So it is mind boggling that Paula Cox would chose to share a podium with Dr. Brown at a conference in the Cayman Islands where he defiantly justifies his controversial actions and beats the drum for independence.  I can only assume that, despite her public comments on reform, that she is still supportive of Dr. Brown’s agenda.

There is a dangerous disconnect between talking about “resetting the dial” while quietly still playing the cog.

(If you care to hear more of Brown’s self-justifications, click here for Starling’s perceptive read of the Brownalogue).

(The sh1t-stirrer-in-chief has given another rabble-rousing speech.  In my opinion, he is the primary architect of Bermuda’s steep decline.  I suppose if you can’t be the big fish, you can always shrink the pond.)

We hope they figure out what they are supposed to be doing.

We hope they don’t screw up Bermuda any worse.

We hope they realise that political slogans don’t put food on the table.

We hope they are elected out of office for their lousy performance.

Paula Cox likes to say the debt is no big deal when compared to our whopping mysterious GDP.  Does anyone actually buy that story?

Like Bob Richards, I am a more practical lad:

California’s $8 billion debt worked out at $233 per person, Hawaii comes in at $364 per person while Florida’s debt was $105 per person.

Bermuda’s deficit comes in at $3,365 per person [Note:  strange mix of apples and oranges here.  The debt in Bermuda comes to over $20,000 per person and over $50,000 per employed person].

Those are scurry numbers – and they are growing fast!

It gives no great confidence that the PLP’s best comeback to these facts is Mr Richards is “always on his high horse lecturing anybody”.  Oh, wah!  This sulk tells me the PLP have no reasonable justification for their actions.  Their claim that the billion debt went into hard assets is sunk by even a cursory look at the facts.

Friends ask what I think about the Government’s budget.  I don’t think it really is a budget.  It is simply buying time … and the price is way too high.

Walton Brown, a former Government Senator and parliamentary candidate for Pembroke Central, said the party has to sell itself better to voters — or risk losing seats.

That’s a pretty sad statement for the “populist” PLP.  They’ve been in power now for 14 years.  They are being judged on performance not sales pitches.

We all lived through the Platinum Period.  It just left us with a headache and empty pockets.

The PLP’s new budget shows how quickly Bermuda’s economy is coming apart at the seams.  It also shows that the PLP just doesn’t know what to do, other than crank the national debt knob up to 11.

We’ll soon hit $1,500,000,000 in debt.  I am worried about it.  Everyone I know is worried about it.  But not Paula!

“The debt that the OBA screeches about represents investment in Bermuda’s future. It is investment in economic and social infrastructure that will be of value for today’s needs and for the needs of the next generation or two.  Part of the debt also represents an economic backstop that has preserved thousands of jobs for Bermudians during the most difficult recession we have faced in our lifetime,” said the Premier.

Seriously?  The debt doesn’t represent investment in Bermuda’s future.  It is proof of the PLP’s inadequacy in managing the economy and how its leaders have chased away our customers through crazy posturing and bad policies.

The debt doesn’t protect thousands of jobs.  It’s the other way around:  the PLP’s hiring binge and poor accountability created the debt.  We have a government that lives far beyond its means and doesn’t want to admit it.

In the absence of a plan, all that debt does is delay the inevitable corrections that must take place – and make those corrections that much more painful for the community.

Look at that red hockey stick:  they have broken Bermuda’s prospects and prosperity for a generation.  That’s not patriotic!

In just a few years our debt has grown from under $200 million to $1,500,000,000.  Every day it costs us a quarter of a million dollars just to pay debt service.  We are running an annual deficit of a quarter of a billion dollars.  We have gone from surplus to penury.

In my opinion it is difficult to describe this situation as anything other than utter – if not criminal – incompetence.

Witness the following evidence sent by a reader.  The FCO recently solicited input from the public as they update their white paper staking out the relationship between the UK and the Overseas Territories.  The following quotes are from the BIU submission to that consultation (published in the January Workers Voice):

“Given our financial independence with respect to the UK, Bermuda should be permitted to trade freely with the Soviet Union and its satellites.”  (Note:  the Soviet Union was finally dissolved in 1991).

“In those areas of economic enterprise in which Bermuda employs the largest number of foreign workers, the UK and Bermuda should engage in the practice of swapping staffs. This practice could also be extended to the US and Canadian governments.”  (Note:  you take our Government and we’ll take yours?  The solution to expats is to expatriate Bermudians?  This suggestion ignores the fact that Bermudians can already freely live and work in the UK … and thanks to the PLP’s dim management of Bermuda, increasing numbers are choosing to do so).

Stop giggling.  It’s not funny.

Public notification of information on sex offenders
329H (1) The Minister, having regard to—
(a) the need to protect the public, an affected group of people or an individual; and
(b) the objective of effective management of sex offenders, may establish a protocol governing the disclosure of information in relation to sex offenders who are considered to present a risk of significant harm to the health or safety of the public, an affected group of people or an individual.
(2) The protocol may provide for the following notification options—
(a) no notification;
(b) notification of a specified group of persons;
(c) notification of a specified individual;
(d) notification to the public.
(3) Notification may include such identifying information (including a photograph of the sex offender) as the Minister may determine.
(4) Before determining to give any notification in accordance with the protocol in relation to a particular sex offender the Minister shall consult with the Commissioner of Police.”.

So, where’s the action?  Given the revolving door at Westgate, often the public thinks an offender is locked up with an extended sentence when they are already back out.

Actions which may be regarded by most Bermudians as questionable, of questionable ethics, or even questionable morality, are not matters for the Police unless those actions break the law.

Yeah, we get it.  There are situations that don’t pass the smell test … but may not be prosecutable.

But we are not talking about a few situations.  We are talking about a chain of situations going back years.   And in many cases the people involved were elected officials and functionaries of the PLP itself.

The Premier is saying that she will pass more good governance laws.  That’s positive.

But I also can’t help thinking “You need laws to control the actions of your own inner circle?  Seriously?”

These situations may not be illegal.  They may not unethical.  But collectively they show that the PLP has problems governing itself, never mind governing Bermuda.  Is the Constant Circus what you want to define your time in power?

I find it offensive because we are paying dearly for this amateur hour which is now entering its 14th year.

Mark Twain, who had some nice things to say about Bermuda, also made this observation:

“Politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed often and for the same reason.”

The reason is that in recent years the content of the Throne Speech has had very little relationship to the actual legislative agenda pursued by Government, and certainly has not predicted actual results that the people of Bermuda can count on.

2011 Throne Speech

These handouts and freebies contributed mightily to our budget deficits and humongous public debt.  (Simple bad management and a taste for the high life accounted for the rest.)

We just can’t afford it anymore.

But the Premier seems to be consumed by putting out the fire o’ the day with a quickie fix.  The Constant Circus lives on!

There is a time when the Premier/Finance Minister will need to roll back some of the pork and waste.  Or will she try to “buy votes” again in the lead up to the next election?

The problems are growing along with the list of short-term patches.  Sooner or later she … or her successor … is going to be forced to elaborate an actual plan to:

• Repair our troubled economy (ie undo many of their hare-brained, half-assed policies)
• Control public sector spending (ie reduce government to fit our economy)
• Plan to pay down the debt

After all these years, I can’t put my finger on a single economic plan or strategy put forward by the PLP and carried through to a successful conclusion.

The Premier has been central to the team that incubated Bermuda’s critical problems.  As nice a gal as we all think she is, it would be to Bermuda’s immense misfortune if she is allowed to dodge accountability for that.

The Bermuda Regiment is cutting its conscript intake this year in half – to just 80 recruits – to save money.

Wow, we really are broke.