home about us Our Credo Issues Testimonials Contact
Paying Tax Refunds:
The Truth about the Governor's Proposal
Borrowing more is never the solution to a spending problem
Half Truth. The Bond to payoff Tax Refunds is money from a bank and/or investors to pay the people what they are owed.   Truth. The people have to pay back the bank and/or investors, plus interest – and all of that will leave our community and make other people rich over our mismanagement.
 
Half Truth. The Bond is simple interest, and Tax Refunds are compound interest, so we'll save money with the bond.   Truth. The interest on Tax Refunds is paid to our people, the interest on the Bond is paid to bondholders, so rather than the people earning interest, they will be paying interest – and the total cost to payoff 285 million dollars will come out to 644 million dollars out of the pocket of the people of Guam.
 
Half Truth. The Government is going to be sued and we are going to owe this money, so we need to pay it off right away.   Truth. The lawsuit is from local people who are fed up with the lack of commitment to pay the money owed. If we commit to a payment schedule and appeal to the people to withdraw the lawsuit, we can stay out of court. Even if they refuse and they force us to go to court, we can make a case that our efforts to repay are already underway.
 
Half Truth. The Governor's Office took a 10% cut to show leadership during these times.   Truth. The Governor's Office is spending 5 million dollars more today than in 2006; all of the Governor's Office staff are unclassified employees, so this added cost is voluntary, and is much higher than the 10% "cut".
 
Half Truth. We need to pay off the Tax Refunds owed so we can spend responsibly going forward.   Truth. We did the exact same thing in 2007, and Governor Calvo was a Senator during the budget process that appropriated more than we were bringing in back then, leading to the problem we have today.
 
Half Truth. The Guam Economic Development Authority Bond Experts say that the Bond is a good way to deal with this problem, and they are willing to present a case as to why the people of Guam should go for it.   Truth. GEDA gets paid when we float these bonds. No bond = no payout.
 
Half Truth. The Chairman of the Responsible Guam movement, Michael F.Q. San Nicolas, is not owed a Tax Refund, so he should stay out of the conversation.   Truth. The Chairman's wife works for the Government of Guam, as does his Mother, Father, and many other friends and family. He is willing to have his household take a pay cut to pay off the Tax Refunds, even if his family is not getting one, because it is the responsible thing to do.
 
Half Truth. The Bond will pump money into our economy and stimulate it.   Truth. The money from the Bond could be BETTER used to:
  1. Build a new GW to ease overcrowding, renovate many public schools, and seed a Trust Fund for maintenance and training.
  2. Upgrade our Hospital to a high-quality facility, recruit doctors, and seed a Trust Fund for blood and medicine.
  3. Make UOG Tuition Free for 10 years, or add new high-tech programs and build the infrastructure to attract large companies to do business on Guam and provide jobs to our people.
  4. Fund large-scale alternative energy adoption programs in people's homes, reducing the cost of everyone's power bills and making Guam more energy independent.
  5. ...and much more
ALL of these will pump money into our economy, stimulate it, AND provide long-term benefits for our community. A bond is a quick political fix that creates a long-term bill that our children will have to pay back.
Let's Build a Responsible Guam. Other Issues:

View Our Reorganization Plan  |  View Our Budget Process Proposal  |  View Our Economic Development Plan  |  Contact Us
img1img2img3img4
facebooktwitterLinkedInyoutube