Sunday, October 3, 2010

CNMI Political Negotiations-still no budget

October 3, 2010. Still no budget.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

great cartoon again Jane. you seriously should consider partnering with one or both of the papers. humor may be a very effective tool.

Thomas Jefferson : "Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions."


on matters of this budget. the house majority and senate came to an agreement late Friday. they went with 10 hours and 10 unpaid holidays. they were posed to meet on Saturday at 2pm to go through the motions and pass it. everyone knew it was a done deal.

so what happened on Saturday? before 2pm the governor called the house majority leaders into his office. he had them there until close to 5pm (delaying the session and keeping the public waiting). in that meeting he threatened the majority leaders if they went ahead with that agreement. 16 hours or nothing.

like the loyal idiots they did as they were told.

the governor has his hands grasped around the majority's nads so tightly that they need his permission to take a piss.

Angelo Villagomez said...

My preference would be to cut positions, not hours. It is better to cut specific programs rather than reduce the overall effectiveness of the entire government.

I do not think the government should exist to give everyone a job. The government should exist to create the conditions that leads to job creation.

Saipan Writer said...

Thanks anon and Angelo.

The Tribune's breaking story gives some of the flavor of what happened, anon--though not with quite the clarity of your comment.

Agreed, Angelo. But there are an awfully lot of voters who disagree and think the government should be in the business of providing jobs... It's an uphill battle to change that mentality.

Angelo Villagomez said...

Exactly. But the government cannot create jobs.

If you work for the government, you are a parasite on the CNMI economy, taking money that should be in the pockets of business owners and workers.

Jane said...

Anon-who exactly were the House majority leaders that the Governor called in to pressure?

Anonymous said...

Ray Basa and a couple of the others in and out of the Governor's office from just before 2pm till close to 6pm.

From what I hear the earlier, Friday deal was struck when the Lt. Governor worked with Senate and House. They all agreed until the Governor found out the next day and spoiled it with his my way or the highway attitude.

Anonymous said...

Meeting right now too. All present up on the hill with the exception of Basa, Froilan and Fitial. Lt. Governor is there.

People need to realize that these three people really don't give a damn. I hope people are not easily bought this time.

Unofficial special meeting started at 7:15pm and is still going after Midnight.