The formative years of bipartisan politics here was difficult largely because of the introduction of a new chapter in how the community discusses and disposes of its issues. It eased out the old way of taking commands from the wise man of the village to owning them as members of the community.<\/p>\n
The old ways were relegated with the introduction of participatory democracy. We took the leap of faith too! The decibel level is louder but it\u2019s the venue to vent community sentiment in addition to allowing for healthy competition of ideas in island communities.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been to several of these village meetings, listening to healthy differing views. It was the one venue where I heard timeless wisdom from our elderly. It was their sober and mindful views that fostered calm and unity simultaneously. It came with wisdom!<\/p>\n
Through the years we learned the difference between intramural and varsity sports on matters of importance. Call it political maturity or sophistication.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s comforting how the more informed and educated folks contribute to help the group move forward on complex issues. With a sense of camaraderie emerged relative ease fulfilling the work of the entire community. At any rate, it is the initial venue to dispose of vital issues of interest doing it the old-fashioned way: indigenous unity!<\/p>\n
Island leaders weren\u2019t elected then. The community grooms the naturally gifted to ascend to position of leadership. It\u2019s like knowing and accepting the smartest in the class. He gets 4.0 while you struggle with 2.5 or 1.5 GPA and still boast that you\u2019re smarter than him. It was a long journey since the incipiency of self-government and still a long ways off our destination!<\/p>\n
Reintegration:<\/strong> I remember listening to disoriented discussion about reintegration with Guam because of the dollar-an-hour salary. Ours then was about $.16 an hour under the Trust Territory government. <\/p>\n The other side aspired for direct annexation with the U.S. The majority, though, overwhelmed the issue supporting reintegration. But Guam shot it down soundly, ending any and all future discussions. It still is about low wages and salaries, as though history has repeated itself though different in form.<\/p>\n Oops! Today, there are more than 14,000 employees earning poverty and below income. Where did the elected elite miss their bus ride? Isn\u2019t this dependent largely on a healthy economy?<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know we\u2019re still stuck with the dollar-an-hour debate even after 40-plus years! This time it\u2019s the lack of elasticity of the dollar\u2014poverty income\u2014we have to contend with. But then after 40-plus years talking about the economy, we should have one in place that is growing and sustainable. Guvana Raffy\u2019s SOCA missed it by oceans apart!<\/p>\n Alone:<\/strong> In 1972, we opted for separate negotiations with the U.S. versus being lumped together as a state under the Federated States of Micronesia. Negotiations ensued the agreement approved by the U.S. Congress in 1975. We finally opted out, successfully.<\/p>\n A new arrangement in self-government forced politicians to look beyond provincial politics. It was the beginning of obligatory self-government.<\/p>\n Is there anything else beyond the current arrangement that we wish to secure from our national government? Anything beyond the current arrangement would be wasteful and unrealistic in that the onus of building strong governance is on our side of the court.<\/p>\n Medicaid:<\/strong> The future of Medicaid across the country depends on the results of this midterm election. \u201cFor 53 years, Medicaid has served as a safety net for millions of people who needed assistance as their ability to care for themselves declined. <\/p>\n \u201cIn 2010, Medicaid\u2019s healthcare role grew with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which called for the expansion of health coverage to more low-income families. So far, 33 states and Washington, D.C., have expanded the program.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Medicaid, Social Security\u00a0and\u00a0Medicare often are targeted for\u00a0cost cutting\u00a0in times of rising deficits. Medicaid is particularly vulnerable,\u201d says David Certner, AARP\u2019s legislative policy director, \u201cbecause it services populations such as low-income seniors and people with disabilities, who don\u2019t have as strong a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMost people think of Medicare as the health program for older adults and people with disabilities, which it is. But while Medicare covers medicines, tests, doctor visits and hospital procedures, it\u2019s Medicaid that pays to help a frail elderly person get dressed, bathe and eat\u2014either at home or in a nursing facility.\u201d<\/p>\n The CNMI receives around $13 million annually from the feds that helps a lot of indigent (poor) folks here deal with the cost of medical care. It\u2019s an issue we can\u2019t ignore, though it requires a lot of money to ensure its continuity if federal funds are cut completely. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The formative years of bipartisan politics here was difficult largely because of the introduction of…<\/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":[22665,22666,55,67],"class_list":["post-284452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-david-certner","tag-guvana-raffy","tag-health-2","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284452","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=284452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}