Vexed Bermoothes

Blustery Opinions From Bermuda

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Entries Tagged as 'Bermuda Politics'

Rebalancing

March 13th, 2010 · Comments Off · Bermuda Politics, Economy

Finance Minister Paula Cox admits that she must “rely on the residual goodwill” within the business community.
And that there sums it up:  they’ve been relying on the residual goodwill for so long that there’s not much goodwill left but residue.
She also scoffs at the business community’s squeals at being squeezed so hard to fund Government’s [...]

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Bermuda’s Biggest Problem

March 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics

The biggest problem with this years budget is that, even with the big tax increases, it still leaves the Bermuda Government operating with a substantial annual deficit ($145,000,000 deficit for this year’s operations, and $1,065,000,000 for the Consolidated Fund).
A reduction in Government spending is the only option, or we’ll be faced with even larger tax [...]

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2010 Budget Debate

March 9th, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics

The “Road to Ruin” budget is an important one, as it deals in levels of Government expenditure and debt never seen before in Bermuda.
As in previous years, Government does not make it easy for the citizenry to watch what they are up to. They do not make the debate schedule publicly available on the [...]

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Cheap Sales Tactics

March 8th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics, Independence

Former Premier Alex Scott has said that he is concerned that the Green Paper on Gaming released by Government last week is “selling” the idea of gambling, rather than educating the public on the subject.
Indeed.  Of course, the exact same thing could have been said about Alex Scott’s own “Bermuda Independence Commission” boondoggle [...]

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Plantation Rhetoric Makes a Comeback

March 7th, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics

Well, the PLP’s years of mismanagement are finally becoming clear.  You see it’s easy to look successful in a booming economy.  But after years of coasting downhill, it’s clear that even after 12 years in power the PLP are still wobbling on training wheels.
The economy is slumping.  The “Road to Ruin” budget promises to empty [...]

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Who Pays The Bills?

March 3rd, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics, Economy

If you ever had a doubt regarding the importance of international business to Bermuda, look at the following chart which shows economic activity in Bermuda for the last 5 years.  (It is excerpted from the National Economic Report).
The only areas that show significant growth are directly related to the international business sector … accounting [...]

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Your Pocket

March 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics, Economy

In its disappointing 2010 budget, the Bermuda Government has raised payroll tax by 2%, to be shared equally by the employer and employee.
That means that the employee’s tax just went up by 21%.
The employer’s tax (they pay a larger amount than the employee) just went up by 9%.
The average income in Bermuda is $55,ooo … [...]

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Bermuda Second

February 28th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Bermuda Politics, Media

It appears that journalist Roger Crombie has been term limited out.
This is a bad and self-defeating move:  he’s the best known business journalist associated with Bermuda, and his coverage of Bermuda’s international sector has contributed significantly to the island’s reputation and growth.  He is well respected, and conversant with the leaders of all aspects of [...]

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Budget 2010

February 26th, 2010 · No Comments · Bermuda Politics

Some comments on the budget, projected at $1.2 billion (including $1.05 billion of revenue).  At 39 pages (down from 48 last year), it continues the negative trend of providing less information as the dollar amounts get bigger.
The economic dislocation and the financial turmoil of the last two years was a one in 100 year event. [...]

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Time to Clean House

February 25th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Bermuda Politics

Politics.bm has an important post on the Southlands fiasco.  I encourage you to read it, pass it on, post it to Facebook, and most importantly start asking questions about the actions of the Bermuda Government.
In the past 10 years our Government budget has doubled yet still runs at a deficit, our national debt has metastasized [...]

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