OBA & PLP On OBA’s SAGE Commission Plans
[Updated] Glenn Blakeney’s statement yesterday “represents just about everything wrong in politics today – fear-mongering and spin to make a good idea seem bad,” OBA candidate Sylvan Richards said last night.
Part of the OBA’s plan is to set up a Spending and Government Efficiency [SAGE] Commission which they said was to “streamline government processes, improve delivery of services and make government more efficient, more cost-effective, more transparent and more user-friendly.”
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the PLP’s Glenn Blakeney said: “Let me paint a picture of what could happen in the coming months if the OBA is elected. The OBA would appoint the Cuts & Pain Commission that would be made up of big business people.
“These big business people will recommend a series of deep and radical cuts to jobs, education, and pensions – the very programs that Bermudians rely on and that have carried us through this economic crisis. The OBA will feign protest in public, but, then, they would accept the Cuts & Pain Commission recommendations and make these radical and destructive cuts..
“We already know that the UBP had a secret plan to gain power,” said Mr Blakeney. “The real question is, do they and their secret Cuts & Pain Commission have a secret plan to cut public education, infrastructure investment, the EEZ and much more?”
Mr Blakeney’s statement at yesterday’s press conference:
In response, Mr Richards said: “This statement by Mr. Blakeney represents just about everything wrong in politics today – fear-mongering and spin to make a good idea seem bad.
“We have more faith in the good sense of Bermudians to see through his electioneering. Our SAGE Commission is simply a way to get broad input on ways to bring responsible spending back to government, to stop waste and make sure hard-earned taxpayer dollars go further to support programmes that help people get by.
“It will include members of government, people from large and small businesses and other respected individuals from the community. It is to be a broad-based effort to restore sanity to Government spending.
“A SAGE Commission will help Government live within its means, just like any family must. The Government’s record to date has been anything but that, spending with no regard for limits, responsibility or consequences.
“Mr. Blakeney and his colleagues have run up a $1.5 billion debt, and have now entered their fifth straight year spending more than they take in. As a consequence, they have had to make drastic cuts in social programmes from Mirrors to the Sunshine League; cutting the Day Care allowance and, just last year, 97 educators.
Mr Richards concluded: “It’s time for change. A SAGE Commission is one way to bring about change that works for Bermudians.”
Update 8.29pm: A PLP spokesperson responded saying: “The both ways OBA is once again spinning up a fairy tale for Bermudians. They are telling us that they can introduce tax cuts and new spending at a cost of $500 million and simultaneously bring down the debt. The only way they can meet their promises is to engage in deep and radical cuts to the programmes that matter to you.”
“They can call their Cuts & Pain Commission ‘sage,’ but, the wise sage knows that you can’t increase spending and cut taxes $500 million and reduce the debt without rapid and radical cuts.”
“It’s time for Sylvan Richards and the OBA to be honest with Bermudians about what they plan to cut. What will their Cuts & Pain Commission have on the chopping block? Public education? FutureCare? DayCare? Job Training Programmes? Employee Benefits? Salaries? What will the OBA’s Cuts & Pain Commission cut?”
The PLP concluded: “Bermudians deserve to know if their benefits, salaries and education are on the OBA’s chopping block.”
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Hey Glen! “There will be a series deep and radical cuts to pensions”
If its on MP’s pensions, we all cool with that Ace boy.
OBA making empty promises. I can’t trust any of them, especially after their leader unprofessionaly dismissed the press to hide the real truth that he saw the plan, was part of the plan and can’t be man enough to fess up.
You must mean like your former Premier made “empty promises”, can’t be trusted, wouldn’t answer “plantation” questions to hide certain truths and then wasn’t man enough to fess up…??
Hasn’t he made deep and radical cuts himself at HOTT 1075??? Just asking!?
Is this really the best the PLP can do?
Stay the course OBA. Run your campaign, don’t engage in theirs.
This is so childish. ‘Smooth,’ please stop yer noise, you’ve lost yer touch.
Just more smoke & mirrors, lies & deception; is that all we can expect from the plp? More fear mongering? Thought so.
The plp will find it impossible to change. So if you want real, positive change you have only one choice.
Vote wisely.
Sylvan…some people just dont get it and the PLP has focused on fear AGAIN in the hopes that it will get them in again. It worked for me in the first election they were elected. I got weary but believed it in the second, by the theird time I had lost faith, and now there is no hope in hecll that I would vote for them again.
Sylvan, I met you many years agio when you were with ACE (not sure if you still are) and I knew you were a man of good character and very inteligent.
I only wish you were in my constituancy and I could vote for you.
The PLP have already made “deep and radical” cuts….
EEZ
Sunshine League
Bermuda College
Day Care
65 million from the pension fund to plug a hole in the budget..
Govt share of pension contribution payments
They haven’t cut
Government salaries
Cost overruns on projects
The number of gov vehicles on the road
Cronies getting the inside track on contracts
Bermuda needs a change. the PLP need a change. We need a change.
Man, the oba is full of crap
Wow … Damn good post w$%lrstupid. I think you should expand on it so that those OBA types can better understand your point.
WOW! What an awe inspiring contribution of thought. How long did it take you to think that one up? Please enlighten us with a few points to support your view.
Blakney would not deny that Inghams blaming business was incorrect!!!!!!!!!! Instead he basically was saying BIG business should not have contracted in a recession….
WHAT…Big business in Bermuda, means international Reinsurers, that is where the Balance Sheets have the Billions. WAY TO GO PLP INSULT COMPANIES THAT DO AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT FOR BERMUDA. How many millions and millions have been given, how many jobs have they created and supporting jobs have they created effectively for 3rd party Bermudian firms…VOTE THESE GUTLESS BLIND SELF IMPORTSNT POWER AT ALL COSTS PLP POLITICIANS OUT NOW.
Minors was claiming economic progress and when asked she said: “You’ll definitely see it once we are successful at the polls. But I think what we have done is indicative of the fact that we have a plan.”
What a load of absolute nonsense from the PLP..lWho are these people, they do not represent the average Bermudian, we expect better. When she says she has a plan is working, show the evidence, not a PROMISE, we know how good the PLP are delivering on promise. PATI where is it, where are your paycuts?
here’s our business rep…wonder what they think of this?
http://youtu.be/mcz2KuOUExs
Cut the boy some slack .. He’s just pissed off that the OBA used the term ‘family’ in the context that it should be.
”* A SAGE Commission will help Government live within its means, just like any family must.*”
Not like the way it’s used by that other loony who gets a lot of press column space in the Bda Sun.
Now Cox is babbling on about, maybe thinking to possibly look at Unemployment insurance at some point possibly in the next year or so. Something that was thought about when PLP were in opposition. Unemployment insurance won’t be brought in, because that money is gone… We are negative1.5 Billion dollars. If they brought it in, then if it was insurance, then it would need funding…how? No private insurer would underwrite, the govt have no money, so the only way is out of workers pockets or oaypackets via tax or deduction.
You, and your Government, really are wallowing in the shallow pool of mediocrity at best…most generous thing I can objectively say.
I can only listen to 2 mins of his crap!! Like he and his team have not cut plans and finances for existing plans???
Please Mr. Minister do not talk about the Aquatics Centre as this is the biggest waste of money as you have built the wrong pool at great expense. No one will come as it will only be a 25M pool to compete in. This was told to you 9yrs ago.
What a load of crap and scare mongering by the PLP!
His team have failed in the past and it is time to change.
Standing wrong you are so right, what a waste of tax payers money….how was this allowed to happen ? and we hear this crap from Blakney ?
Has any so called reporter looked into the Lois Brown Evans builing seen what ministers have their own suites ? and if they do why ?
It’s actually a 50 Metre, 8 lane “Olympic-size” pool. The mistake the plp government made was the omission of a separate diving pool. As a result, swimming and diving events cannot held at the same time. The wind may also affect diving from the tower.
They will never recoup the $100K per month operating costs of that pool. Never.
That pool was ill conceived, and we all know why .
My old friend Hamish , who has only ever voted for the UBP is stuck . He insist on telling anyone who’d listen that the OBA isn’t worth a lump of sh!t . Luckily for the OBA I disagree , and tell him that you are .
Hey come on, not nice to call Glen Bakeney that. Please pull that back. I may think he is all about himself and not Bermudians, but there is no need for vulgarity.
Jeez just like the PLP you’re reposting the same old a$$ story and quotes and sayings that you’ve been saying from the beginning. Must be getting desperate. You don’t know any Hamish’!
Not even original. Everyone has heard a similar comment made before. @ MP BrokebackMountain JP, just like the PLP – your only hope and plan is to think that Bermudins are to stupid to know that you keep using the word UBP every chance you get with the hope that peple will believe they are the same.
The problem is – the PLP have many UBP past ministers, so is the PLP – the new UBP? The funny thing is that the UBP did a far, far better job of running Bermuda than the PLP has!!!!
So keep it up !!! Despite the PLPs dismal record on education – people are smarter than that!
It looks like the reality of losing this election and having to go out and find a REAL JOB has the PLP members in such a desperate state they are looking to attack anything the OBA says to stay in power!!!
I suggest you PLP MPs have your resumes updated prior to December 17th failing that the NTB can assist those that are “ill educated” to find your best option for retraining and employment. I hear there may be a need for people in the hospitality industry should any of those hotel developments you all promised come to fruition.
Failing that you can apply for assistance and likely get to the front of the pecking order given your political service. Still I suggest you clear your offices and get “On your bikes”!!!!!
This type of response by the PLP fails to surprise me anymore… disappoints but doesn’t surprise!
LOL! He’s just reading off a script presented to him by the PLP’s horrible PR office! “Cuts and Pain Commission?” “Big Business Board?” All buzzwords — there is no such mention of *either* in the OBA’s platform. Ridiculous and childish hoodwinking tactics.
The full platform is yet to be released. Probably on Monday.
Buzz words, disinformation, fear mongering. All tactics outlined for the PLP in the Markham document.
Sylvan is not as sharp as we may think. Warwick people already know that. We remember he was PLP then bda, at which time, like Craig, vowed to never work with or join hands with the members of the UBP. Remember sylvan? And then once thet merged, he was a reluctant participant initially, but Craig told him about the big house, and how great it was to shake hands with gibbons Richards, Dunkley and Moniz. So, after coming third in Warwick, losing to the guy with the Mohawk, he realised that not only did the people of his own community not relate to him, the only way he would have a chance to stroke his huge ego as an MP would be to shift to tuckers town. Well, I will say this, devils hole will vote for Rabain, and Shiloh will get a few two. So go ahead Sylvan, put your trust in tuckers town. Btw, that so- called UBP plan has gentleman like you and Craig as its subject matter…….smh. And I don’t rate your so called IB skills, as you are just an echo of bob and your speech writers. Smh
Man. That’s a lot of hate.
Huh? Not following trying hard to see how seeing what you say will help Bermudians and Bermuda, but it just isn’t there. We are talking about the PLP desperately trying to get votes, after taking a hammer blow with their inept Platform that will damage Bermuda further and further v a genuine action approach in the OBA job and economic recovery document. People are losing their jobs accross the board and have been for some time under the Cox Watch. PLP has done nothing but pick at wounds and offer wordy promises which they will plan to propose to plan a plan for. Glad you are up to speed.
Yep it’s all a big wvite man conspiracy we’re coming to get you.
Further proof the PLP might like to rely on is that the Bogeyman is well known to be white. He has seen the secret plan too, and is currently hiding in your closet, behind your RIP Tupac t-shirt, and your jeans that show your arse off.
Mmm yes. Having just read the full Markham report I’m not surprised he skipped out on the plp. Disgusting….and sadly very accurate.
He only skipped out after it went public. He was a member of the PLP until earlier this week.
Rubbish.
After I read it….not him lol he left because of the nonsense.
If you know you are involved with an organization who is using highly unethical (but not illegal) methods to fool the population into voting for them you leave…..if you have any integrity at all.
And don’t even bother bringing this whole oba secret plan fiasco in comparison because we all know it’s not the same ball game.
Hateful.
@ poetic justice i agree with you P L P it is to jump on your bikes and ride home safely lol
it is time to jump on your bikes and ride home safely
Poor Lois, Freddie, Julian, Austin, Gilbert, Walter, David, Molly, and dare I say even father Eugene, must be ‘rolling in their graves’… Surely this is not the ‘proud party legacy’ they worked so long and hard for and died for… They fought the good fight of high morals, integrity and justice, but now it all seems lost and abandoned, (10 years later) how far have we strayed?!
They would be thoroughly embarrassed and ashamed! Randy, Dale, Jennifer, and Paula, what say you in good conscience?!
Remember ‘we had to deceive you’, ‘I’m just a cog in the wheel’, ‘mock it up’, ‘make it happen’, overspend, overspend, overspend, ‘it’s unethical but not illegal’, sorry but the
negatives far outweigh the positives… and there’s no such thing as ‘free’, somewhere, somehow we all pay… you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours… severe lack of accountability, justice and leadership… the silence is truly deafening… the children are watching and listening too, what examples are we setting ?! Double standards abound, shameful, shameful, we can do much better to ensure our collective futures!!!
Please, Lord have mercy on our souls…… time to vote……..
So….. it took the UBP 40+ years to self destruct, fizzle and become extinct and not to be outdone, now it appears the PLP are in hot pursuit, mimicking a similar performance of scandals, hiccups and alienating themselves from the people, tourists and big business, on a much grander scale.
Possibly, the two party system needs to be shelved in the annals of history with the dinosaurs.
A golden opportunity exists for the OBA to amalgamate with the ‘near to be extinct’ PLP, as they did such a great job amalgamating and re-branding with the dormant UBP.
‘One party’, of intelligent, gifted, enlightened men and women, young and seasoned, black and white, for the collective benefit of ‘one island’, in spite of our differences and opinions. A ‘win-win’ scenario, no more ‘divide and conquer’, after all, ‘united we stand and divided we fall’.
The new name could be One United Progressive National Liberal Alliance of Bermuda, or, One United Progressive Democratic Alliance of Bermuda, or, One United Progressive Bermudian Alliance.
If we can get men on the moon, we can do this too…. it’s so crazy and preposterous it just might work, seriously folks…. consider Bill Gates and his crazy idea, look where it took him!
We do have the collective intelligence, talent and potential required to accomplish such an awesome feat!
Time will tell…… time to vote…..
@Andrew Little…I’d support your idea, no problem
Have the OBA considered its future after Dec.17th ? Will it disintegrate if the party looses ? The problems that Bermuda is facing will not disappear after the election when the PLP are re-elected , we will continue to face the challenges head on . What plans do the OBA have ?
Time will tell, win or lose. It’ll be a close one though.
http://youtu.be/mcz2KuOUExs
MP.. You are correct the. Problems facing Bermuda will not disappear no matter who is elected. The question is whom is better suited to face these challenges? The PLP have done nothing in the past to show that they have the knowledge to face these challenges, in fact they have perpetuated their growth by senseless spending and lack of financial controls.
So who is better equipped to face the problems, those that helped the problem grow, or those that understand it? I know my answer…. I
Mathematically it is impossible for the OBA to win this election . The experts predict that the world economy will continue to be unstable for at least 24 more months . With that , crime and every other unsavory behavior will escalate . The PLP will have no choice but to govern thru till things turn around .
Like it or lump it , the OBAs only way to ever govern this Island is to settle in and become the strongest opposition possible .
There is hope for Bermuda , but no hope for the OBA .
Mathematically it is not impossible for the OBA to win this election. Mathematically it is possible for the OBA to win every single vote cast.
Let’s face it, if the PLP get in this time, with their record, we might as well not bother with an opposition in future.
“Let’s face it, if the PLP get in this time, with their record, we might as well not bother with an opposition in future.”
That’s my point , we haven’t had an effective Opposition in the past from the OBA or for that matter any other party or person .
Unfortunately and contrary to what YOU may believe , the OBA have not made a strong enough case for the swing voter to swing . Despite the perceived , or actual terrible record of the ruling party in some areas .
The segment of society that the OBA is targeting is immune to promises made by any party . They understand that the ‘silver bullet’ to end the malaise Bermuda finds itself in doesn’t exist , and the more the OBA pushes that particular agenda , the more unpalatable they will become .
What a silly thing to say “why doesn’t the PLP stop campaigning altogether .” The PLP respects all the people that make up the electorate of Bermuda and will never take the people for granted . That’s why we believe in including every person on this Island in our campaign to continue governing Bermuda .
Actually it’s a ‘silly thing’ (to use your words) to say, as you did, that it’s ‘mathematically impossible’ for the OBA to win. If that’s what you really think, then you have no idea what the words ‘mathematically impossible’ mean.
And the “PLP respects all people that make up the electorate”? Well, they don’t respect black people; they talk down to them and use them. They don’t respect white people. They don’t respect businesses. They don’t respect people who aren’t, in their words “Real Bermudians”. The only people that get ‘respect’ are the elite PLP insiders.
The PLP have many more ‘safe seats’ than the OBA . The OBA may have placed unsuitable candidates in some of the marginals . Unsuitable simply means not suited to the constituency , i.e. #2 . Therefore rendering this election mathematically impossible for the OBA to win .
According how you see race relations , that is something that we all have to work on , the PLP doesn’t own the monopoly on racist behavior . However I will mention that the ruling elite forerunner of the modern two party system thrived like a cancer on the division of the races , and it was those people who covertly and overtly insisted on carrying it on and into modern day politics .In its haste to somewhat level the economic playing field some former member(s), may have overtly subscribed to that sort of unsavory behavior .
Earlier this week I went to go visit my old friend Hamish , who lives on Scarrington Hill , Paget and I can tell you that after going up there for the last forty plus years I still feel like a foreigner in Bermuda .
You have no idea what “mathematically impossible” means do you.
If you want to know who is demeaning black people in Bermuda, take a look at Markham’s report.
If it’s “mathematically impossible” for the OBA to win, why doesn’t the PLP stop campaigning altogether? Why don’t you stop posting comments? If it’s “mathematically impossible”, the PLP will still win. Why are you wasting all that effort? Why is the PLP wasting all those funds?
How would you feel if the popular vote went OBA, but the constituencies PLP?
Yes, the problems definitely wont be going away in fact more than likely get worse if the PLP are re elected. Just think about it, they haven’t exactly made any progress yet, in fact it’s getting worse and they are in POWER, why will winning in 10 days suddenly give then the knowledge they have lacked up until this point? Better reconsider your future right now and vote OBA as they are the only Party that offers Bermudians any hope that things will improve.
Part of me thinks that the PLP should be re-elected so that they have to clean up the mess they “say” the worldwide recession has created in Bermuda, but the more sensible part of me has now realised that the PLP contributed towards the mess we are in through their anti-business behaviours and policies and it is now time to put a another team into bat..
http://youtu.be/mcz2KuOUExs
watch and choose
I’ve said it a million times: The plp have out-UBPed the UBP! The plp elites are the “new 40 thieves”… and this is their “new reality.” Do you like the plp’s new reality?
Vote wisely.
You obviously don’t know Mr Richards as well as you think you do
Navin, well i will say it might be you that doesnot know Slyvan that well, i surely remember those days at Howard University or back further to those days in Warwick, if his past could only talk on its own stories told might suprise.
Exactly one eye open……..but because he is an OBA candidate, he is considered this intelligent, upright type of guy. Trust me, it’s not hating at all, it’s the truth. He dont impress me, but maybe because I know a bit about him.
Of course your vague innuendos mean nothing at all. I know a bit about him as well. He’s a hard working and honest guy who wants to do something positive. I’d trust him to do the right thing.
A plea to Government:
Please, for all of the great people that have gone before you in the PLP, go and rebuild, be a great Opposition for a while, and let another group have a shot at it!
Seriously, you must be cringing at your own desperate nonsense that is running out daily now in a spew of panic at the potential loss of Government…stop…at least regain some semblance of credibility ! The World actually does watch and you are embarrassing all of us!
you dont get it, they are not done the master plan. They wanna do it then they will always be in power
This governments days are almost over
http://youtu.be/mcz2KuOUExs
Can you really trust this guy that the PLP are going to make their top puppet?
OBA. Need to learn how to sell their idea, instead of SAGE, call it BERMUDA DEBT MANAGEMENT COMISSION, incharge of advising the govt on spending , debt payment, investments ………you get the idea….
and what is wrong with that idea of managing government spending?
In the PLP’s desperate attempt to make the opposition look bad, they alienated businesses so now they have to eat their words lol.. Just get out of office u dummies, let the more qualified ppl do the job
Gosh, thank god the PLP confirmed they support big business. Cause, in listening to this, it doesn’t sound like it. I think IB will be activating their exit plans as we speak.
New secret plan.
OBA will tax the clothes off your backs ,Food will triple in price , they will spend down the debt spending hundreds of billions of dollars . shut down all the schools and spend millions to mothball all the schools.
They will buy a governmnet leer jet and spend the debt down by going personally to everywhere on earth they can spend some more money and win a prize. lol
then with an eye to transparency sing out the way they helped multiply the debt by only mere hundreds rather than millions,,,a failing all PLP members surely can see wont help increase the future debt fast enough to enslave the next three generations…
how am i doing so far?
well done…spoken like a true…..IDIOT
Stayed up late thinking that up huh? Genious.
You’ve just convinced me that I shouldn’t vote PLP.
The PLP complained about the mess the UBP left in 1998. If they win in 2012 and replace Paula Cox which they will as she is very unpopular judging by the way she is mostly absent from the election, shades of 2007 and Dr. Brown, it would be in their nature to blame the old Government. That is the extent of their use of propaganda. Paula Cox began this tactic when she was elected as leader in 2010. She pretended the previous 12 years of Government was unrelated to the PLP by endlessly referring to the new administration.
At least the OBA has acknowledged the economic problems with a plan to tackle it. What has the PLP proposed apart from a plan to catch feral chickens and cats?
UBP left a mess? Wow. If they started with that thinknig it’s no wonder we keep hearing the shite we hear now.
When the PLP took over in 1998 there was full employment, expanding economy, minimal debt, great international reputation, good relationships with IB, low crime.
They messed up on every front.
I didn’t say the UBP left a mess, which of course they didn’t as Rick Rock says below. However that has been one of the main PLP cries of desperation trying to support the $1.4 billion of debt as being an “investment” because the UBP didn’t spend. Now, after 14 years there are a whole range of infrastructure that needs immediate work. The Causeway; roads; Government buildngs in decay; Cruise ship pier; new buses and so on. In 1998 the UBP left a budget surplus and debt invested in real infrastructure. However this time there is no money.
The plps attack and rebuttal and divisive tatics are a sad embarrassment to all of us time to get them out the first item on any party agenda should be cuts ministers pay checks by 10 per cent what is wrong with us being dictated to by these self serving clowns
The PLP is waging war with no War Chest. No money, no new ideas and no one wants to watch until after the election to hear the solutions they should have already put in place. You couldn’t make this stuff up!
What a load…
If they had any constructive ideas, we would have heard, and should have seen them by now! Unemployment insurance? With what? More financial attacks on business to support the Governments mis-management of the public purse? Give us a break and spend the next week planning how to be a constructive opposition. You had your chance. It’s over! Too little to late and now all that is left is an ugly rant!
We already have unemployment insurance, don’t we? Wasn’t that the idea behind increasing the civil service by 40%? (that and buying votes)
Hey, there is something the PLP can do for Bermuda. Take the sour yellow out of your green, darken it up and help us get ready for Christmas!
It is interesting to see some of the posts about the future of the OBA if they lose as is statistically predicted. One thought is that OBA will dismantle. The same prediction was made in 1998 about the UBP. At the time I simply did not believe it, but we now know the prediction was true.
For OBA, I did not intially believe the prediction but the recent revelations about the ‘secret UBP plan’ have increased my believability. My reasoning:
The OBA were publicly formed as a result of losing the Warwick bye election when BDA and UBP realised that neither could win future elections. Therefore we do not have a genuine basis for forming that will withstand an election loss. The recent revelation of the secret plan (despite protestations) indicate a real problem for the OBA leadership since there is no cohesion. The document is clearly a road map for the core UBP leaders and financial supporters and any casual follower of politics will agree that the plan has been followed both closely and effectively.
Cannonier’s display of ‘anger with the media this week’ did not do anything to increase doubt about the report – in fact the reverse is true!! It removed any doubt for several voters.
So where do we stand if the OBA lose??? Canonnier resigns for any number of reasons. A strong leader will emerge and the core leadership will have to decide how to offer genuine support for the leader, without an obvious bias to preserve their own interests.
We still have comments about the document having nothing to do with the OBA. Perhaps not, but is has a whole lot to do with the major supporters that came to OBA from UBP – Dunkley, Gibbons, Smith… do I need to continue?
Sure – tell us why a vote for the PLP is a good idea.
@ jt
A long answer but necessary for you and others to understand why a vote (for many voters) for the PLP is a good idea. Your asking the questions shows that you do not understand the local electorate.
Election results depend on the voters. Swing voters in Bermuda have traditionally been middle class black voters. In the past, many voted UBP based on their (mistaken?) belief that the business class were best able to ‘manage Bermuda’. Coming into 1998, there were sufficient younger voters that had a different mindset and therefore voted PLP and have done so since that time. Many continue to do so because they are comfortable that there has not been sufficinet time for the PLP to ‘undue all the wrong that was the UBP’. As we move forward, both parties will have to address this voter base as they become more aware of thier voting power and how votes make a real difference. They will also be less forgiving of the PLP based on problems caused by the UBP.
For the current election, as we endure these economic challenges, the OBA have made the mistake of criticising the very plans that have helped the voting base that they hope to attract. In doing so, they have reinforced the notion that the OBA can not be voted for, because they will cancel the help that has been provided by the PLP. Therefore a vote for PLP will be a good idea for the majority of the electorate.
This has been a very elementary analysis for 2012 but as a minimum you need to research the changing dynamic of Bermuda’s voter base to start understanding the validity of my comments.
What help?
You cannot honestly believe that the PLP actions to date, or ‘plans’ presented, are in the best interest of the middle class! They have demolished this country’s middle class.
after 14 years you cant blame the UBP anymore. The only hope and change we need is a change away from the crony politics of the PLP and the hope that its not too late to fix the financial mess we have all inherited from their corruption
this election will prove that the trust the so called swing voter placed on the PLP was, in fact, misplaced…The swing voter has given the party every possible chance to prove it was deserving of the trust they placed now realize that everyone’s future hangs in the balance…I struggle how anyone could think the PLP is deserving of a 4th term….
Hate to be the bearer of bad news ‘Vote For Me’, but it is warped and convoluted thinking like yours that has created the mess we are in. Any more of it, i.e. PLP misgovernance and we will really be left behind by the rest of the world – to the point that we will no longer be able to afford overseas university education for our kids, that home equity will become nonexistent as credit continues to collapse, that the best and brightest (black, white and indifferent) will emigrate, etc. As has been remarked more than once, this election is an IQ test.
ive asked that a few times. For some reason there is never an answer!?
@ vote for me looks as if you are making a desperate attempt ,the fact is people need jobs,not debt. PLP failed that is the bottom line and they are racist at best. This government is not capable of reducing the debt. They held a rally in the east end and they didn’t address the issues people face today all they did do was act like clowns seeking attention. Very sad
@ God 1st
The notion of an out of control debt is a fabrication that many have come to believe. The truth is that the PLP investment in infrastructure can be seen from one end of the island to the other.
Clear evidence of debt not being a problem is the overwhelming support from international markets last year, when govt wanted to borrow $500 million and lenders were prepared to lend up to $1.5 billion. Political rhetoric will try to obscure this fact but ultimately the actual lenders tell a different story.
At the rate of interest Bermuda was forced to pay of course it was oversubscribed. Please lay out how the $1.4 billion has been spent on real and tangible infrastructure like buildings. Forget Future Care, Day Care, Fianancial Assistance and the like. Those are not Capital projects but Current Account. Once they are spent the money has gone. I bet you can’t get above $500 million, and don’t include Berkeley as that was completed before the debt started to increase.
The curent debt is over 150% of Government revenue and unsustainable. Revenue pays off debt, not a false ratio against the false GDP.
You carry on believing that in your fantasy world. If we carry on doing the same thing in another 5 years we will be paying $500,000 a day in interest alone, worse if interests rate start to rise of historical lows. If you think that is manageable just think what jobs and programs will have to be cut just to pay that interest alone. It will be costing in interest alone way more than any Ministry gets in funding just on interest payments. It’s foolish and totally irresponsible mismanagement by the PLP Government. They can’t seem to offer anything else at this point. Don’t want to upset the voters for sure. They are in a pickle and have been in this state for the last 2 years as they prepared for the election, again not wanting to make any changes that might turn voters off. In the process screwing up the financial state of Bermuda for the foreseeable future for all of us.
The problem is not necessarily the infrastructure itself, but the massive overspends on that infrastructure and teh hundreds of million that has added to our debt. In addition, one has to question the need in some cases, Grand Atlantic for eg.
Vote for me you are now straying into la la land if you believe the debt is not out of control……payroll is borrowed and the overpriced infrastructure that you speak of is collapsing. ……if the OBA win the election Bermuda will find out the depth of our problems…..revenue this year will be, as always, less than budgeted and expenses will be, as always, greater than budgeted…..we are sinking fast as the so called infrastructure they have sold you has done nothing more than cut everyone’s throat…..
So what is Bermuda going to do about all the racism that has been stated here and in other threads.
Will it just go away with an OBA win?
Will it continue with a PLP win?
From what I have read; heard it seems deep rooted.
It has been for many years.
Vote wisely. Change will come like a marriage; for better for worse.
A blessed day to all.
Mrs. Furbert seems strangely absent or have I not been reading carefully enough? Perhaps the Cog told her to shutup?
Of course, in the case of a PLP victory there would not be much business left to consult – as it will have moved on to where it is wanted and respected…
Rear View Mirror.
Sholom.
Listen to these ignorant plp talk show host on 107.5 larry scott and company
you mean Larry um-um em-em Scott
So while CEO of BELCO, Inham cuts off the electicity of 1,100 average Bermudians, who (thanks to PLP mismanagement) were now struggling to pay their bills. HE is a perfect example that the truth is the only Bermudians that really matter to today’s PLP candidates are their owm PLP party elite!! Then Blakeny’s dog+pony show in yet another attempt to fool the voting masses!! Here’s hoping voting Bermudians will not be tricked by the PLP yet again!!!
To the PLP spokesperson. The PLP have said nothing in their election platform as to how they will stop borrowing and will start to pay down debt, apart from setting up a committee to deal with feral chickens and cats. Is this their job creation plan too?
Point is the PLP have failed the Bermudian people. If it wasn’t the OBA there would be another party. PLP need to get out, we CANNOT endure another 5 years under their leadership. They were given a chance and failed. It’s time for them to go. Vote OBA if you want your kids/grandkids to have a decent chance at a successful future. Vote OBA!!!!!!!!!!!
Just like the deep and radical cuts at HOTT 107.5
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