


As Nerissa and I get older, we lament our inability to do physical things quickly. This includes getting out of bed or getting off the couch after sitting down for a long period of time. In line with diving and ice skating competition, we started to rate activities with degrees of difficulty. Getting in and out of her Highlander rates a 1; doing the same in my low Camry rates a 2.

I started to wonder how this degree of difficulty would apply to political activities. For example, getting into the Congressional Record rates a .50 because it is really just a memo from a Congressional Office. Under “extension of remarks,” the Congressperson doesn’t even have to be there. The same goes for a Legislative resolution or governor’s proclamation. I would rate that .50 as well because the only difficulty is editing and wondering how much you can copy from similar resolutions and proclamations.

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There are other more serious degrees of difficulty. Introducing a bill and seeing it pass into a law has about a 5 percent chance of success in the U.S. Congress. In the 33rd Guam Legislature, 260 out of 411 bills passed into law. It could be that members of Congress just introduced bills for the heck of it or that Guam senators are more careful in their crafting of legislation. At this rate I gave Congressional success a 10 degree rate of difficulty while I would rate Guam Legislative success with a 1.

In Congress, making amendments to major laws that are actually going to pass is serious and effective law making. I would give that a 5 level of difficulty because most amendments are not usually attempted unless they have a chance of success and are preceded by a lot of negotiation. Based on my observation of the Guam Legislature, amendments come freely. Everyone thinks they are an English professor. I would give those a 3, especially if they improve or actually redirect the intent of the original sponsor. That is really clever.

On the executive side, I would rate the governor’s presentation of a balanced budget with a 2. I would rate it a 10 if it didn’t have to fudge the numbers and disguise the intent to actually spend the money on what is identified in the plan. The University of Guam and the Guam Community College know this game well. Under a new governor, there will be commitments to “full funding,” but we shall see how it actually goes as we move through the fiscal year. Children are our future except when it comes to spending government money. Fully funding education required a high degree of difficulty for previous governors.

In the past, Delegate-elect Mike San Nicolas has suggested that he would pass into federal law restrictions on Guam’s fiscal authority which couldn’t be accomplished by Guam law, according to a story on the Dec. 17, 2017 edition of the Pacific Daily News. That has to factor in two levels of degrees of difficulty. It is too large for me to figure out. Maybe he should just try to get more local control rather than move control to Washington DC. That is difficult enough in this environment.

As Nerissa and I get in and out of vehicles, airplanes and deal with the frustrations of daily lives as manamko’, we are blessed by the fruits of our service and the support of a great community. Living in Guam has a high rate of difficulty at times, but it has an enormous rate of return. Biba Anu Nuebu to all of you in 2019. Put fabot.


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