Comments on: Undoing the Abramoff Effect

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 02:44:55 +0000

Don’t feel so bad about the taxation without representation thing, Bryan.
You don’t pay taxes. Here on the mainland we do. And guess what? Neither one of us have any real representation.
You’re getting the better end of the stick.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 23:17:05 +0000

OK, lets try and put this “Made in the USA” label thing to rest once and for all. Look, I live on the island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands and for as long as I’ve lived here (a little over 7 years) I’ve never seen a label that blatently said “Made in the USA”. Instead what you’d see is a label that says “Made in the Northern Marianas Islands (USA)” or some variation of that. So whether that upsets you or not, whatever(if you don’t believe me go to your nearest GAP and check a few lables, its there you’ll see), but that’s what it says and that is in fact what we are, we are the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands and we ARE American! So much so that many of our little island community have commited to defending our country in places like Iraq and Afganistan, and some have even given their lives in that endeavor. You think that’s not a sacrifice for a small community such as this? then think again! So don’t hand me this crap about not being a state so therefore not allowed “membership in America”.
And another thing, sl and jose hit the nail right on the head, while the author Maddy Sauer completely missed the boat. Garment industry workers in Saipan will NEVER see a cent from this proposed minimum wage because faster than you can say “Ni Hao” they will be off to China or Vietnam or the like. Instead what will be left will be an American protectorate with little self sustaining income and more reliance on US handouts, a.k.a YOUR tax dollars because WE don’t pay any federal taxes! And thats simply because then the US would be praciticing taxation without representation (gee when was that last printed…1776 maybe?) Because no, we have NO representation in the US congress, just in case you were wondering.
Now as to my personal opinion, I do think we should raise the minimum wage. Will it hurt buisnesses and the economy in general here, yes, it most certainly will. Will the CNMI be able to survive this crisis, I don’t know but I sincerly hope with all my heart that it will because these islands are some of the most beautiful places under the American umbrella and they have stolen my heart and gotten into my blood and I truly want the best for the Northern Marianas Islands and her amazingly resilient people!
Oh and if Saipan sounds just way to foreign for you, then check your WWII history books and you might be amazed at the stories of just how important this island was to the US at one time, and how strategic it may yet be.

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:59:31 +0000

Don’t look now, but we surely are in bigger trouble than you thought.

By: Iraq War Veteran

Iraq War Veteran — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 19:59:15 +0000

“Say what you will, stores such as Walmart allows these millions of Americans to the opportunity to at least simulate having a piece of the American dream.”
Well they can shop at WalMart all they want, and ‘simulate’ the American Dream as much as they please. My only beef is if it isn’t made in one of the fifty states that is America, it should NOT say “Made in America.”
And don’t tell me that wouldn’t make a difference to the super-patriots that shop at Wal-Mart, thinking they are buying real American goods. They don’t realize they are hammering nails in their own country!
Don’t even get me started on how “our” guys covered for Mark Foley for years.
I want to remind yout oo that when you actually look at where most of the WalMart stuff is made, it’s from Communist China. And I seriously doubt anyone who shops there would want to work in any of the places where those items are made.
HAVING STUFF is not the American Dream. If it is, then we are in bigger trouble than I thought. Let me go read the Constitution again to see where it guarantees my right to do business with companies that ruin America.

By: Zach

Zach — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:02:59 +0000

“Wal-Mart and the other retailers who hate Us-made goods are surely going to be ripping after this!”
…and so are the people who eek by on the approximate $7,000 per year in America under the poverty level, making minimum wage who can’t afford to purchase goods made in America to begin with…not to mention “Saipan-America”.
Say what you will, stores such as Walmart allows these millions of Americans to the opportunity to at least simulate having a piece of the American dream.

By: Chris Baker

Chris Baker — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:05:12 +0000

Wal-Mart and the other retailers who hate Us-made goods are surely going to be ripping after this!

By: jose

jose — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:35:05 +0000

Again, the benevolent fat cats of Washington, whether Republican or Democrat wish to defy the natural state of the market (that is, the equilibrium — supply versus demand — that the market generates freely.
Say Adios to the job opportunities in northern Marian Islands, where obviously the variable cost (part of the marginal cost for all you Marshallians out there) has been quite low compared to other labor markets. Perhaps it may have something to do with many hands available to perform a fixed amount of jobs available; hence, when demand is fixed and supply abounds, the price for the variables, such as labor, goes down.
Why cannot the 535 fat cats that operate at the capitol understand that fact.
You set a minimum wage (a “humane” minimum wage); you set the stage for a job exodus because quite simply, labor across this world abounds where a simple task that does not require a college diploma can be performed.
Can you please pass a copy of any of Milton Friedman’s books to any of our 535 fat cats legislators in Washington who may not understand the problems with a minimum wage, and that in end, it hurts the younger people who desperately need a job there in the island because they are barely starting live out their life.

By: jose

jose — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:57:07 +0000

In short, Adios jobs in Northern Mariana Islands (if the wages go up). Afterall, the US government does not employ these garments workers; it is the consumer that ultimately employs them, via Walmart, Target, and any other retailers that sell the garment the workers of that island produce (product or service).
The worker, the variable cost, is just that: a variable (and not a constant). The variable can be located anywhere in the world where the host country and its government refrains from imposing a minimum wage or a satisfactory wage or “humane” wage.
Ultimately, however, the consumer has the last word. If the price for the product is too high, because an input along the production route of that product has increased, then the consumer will trek over to the cheaper price (a substitute in most situations). The more inexpensively produced garment, product or item will ultimately satisfy the demand or the need of the consumer.
Governments attempting benevolency often miss that point entirely. The wage (or price for the input) finds the equilibrium when and where enough of the available inputs are willing to settle for that price afforded(supply and demand). Too many willing inputs and not enough outputs, the price offered to the input (that is, the wage) will go down. Obviously in those islands, inputs abound that are willing to accept the market wage (or that low wage) according to the number of machines and employers; however, the US government, attempting to play Santa Claus, deems the market-generated wage/equilibrium too low (or too unjust), thus defying the natural law of price (and energy) setforth by the supply and the demand (the market price of the wage).
So again, in short, Adios jobs in Northern Mariana Islands, and hello to anywhere else in the world that lives by the true dictums of a market economy, regardless of how harsh it can be relative to the notions of many of 100 or 435 fat cats in Washington DC.

By: sl

sl — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:13:33 +0000

Anti war activist shouted down the Democrat press conference this afternoon, but no mention of it was made on any newscast except Fox. The Dems better fall in line and get with it or they are out in the cold the next election.We want out of Iraq and hard core ethics reform, no matter if Murtha thinks ethics reform stinks or not, and Brian, get to the real stories ok

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:35:05 +0000

Give me a break.
If I read a label that says “Made In America” I naturally conclude it was made in one of the 50 states that comprise the “United States of America”.
Not the Islands such as St. Thomas, not Puerto Rico, not Saipan in the Mariana Islands.
Not represented by a Star on our flag?
Then sorry. You are not an American state.
And if you’re not a state?
Sorry. You may be an American colony, an American imperial interest or simply a strategic dependant of America. You may get all the perks from Social welfare to Social Security along (somehow) with the right to vote in American elections but that does not give you membership in America.
I don’t care if you’re making American flags, apple pie or baseballs in a vacuum, that does not make you America.
If being made in Saipan was equal to being made in any one of the fifty states, how come being “made in New York” (or any other bona fide American state means more to most people about America as its origin than “made in Saipan”?
Jeez…not only does Abramoff get off with a minimal sentence in a country club for contributing to treasonous intent and behavior, but now we have to swallow that his was a noble and sincere effort to fight for the rights of a minimum wage for American workers…(?)…eh, in Saipan (?) of all places???
This is how history is rewritten.
I wouldn’t worry about closing the border to Mexico, folks.
I’d worry more about the arbitrary inclusion of other surrounding provinces based on the lobbying of people who are now convicted felons and the politicians who would prefer to spin him into sainthood to save their own political futures.