We are not there yet

February 5, 2010

Dear Sir,

Please, are we getting closer to hearing, "Time to say good bye?" While Bermudians reportedly sleep in tents and cars only a few hundred yards away from PLP headquarters, the leader of Bermuda is on another junket — this time to India, at the public's expense. We ask the question, 'Who has taken those most in need back to the plantation?' While our community is suffering, it is the leadership who should be setting the example and remaining close to home, working with the folks who are experiencing hardship. But since being part of "we had to mislead you", the Premier has regularly chosen the path to self-fulfillment. The good people who voted for him, supported him and believed in him, must be appalled! And how about all those promises of affordable homes — are we there yet — new hotels, increases in visitor arrivals, financial and social equality and above all, a better education system. Who misled the people of Bermuda? The prescription for change, under the present leader, has become immersed in opposite directions, unfortunately misleading some to believe they would be getting a ticket to heaven.

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Five questions

February 5, 2010

Dear Sir,

Q. Over a thousand Bermudians are out of work. Why?

A. Leaving aside ill equipped young adults leaving school, the PLP Government aided and abetted by a bloated Civil Service has squandered all our own money and a ton of borrowed money. There is none left for job creation.

Q. Who is suffering in Bermuda at the moment?

A. The People.

Q. Who is not suffering at the moment?

A. The PLP Government and the Civil Servants.

Q. Unless some benefactor can gift Bermuda a billion dollars what can we do short of reducing the Civil Service numbers back to 1998 levels?

A. Put the Civil Service on four day weeks and cut all their pay by 20 percent and reduce Government Minister's pay by 50 percent until the national debt is paid off.

Q. There is no fiscal responsibility within this Government and the Civil Servants who should be advising Ministers, who by and large have little or no business understanding, do not, by and large, make the Ministers understand that they are being totally irresponsible with the people's business. Why should the people who have got us into this mess enjoy full employment and all the benefits of service when their actions and inactions have created the disaster we are now living?

A. Share the Pain

A QUESTIONER

Pembroke

No justification

February 8, 2010

Dear sir,

I read the PLP.bm blog this morning which published Minister Cox's defence of our ever increasing national debt levels over the last few years. Within this statement Ms. Cox stated numerous capital project expenditure totalling $447mn for the year ending March 2008 as the reason for our mushrooming debt levels, which will burden the younger generation of Bermudians for decades to come. The author of this blog went on to defend this massive expenditure by using the global economic crisis as a justifiable reason by stating: "In these tough economic times, public sector spending helps to curb unemployment, create opportunities for our kids, care for our seniors and improve or transportation."

From this statement it is clear that the PLP are trying their hardest to justify such out of control spending as smart economic decisions in response to the economic crisis on their part. The thing is Mr. Editor this massive amount was for the year ending March 2008 as noted earlier. However, the global economic crisis did not come to fruition until the middle to end of the summer of 2008. So either this Government is psychic and possesses super natural powers (which some stalwarts might want you to believe) for foreseeing the future or they are once again deceiving the people whom which they serve (something this administration seems to forget on a regular basis) by spinning the facts or just blatantly lying.

I am going to go for the latter, because if my memory serves me correctly this same administration was quick to admonish the UBP, namely Bob Richards, for utilising scare tactics when they warned in early 2008 that Bermuda's economy was overheating and that expenditure needed to be scaled back as it was predicted that a recession was just over the horizon. The PLP response was that Mr. Richards was arrogant (attacking the messenger once again) and one minister was even quoted as saying that he would rather have an economy that was overheated than cold, which just shows their lack of economic or financial knowledge. So guys if you are going to lie and deceive the people at least get some of your facts straight before doing so for as they say you can fool some of the people all the time but you will never fool all of the people all the time.

JUSTIN SMITH

Hamilton Parish

Little that we can do

February 3, 2010

Dear Sir,

There is only one possible reason to take over the Corporation of Hamilton... just one. The value of the assets owned by the Corporation will be available as security for more borrowing which will simply create more of a burden on the Government's coffers and, as sure as death and taxes... it will soon be a burden on the people of Bermuda. What other reason could there be... under Charles Gosling the Corporation has become transparent, is working as a talented and focused team, and there's an awareness that Hamilton is the most important piece of Bermuda to residents and tourists alike.

Can there be anyone in Bermuda who believes that the City is better off as a department of the Civil Service? Other than massive protests and public outrage, there seems little that the Bermudian public can do against the onslaught of this PLP greed machine. If the people that voted for them think this is the way to even the score, they have sadly underestimated many of their fellow Bermudians. The horse has already left the barn... the vast majority of us with any brains at all have already taken assets out of Bermuda and many have homes in other countries. When Ewart and Wanda have left for DC or Riyadh or Turks and Caicos to spend their well earned pension, the penny will drop and anybody who's left is gonna be looking at one large debt.

Most of you don't even understand what I'm talking about. Most are blinded by pigmentation. Most will refuse to listen to even the sanest warnings. Many probably don't even know what to do. They've heard all this before and Bermuda has survived. Let me point out just a few minor differences:

1) Rampant crime.

2) A failed public school system

3) No tourists

4) Retail sector virtually broke

5) International business is threatened by US lawmakers and the idiotic PLP term limit policy

6) An economy in total disarray... no jobs, less money, no future

7) And, last but not least, admit this... when Ewart leaves, the level of intellect will drop like a rock misguided though he might be accused.

There comes a time when even the most fervent PLP supporter has to stand up and demand that HIS party stop acting like robber barons and start acting a little bit Mandela-like. Yes, those famous sayings are very right... in a democracy, people get what they deserve and, perhaps more importantly, when good people sit on their hands and do nothing, bad things are likely to happen...

CLEMENS

Southampton