With the NMI financial posture dangerously clamped down by a huge deficit, we sit and ponder what other devastating hardship would emerge that would adversely affect family pocketbooks in the near-term.<\/p>\n
When more than half of employees here earn poverty income level or below you know so-called leadership has failed royally in its fiduciary duty. This negligence doubles down, with more than 46 percent of our people without health insurance of some sort.<\/p>\n
Definitely, one could only envision the parlous consequences of these familial setbacks NMI-wide. How would families fare if Trump slashes more entitlement programs that include food stamps and help for senior citizens? Would not this translate into more debilitating form of hardship for families here?<\/p>\n
Sadly, irrelevant valedictory speeches about poverty here aren\u2019t going to help the multitude deal with the deepening mess. Moreover, the mercurial and negligent \u201csolutions driven\u201d team can no longer be in denial of reality of bad economic conditions that fan the fire of poverty NMI-wide. <\/p>\n
These conditions place NMI families at the cliff\u2019s edge financially. But then it\u2019s deafening the lack of some thoughtful blueprint that lays out realistic answers to resolve the familial economic tsunami. <\/p>\n
Though national Republican policy on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has yet to emerge with clarity, it\u2019s an issue to follow through to completion. A change shifts financial responsibility to state and territorial governments.<\/p>\n
Given the uncertainty of the NMI\u2019s financial posture, it behooves so-called leadership to exercise some real time agility doing the mea culpa with Trump. Otherwise, we\u2019d have to line up for a sunset parade to American Memorial Park protesting impending cuts.<\/p>\n
The federal government now pays for the cost of these and other programs. If push comes to shove, could the NMI navigate this obligation or \u201cnot yet, already?\u201d Subjecting our people to vicious and mind numbing hardship isn\u2019t self-government, is it? Neither is bankruptcy!<\/p>\n
CW Issue:<\/strong> The administration is using its quiet tentacles, pushing for 4,000 CW workers for Best Sunshine. The hospital management was told it\u2019s a semi-autonomous agency and must make do with what it has today. Really?<\/p>\n With 114 nurses subject to exclusion two years from now, is the inconsequential demeanor the attitude of this administration on an issue of dire urgency? <\/p>\n Land probe:<\/strong> The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly investigating decisions by the Guahan Chamoru Land Trust limiting issuance of homestead land only to Chamoru descendants.<\/p>\n This story emerged after a federal court declared unconstitutional limiting voting on Guam\u2019s political status plebiscite strictly to Chamorus. Understood the conflicting narrative in the collision of culture versus rights of citizens.<\/p>\n But without stoking racism, one should draw an honest answer: who is the colonized people since 1898? Under pertinent international law, the Chamorus have rights to self-determination. The exercise in itself should effectively eliminate all non-indigenous in this case. This isn\u2019t so hard to understand, is it?<\/p>\n Indeed, the resurgence of culture steadily mounts and clashes with the military buildup in Guam. It fuels spirited discussion how the indigenous Chamorus should approach the two issues. It\u2019s your rights, therefore stand up for it!<\/p>\n I can understand and appreciate the limiting notion of Guam being small and therefore incapable of self-government. This view runs against the grain of the benefits of imperialism built over decades. To succumb to this viewpoint is to prolong neocolonialism. It need not be this way!<\/p>\n It\u2019s all a matter of self-definition in terms of your vision for you and posterity. In short, it\u2019s about the self. What do you want beyond what\u2019s before you today? You need not succumb to the whims of indigenous Chamorro who prefer pushing the agenda of neocolonialism for purposes of convenience and comfort.<\/p>\n Ooops!<\/strong> At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the new vent system for CHC, Lt. Gov. Biktot Hokog asked the presenter if the new cooling unit would save the hospital millions. Obviously, the mercurial Hokog is incapable of separating people from issues or what\u2019s the greater question. Isn\u2019t it about how much has he pushed to sufficiently fund the local hospital? That he missed this point is a tale of his obvious lack of comprehension of the complexity of healthcare issues! <\/p>\n Reminds me of what Einstein once said, \u201cTwo things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I\u2019m not sure about the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n In error:<\/strong> I made the mistake of calling \u201cVIP gambling rolling chip\u201d income. It isn\u2019t! It\u2019s how much wagers rolled, gambling on tables and others at the BSI temporary facility. Sorry! An honest mistake!<\/p>\n Nonetheless, BSI should show its income forthwith so our beholden men of wisdom on the hill would start using their calculators to figure out how much tax it should charge. Macau charges 39 percent tax on income.<\/p>\n Furthermore, would Capital Hill work up the courage to translate tangible opportunities to meet the needs of our people? Or are you guys so beholden to your sugar daddy it\u2019s hard saying it\u2019s time to do things right by doing it right? Why is your voice so muted or inaudible?<\/p>\n The bubble:<\/strong> For those basking merrily with fat sugar daddies living up their Cadillac lifestyle, notice where you\u2019re standing. Is it the floor and is the floor the first floor? How far away is it from the ground? Does it have a strong scaffold or as crispy dangerous as dry bamboo reed?<\/p>\n In brief, the elected elite can\u2019t go on ignoring and neglecting issues that directly affect families here. It\u2019s food and health that require serious review. Are you anywhere near these issues or have you stuffed it dazed and unsure how to approach them? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the NMI financial posture dangerously clamped down by a huge deficit, we sit and…<\/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":[42,51,257,67],"class_list":["post-248487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-food","tag-guam","tag-nmi","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248487","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=248487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}