Look up Carl Bernstein…he’ll tell you all about where your beloved media gets its directive from.

The debt repayments come from the taxpayers.

Take economics 101 again please.

These foreigners here acting high and mighty have skeletons in their closet as well. How dare they come here and suggest how we run our affairs when clearly the jurisdictions they are from are as bad or worse than ours.

And what do you think will happen to us when the over-leveraged and falsely valued US dollar declines due to the FED’s incessant money printing? Need you be reminded that we are pegged to that currency. This decline will make what the PLP has done seem insignificant by comparison. Please do not keep thinking it will not happen. It is a mathematical certainty.

Who will you blame then? Rather lets stop the blame game and try to uncouple from that currency (the pound is worse off btw) and seek a way to avoid our government borrowing from phony private banking institutions who by he very means of their lending are breaking the most important pillar of a contract – consideration. They lend to us with no real capital in reserve.

Rents are the cheapest in 16 years. Rent controlled units can’t even attract the legally allowable amount.

You are on a completely different planet.

Never never forget who put our children & our grandchildren in this dire situation. Don’t blame them when you get old & they have no interest in finding money to take care of your needs. If you voted PLP you are repsonsible for the money being gone & what would have been used to help you in your time of aged need, has to go to service & pay off the debt that you are responsible for.

Hey, but it sure was fun for those few years. Beyonce came here. There were lots of partys. There was lots of travel & doing it first class. There were Government credit cards. There were lunches. Life was great.

The OBA is good but they are not miracle workers despite what the unions & PLP supporters think. Tough times ahead for those on the Government payroll. It needs to be scaled back to pre 1998 levels & fast. The PLP brought in somebody who was supposed to be a hatchet man. He did nothing.

Now there are no other choices. There is no money.

Is that fine by you?

After all, those who voted for the UBP & now OBA did not OK all of this borrowing & overspending. Why should they be liable to pay?

Also, this includes the military. Please, don’t try and say that Bermuda needs the same. In 2012, the US federal government (including military) was 4.3 million people. If you want to include state and local (which isn’t even comparable to us, as we are not including the CoH and CoStG in our numbers) you get up to under 22 million (in 2013), which is only 6.9% of the entire population (Forbes, a reputable source). And that INCLUDES the military AND the IRS (hello, we don’t even have that complicated a tax system) Bermuda is still higher than that. Don’t try to justify the unjustifiable.

Shoot while i do believe that it was the ineptness of the previous government that got us into this position. It seems governments elsewhere are doing just fine screwing over the futures of their progeny.

http://www.nationaldebtclock.co.uk/
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
http://www.davemanuel.com/canada-debt-clock.php

Seems that while we are in a bad position that could well have been avoided what do you expat blogger types have to say about your own mother lands financial status? You know the ones you whose cultures you so desperately try to bestow upon this place?

Here is the reality you are missing friend. Do some actual research – not just looking for numbers to justify your means.

“When we add up the true size of the federal workforce — civil servants, postal workers, military personnel, contractors, grantees, and bailed-out businesses — and add in state- and local-government employees — civil servants, teachers, firefighters, and police officers — we reach the astonishing figure of nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government. That means that about 17 percent of the American labor pool — one in every six workers — owes its living to the taxpayer.” -http://www.prepareandprosper.net/

I’m sure your mainstream media based statistics suit you just fine in your world…

Numbers in the other jurisdictions are not far off very similar to the 15% you call “over inflated” here in BDA.

The larger point is that most western governments are bloated pigs that indeed need slimming. Please try not to paint my beloved country as some place in dysfunctional dystopia while places you may hold in high regard are just as bad.

The logic is simple. The Civil Service grew to service Bermuda during the height of economic activity pre 2008. Since then the economy shrank but the size and cost of the Civil Service did not.

The question is – what is the right size of teh Civil Service and how does Bermuda reduce it without undue stress on the economy and financial assistance?

Also, what is stopping public sector workers from applying for a private sector job if they are unhappy living paycheck to paycheck?

Personal choices have everything to do with the state of affairs you find yourself living in. I work in the private sector, do not take 6 trips a year, have never seen a housing allowance and do not have kids. If you choose to live paycheck to paycheck, that is your personal choice. I could go out and blow my paycheck every week as soon as it is deposited in to my account, but i choose not to!

Thereafter, the OBA should have acted on on their self proclaimed financial prowess (aided by SAGE recommendations) and made appropriate decisions for the 2013/14 budget. Their victory released them from any promises of the former PLP government.

The reality is that Minister Richard’s ‘look under the hood’ casued him to borrow $800m which he stated was to cover Bermuda for a 3 year period. One question was whether he was a sufficinetly qualified mechanic to trouble shoot the problem and recommend a solution. His solution was a risk and it did not pan out.

Going forward, there are several options for reducing annual expenditure that does not result in a net decrease in pay to Public Officers. If you are sceptical, get a copy of the BTUC proposals.

We now need a Bermuda solution as opposed to the various uniformed rants on social media.

Let’s be collectively constructive and start to consider realitic options to address Bermuda’s fiscal challenges.

Most civil servants buy expensive cars and take four trips a year?

This does nothing to foster healthy dialogue.

When people have more money then they can spend, they can do of three things: (1) Do nothing and leave it in a checking account (2) Spend it or (3) Save/invest it in something which will provide more income.

If you do option (1), you don’t really do much except support the local banking industry. If you do (2) and spend it, if it is on a product then a big chunk of that money IS GOING OVERSEAS. We don’t make anything here, so that’s where your money is going – to the places that make the product, and to all those shipping companies which bring it here. Now, some of your money may stay here – with the store and customs and whatnot, but again, you are still sending money overseas. If you do (3), that money may or may not be in Bermuda. If you have a pension plan, your money is also going overseas.

So whether you are Bermudian or not, it really doesn’t make any difference as the options are the same. I am Bermudian, and all my extra funds are going overseas too. It doesn’t matter whether you are black or white, PLP or OBA, or whatever. I have friends and family on all sides, and lots of them have purchased a house in the states, or a time share, or have investments, or go on shopping trips and vacations. All of that is spent overseas too.

Also, none of this makes the slightest bit of difference to the deficit or debt.

one side of the fence works with the facts, the other side chooses to ignore them.

You also left out eating take out food many , many times a week,
A huge expense when compared to buying groceries and cooking for yourself.

Every expat here brings dollars here. They don’t ‘bleed’ dollars out of the economy. They earn and spend money here. Lots of it.

- US civil service is 3mn out of 315nm population = 0.9% of total population

- BDA civil service is 5k out of 63k population = 8% of total population

- BDA civil service as % of working population = 15%!

You’re welcome.

It would be interesting for the government to do an audit on the people that are complaining just to see how they really live (and I am sure they are some that are legitimately struggling)
- do they have a Flat screen TV or TV’s with Cable subscription
- how many smart phones in the house hold with the monthly bill that comes with it
- what type of car are they driving
- do they go on trips overseas

I was in a store the other day and the lady in front of me bought 2 flat screen TV’s, when it was my turn the cashier upsettingly said to me that the lady who just bought those TV’s was on financial assistance. How?????

We all have choices in our life. Make the right ones and you can live a fairly good life.

Family planning is a big one. I have many friends who have only choosen to have one child. They can then afford to give them the best and also not have to sacrifice or struggle as much. Having a lot of children knowing that you can not afford them is just irresponsible and not fair on you or the children.

Everyone is always chanting “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”. You also have to practice what you preach. Apply that to your family life. Stay united as a family, don’t go having children from every Tom, Dick and Harry. Fathers be responsible for your children. Single mothers are trying really hard to raise your offspring.

The one where many of you demanded that be a standalone portfolio which is a view I don’t disagree with.

They are still required to pay taxes which are garnished straight from their wages and paid to Govt.

Please explain how that has created greater deficits and debt.

So by your reasoning if you are government employed you should shut up, know your place and be happy living paycheck to paycheck and if you work in IB take six trips a year, have your rent paid, your child’s education paid for and have corporate expended lunches at Harry’s three times a week?

See how ugly things get in black and white? It is a world of color (that may upset you – who knows?) and of many dimensions out there…try to see it for the beauty and complexity. Put down the checkers and start playing chess friend.

Sinking funds and debt the average person has no clue as to what it really means.

All I can say is after reading and listening I am aware that if this crap continues were gonna need a “SCUBA” Fund.

Great day too all.

Also – if you want to talk about taking advantage of Bermuda, causing loss of jobs, taking from Bermuda and then fleeing the country I would point you no further than Ewart Brown……….