The Legislative Branch? It\u2019s the most powerful in the CNMI\u2019s tri-government setup by virtue of its veto powers. It\u2019s also the core of our community\u2019s ongoing disasters. With the exception of current Governor Fitial, who enacted many beneficial laws in preparation to cure the evident damage done the first two years of his tenure by controlling both houses of the Legislature\u2014in preparation to cure the evident damage done by all other elected officials before him\u2014CNMI\u2019s previous governors came and went like so many bobbleheads, even if they meant well. How so? Even if a governor vetoes any bill passed by the houses, special interests demand an override by the good ol\u2019 boy network on the hill. And let\u2019s be honest about this stink on the hill\u2014its primeval beginning lies inside their id: don\u2019t worry about real problems (like CUC), but lavish money (which our community doesn\u2019t have) on vote-getting projects (that we don\u2019t need). And what does this core of rot breed? New and naive electees who follow suit\u2014other than newly elected Tina Sablan who is doing an incredible job attempting to expose this rot. <\/p>\n
And this stink? It\u2019s euphemistically called \u201ccompromise\u201d by Pete Reyes. Like that $4.7 million bill recently passed through intimidation (compromise) by the good ol\u2019 boy network of GOP guys (back in power with their BBQ philosophy). Result? The spore of two types that drive free cars and wear pretty ties and shirts up on the hill: the graybeards and the deadwoods. They\u2019re the ones who cluck and crow with bumper sticker promises, pose and preen for the cameras while doing zip, And gleefully cackle every day for the next two years of their term (or more), saying: \u201cI\u2019ve got $300,000 of free salape to blow!\u201d For a group that\u2019s known more for churning out nearly 150 worthless bills, let\u2019s begin by defoliating the graybeards at the top. <\/p>\n
Pete Reyes. He\u2019s sometimes referred to as the Senate president. Pete gives away $30,000 for new baseball fields, citing, \u201cbecause roaming the streets invites criminality and drug use of our kids, I\u2019ll build more fields on Navy Hill whether you like it or not.\u201d He threatens. Tough guy. Abuse of power. And to demonstrate male dominance, Pete harangues newly elect congresswoman Tina Sablan for not voting for his two pet bills because he is \u201csadden\u201d? How arrogant of him. Likewise Arnold Palacios over at the House, who said to Tina, \u201cget on the train….\u201d How arrogant of Arnold and Pete. <\/p>\n
Sounds very familiar to that other graybeard, Stanley Torres, the very same guy who badgers others in the newspaper about their guilt, promises a lawsuit if the attorney general doesn\u2019t prosecute them, and then fails to go after the CNMI\u2019s Lt. Gov. Villagomez recently photographed in handcuffs. Because they\u2019re bosom buddies. And all from the same school. <\/p>\n
Diego Benavente. He should hold the title of \u201cmost positions held on the hill.\u201d Diego labels Governor Fitial\u2019s recent executive order over CUC as a \u201cconspiracy theory.\u201d The only \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d was his: as Lt. Governor three years ago, who was conspiring to be re-elected while not paying the fuel bills, not fixing the already broken engines (and the failed economy) and finally, lying to all of us that \u201cour economy is pretty darn good\u201d? Eating lunch? Nah, in all likelihood, fishing. Exactly, where another $25,000 of that $4.7 million will go so Diego, Heinz and a sludge of other legislative cronies and their pals, who splurge on expensive boats and suck up on expensive fuel so they can smile for the camera, have a grand old time, feeling good about themselves and the free trophies\u2014all at our expense. And didn\u2019t the TTT guy Cruz claim that a brand new road was recently built to Diego\u2019s chicken coops under the guise of being a CIP project? <\/p>\n
Paul Manglona. For all this time he\u2019s noted for playing it safe, obscuring rather than revealing, while acting like a benevolent patron and handing out freebies particularly for his island of Rota\u2019s scholarship monies. Great scheme to stay elected. Knows his game extremely well. And his favorite, the Retirement Fund. Now Paul\u2019s trying to push a 100 percent debt-free payout, claiming it would \u201csave the government $2 million\u201d, not to benefit other hard working retirees who rightfully deserve the money, but for his soon near-retirement. Has he earned it after nearly 20 years in office? If you like a blank screen.<\/p>\n
I need not defend our present Governor Fitial over the turmoil we\u2019re all experiencing today, for the following reasons: he is fearless. Stubborn. And his actions from day one of his term are just: to buy time, to get the community back on the road to recovery. And coherent: what he said he would do he is doing, despite the federalization takeover issue. He\u2019s the only governor who has stood up against political pressures to make the hard decisions and to finally do something to correct the massive ills created by past elected officials\u2014in face of his unpopularity\u2014such as declaring state of emergencies when the grave situations demanded, and not waiting for the graybeards and deadwoods to preen and pout and debate until our community is set adrift. <\/p>\n
Can this legislative cultural rot be exorcized? Yes, with new and vibrant faces of similar beliefs and motivations to that of the newly elected congresswoman Tina Sablan. And her Open Government Act? The best tool that\u2019ll benefit all of us by exposing where all the wasted monies spent by her \u201ccolleagues\u2019 discretionary funds\u201d went\u2014if not cause for other investigations by the Feds. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s bring back former legislators like Junior Waki, Cinta Kaipat and Andrew Salas, to name a few. Let\u2019s get those doomsday writers of shrill voices like Propst, Arkle, Bennett, Cruz and Hodges\u2014if they really got the guts\u2014to walk the talk: pay the fee, get on the ballot for the upcoming election and do battle with those graybeards and deadwoods like Congresswoman Tina Sablan is waging in the halls of the Legislature. Even the Aussie hat guy Jack Angello, school teacher John Davis, talk show host John Gonzales and Korean Chong Won. Vote them into office, what\u2019s to lose? Anything\u2019s better than most of the legislators we have now and their bubble-wrap laws. Then dump or better yet\u2014jail\u2014those graybeards and the deadwoods who\u2019ll get caught. And watch what happens.<\/p>\n
[B]Lee Andersen[\/B]
\n[I]Chalan Kanoa, Saipan[\/I]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Legislative Branch? It\u2019s the most powerful in the CNMI\u2019s tri-government setup by virtue of its veto powers. It\u2019s also the core of our community\u2019s ongoing disasters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125830\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}