The email snafu between CNMI Government "volunteer" attorney Deanne Siemer and Congresswoman Tina Sablan is getting more bizarre. For those who haven't followed the story, Sablan sent a letter to CNMI Deputy Labor Director Cinta Kaipat on certain immigration issues. Siemer drafted a response for Kaipat to sign, and emailed it along with instructions. The problem was that Siemer emailed the draft letter and instructions to Sablan instead of Kaipat. Oops! Here's an excerpt from Siemer's instructions:
In my view, Tina has decided that you are a rising political star, and she's upset that someone she tried to brand as a racist is succeeding in persuading her colleagues at the Legislature. So we'll be on her radar screen for awhile. It is useful not to answer too promptly, but promptly enough. Letting her wait for a week or 10 days sends a message that we are respectful of all legislators, but we help productive people first and she is not in that line.
Siemer now claims that the whole thing was a joke. Siemer claims that she drafted a fake, satirical letter in order to be humorous, and purposely sent it to Sablan as a joke.
This piqued our interest. We had to see this brilliant piece of satirical humor that Siemer had sent to Sablan as a joke. Our intrepid investigative reporters dug it up. Here is Siemer's idea of comedy:
The Department is considering a policy change with respect to cases that have been on the docket of federal administrative agencies for over three years. It seems to us that three years is sufficient time for an agency to act. In the absence of action, unemployed foreign workers remain in the Commonwealth, often incurring medical and other expenses that Commonwealth taxpayers must shoulder. However, there may be countervailing policy considerations, and we are discussing these with the agencies involved. When you next have a conversation with one of these agencies, you might want to urge them to act on cases from the Commonwealth with more dispatch. It has been our experience that nearly all the cases filed with these agencies ultimately either are dismissed by them or a no-action letter is issued. Waiting for years for an agency to decide that it will not act is an administrative waste.
Wow, Deanne, that's funny stuff. When we read that, we laughed so hard that we peed in our pants. Shame on you, Tina Sablan, for not appreciating Deanne Siemer's hilarious sense of humor.
And to think, some of you thought that Siemer had sent this to Sablan by mistake, and didn't have the honesty, integrity, humility and courage to admit that she had made a mistake.
Showing posts with label cinta kaipat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cinta kaipat. Show all posts
Dec 18, 2008
Apr 30, 2008
A Case of She Said, She Said
Deputy Secretary of Labor Cinta Kaipat has blasted Rep. Tina Sablan's bill to grant enhanced status under CNMI law to long-term guest workers. Here is one of many criticisms that Kaipat leveled against the bill, as reported in the Saipan Tribune:
“This bill is lopsided special interest pleading in favor of the foreign workers. The drafter of the bill has no interest in the plight of Commonwealth citizens who are out of work,” [Kaipat] said. Kaipat said a move to bring 20,000 aliens into a new “status” in the CNMI would cause a serious adverse reaction in Washington D.C. “This very large number would be a deliberate slap in the face to the authors of the federalization bill which rejected this very provision (status for persons who had been in the Commonwealth for five years) and instead used provisions that seek to deport all these people over the next five years. It might even invite even more punitive legislation in the next Congress,” Kaipat said.
Tina Sablan responded, as reported in the Marianas Variety:
“It is incorrect to suggest that the proposed resident foreign national program would result in a significant population increase,” [Sablan] said. “Current CNMI law allows foreign national workers who meet certain income requirements to bring in their immediate relatives; these same requirements would apply to resident foreign nationals who apply for resident foreign national status.”
She added, “As an attorney, former legislator, and current deputy secretary of Labor, Ms. Kaipat should know that her criticisms are legally insupportable.”
Since the name of our blog is Saipan MIDDLE Road, we have no strong opinions around here. We therefore would like to hear what you think of all of this.
“This bill is lopsided special interest pleading in favor of the foreign workers. The drafter of the bill has no interest in the plight of Commonwealth citizens who are out of work,” [Kaipat] said. Kaipat said a move to bring 20,000 aliens into a new “status” in the CNMI would cause a serious adverse reaction in Washington D.C. “This very large number would be a deliberate slap in the face to the authors of the federalization bill which rejected this very provision (status for persons who had been in the Commonwealth for five years) and instead used provisions that seek to deport all these people over the next five years. It might even invite even more punitive legislation in the next Congress,” Kaipat said.
Tina Sablan responded, as reported in the Marianas Variety:
“It is incorrect to suggest that the proposed resident foreign national program would result in a significant population increase,” [Sablan] said. “Current CNMI law allows foreign national workers who meet certain income requirements to bring in their immediate relatives; these same requirements would apply to resident foreign nationals who apply for resident foreign national status.”
She added, “As an attorney, former legislator, and current deputy secretary of Labor, Ms. Kaipat should know that her criticisms are legally insupportable.”
Since the name of our blog is Saipan MIDDLE Road, we have no strong opinions around here. We therefore would like to hear what you think of all of this.
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