OBA Release Brochure About Planned Initiatives
[Updated with PLP response.] The One Bermuda Alliance today released a brochure [PDF] detailing some of the initiatives they plan to institute.
Opposition Leader Craig Cannonier said: “The brochure does not represent our full platform – that will come when the election is called – but it does lay down our approach to getting Bermuda back on track, working better for our people.”
“They are based on thousands of conversations and discussions with Bermudians, and our own experiences: We all feel the pain. We all feel the pressures to make ends meet. We all feel the anxiety of a country heading in the wrong direction.
“The point is that we are all in this together, and the sooner we get moving forward together the sooner we will pull out this tailspin that is causing so much hurt and pressure across the Island.”
Some of the ideas in the brochure include:
- Instituting a register of sex offenders the public can access
- Supporting communities harmed by crime by implementing a ‘Cash Back for Communities’ programme using monies confiscated from criminals
- Expand the options for Bermudian students by transitioning Bermuda College into a four-year institution
- Stimulate Bermudian jobs growth by giving employers a two-year payroll tax exemption for all new Bermudian hires.
- Establish an independent Contractor General to oversee Government construction projects to ensure fairness, enforce rules and eliminate wasteful cost overruns.
- Protect Bermudian jobs by cracking down on employers who abuse immigration rules.
- Grow jobs, business and career opportunities by extending the North Hamilton EEZ and developing the Marsh Folly area.
- Support small businesses by directing 20% of all government goods and services spending – about $80 million a year – to them.
- Revive Bermuda tourism by creating a Tourism Authority that puts professionals, not politicians, in charge of the industry.
- Create Bermudian construction and tourism jobs through the redevelopment of the Hamilton and St. George’s waterfronts.
- Use growing government revenues to reduce debt and restore and strengthen social programmes.
- End wasteful government spending through the creation of a Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission
- Initiate an island-wide road improvement programme
- Implement a fully integrated technical curriculum, starting in the middle schools.
- Expand preschool places to make early education more accessible to all, especially single parents.
- Extend the school day to allow more time for the arts, music, sports and additional academic assistance for the students who need it.
- Empower our teachers by giving them the support and resources they need.
The full brochure can be seen here [PDF].
Update 7.11pm: The PLP have issued a response saying, “The Progressive Labour Party notes that in the interestingly timed OBA Partial platform release today there are no new initiatives and no new ideas – just recycled UBP talking points.
“We would invite the public to review this document and ‘do the math’ -they’ll find that the OBA plan just doesn’t add up.
“They will find out that it is very difficult to on one hand increase government spending, and on the other hand give huge and irresponsible tax cuts. The OBA plan just doesn’t add up.
“The OBA is playing catch up. The OBA rushed out this document in response to the Premier’s 10 point plan, which is a realistic how to guide to see Bermuda through the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.
“We are confident that the Bermudian electorate appreciate the fact that we’ve stood strong for them during these difficult economic times. Programmes such as FutureCare, DayCare, and the Economic Empowerment Zones, instituted by their PLP government have made a difference to thousands of Bermudians.
“We are confident that the residents of Loughlands, Perimeter Lane, and HarbourView Village housing developments appreciate what a PLP government has done for them by providing them quality affordable housing.
“And, we are confident that parents and students in our public school system appreciate the hard work being done to ensure that our students receive a first class education.
“The OBA document today contains little more than recycled UBP ideas, policies and initiatives already underway. It just doesn’t add up. You can’t cut taxes and increase spending while magically balancing the budget. They seem to be placing pandering to the voting public ahead of realism and practicality. Their vague plans just don’t add up.
“We place little stock in proposals from a Party that says “it has to be all about austerity” and won’t tell us what they plan to cut.
“We look forward to presenting even more of our vision for the future up against the OBA. We’re confident that when voters compare the OBA’s fairy tale plans with a realistic vision for our future, that they will make the right choice.”
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Articles that link to this one:
- PLP: ‘OBA’s Fairy Tale Plan Doesn’t Add Up’ | Bernews.com | October 25, 2012
- OBA: ‘PLP Trying To Deflect From Their Record’ | Bernews.com | October 26, 2012
- PLP: ‘OBA Has Yet To Say What They Will Cut’ | Bernews.com | November 23, 2012
- BIU: “Proposal Shows The OBA’s True Colours” | Bernews.com | November 30, 2012
Oh, um um… um um… yah, thats what we were gonna do! Stand Wrong!
I don’t really care anymore, I just want this lot out. Policies, smolicies, don’t care. Just no more cheating, lying, incompetent PLP.
Amen to that, time to go Paula. You can come back and play the PGA pro-am in a couple of years, when its like you never existed.
Will we know see a re worded PLP version in the next few days like in 2007…………………………..
LOL
This is a joke, almost all this stuff is being done already.
OBA, answer this question.. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR IT.
Nothing above is spending cuts, just spending increases.
Hang on a second! If the PLP is already doing most of this “stuff” how are THEY going to pay for it?
They aren’t, you are.
How would they know how they are going to pay for it until they see the books that the PLP are keeping under lock and key?……………………………..
LOL
OBA, this is great. Please answer me one question.
How are you going to do all of this, Reduce the Debt, when the only thing you are talking about it spending more money and reducing taxes. You haven’t even gotten to dealing with the deficit, and now you are talking about reducing debt……. C’mon, Bermudians are fed up with the PLP but we aren’t stupid.
To channel President Obama, “It doesn’t add up”
Most of these initiatives involve no cost. Of course, you have to actually read them to realise that. Try reading articles before you comment on them.
Well I’m not sure what you read but from a teacher’s perspective alone, I see lots of financial expenditures:
1. Extension of the school day involves the extension of teacher’s days which involves re-noegotiation of salaries and the union agreement = MONEY!!
2. Institution of a technical program starting in the middle schools involves an increase of teaching staff, training and development, as well as equipment, not to mention space allocation in middle schools that are already looking for space for teaching = MONEY!!!
3. Facilitation of the Bermuda College to a four ear college involves the hiring of full time lecturers, resources and supplies = MONEY!!!!
4. Expansion of preschool places to meet the needs of single parents (whatever that means) involves hiring and training of more teachers as well as finding physical plants to accommodate this venture, and resources = MONEY!!!
5. Empowering teachers by giving them the support and resources needed involves an extremely high expenditure if one looks to do equitably across all ages, levels an subject areas. Just the increase in the number of students at risk and with diagnosed special education needs alone is a vast expenditure = MONEY!!
All this sounds like to me from just this small but important perspective, is a bunch of fluff and buff otherwise known as electioneering.
If most of the members of the OBA formerly UBP members and parliamentarians were really serious, all of this would have been done fifteen, twenty years ago when education began changing and sliding . . . On SNAP!!!! I forgot . . . it was under the UBP administration that the mess we as teachers are dealing with was created!!!!
Silly Me!!!
On a real note . . . stop playing us as a people for fools!!!!
The UBP did create the mess in schools several years ago by introducing middle schools, losing Warwick Academy and Berkeley Institute as higher level public schools, and by not pursuing trade schools. Yes, this is all true. However, the PLP has had 14 years to fix the mess the UBP created and have chosen not to. So the reality is, the mess that we teachers are dealing with has nothing to do with what the UBP did almost 2 decades ago… but the squarely lies on the apathy and incompetence of the PLP’s abysmal 14 year record.
OK let’s see…. your no cost thing doesn’t add up. Although some don’t cost, a lot of them cost a GREAT deal, and they aren’t one off, they are ongoing, so… lets check it out.
1) “giving employers a two-year payroll tax exemption for all new Bermudian hires.” – Don’t say how long this will last, but lets assume as hiring will pick up and lets say the OBA cut the unemployment rate in half…. 1500 * 60000 * 14%. However we then have to factor in regular hiring. Lets say regular hiring matches hiring from the unemployed. Cost per year 25 Million, Total Cost, At least $50 Million. Could rise to more, depending on if its only 2 years from the time of the budget or 2 years indefinintely as a “hiring tax credit”. If we assume the latter we’re looking at, at the very least $125 Million. This does not include the administrative burden of attempting to police this loophole as you don’t currently have to report new hires.
2) “Extend the North Hamilton EEZ” and “Developing the Marsh Folly Area” – The first give tax concessions to new buinesses in the EEZ, let us assume 1 Million per year. As for the Marsh Folly according to public records is 9 Million.
3) “redevelopment of the Hamilton and St. George’s waterfronts.” – In 2010 this was estimated to cost $160 Million
4) “Island wide Road improvement programme.” – Government spends about 5 Million per year on various road improvements, however if you are going to embark on a NEW programme lets say we’re going to spend double that, so 5 million extra per year.
5) “fully integrated technical curriculum,” – 5 Middle Schools and 2 Senior Schools. 3 teachers per school & Equipment. $1.5 Million extra per year
6) Expand preschool places – Increase budget 30% – an extra million per year.
7) Extend the School day – Here is the kicker. You need Teachers to extend the schoolday. Let’s say you were able to negotiatiate and additional period for 1 10% increase in salaries. $10 Million
8) Transition Bermuda College into a 4 year institution – Although I think this idea is crazy, it is costly. Right now the College Costs 18 Million. It wouldn’t be crazy to assume that moving it to be accredited for 4 year degrees will increase costs by 30%. 5.6 Million (per year)
9) “Disrupt and dismantle violent gang activity by fully funding and implementing focused crime reduction strategies such as Operation Ceasefire.” Although the government doesn’t control the police, let us assume that the OBA can magically get the police to listen to them. The OBA says the police at 15% below where they should be, so that’s 7.5 Million in manpower costs, plus overheads and then additional money for new strategies. $10 million per year
10) “Inform and empower citizens with the latest incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods by posting Police community crime maps on the Internet.” – I don’t think this makes any sense, but a new computer system to track this and then to post it online. $2 million – One off cost.
11) “Waive stamp duties for first-time homeowners on properties valued under $1 million”. – There is already an exemption for homes under $750K, but in a time when home values have fallen, OBA this cap should go up. Will likely cost about $1 Million per Annum. (4% of estimated revenues)
12) “Open a hospital medical clinic to ensure access to medical care for the vulnerable.” Despite the clinics that exist, the OBA wants another. Cost including Doctors, Nurses, Admin, Rent, Utilieies and supplies, 2 million per annum.
In Total that is $482 Million added to our debt, and that’s without the OBA saying what they are going to cut to balance the budget right now. With current deficits at $200 million and with no cuts and these spending pledges, that’s another 1.482 Billion over the next 5 years. And this is only their partial plan, I can’t wait for the full one, will probably add up to 2 Billion in debt.
You can’t cut taxes, promise increased speding, say you won’t fire anyone and then turn around and say you are going to cut the debt. Something doesn’t add up.
“Extend the School day – Here is the kicker. You need Teachers to extend the schoolday.”
Not necessarily. Extending the school day doesn’t automatically mean more in-class instruction. Extending the school day means more time for the arts, sports and additional academic assistance for students who need it. These programs can be run by volunteers and community organizations that already offer them. Why assume that teachers need a 10% increase?
In fact, I’m not sure where you are getting most of your inflated figures from. “At the very least 125 million” for the payroll tax break? How do you figure that?
And actually, yes, the Government DOES control the police. I know it doesn’t seem that way, because of the way crime has been allowed to spiral out of control.
“You can’t cut taxes, promise increased spending, say you won’t fire anyone and then turn around and say you are going to cut the debt.” – Well, that’s exactly what the PLP is doing. The problem with their plan is that 1) they have been unable to grow new business and create new revenue streams and 2) the money that HAS been coming in has been wasted on overpriced projects, excessive traveling, etc. etc. You can achieve a lot of things if you prioritize properly and direct spending to the places that REALLY matter, and no, it doesn’t always have to mean new debt.
Putting to one side the potential inaccuracies in your “estimates”, which ones do you think aren’t important?
Is it education that isn’t important, or infrastructure maintenance? Which ones would you cut?
And should we take it that the PLP is going to market itself as the “austerity party” now? You suddenly seem very concerned about how things are being paid for. It’s an issue you haven’t given a damn about for the past 8 years.
You’re concerned about these expenses but you have no comment about the PLP kickbacks and cronyism. What about the $160,000 Leroy Bean paid himself to advise himself?
“Bermudians are fed up with the PLP but we aren’t stupid.”
Umm, at this stage, voting for Jinx is preferable to re-electing the PLP with their track record of destruction.
The irony of course is that Jinx technically has more money than the Bermuda government. While he may not have much, he isn’t billions in debt!
AMEN!!
I remember the UBP promised many of these initiatives during the last big recession/election in the early ’90′s .Nothing new or innovative here .
Mountbatten you took some of my thunder but it was not mine in the first place but facts that could not have been said any better,but I would add onto it by saying that not only did the U.B.P. promise almost all the same back prior to 1998 and worded just slightly different,we must take a serious look at who exactly we are supporting in the O.B.A and I am not to concerned about who is running for them but who sits amongst them pulling the strings.
Now I am very disgruntle with the P.L.P and the way we have let things get to were it is but Ray Charles was blind and now dead and he can see through this.Sorry but I have to call it like I see it and dont have to be 100% right but if I am more then 50% right then it is to alarming and outright senseless to even consider voting for the O.B.A,just take a close look into what they are proposing and the rest is yet to be revealed but that is every hopeful canidate or government in waitings position,to tell the people what they want to hear.
It is our time and our turn to tset the waters and look at our country and its productivity and really ask ourselves is it as easy as that and then if it will take some doing can it be done and will it be done by them,I do believe that the O.B.A can get millions of dollars pumped into the local economy but at what cost,more Bermudians loosing to foreign workers and outsourcing more jobs or downsizing.there are many creative ways of getting money from the big boys to boost certain segments of our community but the haves will have more and the have nots wont even know what the word have not really stand for,meaning we will wipe out the middle class entirely.pipe dream you say,then just look around you and see if we are not already creeping towards that era.
Those that are in the O.B.A are made up of several different qualities and that is what makes them extra ordinary and unique,you got the old guard mentality of the U.B.P,some of the business community and their voice,Mr and Mrs Tuckers Town,Trimmingham Hill,Fairylands to name a few,a few young people that grew up in a Bermuda having both white and blacks for friends at school but not so much in their homes and of course we got the disgruntle former P.L.P back stabbers trying to look like loyalist.
The P.L.P is made a hell of alot of mistakes and hopefully they are maturing and will grow but I ma not sure if I feel like being screwed again by a group that has not really shown us credibility for change and if we are about to get screwed then atleast this time kiss us so we can enjoy it,dont be like a former premier and you can pick the bones out of that because we have to deal with were we truly are as a nation and were we need to be.
My suggestion to the O.B.A is to take the next four years and devote yourselves to fixing this country by first of all fixing the economy and you can do that by dealing with the high way robbery you are doing in your business establishments and your rental units be it residential or business accomadations.the very ones that are saying they are going to get us back on track has to fess up that they have rode this gravy train and raked up as much as they could and more then they should to have more then one nest egg in the sweet over yonder hills of canada,america and europe and yes of late the phillipines,cant leave out my disgruntle P.L.P backstabber and dont ask me for an apology or threaten me with court action because I already dont have a damn thing to loose so you dont scare me and of course no names have been called and there is more then one in there.
Remember its not what I say that matters,it is you provimg people like me wrong tha goes a long way,Selah (meditate on this)
Duane.. I agree the oba is not perfect, who is? The question is can Bermuda survive another round of being _____.
I voted PLP because I thought we needed change. NOT because I wanted to watch our country drained of everything that we held dear to our hearts.
Whoever wins the pending election will have to make some serious financial cuts…. We cannot survive with a government as the biggest employer (unless the MP’s go back to 30k).. Without going further in the hole.
Everyone thinks gambling will save us… Ask the Atlantis, who are struggling with bankruptcy….
I see the plp seeing eye dogs have already taken the bait. The majority of Bermudians across the board have lost confidence in the plp. The OBA is THE only way forward. Get over it and move on!!
it has been said before a vote for the oba/ubp old boys club is a vote to return back to the plantation
Wow Frank…. Want to think for your self? Thats…. Oh what’s the point..
Please! A vote for the plp is a vote for poverty! Literally.
Please, please, bring back those days so I can eat properly again.
And a vote for the PLP is a vote for “GHOST TOWN APOCALYPSE” where you’ll be fighting the kiskadees and sparrows for scraps of food!
No. A vote for the OBA is a vote to reduce the ranks of thousands of unemployed Bermudians.
Jeez Frank. That all you got? The old race card? Move on boy, we’re going nowhere – all of us, black or white, PLP/OBA, United or Liverpool with stoooopid comments like that one.
Race card.
Well at least you’ll have a job on the plantation!
Damn racist!
did we ever leave the plantation! or did we just change the rules?
So desperate that it has come back to Doc destroyed Bermuda Brown quotes I see. That says a lot. Not many tricks left in the hat. This is a good sign for the OBA.
In any country, in order to boost the economy you have to invest capital in the RIGHT projects at the right amount. Some of these ideas are not new nor are they difficult to achieve. However the difference is who will actually try to implement these ideas into reality. Even if they fail at least it can be said that they tried especially at the current position Bermuda is in now, we need to start trying new things to get back to where we were.
I rather vote for any new party and HOPE that they can make a change then instead of leaving my beautiful island in the hands of PLP who has had her in there hands for the last 14 years. I can honestly say that I have never seen a country go from having a surplus to now over 1 billion dollars in debt in such a short span and what makes it worse is that I can not see ANY BENEFITS of their spending to account the amount spent. (besides seeing many MP’s with beautiful houses – so thank you for investing in our island then renting out at ridiculous prices to your own people)
Right now, no matter what background you have come from… rich, poor, jobless, homeless, businessman etc…) everyone can see that our home, BERMUDA, is in need of help no matter how big or small. I am a university student (3 years) and can not wait to come back home to help where ever it is needed. I do hope that people can surpass there differences and realise that the problem at hand is much bigger then what we think, therefore everyone needs to be at their optimal level in regards to loving themselves, one another and most of all BERMUDA! Stay safe and strong my fellow Bermudians!
Words that we use always fasinate me to how each of us in our own right sound politically correct to a degree but when you look next door to our neighbors in the United states and just about a third of the civilized world,they are in or about the same position and the big wrench they are all throwing is the national debt but this is the cost of doing business and in making mistakes and having successes,so I dont agree with you on the fact no other country has accumilated a vast increase in debt over a short period of time even based on percentages,sorry never been to college or graduated high school so my doctorate degree comes from higher learning of watching others make all the silly mistakes.Now I do agree with you on having to love one another and watch out for each other as Bermudians and especially at a time we seemed to have sold our souls and that began long before the P.L.P took office and to see it continue so strongly after they took office tells me that this is still some very heavy weight behind decison making in the privat sector that affects us in our government policies and how we do operate as a country,its all politics and at the end of the day we got to really think to ourselves who can swing on the broom the best when it comes to balancing the two,so that everybody can enjoy a portion of the pie.
I agree in the sense that the US and other civilized countries are in the same situation as Bermuda…. However they have always been in a deficit because o there business natures (manufacturing etc….) Bermuda has mostly been operating with a surplus once we reached to a point were we had finances to try new innovations and projects…. However when you have a country so small and wealthy as Bermuda which it’s infrastructure has decline so quick and pathetic… Our roads are dangerous due to cracks etc… Our public transport is unreliable due to shortages because of poor maitanance systems (btw foreign machenics even though we have the quality of bermudian machenics to provide the services) our education system needs major changes and standards (I went public all the way- and yes I made it with a qualified job waiting for me on my return from university- however I worked extremely hard to be at the level that most high school graduated should be at when graduated)…. All I’m stating is that based on the debt we have and the poor infrastructure we currently have…. Where did our capital go into?! I know there have been good projects completed but not to the amount that can explain the 1.4 billion plus the addition surplus we already had!
Unfortunately Bermuda is in a rot right now… There are no new ideas to boost the economy…. We’ve done tourism we’ve done international business…. What now? Slowly we’ve been cutting the hands that feeds us (bermudians saying foreigners taking bermudians jobs – well bermudians need to get qualified/ a degree…. However bermudians find it difficult to do so because of the lack of preparation / teaching in the public schools…..but can’t change the school system because BERMUDA has no money….. What now? – INVEST IN A CURRICULUM THAT WORKS)…. So basically we need to invest in projects that are NEEDED right now! Small baby steps to creating a brighter Bermuda!
Only thing not mentioned here is we do not produce anything. That is what makes us different than most of the civilized world that has racked up all this debt. In fact that is the key point to this debt argument with nothing being produced and sold for USD (or foreign monies) we will have a harder time reducing the debt than other countries that do produce goods that is why running on a balanced budget like the UBP did was so important. Yes I agree they could have over the time they were in push some money to social safety nets but the PLP went over board with what they tried to do either in an attempt to 1 not be the UBP 2 prove that they are the peoples party (although the racial rhetoric deem to most who they stood for along with key phases like real Bermudians and those that look like me and LV’s and others constant those white boys comments..I digress) either way they spent too much and truthfully they can’t even say that all monies spend was thought out and yielded the desired return for Bermuda. That fact alone is where the PLP have done Bermuda a disservice. Rash, half thought out plans for what seems to be election stunts to get and remain in power is all we’ve seen. Couple that with the Brown era of political expedience the debt ballooned to where it is and as stated the roads etc. are in some of the worst states (in some areas) that we seen since horse and carriage days. I think what we need is a conservative- semi socialist or conservative socially minded approach while looking for alternative income streams. I think the OBA can be that (if they are or not still remains to be seen) party if the new blood is strong enough to gently push the older blood to those realizations. What I see in the PLP is strong older blood shaping the PLP’s stances and ideologies that are hindering the country like it or not the world has changed. Yes we still have old problems but until new approaches in the social arena are looked at I see no resolution that does not still breed resentment intended or not. …………………….
LOL there I go again babbling again……..back to your regularly scheduled bickering
@Duane Santucci–your words fascinate me—”see who can swing on the broom best when it comes to balancing the two, so that everyone can share a portion of the pie? We don’t have to look all around the world at what is happening because this is not just straight up business..banks were negligent,civil servants were careless, governments weren’t paying attention,and lotsof people were greedy enough to make investments with life savings, college funds ect to get more money, and insurance still remains the biggest rip-off in history!the type of business going on has become the big scam, pyramid scheme, but all of it is a scheme to take money from others by any means necessary, even if it means lying to the vulnerable who will believe anything from certain people..In Bermuda we must take responsibility to not having the proper checks and balances in place and trusting people to do a job because they have a certain position..The pie you speak about is all up in the sky, far out of our reach! We can no longer think about fairness when it comesto the debt we are in..just because other countries are in debt is no comfort to me! We are in our own mess for following the crowd not knowing where we were going, we already bit of more than we could chew from the pie!and now we have a bloated situation…some people thought it was party time, they had never seen that amount of available money and never knew such power they are still spinning from the illusion! wake up!
Your children’s education is safe with the current government. Yes NO
Your business’s future is safe with the current government. Yes No
You have confidence the public purse has been managed well with the current government. Yes No
You believe a non-Bermudian medical director (Dr. Donald Thomas) is worth $700,000 per year salary and paid leave. Yes No
Your see more tourist on the streets and in the shops. Yes No
Your poll. You decide if you need to vote for change.
Yawwnnn, I’m getting so bored with empty promises..lets have some radical changes..starting with a minimum wage, (minus the rhetoric, we don’t have to do it anyone elses way),re-adjust,in other words cut all wages to reflect deflation and non-job contribution (starting with mps and civil servants salaries,)have closed job categories for Bermudians only,(so that there is protection for locals )tighten up immigration at airport and department in general,( contracts should be drawn up with stipulation that it can be terminated immediately if there is a Bermudian available, or if country is in crisis…ect).There is a need for change though.sigh…..
FOR BOTH PARTIES ADDRESS IN DETAILS THE FOLLOWING
1. ECONOMY AND JOBS
2. DEFICIT
3. GANG LIFESTYLE
4. RACE ISSUES, it is pathetic for a country to suffer because we fear the other color!
Now get to work! we need not a 2 page MEMO make it 32 pages, details, NO DETAILS ! we are not listening ! GET TO WORK!
Hahaha, commented on this same ridiculousness a few days ago when Bob Richards made a statement and our Premier insisted the idea was a PLP one? However, we have NO proof of it being acted on. You say these are old UBP ideas that did not come to flourish; well that was probably why I helped to vote them out!!! Does it now make it a bad idea? I don’t think so. What makes it appalling is that the government of today can identify them? This mean a good idea that we did not think about is a bad idea? Crazy when you think about it that way right? Government admits they acknowledge these idea but will not use any of them (and a few are quit good), because they did not think of them first. How petty.
What such immature ignorance. And to think the die hard followers agree.
The press release was only a few hours old and we get the typical response from the PLP Party. Did they take a minute to digest it? NO, just typical response from a group that has run out of ideas on their own that they could not even see a GOOD one if it slapped them in the face.
The PLP followers call the OBA Party candidates rookies who have never run a Ministerial Department or a Country? And what was they when I voted for them in 1998? In their time, they have proven to be out of their depth and the rookies. Mistake after mistake, flip-flopping.
You PLP diehards are on her asking how are they going to do all this and reduce the Debt. Damn, I’m laughing so much I can’t breathe….. Are you talking about the same Debt your government created dumb @$$3$???? Hell, you created it and have shown NO sign of addressing it so why should I trust you?
Tell you what, “CALL THE DAMN ELECTION AND PRAY THE RIGHT THINKING BERMUDIANS VOTE WITH COMMON SENSE”. PLEASE SAVE BERMUDA… ONLY THE VOTERS CAN!!!!!!!
@ Frank “A vote for the OBA/UBP old boys club is a vote back to the plantation?” YOU TRULY ARE AN ARSE….. Its PLP supporters like you that encourage me to move away from you party.
BERMUDA FOR BERMUDIANS, ALL BERMUDIANS….
As Derrick Burgess says, “COUSINS” (black, white, orange and green).
Come on people….you and ONLY you and write your own history. Vote with your smarts and not anything else. Bermuda needs you now more than ever!!
PS….don’t care what colour you are that runs my beloved Bermuda as long as you don’t run us
into the ground. We are currently burrowing like a groundhog!!!
“Support small businesses by directing 20% of all government goods and services spending – about $80 million a year – to them”
The question is HOW?? where is the money coming from? which programs are on chopping block, any taxes coming our way?? details! saying i love you, also demand some action if i may.
yeas i read the article, details!!!!!!
At this point I beleive taxes will be on the cards for either party after the election………..
LOL gotta pay for this debt anyway.
To OBA, and it’s supporters, you all know how this goes, better the evil(devil)….please you have to do better than than this! This a joke! PLP supporters will vote for their party again because, OBA being the alternative is offering ……… What?? Nothing… Just headlines … You are frustrating voters who want to vote for you by not offering a clear detailed plans!!!!!! Urrrgggggg!
You really didn’t read the article did you.
Details, not headlines! wake up!
Is that you Rhonda?
same old sh**..how do you plan to implement these ideas and at what cost? more headlines is right !!!
They never say how, because they can’t.
You do realise the PLP doesn’t yet know about the existence of inflation, don’t you?
And they want to continue running the country.
This coming from the party that doesn’t know about the existence of inflation. What geniuses.
Just a little eye opener, this piece that was put out by the OBA is just an appetizer piece this is not the full platform. the full platform will be released when the premier calls the election date.
The most important changes a new govt makes will be the ones addressing corruption. The PLP will never address corruption, ___ ___. We need a new govt that can root out all corruption.
UBP never had corruption????? Pleassssse
It’s never been proved to date much like the PLP so do either have corruption???????????????……….
LOL
So you admit the PLP is _____.
Why deny it, I guess. Nobody gives a sh!t. They just keep ripping us off and lying.
um votin for “Jinx” AKA “Scientist”. at least i will definetly be gauranteed a push bike for trans bie.
Totally underwhelming! C’mon man!
The PLP is a failed party with no solutions with a predictable response. do they support extending maternity leave? Do they support Bermudian employment? Do they support having an open sex offender register etc etc. If the answer is no then wow the PLP really are the Republicans in disguise…..
We can huff,we can puff, we can bury our heads in the sand, or we can face up to the truth. Crime up, job losses up,proverty index up,property repossesions up. Yeah,yeah we can talk about recesion however we have to talk about policy(s) that have made the situation worse. This is not the first recession we have been through, but this is the worse it has been handled. 1998 seems so far away now it’s ridiculous,change is inevetible for one to keep the elected honest so we won’t be taken for granted anymore. OBA goes in they mess up we vote them out, the PLP has shown us what they can or cannot do for that matter, now it is a time for change. Yes come challenge me on the the second sentence tell me i’m lying. We have to face the REAL facts affecting us Black,White,Purple or Blue and why we are at this point.
You can pay for many things if you increase Government revenues. The question is, which party is more competent at increasing revenues through Tourism and Business related taxes? The PLP have pulled government revenues in the opposite direction when compared to higher costs. This equals to huge amounts of debt. A lot of money was spent on infrastructure but an estimated $300m in cost overruns would have gone a long way in this economic climate to help Bermudians. Who is going to manage the economy better when it needs it the most, the people who put it in a hole through reckless expenditure that was not controlled? The people who ensured that certain contractors were guaranteed government business at inflated costs, with loophole kickbacks? Bermudians need to think and not be deceived by the hype that Bermudians are somehow in a good position thanks to the Government. The government can’t borrow money forever without heavily taxing the people. Which party is going to economically get this Island on track? Who is going to get the hotels built? the Marinas, the increase in international business set-ups. Do the PLP supporters understand that when Paula increased payroll tax it made companies shed jobs to reduce the costs of employing Bermudian’s in back office functions? Citi group shutting up shop is just one example of how that poorly thought out economic decision impacted this island. They don’t know what they are doing, you need smart and capable people running the show right now and the OBA seems to have some of the brightest minds and business people on this Island. WHO KNOWS HOW TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY MONEY NOT LOSE IT! NOT THE PLP.
Tell me where there were $300 million in cost overruns.
Also, Revenues in 1998 were 500 Million, Peaked at 991 Million pre recession, and are now down to 870 million.
Get your facts correct.
Yeah! Use 10 years of inflation to justify an increase revenues. Another window dressing tactic. Is the revenue level enough to service the debt level?? Me thinks not, did the government borrow beyond it’s means, me thinks yes. And I guarantee that anyone who has worked in finance to a high level of qualification would disagree with me.
If you’re in the know, which you claim to be. Then please enlighten me with the Total cost overrun figure on government projects in the last 10 years?
And by the way, when you release a rebuttal quoting “do the math” with a record like this PLP Government; be careful of what you ask. If more “MATH” was done around here, our Debt won’t be through the roof, so don’t talk down to the general public pleading for them to think some-thing through. We have had more than enough time to come up with our opinions by now.
SO YOU DO THE DAMN MATH AND CALL THE ELECTION!!!!!
UBP/OBA had about 30 years to send this country in its spiral down and Plp hasn’t even had more than half that time to fix that. To be fair I will stick with PLP and wee what they can do in 15 years rather than just hand it back over to the guys who helped to get the country in the position that it is in now.
Truth of the matter is PLP is doing a good job if our economy was so bad why hasn’t Craig Cannonier the gas man pulled out, in fact he hired Buzz which is riddled with foreign workers.
I would stick with PLP and give them a fair time the same amount of time the UBP/OBA had,
And to all you expats who like to stick your noses in Bermudas business will you make the same amount of money back home that you make here????? No you wouldn’t and that’s why you’re here! And you have benefitted greatly from this government so your mouth should be quiet.
And to all you PLP bashers and UBP/OBA supporters please show me how UBP/OBA is better for Bermuda as a government, and show me how if PLP was never in governmental power and the UBP/OBA would have won the election back then…….what would be different in Bermuda now??…..And don’t mention that Smiths and Trimminghams would still be open….please let me know..
Your first semtemce seems pretty ridiculous. Can we have details as to how you came to the conclusion that the island was in a downward spiral 15 years ago? I thought the plp was doing ok up until around 2007.
“To be fair, I will stick with PLP and wee what they can do in 15 years rather than just hand it back over to the guys who helped to get the country in the position that it is in now.”
Wow. This could be the most absurd statement I’ve ever seen on this site. And the RG site, too. This comment makes BT/SG4U look like Albert Einstein.
Do you really believe this? Or is it just trolling? Who exactly got the country in the position in is in today? Where was economic growth, employment, tourism and Government debt immediately before the PLP came to power?
You’ve seen the incompetence, wastes of money, declining property values, increasing crime, cost overruns and highly questionable ethics from this Government, and somehow you want another 15 years, out of some perverse sense of fairness?
While I believe the Island desperately needs to unseat the PLP in the coming election, I respect those PLP supporters who can articulate logical reasons for their support. Your comment is an embarrassment to them.
EW
@cheekums bye—the PlP neglected to fulfill their mandate…Bermudians first..if the UBP were in power and allowed so many unqualified foreigners in the island there would have been a riot immediately no doubt, but people are so intent on defending color and not what is right or wrong,..PLP have not shown that they are a Bermudian labor government, they seem to be a government for the global community..We would have never been in debt to the tune of 1.5billion dollars if the UBP remained in power because they understand the golden rule! PLP are not business oriented, also the BIU would not have had to renege on agreements, that would have definitely been a riot back in the day..so lets be for real the PLP are a progressive lazy party when it comes to the entire Bermuda especially middle and lower income workers..have you been in town lately, we got over triminghams,and smiths but whats left?There are also less cruise ship visitors already for next season!!!!the list is endless..can you provide me with any positive changes?
Yeah – no worries Cheekums my man, I’ll let you know, all us expats will be back in New York or London spending your money, while you are toiling in your PLP led poverty. I ain’t worrying my man, this place gets more like Jamaica every week, and I’ll be in the Florida Keys so I’m not frettin over having no say in this, because I’ll be out of here. Thanks very much for the boat and the big house, bie, shame you can’t see the jokes’ on you.
The ‘Cheekums’ philosophy ..(And it isn’t uncommon either)
”Well , I still don’t have it (in fact am worse off) but you no longer have yours now , but I’m in heaven and feel emancipated because we finally have a ‘black government’ and I like to see your suffering even if it means I have f*cks”
I hope you don’t loose your job. You will have no where to turn. Do you think your friends in government will help you. Good luck with that.
Absolutely flabbergasted???? There are no words or logic to argue these points. Please be the only voting person in Bermuda with this thought pattern.
Scary stuff here folks…..
So they invite the public to ‘do the math’ on OBA proposals, but not on their own….if you ‘do the math’ on FutureCare you would see how that doesn’t work either. Unfortunately, an entire generation of youth will not be able to ‘do the math’ or much of any math due to a broken education system.