Monday, December 31, 2007

177. Santa Claus Congress

The CNMI House voted to give Rota $500,000 dollars for start-up costs of their casino. Merry Christmas!


But I'm feeling decidedly like Scrooge. $500,000 is a lot of money that could do more good used elsewhere, like at PSS or DPS or CHC.

The large majority of people in Saipan voted against casinos. And the CNMI's overwhelming majority of population is in Saipan.

So if the people of Rota want a casino, which THEY voted for, let them pay for it themselves. Bah Humbug!

5 comments:

Angelo Villagomez said...

I hear ya on this one. That's messed up. Why is the government giving half a million away to private industry?

Saipan Writer said...

Good point, Angelo.

Jeff said...

It's corporate welfare. How about issuing stock, or bonds or hitting up tony soprano/wells fargo for a 29 percent loan like most of the real people here. This is disgusting.

Lil' Hammerhead said...

I agree to a certain extent. The CNMI government is in no position economically to be doling out $500,000 to a gaming body. Let potential investor fees pay for it. That being said, if the industry on Rota turns out to be a windfall in the future.. Saipan should then see none of the direct profits. I've not read the initiative, so I'm not sure if Saipan will anyway.

Anonymous said...

The 500k is not an investment in anything other than "plenty salary" for the gaming board. Rota has no casino investors and Saipan is as close to building a landing strip for the space shuttle as Rota is to building and managing a casino. The 500k is a bet that a paid board with no gaming experience can lure investors. There bet on this initiative is a certain recipe for failure.