A Letter From Ron Hodges

February 9, 2008

Chamberonomics XXXIII...who are the bad guys?

We have now confirmed at least three groups are bent on keeping our third world wage structure and dooming a generation of local island youth to servitude and poverty - the Chamber, HANMI, and the Fitial administration. We have two groups that have not formally stated their position, the TaoTao Tano, and the 16th Legislature.

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce opposes raising the minimum wage here. Voting in the chamber is a formality, as HANMI and Tan Holdings companies control a voting majority.

HANMI supports keeping a status quo on wages in the NMI and sent their president, Lynn Knight, to DC to lobby against raising the wages of local Chamorro and Carolinian workers of our islands. Any American company involved in this should be exposed.

The Fitial administration has publicly stated they are in favor of artificially depressing wages. This policy will guarantee another generation of local islanders working for slave wages while their big business associates flourish. The Fitial administration includes the mainland lawyers circulating anti-federalization propaganda, which has been thoroughly rebuked by many credible sources, including the US Department of the Interior, US Senate, the Federal Ombudsman Jim Benedetto, NMI Congressperson Tina Sablan, and many others. The Governor, his attorney Howard Willens, Willens's apparent partner and FREE commonwealth legal consultant to our dysfunctional DOL, Deanne Siemer, and Fitial's niece, Cinta Kaipat, are involved with a campaign of disinformation that aims to protect big businesses to the detriment of our local citizens. This entire situation seems be beyond the look of impropriety and is widely rumored to be an organized crime operation headquartered in Hong Kong.

I do not know what the Taotao Tano official position is on restricting the opportunities available to the next generation of our local island youth. Do you, the 130 members of the TTT rally support raising the minimum wage here for locals or do you support Governor Fitial and his mainland lawyers' freeze on our third world wage structure? Please advise, but please spare me any propaganda written by Fitial's or Abramoff''s friends.

Local residents here deserve to know what the 16th Legislature stands for on the minimum wage issue. Do you stand with Fitial, the chamber, and HANMI, or do you represent and support the local indigenous crusade to elevate their wages and standard of living? I did challenge the 15th Legislature and have called previous congresspersons here spineless because they were afraid to stand up against big business, but this Congress has many new faces that may inspire courage, perhaps enough to protect the future of local young people here.

I would like to hear the official position of our NMI Congress regarding the minimum wage issue. Does the 16th Legislature stand with or local citizens in economic emergency or with big business money?

Ron Hodges
Puerto Rico, Saipan