Why I disagree with Senator Tom Fisher…

…but I’m still voting for him.

Earlier this year, Senator Tom Fisher introduced a bill, bill 229-37, which aimed to ban e-cigarettes. It was a terrible piece of legislation and he, and his staff, should not be proud of it. Waves of people came out, voiced their disapproval, and I think we can agree its a dead piece of legislation. If you asked his office, they would probably tell you that it was to curb underage smoking. However, if anyone who has grown up on Guam would know, this issue stems from the household and you should not be surprised to go to your neighborhood bus stop to find kids who vape, who most likely obtained it from an adult. So we can safely say there is an issue, but Bill 229-37 would make matters worse.

However, I will still vote for him, and its for one reason only: He is smart. Senator Tom Fisher may have made a bad decision but he made the decision to tackle an actual problem. Do you know what issues your senators have actually tackled? For example, as Sanchez continued to struggle, the hospital was falling apart, a specific senator decided to rename our villages to the CHamoru language. I am in no way saying that its not important. However, I am saying, while our island faces a barrage of issues and we get this type of feel good legislation.

So, what am I saying? Lets stop voting for senators who introduce no bills to tackle our issues. I see signs that say things like "People before Politics" and "So and so works for you!" But do they really? Can they finally do something for our island that makes sense?

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised though. Our senators make $55,000 a year. It may not be the lowest salary, but its enough to entice the incompetent and too little to encourage the right fits. When you pay cheap, you get cheap. Once in a while, we may elect a senator who is effective, does a great job, and we can be proud of; they are rare diamonds in piles of cubic zirconium.