PLP: ‘OBA Has Yet To Say What They Will Cut’
[Updated] The PLP issued a statement this afternoon [Nov 23] saying the OBA say that they can increase spending and cut taxes to the tune of $500 million while simultaneously reducing the debt, but have yet to say what they will cut.
The statement said the PLP has a “realistic ten point plan for growth.” Their plan includes: continue to take action on jobs, continue to develop Bermuda as an attractive place to do business, continue to strengthen Bermuda as a tourist destination, improve public safety, work to have a world class public education system, energy/sustainability and the environment, responsible government budget, providing for our growing population of seniors, improve social policies and improving infrastructure.
The OBA recently released some of their planned intiatives which included establishing an independent Contractor General to oversee government construction projects to eliminate wasteful cost overruns, end wasteful government spending through the creation of a Spending and Government Efficiency Commission, revive tourism by creating a Tourism Authority, and use growing government revenues to reduce debt.
The PLP’s full statement follows below:
The OBA’s fairy tale is one that many of us want to believe. They say that they can increase spending and cut taxes to the tune of $500 million while simultaneously reducing the debt. They say they can do all of this, but, they have yet to tell us what they are going to cut.
The media and all Bermudians need to clearly ask the OBA: How do you plan on increasing spending and reducing the debt? It’s time for the both ways OBA to be honest about the deep and radical cuts they have planned.
The PLP has a realistic ten point plan for growth. It includes diversifying our international business investors by attracting Middle Eastern and Asian investment. It includes revitalising the Hamilton Waterfront. It includes introducing Job Corps Bermuda and the One Stop Career Centre. It includes investing in our people, growing our economy and reducing our debt.
The choice in this next election is clear. The choice is between an OBA that will say anything to gain power and a PLP that has stood strong for Bermudians during the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Update: OBA Chairman Thad Hollis issued a response saying the OBA has never said they would have impose “deep and radical cuts,” and this is a prime example of “electioneering at its worst – just distortion and distraction with absolutely no effort to speak the truth.”
Mr Hollis’ full statement follows below:
The irony of this statement from the mysterious PLP “spokesman” is rich:
Here is a government that has taken Bermuda to the brink of financial meltdown; now recording its fifth straight year of spending more than it takes in; driving taxpayer debt to $1.5 billion and beyond, with interest payments nearing $100 million a year; crushing its ability to help Bermudians when they are most in need.
Here is a Government under which 10% of Bermudians have become unemployed, including four out of every ten young Bermudians between the ages of 16 to 24; with another 7,000 categorized as “under-employed.”
This statement from the “spokesman” tries to distract from the fact that the Government has become a government of cutbacks. Just ask teachers who’ve been laid off, custodial staff let go at Berkeley, the people behind Mirrors, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, the Family Centre and the Bermuda Cadet Corps, all of whom have seen their Government support cut back.
And then there’s the Sunshine League which had to close its doors after losing its Government grant, and the Bermuda Police, which has been operating 10-15% below authorized manpower levels because of Government under-funding – in the midst of a crime crisis!
At no time has the OBA ever said we would have impose “deep and radical cuts”. This is a prime example of electioneering at its worst – just distortion and distraction with absolutely no effort to speak the truth. The Government seems to believe that if they lie often enough, the lie will stick.
We have laid out numerous plans to turnaround our economy; bringing to bear policies to grow jobs, stimulate investment, create opportunity and restore confidence that is so essential for economic revival. These include using payroll tax exemptions to stimulate hiring; directing government spending to support small businesses and reviving tourism by creating a Tourism Authority that puts professionals not politicians in charge of the industry.
We’re always ready to discuss our plans and the facts of life in Bermuda today. The Government needs to look in the mirror when it raises questions about honesty.
Bermuda can’t afford another five years of this Government’s bad policies hurting people; and official reluctance to face the facts of its record. It’s time for change.
Nothing in the PLP’s “ten step” plan generates liquidity and demand in hte local economy. Nothing.
the 10 point plan should have been gravy on the meat and potatoes we had going on with IB. Now that we’re down to potatoes, you’re worried that the other guys may offer a better meal plan? If you care about your country more than party politics, vote OBA
You’re not a swing voter, you’re clearly an attendee at the UBP/OBA swinger party
OBA has not said what they will cut cuz they have not stated they will cut anything. But look at ALLLLLL the stuff PLP has cut.
@ Sandgrownan
I would like to see a sensible and rational post from you. Your posts seem to be juvenile and only aim to oppose. Please oblige all of us next week on any topic of your choosing.
I genuinely want to see something constructive from you.
It also comes across as juvenile when you include Cedabridge in the “investments” that created the current debt problem.
Not as juvenile as the PLP puppet show and incessant tantrums concerning what the OBA will, or will not do. 14 years on and the PLP still can’t run on their record, and so they publicly proclaim false information. Priceless.
So asking for,we’re down to three now, three tangible steps to improve the local economy is juvenile. I even told you what was wrong.
Ok, i’ll take two.
“Your posts seem to be juvenile and only aim to oppose.”
Have you not seen the PLP muppet ad? Talking about juvenile and dumbing down the electorate!!
The Government’s blatant disrespect for the voters’ intelligence could not be better exemplified.
…and your drivel is “sensible” & “constructive”…?? Pul-eeeze!!
The sad part is that our government believes anything substantial will come out of those 10 steps. Bandaids and pipe dreams. Debt will be 1.75 billion soon and revenues will still be shrinking.
Yes the choice is clear. We gave you plenty of chances, and you failed us….you can spout 10 points or other plans to plan to plan to plan a plan, when you do something it cost extortionately more than it need cost and you cannot admit you failed, so you are blind. You are OUT at this coming election Goodbye PLP better luck next time.
I would have thought that over the past fourteen years the PLP Government would have dealt with the ten points they raise rather than now at this late date – must have been a heck of a good party while it lasted.
what really makes me laugh is that Bermuda has been through several recessions in the last 40 years….maybe the UBP owned every significant business on island but at least they kept the island going through rough times, garbage collection and buses were on schedule, the public school system was reasonably successful, roads were paved and jobs that only required a high school education were plentiful……say what you want about going back to the plantation, at least I’ll have my ham hocks and collards fo’ sho’
Sure the UBP would have you believe that they alone through their shrewd fiscal planning kept us afloat . So Typical of the foolish UBP/OBA dreamers not to understand the hugely significant advantage of having a fully functioning U.S. base who babysat you bums for ALL of the years that you smog opportunist ‘ran’ Bermuda .
…..I don’t even believe your Central Committee believes what you spew…..I’m OBA no I’m OBA no I’m OBA the muppet ad certainly appealed to the intellligencia among you….
but at least the former UBP government, didn’t piss of those that remained and made them feel unwelcome. One question if you and the PLP knew that was a huge advantage, why not be a little more careful with the public purse?
Everybody is pissed off about the public purse . O.k. everybody is hugely pissed off about the public purse . If you put up one hand and count your fingers , than you’ll have the amount of people happy with DR.Brown . That would include him , his wife , Kernal Burch and Rolfie Boy . Include his thumb and his brother from HSBC would claim that .
The airport runway and both bridges in the east end were always the responsibility of the United States Armed Forces . Since their departure , many millions of your taxpayer dollars have gone to maintain and repair these structures , some planned , others forced .
Mega ships have been trending for the last two decades , it cost Bermuda much more than we expected to pay for that pier( I don’t think we actually got value for money) , the former government refused to prepare for the change . The PLP had to bite the bullet or risk losing that market ..Period . Fast ferries are now something everyone takes for granted .
Mega schools , in my opinion is huge waste of time , effort and resources . It’s the faculty , not the facility that produce world class students . We inherited that idea , already transitioning into reality . There still is no satisfactory answer for a NEW TCD ‘waste of money’. All new cars are emission friendly . New police station/court house , absolutely .
International Business was a very good trade off in lieu of the lose of revenue form the U.S bases . The tax treaty worked out by Sir John has served us well , however , that was only for a short season . Maybe it’s the reason the Uighurs are here ? I don’t know .
Skills in diplomacy was lacking in the way Kernal Burch handled the issues of Immigration concerning IB . That is a subject that should have been settled with input from both parties …After all , everybody must live with these very important decisions . Bermuda cannot afford to have another situation develop like the PRC’s , who I feel still didn’t get the best deal possible .
@Dead Ringer , Navin ..Take it or leave it ..
the ubp had bank of bermuda so did trimmingham with their big overdraft money cover up ask david gibbons what happened to our pension money he f==ck up hmmm
Why would the Bank of Bermuda cover up anything for the UBP Wasn’t the head of the Bank of Bermuda – Dr. Browns brother? Why would he help cover up anything for the UBP?
Does the PLP “10 point plan” include costs and revenue projections? Thought not. All it is is a list of hope. What will they have to cut to balance the Budget or will they continue to borrow $250 million a year?
The PLP 10 point plan is NOT a plan. It is a list of goals. It never says HOW they are going to achieve these goals. Leads me to believe that they actually have no clue…
When have the plp ever produced a viable “plan?” Never.
“They say that they can increase spending and cut taxes to the tune of $500 million while simultaneously reducing the debt”
No. That’s the PLP putting words in the mouth of their opponent. Typical of a party bankrupt of ideas, experience and capacity.
“The PLP has a realistic ten point plan for growth.”
Instead of waving a flimsy piece of paper rooted in a history of failed initiatives, broken promises, deception and self dealing why not, for a change, reveal what the PLP’s CONCRETE plans are to:
- reduce the $1.5 billion dollar debt
- put Bermudians back to work
- reduce crime
- improve education
… because it’s clear their 14 year track record is littered with failure so instead of your talking heads simply restating what the PLP have already done to “stand strong” for Bermudians (which real world evidence confirms has been nothing short of a total failure) what are the PLP’s REAL plans to move us ALL forward TOGETHER?
PLP – Betraying Bermudians since 1998, one unemployed voter at a time.
The plp has yet to say what they will do, period. No matter which party gets in after the election, cuts will have to be made, so why dont you tell us what you will cut…oh right because you and the oba know the cuts will affect the majority of the voting population and nobody wants to risk that. Who do you pay to write this crap? At least make sure your hands are clean before you start pointing fingers. Plp, I want you to get back in just to eat your words, I want to see your die hards completly disgruntled with you, sorry if im not being positive but you deserve what you dish out…plp, oba, all political hams if you ask me, lets continue using a system that fails.
I don’t think the PLP is consistent. Sometimes the message is “The OBA has no plans” (for growth). Other times the message is “The OBA has no new ideas on reducing the debt”. The OBA has certainly produced a number of ideas, some new, some timeless.
To quote Dickens: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
To get out of debt you must do the following over the long term:
1. Spend less while earning the same
2. Spend the same while earning more
3. Do a little of both
The OBA has advocated option 3 for quite some time (http://oba.bm/index.php/our-plan). The current government would probably advocate option 3 too, but their actions show more of an option 2 approach. Because the government has struggled to simply get things done, they are standing still and hoping that something will turn up.
—
It also seems reasonable to repeat the questions I asked last week.
Madame Premier,
On December 12th 2011, you released the Pre-Budget Report in advance of Fiscal Year 2012/13. You said:
“I rise today to give a Ministerial Statement to highlight the Government’s Pre-Budget Report which will be released to the public today.
…
Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that this open budget process not only transforms lives, but also transforms the conversation. The Government hopes that through the open budget process, our citizens will have a better understanding of the choices that our country faces. A better understanding of these choices, by policymakers and citizens alike, will raise the level of debate and lead to better, more informed decisions.”
(http://www.parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/House_Business/Statements_by_Honourable_Members_and_Ministers_of_the_Cabinet/MS%20for%20Pre-Budget%20Report%20-%20Final.pdf)
During the budget debate in the House of Assembly on 16 March 2012, you said:
“The Government is committing to release more comprehensive quarterly reports of revenue and expenditure. Also, there is to be a mid-year review. We do not currently issue a mid-year review, but we are committing to releasing a mid-year review in this next fiscal year.”
(http://www.parliament.bm/uploadedFiles/Content/Hansard/House_of_Assembly/Hansard_by_Session_Date/OHR%2017th%20Sitting%20of%20the%202011-12%20Session%2016%20March%202012%20pp%201561-1654.pdf)
Madame Premier, as the former Minister for Finance, could you answer the following three questions:
1. When will the government release the promised “mid-term review”?
2. When will the government release the annual Pre-Budget Report?
You released the Pre-Budget Report on the 12th of December last year. We have an election on December 17th this year. Could the government release the report earlier so we can, in the words of the Premier, “have a better understanding of the choices that our country faces.” Again, as the Premier said “A better understanding of these choices, by policymakers and citizens alike, will raise the level of debate and lead to better, more informed decisions.”
3. At a minimum, could you tell us if we are on track to meet the budget estimates published in March?
Note that the pre-budget report identified three scenarios for the Island’s economy. The optimistic scenario (average revenue growth of 4.5% through 2015-16), the pessimistic scenario (revenue contraction and slow recovery averaging no growth through 2015-16) and the middle scenario (average revenue growth of 2.75% through 2015-16).
As the leader of our current government, you have access to these important figures. With three weeks to go before Bermudians make an important choice, please stop speaking in the abstract about “fairy-tales” and dark plots. Share the official numbers and we can transform the conversation.
Andrew Simons
One Bermuda Alliance candidate for Pembroke Central, constituency #17
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewSimonsForPembrokeCentral
how about they cut the PLP gravy train for a start…..
Maybe, but not before Paula jets off to London for drinks with students at the Dorchester, or is it the Park Plaza hotel this year.
It’s not like she has anything else to do and its a ‘tradition’ now that Doc used to do it. Not much she can do about the economy. Just have to wait for the ‘World Wide Recession’ to end then all those big paying jobs will come rushing back to Bermuda. ‘Cause we’re spashul.
You want to know what the OBA will cut? They will cut the PLP out of being the government of Bermuda on December 17, 2012. That in itself will probably save $500 million over the next five years. Do I need to say more? p.s. Your puppet shows are only hurting your own party so please produce more! I do not believe in party politics but I will be voting for change. GO OBA!
Who said the OBA will cut anything ………that is what the PLP is saying why put words in other peoples mouths and why does the PLP not till the people of Bermuda what they are going to have to cut if they were to win the election …………PLP is the present Government and they have all the say at the present time.
Wouldn’t the PLP like to know what the “Secret Plan” is to create financial growth for Bermudians and at the same time help those that are truly in need of help…………guess what VOTE OBA and you will find out the “Secret”
Always fussing about what the OBA will or might do isn’t cutting it.
Why doesn’t the PLP provide us all with the Financial Statements for the year ended March 31st 2012. These were normally available in October of every year. The delaying of their release until February only began in 2010.
Bad financial management means late reports. If HSBC can do an annual Financial Report on a global organization spanning 80 countries and doing $100 billion and achieve that within 90 days of their YE; why can’t an “efficient” PLP Government do a one country report covering about $1.1 billion – a mere one percent of what HSBC does.
Another point on what the OBA might do. Why doesn’t the PLP Government come out and tell us that since April 2005, out of the $1,296.4 million of net borrowings, that they’ve actually only spent $579.5 million on Capital projects.
That the other $716.9 million went on current expenditures like pay and Future Care and Day Care.
Why doesn’t the PLP tell us that? Why? What are they hiding?
They are, after all supposed to be efficient. Aren’t they?
Talking of wastes of money, those new slums on South Shore still have only one occupier. Nearly a year now they have been finished and unwanted. It’s “investments” like these that were just a waste of money. Lots of it. Sheer incompetence and arrogance.
Lots more going up at Dockyard too. Except using foreign labour to build those.
they will probably fill them up for the election Mad Dawg….this is the time of the year when they move people around….they were visiting the Alzheimer Ward at the hospital on thursday to make sure they could count on their support….
OBA should cut ya @$$ for effing the country up!
King Jammys, they sure need their @$$es cut,and the sooner the better.
Release the GCSE results so Bermuda can see if the PLP is standing strong for students. Include the Grades, the number of students who took a GCSE exam and the number of students for each exam subject. Let’s see what 14 years of Education reform has achieved, or is this a PLP secret?
Yep – we all know why they are not being released before the election. The students who failed their GCSE’s under your guidance can solve that problem.
In their defense, I probably failed most, if not all of my GCSE’s, at Saltus, where my parents paid out of their @$$ to give me a decent education. Do I consider myself intelligent? To my standard, no. Do I aim to further educate myself each and every day? Yes. By not considering myself to be intelligent I believe I allow myself unrestricted room to grow. Was I dumb in school? I say no, you may say yes, I just learned differenly. Despite what my examinations may have concluded, I learned a lot in school which gave me the basis of what I have built on today. With that said, please do not attack those that may learn in different ways, the education system is not their fault. I learn best by physically doing something, those like me probably see school the way I did, boring to the point where self inflicted death was a better option than listeneing to someone reiterate facts in a monotone voice. We have an education system that doesn’t even taylor itself to the needs of an individual. Children that suffer from autism are being studied and the realism being exposed is that the difference in the way that they think almost sets them apart from the rest as geniuses. The children themselves learn differently, it is the system in itself that fails them, not the other way around.
@ Come Correct. I agree with what you are saying and that education is not all about exams. However event he basics of maths and english need to be mastered reasonably competently regardless of whether you become a brain surgeon, accountant, electrician, or MP. Schools needs to be able to assist pupils with different learning abilities and capabilities.
What seems to have taken place with the GCSE exams is that very few pupils in the public schools sat them and of those thta did, very few passed with a grade above C, which is the standard pass. That this is the case seems to be borne out by the refusal to release the results.
You write like you have autism. Let it go it’s not that deep.
I’m not writing I’m typing and you spelled plp wrong…
Disgusting and tasteless comment.
If “oba voter” is your correct pseudonym you are a dispicably ignorant person and a disgrace to humanity and do not in any way represent what any right minded person thinks, OBA, PLP or other.
@Ringmaster
How can you blame PLP for the results, if UBP changed the school system?
Um. The PLP were involved in the original decisions about education in1997, for one thing. Ask Jennifer Smith. And sevondly, the PLP has been in charge for 14 years. And they’ve had 11 education ministers in that time. And spent hundreds of millions of dollars. They promised the Earth and gave us failure.
Easy, the PLP were the ones saying make it happen vote PLP. I did (once)and this is not at all what you expected to happen?
… why are the PLP *so* concerned with the OBA?
That’s the samethin I’m thinking. I’ve come to one conclusion THEY DON’T HAVE ONE OF THEIR OWN IF THEY DID THEY WILL FEEL CONFIDENT BUT THEY ARE RUNNING SCARED EVEN A BLIND MAN CAN SEE THAT!!! What happen to the law of sending guest workers home once their 7years up specially in the hospitality industry they lie so much..I am about to be laid off from work and one that is a guest worker who’s rent gets paid still gets thieir 40hrs. Spend bermuda make the guest workers spend bermuda instead of building their homes to luxury homes off of us whilst we are here struggling. Whilst they are still getting to live in luxury we are becoming jobless and homeless. And I’m not talking bout a guest worker in position that can not be filled by a bermudian. I forgot if you are in with the government you will get a bly. To much under the table stuff that PLP are doing I see it first hand. I dot vote but I will give OBA a vote because I’m afraid that this island will end up being worst than a third world country. PLP you have failed your own black people beings you all staying on the racial thing. We as bermudian a need to face reality they are tying to intimedate and fright us we need to stand up for us. All they doing is blaming the world recession what happen to bermuda is another world. PLP took advantage of that to spend up our money.
It’s possible that the island cannot be salvaged from our present state, but 5 more years of out present government will most certainly seal the deal.
I’m tired of reading these asinine comments from ubp/oba posters who imagine that the majority of the electorate share their pathology. Cognitive dissonance is a biyatch. Looking forward to December 18th when they’ll start their “what a stupid electorate” rant.
Read this before you get too tired…then you can sleep on it….WHAT MAJORITY??? The PLP/UBP won the last election by a mere 600 odd votes!!! Do you honestly think that the OBA/UBP has lost ANY votes what so ever since then???? Truth be told the PLP/UBP, through all the BS that has happened on their watch, combined with their obvious ambivalence towards the very voters that put them where they are, have indeed lost a GREAT many votes!!! Maybe not yours…and that’s your prerogative…but if I were you I would not be so confident about the result. The UBP thought the same thing in ’98….
Sleep well….you’re gonna need it…
Unfortunately – the way the boundaries are aligned, we are likely to see a PLP governemnt elected with the OBA securing the popular vote.
…………………Asinine!
Sure is!
….and then I’ll look forward to 5 years after that.
I understand the government and HSBC is currently preparing another road show to borrow $500 million in the next couple weeks – but this will not be made public before the election. Yes, it does cost money to run the government, and to run a country, but at least, please be straight with what is going on. Do not deceive the voters again. Borrow another $500 million may be fine – but do let us know how to reduce the debt of Bermudians long term, what is being done to cut costs? What is being done to raise revenue? And please don’t give us the fairytale version.
It is not “fine”.
WHAT WILL THE PLP CUT ONCE THEY GET ELECTED??!!!
Your salary!!!
The first thing they will cut is the bullsh… we been hearing for so long!
OBA plan to save 1.5 billion in further debt in 13 years. Replace the current government.
The PLP has done WHAT????? But emptied our bank account!! GEESH. No get my vote….
If the PLP get in again I will be cutting me and mine out of Bermuda’s future, forget about me paying off a penny more of their debt, I would only return to vote them out. My family, the jobs, guidance and training we provide to our fellow Bermudians will be gone. Believe me when I say just my decision will put forty or more Bermudians out of work due to the knock on effect of the removal of our input. This is no threat, we all said back in 1998 that it was coming to this and the PLP would bankrupt the country, morally, financially and culturally. This is nothing like the Bermuda of 20-30 years ago, unfortunately all the youth out of work today have not personally experienced what it was like to live in Bermuda back then, they have no modern comparison, I wish they did because there would be no doubt in their minds that what we have these days is a real horror show in comparison. PLP is a poison and is killing this island. Regardless of your political affiliation or ideology, this is a truth and if there is a shred of hope for the future of this island they need to be removed and serious steps taken to bring us back from the brink.
I wish you didn’t think like that.
The people, not the government, have made Bermuda a horror show.
But run away, if that makes you happy.
You sound like a coward anyway
People just like you…
The cowards are the ones shooting each other. When they are out there killing each other they take away everything a person has to offer, just like the cowards killing this country and taking away everything it has to offer. Bermuda is in ICU and on lifesupport running on backup generators… and someone stole the fuel reserves. With three times to get it right there is no reason to stick around to see the end. Mind you there is no running on my part, there is nothing to run from, there is no quality of life or hope left here. I have watched everything “Progress” from 1998 and this is the sink or swim moment coming up. I have stood strong through the gathering 5h17 storm for fourteen years, it really has been that bad. See me on election day but my bags have already been shipped out just in case.
Not a coward, just responsible and looking out for the interests of his family first. You know kinda like the PLP has done. Problem is they have done so using our money and borrowed against our future.
Where are the visitor statistics for all of October? We were treated to a snapshot for the first 3 weeks, it is now 3 weeks into November so where are the facts? More secrets from the PLP.
PLP you are pathetic. Game over.
Come on Election Day! Whoever wins will be managing a mess. And, if the mess was being managed appropriately, we would be seeing some change. We are not! If anything matters are worse as the attention of the ruling party is to hold on to power at all costs and ignore the need to say anything constructive. Raising a generation of nail technicians is not Progressive!
The statement said the PLP has a “realistic ten point plan for growth.” Their plan includes: continue to take action on jobs, continue to develop Bermuda as an attractive place to do business, continue to strengthen Bermuda as a tourist destination, improve public safety, work to have a world class public education system, energy/sustainability and the environment, responsible government budget, providing for our growing population of seniors, improve social policies and improving infrastructure.
“….RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT BUDGET….”. That surely says it all, right???!!!
Laundry list – no plans at all.
If the PLP were qualified to get out out of this fiscal crises, they would not have got us in it in the first place. They knew the election was due so they took their hands off the wheel and refused to be fiscally responsible in the hope their supporters would not notice. I hope their supporters get a reality check and realize it is time for the PLP to sit in opposition until they come to their senses.
@Mike Hunt,
I totally agree with your view and hope everyone see’s the light.
Here is the problem for the OBA. They need information to have a realistic plan. The government will not give them information. So any plan they come up with the PLP can attack.
The PLP will not provide the real data and their plan is, as mentioned above, a list. The plan should be, x% of the pupils with a C or greater GCSE by doing x,y and z. Increase the number of air arrival tourist by x percent which will have y dollar impact on revenue. This is a plan with measures we the people can then make decisions on the govt stewardship. The plan should be SMART = specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. Does a plan to constructg include costs and drawings, yes. does a a plan to start a company include specific times and costs of things the business will do, yes. So the PLPs 10 points are a list and not a plan, at least not the way I understand it.
Sadly, I think the PLP will get back in on 2 fronts, the emotion by tying the “hated” white population to the OBA and scaring the civil service into voting the PLP or losing their jobs.
The OBA need to convince the civil service that this is what the PLP will be forced to do. Thing is, if I was a civil service person and I do not have the confidence I could get a decent paying job in the private sector why would I vote out the party that is supporting me. I am emotionally attached to keeping my job even at the long term detriment to the island. Dr Brown knew this and it will be very difficult for the opposition to do anything about it until the govt starts the forced layoffs like in countries like Greece. What is really sad is by the time that happens it is too late because your gdp is now almost all debt servicing. If you make the required efficiencies now then it will be easier down the road but the civil service are hoping that things will turn around living on a lie.
It is a catch 22, this is the secret PLP plan. They know they have the civil service on a short string.
I hope and pray that the OBA get in and quickly address the transparency and audit all the govt accounts so we know what the real story is. My gut tells me that this will not happen and the PLP will retain power.
Why do we need 40% more civil servants now than in 1998?
It’s called feeding at the trough at the expense of everybody else who needs to get by too.
Come on JT you should know the answer! As private sector unemployed grows you need more civil servants to provide assistance and benefits. Then as the civil serviceof these civil servants grow, administrtaion of these people has to grow to match that growth. So now there is growth in two areas. However, other Ministries don’t want to appear less important so they add to their numbers too. So in fact, the PLP should be trumpeting the fact that there has been one area that they have grown in the last 14 years. Much of this growth has been in the last 8 years and caused by the era of the Dr. Brown/Paula Cox administration, yet the PLP appear to have wiped those years off the PLP history. Now they will be trying to wipe off the increase in civil servants, but not until after the election.
Ringmaster – Was hoping a PLP blogger might answer the question for me. Personally, I think the answers are clear, but I’d be interested in their perspective. Anyone???
@ JT. I think we will be waiting for a long, long time for a response.
What nobody seems to be addressing are what are the consequences of a PLP victory. It is plainly evident that the economy continues to stall and is perilously close close to free fall. At a certain point business owners both local and IB (especially quite a few smaller IB management services companies) will simply decide that they can simply lose no more capital/equity and will call time – four more years of PLP ineptitude will push it over the edge.
The PLP are clueless! That’s why they keep asking for the OBA’s resolutions to everthing!
Give it a rest PLP. That was last month’s flavor.
stop f#$kin worryin bout what the oba gonna do……do f#$kin somthin
How in the world can the OBA say exactly what will be cut & where. They have no access to the books to see precisely where Bermuda stands though they have a good idea of the bottom line, & it is not pretty.
The PLP is obviously out of ideas, not that they had any to start with.
Either way, like the USA but through our own fault for voting the PLP in again & again, Bermuda looks set to go over a financial cliff. Cuts will be coming. First place to slash will be the civil service payroll. Time for some to get off the gravy train.
The choice is does Bermuda go over the cliff in free fall with the PLP or, under the OBA, does Bermuda rappel over in control of its finances & having a good chance at stopping & climbing out of this PLP created money pit of debt.
Hang on! People are making references to the PLP puppet show? Which one?
I thought that was a documentary on how they ran the economy for the last decade.
Education is the never ending factor in improving Bermudians chances of assuming the higher level jobs
with International Business and/or coming back and creating heir own businesses and hiring others.
Knowing this then why do the PLP purposely call an election to exclude maybe 180 + students from voting?
They and their parents have sacrificed and worked to secure higher education which the PLP claim to support
but as you can see they have no interest in letting so many clear heads make a democratic choice.
Young people pay attention! This is your first taste of the cynical side of politics, just remember who the hypocrites are and act accordingly. If the OBA misrepresents you like this, kick them to the curb too.
I think you will find however, they will bring about a return to normality. Nobody has a magical fix for the financial mess the PLP have piut us in but if there is a change I ca bet you money will flow back into the system, investments will increase and International Business may start hiring again. Hope is all that’s left now.
Does anyone really believe any party can make a change the solution is with the many lazy civil servants cut that for one and make others do some work hold them accountable. I know I see it each day and NO party is willing to address it.
I must confess to having a chuckle at this statement from the PLP that the ‘OBA Has Yet To Say What They Will Cut’. In fact it is completely the other way around. The PLP can talk as much as they want about growth, but in reality they will simply HAVE to cut their budgetary spending if the are re-elected to power. We are in enormous debt and the situation is getting worse every single month. What we really need to hear is what the PLP will do to even come close to balancing their budget. Trouble is, it’s election time and the very last thing they will tell us is where the cuts are coming as they surely will in 2013.
You have to wonder how many civil servants are opening paychecks at the end of this month thinking that next year this time they may be out of a paycheck.
It doesn’t matter OBA or PLP, civil service jobs, lots of them, have to go. Efficiency has to improve in a very big way. Simply putting in time is not good enough anymore. Over 20% of the workforce on the Government payroll is nuts.