Over the last seven years the Government has amassed an incredible and downright scary amount of debt. $1.45 billion is such a large amount that it seems almost fictitious. It is so hard to quantify that we might as well call it a gazillion. To put it into perspective, if Bermuda were to pay the debt off at the rate of $1/second (ignoring the effects of compound interest), it would take more than 45 years. The year would be 2058 and I would be 75 years old.The effects of the debt are very real and very personal. Money that should be spent on suffering Bermudians is instead being sent abroad to satisfy foreign creditors. Spending on social programmes such as Mirrors, the Sunshine League and the Transitional Learning Centre has been cut, and Government austerity measures have resulted in layoffs of teachers and custodial staff at public schools.It’s important to understand that the ability to increase Government spending to ease suffering is achieved by an increase in national revenues. But national revenues have been declining steadily under this Government.Part of the reason is that the current Government represents a broken brand in which very few are choosing to invest. This has to change. The election of an OBA Government will send a strong signal to investors everywhere, inspiring confidence through an approach to governance that ensures accountability, fairness and transparency. Long-term office leases will be signed, houses will be renovated and businesses will again return because investment likes stability. All of these mean jobs for Bermudians.Regaining the confidence of foreign and local capital to invest in Bermuda again is an essential step to getting Bermuda back on track. The OBA’s primary focus is to get the unemployed and underemployed working again and to helping our beleaguered middle class regain the ground lost over the last five years.There are many measures the OBA will implement to spur job growth and business formations including these two from our recently released platform preview brochure:l Providing employers with payroll tax exemptions for all new Bermudian hires, andl Directing 20% of all Government spending on goods and services $80 million to small businesses, helping them to succeed.The payroll tax exemption is a budget neutral initiative that will get Bermudians working again, while directing government business to small businesses will help family-owned companies compete against large competitors.An OBA Government will implement these and other pro-growth measures to get Bermuda’s economy moving forward. The party’s belief in social and economic equity for all is what drives its policy-making. What that goal means to me is safe neighbourhoods, great schools and jobs that pay well.Bermudians can’t afford five more years of soaring debt, unemployment and economic decline. It’s time for a fresh start. It’s time for hope. It’s time for change.Nick Kempe is the One Bermuda Alliance Candidate Pembroke West Central (District 18)