Each time we shirk fiduciary responsibility on self-government the feds steps in and takes over. It fixes our mess on its own terms as we rant and rage with childish threats. But it\u2019s one less scaffold in our laughable claim for stronger local self-government.
\nUncle Sam warned us about immigration. We took our merry time until one day he just took over. There\u2019s nothing we could do to retrieve it. It\u2019s gone! He simply slammed the door in our face. Again, it\u2019s one less pillar against effective home rule.<\/p>\n
We were too busy toying with insignificant issues ignoring the dire need to resolve problems with the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. He came in and took over via the federal district court. Now, CUC could hardly generate enough revenue to pay the court-ordered fine of $64 million. CUC is in bad financial shape it\u2019s difficult meeting this payment. It\u2019s one less pillar on self-government<\/p>\n
Again, ignoring fiduciary duty we shoved aside strengthening the solvency of the NMI Retirement Fund. Uncle Sam came in\u2014again through the federal district court\u2014and took over the disposition of what\u2019s left of the Fund. The Fund needs about $50 million annually to pay its retirees. There isn\u2019t much left in its investments portfolio and it looks like its operations would close down by 2018.<\/p>\n
Its lifespan may be extended by another four years if the NMI successfully floats a $200 million pension bond. It would come at the expense of our children who would shoulder paying it back for years. Gone is their economic freedom!<\/p>\n
The best revenue projection is about $140 million for fiscal year 2015. You deduct the $50 million for the Fund and we\u2019re left with about $90 million for all other obligations. Troubling, isn\u2019t it? What then is our future under such dire fiscal impotency? We still must pay for CHC, PSS, DPS, and other obligations. Where do we cut?<\/p>\n
When certainty crumbles in the face of the deepening hardship it forces the question: What about the future of our children? Strange that the lights are on but nobody\u2019s home!<\/p>\n
Of selecting policymakers<\/p>\n
Indeed, the multitude is struggling to live in the filthy swamp of misery that could easily be blamed on heedless policymakers on the hill. While wages and salaries have remained the same for over 10 years, the cost of living has gone up by 20 percent. At the same time, there\u2019s that deafening silence in obvious ignorance by the \u201cCash It Now\u201d bunch incapable of seeing the obvious imbalance in the huge disparity in income versus cost of living. Hello?<\/p>\n
For now, we sit and watch as exhausted entertainment spouts by the \u201chas-been\u201d whose woefully dismal track records don\u2019t offer much hope for brighter break of dawn. How then do we navigate the treacherous sea of hopelessness so we don\u2019t royally repeat failure? It\u2019s all in the palm of our hands. We can no longer afford being victims of ignorance and arrogance! Stand up!<\/p>\n
Sense of hope<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s hope in some of the incumbents and new prospects emplacing common decency in constructive and lasting policies. There\u2019s Rep. Richard Seman who has proven in floor debates that he stands his ground premised on reasoned analysis outgunning his colleagues on most issues.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s Angel A. Demapan, a promising college-educated youngster who is also articulate. He\u2019s mature, well-read, and equipped with insightful perception of issues. Both folks could make a whale of a difference versus the current \u201cdidn\u2019t know what happened\u201d bunch.<\/p>\n
Of hopelessness<\/p>\n
We can exile Kilili to a post midway across the Pacific. If he can\u2019t articulate the legal status of the CNMI that we\u2019re NOT a territory, he turns his job into nothing more than a \u201cfederal coordinator\u201d of sort. We could include photo-ops on Obama-funded computer laptops he helped distribute here a year or so ago.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s ignored the likelihood of the CNMI being mutilated by the 157 major regulations issued so far by the Obama administration. He\u2019s done nothing up that alley. I would return to this issue up ahead.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the $1,000 deductible forced upon employees with health premiums. It\u2019s money they must pay out of their own pockets when seeking healthcare at CHC. It\u2019s one heavy blow against health policyholders NMI-wide that Kilili hasn\u2019t discussed or simply prefers avoiding at all cost. Let\u2019s see some real coconuts here, Kilili! Challenger Andrew Salas has your job on his radar screen!<\/p>\n
Fund marches to closure<\/p>\n
Assuming that we successfully float a pension obligation bond to the tune of $200 million, it means the Fund\u2019s lifespan is extended to 2022. When the original sum is spent, would the CNMI have sufficient anchor investments to support the needs of the Fund of some $50 million per year? Is it fair that a good portion of revenue generated is earmarked for retirees alone?<\/p>\n
Moreover, as more active members pull out of the program (as did Defined Benefit members) it means far less money to pay for the pension of retirees. Two things happen: 1). It may mean far less pension pay than the 25-percent cut since last year. 2) Health premiums increase that must be paid for by retirees themselves. It\u2019s a disruption that may force more members to pull out of their health insurance policy. Who covers their health bills? Would they eventually qualify for Medicaid?<\/p>\n
None of the incumbents has buckled down to understanding with a sense of clarity that these issues are of a magnitude that requires knowledge-based expertise. Do I expect resolution from any of them whose competency is limited to dinky law enforcement and irrelevant stint as former police and custom officers? We\u2019re stuck in the barrel of bankruptcy, struggling to exit right from the sea of filthy red ink. There\u2019s a fat chance we could absolve bankruptcy at this stage.<\/p>\n
John DelRosario Jr. is a former publisher of the Saipan Tribune and a former secretary of the Department of Public Lands.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Each time we shirk fiduciary responsibility on self-government the feds steps in and takes over….<\/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":[91,26,49,55],"class_list":["post-33156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-chc","tag-cnmi","tag-cuc","tag-health-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33156","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=33156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33156\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}