June 30, 2008
The Saipan Tribune reports that the wage study bill for the CNMI and American Samoa is headed for a signature by President Bush. The Fitial Administration hails the proposed economic study viewing it as a way to stall future minimum wage increases:
“The Governor believes that federal minimum wage policies should be objective and data-driven, not based on political ideology or partisan considerations. We support careful wage studies for both the CNMI and American Samoa, and we hope federal policy makers will be guided by such studies. We hope they will be willing to make changes if warranted by the economic data,” said press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr.The federal minimum wage is presently at $4.05 an hour and is scheduled to increase $.50 a year until it meets the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Under the bill, the U.S. Government Accountability Office will be required to study the impact of the first two minimum wage hikes in the CNMI and American Samoa. The GAO will study how the wage increases have affected the rates of employment and the living standards of workers. The study will include other factors that impact employment and quality of living such as inflation in the cost of food, energy, and other commodities.
In addition, the GAO will look at how future increases might affect employment and the living standards of workers and the profitability of businesses, while also considering factors such as energy costs and the value of tax benefits.
The GAO study is due between March 15, 2009 and April 25, 2009.
Furthermore, the bill requires federal agencies to include the CNMI and American Samoa in regular studies done for the 50 states. The requirement applies to U.S. Department of Labor's household and establishment surveys, the Bureau of Economic Analysis' gross domestic data reports, and the Census Bureau's population estimates and demographic profiles.
Meanwhile the Marianas Variety reports that the the Northern Marinas Housing Corp. said that their statistics show that more than four/fifths of the residents in the CNMI are low and moderate income earners:
The agency received $2,020,822 million from HUD for program year 2008.The Marianas Variety reported on June 16th that the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs needs about $13 million for the federally funded food stamp program. It currently receives an $8 million budget. A June 19th Saipan Tribune story reported that requests for help to Karidat have spiked:
NMHC wants to apply for $2 million in new HUD assistance — $1.3 million in Community Development Block Grants; $583,259 for the HOME program; and $62,884 for emergency shelter assistance.
Community Development Block Grants are used to revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing and economic opportunities and improve community facilities and public services.
With its increasing number of clients and an annual budget of just $890,386, the assistance provided by Karidat Social Services is very limited and is mainly for emergencies only, according to Karidat executive director Angie V. Leon Guerrero.Clearly, the economy in the CNMI has crashed and the majority of the people living there, residents and non-resident workers alike, live below the poverty level.
“We still have a number of people coming in seeking assistance in our family services program even though what we provide out of the program is for emergency purposes only,” Guerrero said. . .
The Saipan Tribune reported earlier that the Karidat Social Services clientele for calendar year 2007 has been the highest ever in 10 years.
In 2007, the non-profit organization provided services to 4,515 clients, and 1,746 of those availed of the family services program.
It seems that the federal government is spending a great deal of money on reports. And it appears that the Fitial administration is poised to use those same reports against the federal government. The Saipan Tribune reported that the Department of Interior has paid for economists hired by Fitial to write a report:
Meanwhile, economists hired by his administration are crafting a report funded with U.S. Department of the Interior money that will illustrate the full scope of federalization's consequences. The report will be finalized in the coming months, according to the governor's chief trade adviser, Richard A. Pierce. The document could help local officials make the case against federalization and guide other efforts to address the issue, he said.
Excerpts of the report, which Fitial referenced when announcing early plans to file the lawsuit, suggest federalization will severely drain the Commonwealth's labor pool.
“[F]ull implementation of federal immigration authority as enacted will injure existing business and future investment through labor access restrictions under a federally administered guest worker program,” the report says. “In a small, isolated island economy dependent on an outside labor market, there's essentially no way to eliminate the overwhelming majority of the current 20,000 guest workers in five years and find qualified replacements from within. The outmigration and repatriation of half the employees on-island will effect major economic disruption.”
Fitial also said that federalization would result in a 50 percent decline in the CNMI's gross domestic product, or GDP.
In an interview, Pierce echoed many of those statements, adding the pending report could complement a draft Government Accountability Office report Fitial's staff is now reviewing.
Fitial and Pierce think they have a crystal ball. They are investigating a lawsuit against the federal government on how the immigration bill may damage the CNMI economy before the policies are even written. All of their speculation reminds me of the talking heads on news shows that fill up time slots with their "what if", "it could mean", "maybe", "suppose", "I predict", "imagine if" garbage. What happened to facts? Why is the federal government spending money on reports that the CNMI will use against them, reports written by the administration's handpicked economists? Sounds like the Abramoff think tank reports from the Froilan Tenorio times - pure spin.
3 comments:
"The agency received $2,020,822 million from HUD for program year 2008."
That's $two billion, a lot of $. Are you sure?
That's a direct quote from the Marianas Variety story(check the link) That must be wrong!
Chamberonomics 52 - The Godfather
Is the NMI suing the United States? It is expensive to sue the government of the United States of America. All federal lawsuits, especially frivolous ones like this one, are both costly and time consuming. Apparently the CNMI now has a lot of money and time on it‘s hands. One must ask: “Where is this money and time coming from?”.
Private companies, as yet unnamed, have offered to fund this absurd legal action against the United States government. Does anyone even KNOW who these ’investors’ are? I’ve seen The Godfather. Are we asking Don Corleone for a favor? Who exactly are we borrowing this money from? The source of this funding could be organized crime, the Chinese government, HANMI slavers or even (God forbid) our notorious Saipan Chamber of Commerce. We, the citizens, have a right to know who is putting up the capital for this venture. It is clandestine agreements that got us the thriving economy that we now enjoy.
“Politics make strange bedfellows” says the old cliche. The CNMI has been in the right bed, with the wrong partners, for too long. We should be proud to be members of the United States of American. This administration is harkening back to the days of Jack Abramoff, when disgrace for the decent people of the Commonwealth had a dollar value? Stalling federalization in the CNMI will do irreparable harm to our economy and accentuate our shame. Fighting our inevitable future will only delay the aid we most desperately need with electric power, potable water and adequate housing for everyone. In addition this contemptuous behavior will further shun the private and military investors which we so desperately need.
These deplorable actions must stop before our beautiful island become the target of more international shame. It is both unethical an undemocratic for our governor to use slush funds of unknown origin to speak and act for us. IS THIS WHAT WE WANT???
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