All ears (and eyes too, just stay up till late midnight on the internet) about the upcoming US Senate hearing on Immigration in the CNMI on July 19 (July 20, Saipan time.) Familiar faces will be there e.g. Gov. Benigno Fitial and other officials.
Would this event just as they say, only a courtesy visit for the CNMI officials? We would soon find out.
Stay tuned!
The Reveler
14 comments:
Sadly, this deal is already bought and paid for.
'Courtesy' would have been to honest-up and say "stay home, you're wasting your time and money. The deal has been cooked'. We'll pat you on the head and make noises like we listened and used your input, but you've already been had."
lol. so what do you think?
It is certainly not as corrupt as the deal bought and paid for with government money into Abramoff's pocket to bribe Tom Delay. Got to admit that, Bruce.
It's every bit as corrupt, Jeff. The only difference is in the one case money is used to influence political direction and in the other political force is used to manipulate the end result.
Neither are very sweet to look at.
Lobbyists are the way of Washington...like it or not. We were (and are) at a disadvantage already not having a delegate in Congress... were we to totally disadvantage ourselves by having no means to pursue our agenda? We selected the wrong delegate maybe, but as I stated... lobbyists are the primary means for influence in DC.
sic - we selected the wrong lobbyist maybe... not delegate.
That assumes it's "our" agenda, which it isn't. Flooding the labor market and keeping local wages at $3.05 isn't very fair to all those people not in the bloated and unsustainable bureaucracy. Not to mention that it's corporate welfare. Let private business hire their own lobbyist to rig the system.
The fact that our local leaders (99% of them anyways) have continued to pursue this course makes it our collective agenda. We vote these people in after all.
The fact that our local leaders (99% of them anyways) have continued to pursue this course makes it our collective agenda. We vote these people in after all.
By that logic, the American people stand for the Iraq War, spying on their own people, running up billions in debt, pardoning Scooter Libby and putting prisoners in a naked pyramid with electrodes on their nuts. All the polls say that's not their agenda. The CNMI government's agenda is not my agenda, and I refuse to take ownership of it.
Yes, by that logic I am right. Americans did support Bush's wars. That is why Republicans were the majority for eight years. Now Anericans don't and that is why the makeup of Congress has changed, and by most predictions, that is why the administration will change. Collective majority leadership with safeguards for minorities is the way of American democracy. Voting is your voice, your check and balance so to speak.
The majority of people can't vote in the CNMI. Maybe 1/5 are even eligible. Of that 1/5, about 1/5 voted Fitial, and Saipan didn't even choose him. The votes happen to count more in Tinian and Rota. That's a mandate right there.
The anti-federal isn't the product of just this administration. The lobbyists were hired over the course of three administrations and numerous legislatures. Additionally, this is the first time that the vote in the CNMI has been split so closely three ways. If you review previous administrations, the Governor's were elected with pretty clear majorities of the vote. It is the eligible voter population that determines the administration and thus the course of policy. This is the American system. Outside of just electing our leaders, it eligible voters are the only ones who can sign petitions for and vote on propositions, amendments to state/local and federal constitutions and a number of other legal and/or political actions. So the fact is, under our American system of democracy, our official and collective political and societal decisions (in the end) are the determination of the eligible voter.
In addition to what I just said... Pretty much anyone will tell you that up until the last year or two, by far anyone on the street would have told you that they did not want a federal takeover. Filipinos didn't want it because of fear that they would be repatriated, the rest didn't want it for most of the reasons you hear daily here. So, up until the last year or so, it would be fair to say the great majority of citizens (and residents) did not want the US to takeover labor or immigration. This has changed somewhat I'm sure, due to the current economic situation and the way in which the US has approached the takeover (talking with alien worker organizations). As a resident of the CNMI for many many many decades, I would still venture to say the majority of residents would still opt for local control of labor and immigration.
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