Disposition of the FY `17 budget was handled responsibly where the governor sent a clear message to alleged Lt. Gov. Biktot Hokog that he\u2019s wary of the undermining scheme he\u2019s schemed with senators. There\u2019s nothing up that alley, sir!<\/p>\n
Imagine allowing the mayors of Tinian and Rota ultimate disposition of leftover funds for utilities when the NMI owes CUC nearly $30 million. Saipan taxpayers would be forced to pay for over 30 political hires to aid in the fast fading political career of Sen. Francisco Borja. Biktot Hokog\u2019s maneuver crash-landed on the reef outside the Susupe channel left as bait for sharks.<\/p>\n
It boggles the mind why the illustrious Saipan senators and representatives were complicit in the open wasteful scheme. Was it right that you turned your head the other way on an issue that requires minute attention?<\/p>\n
Now, there\u2019s some money left to pay for the following urgent need at CHC: 1. Critical disposable tubes being used on ICU patients to ensure they don\u2019t choke from phlegm collection in their throat. 2. Purchase of additional gowns so patients could change dirty ones daily.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the echo of an improved economy with its suspect domino effect. But you limited salary increases to an already overpaid public sector ignoring to lift the boats of employees in private industries. Aren\u2019t private industry employees people too?<\/p>\n
GOP regrouping?<\/strong><\/p>\n Through the grapevine, I heard of the reorganization effort of the Covenant Party. It\u2019s aimed at 2018, a move that could effectively eliminate Republicans who came back into the fold.<\/p>\n The genesis of the now fractured GOP is a painful experience where the dilemma entails eradicating corruption in favor of upholding the laws of the land or sweeping the issue under the rug for political convenience where everybody lives happily ever after.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, impeachment from the lower chamber was the only alternative that meant the permanent wedging of relations among republicans. Impeachment finally took its toll.<\/p>\n The initial move didn\u2019t leave much room for lower chamber legislators to avoid fiduciary disposition other than to decide what does it preserve: corruption or the integrity of the laws of the land? Understandably, the tectonic collision upon returning to the GOP didn\u2019t sit well with the grandfathers of the GOP. The tectonic rumbling kept jolting what was once a single unit now dangerously disintegrated.<\/p>\n Of what benefit is the planned reorganization other than a few haggard consultants collecting big bucks from the system without real benefits accruing to the multitude? And is the effort sufficiently attractive to sheeple or fool voters once more to following instructions from political slave masters? Or is it just another \u201cfeel good\u201d scheme so useless for the multitude?<\/p>\n The fractious group isn\u2019t going to see its deep wounds heal soon, if at all. If the reorganization excludes republicans who took a stand in favor of impeachment, it means the severing of relation. It took courage to vote fulfilling fiduciary duty. The political sacrifice is huge but it rests well among the multitude wary that it was the right thing to do!<\/p>\n The intelligent yet idiot<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the years, we\u2019ve patiently listened to the \u201cintelligent yet idiot\u201d (IYI) bunch tell us what to do, what to eat, how to speak, how to think and who to vote for. Surprising their half-cocked view that they know better. Thus, the bravery to tell us what\u2019s good for us even to the contrary.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s put the guys and gals through a simple test to see if they know their fiduciary duties. The authority to appropriate funds is the epitome of power solely reserved for the legislature. One would think that it\u2019s almost a given that it would jump to defend its authority when violated by any member or delegation. It didn\u2019t! Why?<\/p>\n I had to file a lawsuit against the MV Luta in hopes of jolting their nimble mind. That nobody came to my rescue makes one wonder if it isn\u2019t fitting that a constitutional amendment be sought to impose an exam on all legislative candidates pertaining to the NMI Constitution and Covenant Agreement. Those who fail must be relegated permanently from seeking public office. Imagine da guys and gals spelling \u201cconstitution\u201d m-a-n-g-o, mango! Seezzzz! And it\u2019s dealing with policy on our livelihood?<\/p>\n Interesting though the courage to blindly brave explaining public policy so clueless what the task entails. Well, maybe it\u2019s the reason we have the IYI club to lump and dump every Tom, Dick and Harry into the fold who fits the bill. Halo? Must be the origin of all wrongs! Sayu? If someone embarrasses you about your representative being clueless, just say that he or she was recently inducted into the IYI Hall of Fame! <\/p>\n Said Magoo, \u201cThe IYI is our version of Basket of Deplorables!\u201d Oooops!<\/p>\n $100K for commission<\/strong><\/p>\n The establishment of a status commission includes $100,000 in funds for its purposes. What\u2019s purpose boggles the mind when mirrored against the permanent arrangement found under USPL 94-241. The same federal law provides for the 902 Talks, the vehicle to resolve differences in federal policies then and now. It didn\u2019t say the NMI may establish another commission to conduct future discussions. It\u2019s a permanent arrangement we no longer could change. Only through the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress could changes be made to the agreement.<\/p>\n The NMI\u2019s dissatisfaction and frustrations are self-inflicted and hasn\u2019t been able to navigate its way forward strengthening its democratic institutions to ensure strong governance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Disposition of the FY `17 budget was handled responsibly where the governor sent a clear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11178,141,13640,257],"class_list":["post-237561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-biktot-hokog","tag-gop","tag-iyi","tag-nmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237561","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIf you read Covenant Sections 101 and 102 you\u2019d get a clear idea of the obvious exercise in futility inherent in the work of the legislature. The first aspect speaks loud and clear that the NMI surrendered sovereignty under the law. The latter says the Covenant Agreement (USPL 94-241) is the \u201csupreme law\u201d of the land.<\/p>\n