half full.” The realist will say that you need a “full” glass of water. When you are in denial and not realistic, you can never look truth straight in the eye. When is Gov. Babauta going to look at the residents of the island community in the eye and tell them straight that the economy is not pretty darn good and it is his responsibility to “not say” but rather do something to turn this dismal economic situation into better times?

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California