Dazed over the vicious slams of the year just past, we retreat to reset buttons to see if there\u2019s any iota of hope left to stimulate economic growth. The urgency is obvious: steady and significant decline in revenue generation. It\u2019s basically a very uninspiring year and 2014 doesn\u2019t look any better either.<\/p>\n
Cuts in pension pay, budgetary shortfall for this purpose, and piles of debts with CUC are serious indications of a woefully wobbly fiscal posture. Whatever happened to the gusto of \u201cbetter times?\u201d<\/p>\n
The fiscal setback prompts the need to do due diligence in what\u2019s known as \u201cfiscal gap\u201d\u2014future expenditure versus future receipts. What and how will we do it to stimulate economic growth this year is the defining challenge of 2014.<\/p>\n
[B]Stagnant income vs increases[\/B]<\/p>\n
While the boys are resting on their laurels\u2014apathy land\u2014perhaps it\u2019s just as well that we jolt their senses on what they have done to improve the stagnancy or lack of increase in employees\u2019 income? While there are slated increases in health premiums and deductibles, power bills, cost of food, etc. income remains the same. The 40-percent increase in health premiums has forced a lot of employees to terminate their policies.<\/p>\n
At day\u2019s end, the impending increases would further rob families of their purchasing power while Capital Hill snoozes. It includes folks who are underemployed\u2014employees with jobs whose income fall within the federal definition of poverty income level\u2014and others who haven\u2019t seen any increase in salaries for the last decade. Isn\u2019t it your fiduciary duty to improve their lot or income?<\/p>\n
The negligence\u2014failure to improve the livelihood of the multitude\u2014literally seals self-inflicted political doom or triumph in darkness for failing the real challenge to fulfilling fiduciary duty. <\/p>\n
[B]Must wake up to reality[\/B]<\/p>\n
Policymakers can\u2019t continue humming their favorite nursery rhyme Are You Sleeping. Not when the CNMI is getting torched to ashes by the merciless magma of bankruptcy at every corner. Appalling the urgency of the issue that seems stuck in mediocrity or apathy land.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a definitive and urgent need to review and remove the carcasses of dead, predatory, and regressive policies as we envision the next steps ahead. For instance, is there a need to raise taxes (no mulcting please), cut spending to skeletal level, or forging a combination of these to equal some 10 percent of GDP? It\u2019s a highly sensitive undertaking given that the goal is to revive investment rather than force its final closure as a result of unintended consequences.<\/p>\n
Indeed, our holy grail\u2014tourism\u2014indicates an upward spiral in visitor arrival. We hail it but ever wary that it is a highly volatile industry. The power check between China and Japan could send the upwards spiral the other way.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that there are so many factors that could determine how well the visitor industry does in the coming years, like airline seat capacity, exchange rates, and the health of the global economy, nothing is certain in the fortuneteller\u2019s cards,\u201d according to Lowell Kalapa in his column in the Hawaii Reporter.<\/p>\n
While the Aloha State does well in most economic ventures, ours is less than stellar as a place to do business as evidenced by the huge closure of large, and most recently, small businesses. The business climate is bad given the high cost of utilities that has literally killed marginal firms.<\/p>\n
[B]Economic engine sputtering[\/B]<\/p>\n
The exodus of foreign capital in recent past is a huge figure we can\u2019t replace anytime soon. In brief, we\u2019re always capital-short, meaning the NMI needs constant infusion of capital (money) in order to create jobs and financial prosperity to keep the economic engine humming. <\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t happening today. Quick fixes like casino, costly energy programs, or tax exemption through the infamous QC program are but gimmicks that produce little in return versus their high cost.<\/p>\n
The fiscal disaster is a tale of negligence in fiduciary duty that has finally caught up with unbridled spending habits that has piled up into far less for far more. The persistent exodus of foreign capital exacerbates revenue decline beyond our wildest imaginings.<\/p>\n
The economic disaster and its debilitating effects against the purchasing power of families are leadership\u2019s dominant feature and halo on its plate. How do families deal with this monstrosity?<\/p>\n
Have they lifted a finger to rework carcasses of dead and regressive policies to reset the button of reinvestments here? If so, what are they and have they organized developmental programs to benefit governance? Or is mediocrity its guiding star, thus the persistent and significant loss in revenues?<\/p>\n
[B]Gubernatorial contest[\/B]<\/p>\n
This year also reins in the 2014 gubernatorial race to which I\u2019d be worried sick if I were an incumbent in office now. I mean, how do you quell the angst of some 3,000 retirees and their families? How do you justify the skyrocketing spikes in power bills? What\u2019s your answer for implementing the fraudulent Obamacare that has morphed into Nobamacare? How do you mitigate the impending increases in basic commodities amidst huge losses in the family purchasing power?<\/p>\n
The hardship imposed by the constant increases in the cost of living throughout the archipelago makes for difficult navigation of the treacherous seas of this year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Interesting query: what would be their narrative? Could they sufficiently muster the energy to make voters crawl on broken glass to re-elect them or would they quickly lose what\u2019s a foregone conclusion? It\u2019s how well you do to ease economic hardship that defines this year and your future. If you\u2019ve failed, then you\u2019ve sealed your doom. <\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
In moments of solitude, I often quiz if my views need to slide into \u201cpolitical niceties\u201d partaking in cheering the fatal effects of the \u201cdo-nothing\u201d bunch. Difficult the task may be, it remains a matter of conscience and responsibility to \u201ctell it like it is.\u201d I take pride in our people who\u2019ve learned when to say \u201cNo Mas!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dazed over the vicious slams of the year just past, we retreat to reset buttons to see if there\u2019s any iota of hope left to stimulate economic growth. The urgency is obvious: steady and significant decline in revenue generation. It\u2019s basically a very uninspiring year and 2014 doesn\u2019t look any better either.<\/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-174882","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\/174882","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=174882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}