Retirees, stop bellyaching and help your country

If the 3,800 retirees would look into all the departments, agencies, and autonomous corporations in our government as a group, every single anomaly in these agencies could be exposed in three days but you just sit around and wring your hands and moan about your plight while our government keeps making secret, under-the-table deals, shuffling inept people from job to job they are not qualified for and never ever planning for next week, much less for five years from now or even beyond.

Since Teno’s time, secrecy has been the No. 1 reason nothing seems to go right in the CNMI. If you retirees want to really be a force to be reckoned with—and you could be—demand open and transparent government for the CNMI, no more closed door anythings. You have an obligation, not just to your kids and grandkids and great grandkids, but to all future generation that call the CNMI home. You are adults and it’s time for you to get involved in the mess here in the CNMI. All of you worked for one agency or another and you have expertise in every single operation required to keep this government operating and operating on track. Stop whining and go to work exposing what’s wrong here.

I do know that two governors, Sixto Igisomar, senators, legislatures, and many others have told you in plain Chamorro, plain Carolinian, and plain English many, many times that the Fund is insolvent because previous legislatures gave it “too much,” and no one listened then or is listening now. Have even one of you ever Googled “bankrupt pension funds”? There are 400,000 sites. If all 3,800 retirees looked into even one site each, maybe something would click and you could make some suggestions to the government. You get 75 percent, millions are getting zero. Step up and make suggestions and try to accept reality. Your 75 percent is still more than 60 percent of the workers in the CNMI get, some working two and three jobs, putting in 60 to 80 hours every week. Grow up and face reality and get busy helping your country.

Here is just one site you can check for information. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2013/07/25/detroits-bankruptcy-should-be-a-warning-to-every-worker-expecting-a-pension-or-social-security/

Gary DuBrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan