Shadow Minister of Finance Bob Richards has urged Government Minister of Family Development Glenn Blakeney to do his homework before blasting off on plans to control spending.He was commenting on the response by Mr Blakeney to the One Bermuda Alliance call for a SAGE Commission — a Spending and Government Efficiency Commission.The Minister, on the weekend said such a proposal will result in “radical and destructive cuts”, by an OBA Government.Mr Richards had suggested the formation of a SAGE Commission would be “one of the ways an OBA Government will control wasteful Government spending”.In a statement released yesterday, Mr Richards said: “It seems electioneering has caused Mr Blakeney to suffer amnesia, because the Premier's plan sounds exactly like a SAGE Commission.”“The Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth on this issue — hoping people won't remember what it says from one day to the next. It appears to be all for an “efficiency team”, but now, in the heat of an election, it is against an efficiency team going by the name of a SAGE Commission.”He called on the PLP Government to tell the truth.A PLP spokesman responded that if the two plans were the same, Mr Richards should be giving credit to the PLP.In a separate statement, Mr Richards said Progressive Labour Party attacks on business failed to recognise that the private sector created jobs.“The only hope to get thousands of out-of-work Bermudians back to work is through private businesses, large and small,” Mr Richard said.On that note he said the Government has “destroyed it ability to grow jobs in tough times by racking up a billion dollar debt that has tied its hands”.Instead of fostering “an environment that gives business the confidence to expand”, Mr Richards charged that it would appear the PLP and its candidates “have been doing just the opposite, by attacking the business community”.Said Mr Richards: “The simple fact is this: If we are to end mass unemployment, we have to grow jobs. But the reckless rhetoric we heard last week is what makes people lose confidence in Bermuda, driving business away.“It serves no purpose but to divide people needlessly and undermine the Island's ability to recover economically.”He was referring to comments made by PLP candidate Vince Ingham at a town-hall meeting last week. Mr Ingham accused local businesses of “lacking a social conscience”.“At the end of the day, the anti-business attitudes that characterised this Government's years in office have served no one well, particularly the thousands who now find themselves out of a job or underemployed,” said Mr Richards.“A One Bermuda Alliance Government will grow 2,000 jobs. That's a solid commitment.“Our Jobs & Economic Turnaround Plan has strategies to help both large and small businesses expand. We have specific practical strategies to help small business.“We need all businesses involved — “all hands on deck” — when it comes to the creation of jobs for Bermudians.“The Government doesn't seem to get that it takes everyone working together to make an economy work.,” he said.The OBA plan to establish an Economic Advisory Committee “to bring all stakeholders together”, including Bermuda's trade unions, to “help make this Island start working again for the working man”.Mr Richards concluded: “This election is Bermuda's chance for a Government with steady, sure hands and a clear understanding of people's needs. The OBA team's number one focus is on growing jobs.“That's a change that will help Bermudians. It's time for a Government that will make Bermuda work again, for economic and social equity for all, leaving no one behind.”Meanwhile, a PLP spokesman charged: “The OBA is finally showing it's true colours — as the part that puts business before people.”In a statement issued last night, he accused the Opposition of beginning with “a risky plan which is little more than a giveaway to business, putting the tax burden on workers while employers alone reap the benefits”.Contrary to the OBA plan he said: “The PLP believes in a balanced approach that is fair to both workers and business owners alike. Fairness is at the cornerstone of our vision for our country's future.The PLP spokesman concluded: “We believe in a balanced approach with policies like the Incentives for Job Makers Act that both create opportunities for Bermudians and help businesses.“That's what building a fairer economy that works for all our people is all about."