The other day, I listened with great interest to Sen. William Parkinson talking about his legislative resolution supporting statehood for Guam. I thought back to all the sessions I attended where then-Sen. Michael San Nicolas was trying to delink the Guam tax code from the IRS – U.S. tax code. I remembered all the people who stood up and testified that we can’t depend on the people of Guam to run a fair and unbiased tax code. The speakers included politicians of Guam, employees of the government, and many business leaders who worried that Guam lacked people with the skills and integrity to create and operate a fair tax system.
The reason I point this out, is the first thing that would happen in the off chance that Guam actually succeeded in getting statehood status would be loss of income taxes collected on Guam.
Currently, a little over $500 million a year is collected in taxes on Guam. All the money collected stays on Guam as part of our status as a U.S. territory. Should we be successful in achieving statehood, that $500 million a year of tax collections would be transferred to Washington, D.C., for use as they see fit. This would leave a hole in the government of Guam budget of about $500 million a year, requiring the creation of a Guam state tax of $500 million a year of taxes collected on Guam to make up for the loss to fund the local government. The end result would be the citizens of Guam would be paying twice as much in taxes as we are paying now. And for what? The privilege of voting for president?
Whenever people talk to me about statehood the No. 1 reason they cite as why they want statehood is the fact that people on Guam don’t get to vote for president of the United States. That is a position I find ironic, considering even people living in the United States do not vote directly for president of the United States.
Under the Electoral College system, electors are appointed by different methods. Some are appointed by the governor, some are appointed by the legislature, some are appointed by the political parties, and they are the ones that cast votes for president of the United States – not the people living in various states.
If the right to cast a vote for president is the sole reason why you want to double the taxation that you will pay to be a resident of Guam, you have too much money.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you want to make any changes for the better here on Guam, it is in the hands of us, the voters. Nothing will change for the better on Guam as long as we keep reelecting the same people over and over again, expecting them to do something they have never done before, which is to put the quality of life of the people of Guam first.
Until such time as we have a majority of elected politicians making improving the quality of life on Guam for the people of Guam their priority, the political veterans will continue to do what they have always done, which is improve the quality of life for politicians and their politically well-connected INsiders.
Ken Leon Guerrero is a resident of Sånta Rita-Sumai.