Dark clouds of uncertainty!

We’ve paddled our canoe bravely into the fearfully dark clouds gathering storm in the horizon of uncertainty. Not surprised that we’ve met the only certainty in this dangerous journey—increases in the cost of living—while salaries remain the same for the last 20 years.

We pine for leadership for hopeful tidings. There’s none but a vacuum. I’m equally aware that many have prayed clinging to divine providence to sift through the maze. Often we’d slip into despair when the thin strand of hope is dashed by helplessness from empty family pocketbooks.

We take a glimpse at what the future holds beyond the darkening clouds of far less opportunities, reined in by leadership’s lapses and failure. You ponder why is it that the harder you work the less you make or your buying power sinks instantly into the quicksand of unexpected increases in most everything. Leadership is caught flatfooted!

Strength of your dollar

If you critically look at how much per dollar you take home, it’s not more than 30 cents. That is basically your income amidst the only certainty we face today—the wildly unbearable combined cost of living—reaching as high as 65-80 percent.

You search for honest answers from the elected elite who can’t answer your questions. How could they provide educated and decent answers when half the time they too are at a loss “what’s at issue?” If they brave their usual grope with muddled answers, their first reaction is to leave you hanging alone. And these are the policymakers of the CNMI? When would we learn? Do we keep or kick the bums out?

Demoralizing as it may be, I’m still convinced that with a sense of spiritual humility and integrity the CNMI could free itself of the deepening and crippling effects of the vicious economic crisis.

Leadership has failed to improve the economy! It struggles to navigate its way through self-inflicted maze. This as it drools at the candy dangling before it or money for its re-election bid. But the lack of an agreed single agenda is scattered all over political strategy rooms.

Everybody’s talking, nobody’s listening. Confusion reigns! Efforts were made to fix the shortsighted casino law. But leadership hasn’t been able to meet to trump its cards.

The governor refuses to see changes made to his casino law while some legislators want a more realistic version. Perhaps it’s another lapse in leadership. If it means so much to the governor then why can’t he extend the olive branch to the Legislature?

NMI’s pile of debts

As the guys and gals try to figure out the front, back or side doors upstairs, there’s earnest sentiment to be educated how a casino industry here would resolve the fiscal and financial crisis that is dwarfed by a huge pile of debts.

Must show numbers beyond conjecture and padded projections. Is it not true that the NMI has a cumulative deficit of at least $1.2 billion, if not more? So could you show us realistic figures before I begin reading, “How to lie with statistics?”

Is casino fee the holy grail of salvation for the return of the 25 percent cut illegally from retirees? I don’t know if there’s any chance that it will be released anytime soon. With the parade of lawsuits against the casino law, the timeline is tossed out the window where we won’t see payment until next year.

Casino fees will disappear instantly. You do simple arithmetic and you’d see that it wouldn’t resolve the persistently deepening fiscal and financial crises strangling city hall. Beyond the needs of retirees it simply fails to cover the needs of the majority, e.g., education, health, among others.

It looks like two years from now it’s back to square one: Another 25-percent cut because casino fee is insufficient to cover the financial needs of the program. Isn’t there an unfunded liability of some $779 million discounting funds for the settlement agreement? So both the Fund and the industry are destined to fail.

It’s very clear, though, that leadership has avoided including the participation of “we the people.” Our focus now is to protect the future of our children. Screw the career of half-cocked politicians now morphing into historic dinosaurs.

Learning from the best

Having represented the NMI in regional and international organizations, I was privileged to learn from the best in both Asia and the Pacific how normal or contentious issues are discussed, resolved, and disposed. The term consensus resembles the island way of resolving approval or disapproval of community issues.

Time is allotted for all to express their views. It permits for healthy deliberative discussions why we agree or disagree or choose to agree to agree or agree to disagree. The wise man of the village guides the discussion. For the most part he keeps the discussion focused, eliminating ad hominem.

By the time the discussion ends, we pretty much have an inkling why our position holds water or otherwise. We peacefully submit to a decision by consensus to ensure harmony among islanders.

But this mode of community meetings has disappeared into the ash heap of history now boxed into the four walls of what’s known as the Legislature. That the Legislature has failed perception of people’s issues turn their public hearings into a venue of empty chairs where debate among legislators takes over public participation. Sad the loss of public trust and confidence to which there’s no one else to blame except themselves.