By Ron McNinch
In the last few months, I have been talking about my belief that the current Guam Legislature simply has not been serving the community well. I also believe that the coalition majority is very unhealthy and leaderless. Our community deserves better.
While we could have twenty one senators in the legislature, we only have fifteen. We also elect Guam legislators at large rather than by districts. This makes it difficult to wash out the dirty laundry populating the body. Worse yet, they rely on the same staff year in and year out. Even if there are new legislators, the system remains the same. The only way to deal with this group is to cut off their fundraising. If you are a business person, my advice is to not give any money to incumbent senators. Instead, only fund new or past senators.
Also, speak out on how bad many of the legislators are. We cant have a meaningful discussion on the hospital because the legislators are too busy playing petty politics. The Attorney General requested a bill to clarify legal representation and your senators prefer to stand by and do nothing. Of course they will talk, but our community needs action.
A few years ago, I told several senators that the public was upset with them and it was likely that a majority of them would not be re-elected. They laughed and thought it was funny. All the jokers were not re-elected. In the past week, I told several folks that the public was upset and they are going to have a hard time at the election. Little has changed. They simply are too arrogant to care about the community.
In general, at any given election cycle, between two to four seats may rotate. In a cascade cycle, up to ten can be swept out on election day. I believe that this extremely bad legislature is in a cascade cycle if the right people run against them. Instead of handling key problems like the hospital, the bill the AG requested or helping to work on critical issues in schools, our senators do nothing. They couldn’t even talk about Hamas raping and murdering women and children last year in Israel. These people are cowards.
Last week, I talked about the bill 176, which deals in part with Customs fees that will be applied across the board. Please read this bill for yourself. The business community spoke out against it but it was approved anyway. Of course, the senators will try to hold off making this public until after the election. By then, they will hope you will forget. Don’t forget.
Maybe in the next few weeks with the cooperation of the PDN, I can write a review and rating of how bad the legislature is. I first noticed this when Senator Perez allowed protesters to hold up signs behind witnesses testifying at the Congress Building. Over the years, I have seen a lot of elected leaders. I often wonder, how do they become bad? While a small number remain good, many elected leaders turn bad. My advice is don’t re-elect them.
