I like my cake, free or otherwise, and in return understand I will gain much-unwanted pounds, but hey… it makes me happy — That’s my excuse, what’s yours? I’m joining the gym come this Monday… GONG!

LBJ

When you get rid of doctors and skilled staff that are not Samoan by trying to pay them pennies in the name of ‘woe is me, we don’t have the money’ and then insist on paying top dollars to persons because they’re Samoan and/ or have worked a long time at LBJ — why are you (LBJ), then surprised your patients (they are not customers!) are dying and you’re about to lose your Medicare/ Medicaid certification, your main money stream? How do you justify paying your personnel officials more than what most of your doctors, medical officers, and nurses make? It’s a hospital for God’s sake, not an employment agency. GONG!

FISHERIES

Good or bad — the canneries are our main source of money in the local economy. Which is why it’s puzzling hearing the Lolo Administration go on against the Large Vessel Prohibited Area exemption for longliners. The American Samoa based US flagged longliner fleet pays taxes in the Territory, and is largely owned by Samoans — with the fish it catches sold to the local canneries. What’s the problem?

If it’s about the U.S. federal government having a say, like it does with our minimum wages, our fisheries conservation efforts, i.e. the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, then we need to take a careful look at what money we are accepting in return for their ‘interference’ and ‘infringement’ of our native rights, and just say “no”.

Keep in mind that the Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources and the AS Environmental Protection Agency are all fully funded by federal money; and don’t forget the U.S. military is one of our biggest sources of job opportunities for our youth.

So - taking U.S money, taking U.S. sovereignty comes with a price, and while the Treaty our forefathers signed with the U.S. offers a general map of what it is we are trading, crying over ‘glass beads’ is not one of them… GONG!

IMMIGRATION

One of the things we did keep control of is our borders.

It’s why “we” can dictate the race & country of origin of the ‘aliens’ we allow onto our island to visit or live. It’s also why we can charge a fee for their entry visas — much like the island-nation of Samoa does — that’s the $10 entry fee for American Samoa nationals it doesn’t charge to U.S. citizens. To get it removed, Samoa seems to want American Samoa to remove the fee it charges its citizens to enter. I don’t think it will happen — it’s money in the local government coffers, which goes to payroll and operating expenses… And after all “allegedly” there are more of ‘them’ wanting to get in here, than ‘us’ wanting to go there. Now we want the U.S. to put pressure on Samoa to lift the fees charged to Nationals — but it is “our” immigration system, not the feds… GONG!

CUSTOMS

“Our” Customs, is also why the government can charge us — both for business and personal use— service fees for inspecting our goods and charging duty on certain items for resale that come into the Territory. It is one of the main sources of income for the local government, which is why they keep on trying to find more ways to kick it up.

Unfortunately, they don’t see the consumer (that’s you and me and anyone who buys anything) end of it. When a business has to pay more at Customs (the latest is a $60 per inspection of cargo, not container) then guess where the add-on cost shows up? Yep, on the price tag at the cash register. The cost of living just went up another notch.

For a government that says it’s pro-business and “people first” — it isn’t. Not when we see Customs raising fees charged to businesses, and certainly not when we hear their main money man, the Treasurer, spout nonsense like “they (the private sector) are in it for the money… we’re (ASG) in it to help the people…”

Sure they are. When Customs came up with the bright (and illegal) idea of charging the shipping agents an inspection fee for loose cargo (LCL) containers inspected at the dock, that died a quick death. Those big businesses wouldn’t stand for it.

But I don’t hear any of them objecting to loose cargo inspections being charged to each owner of the goods. And why should they? The government just found a new gold mine and since LCL is brought in by the “little” guy — you know the “people first” guys — small businesses and individuals — well, it looks like they (ASG & the Shipping companies) get their cake and can eat it too. GONG!

SONG & DANCE

I don’t have a song to dance to this week with the craziness — so, I’m just going to go and eat my piece of cake, baked by my beautiful daughter, and watch my cable TV that no longer plays my favorite channels — Home Garden and Food — but I’m told I still have to pay for them… cuz even they (the cable provider) get to “have their cake and eat it too”… GONG!