Mac to bring stop-gap plan

| 27/06/2012

(CNS): The Legislative Assembly will be opening for the next parliamentary year this morning (Wednesday) but there is still no budget. As a result of the minister of finance’s failure to balance the books in time and gainapproval from the UK for both the short and long term borrowing, government departments are still cutting away at spending plans. In his third budget as finance minister, Premier McKeeva Bush was unable to deliver a plan that met with the FCO’s requirements in time to meet the fiscal year-end deadline and is now faced with the need to pass legislation for a two-month stop-gap appropriation.

The premier will be presenting a new short term budget for the start of the 2012/13 year asking to incur expenses of $127 million between 1 July and 31 August, which has been approved by the UK.

The premier will be facing severe criticism from the opposition benches when he brings the stop-gap appropriations to the floor of the Legislative Assembly this morning. Whatever difficulties governments face over budget preparation, it is its most fundamental role. Even if a political administration fails to pass any legislation or make any policy changes throughout the year, if it passes a budget government can still function. Without a budget it has no legal authority to spend or collect any revenue, making it impossible to pay bills, wages or loan repayments.

Since changing the Public Management and Finance Law early in the UDP’s administration, McKeeva Bush has delivered his government spending plans laterand later each year but this is the first time he has failed to make the deadline at all. Still blaming the PPM for the failure, however, the premier claimed last week that the decision to bring an emergency spending plan to the country’s parliament Wednesday was a “mature approach”.

The LA is scheduled to open at 10am with the presentation of the Throne Speech by the governor.

See draft appropriations below.

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  1. SKEPTICAL says:

    $127 MILLION TO COVER TWO MONTHS OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING !! And what is Bush’s first proposal for some additional revenue – increase Liquor Licensing fees. I think somebody has already suggested that there are about 300 existing licenses, so even if he added $2000 to the present annual fee, the additional revenue would be about $600,000 – hardly enough to cover his annual travel expenses – and can you imagine the squeals that we would hear from owners of small bars and restaurants. What a load of happy horseshit, as one of the famous old Heineken drinkers (RIP) might have said.

  2. Jackanory says:

    Another bedtime story… *yawns*

  3. Danonymouse Man says:

    You got to love Mack. He always have someone or other to blame for his incompetence. Nobody has a record of more snafus than him, yet he got all the business people on his side, supporting him and keeping him in Hog Heaven.  If they are not supporting him, then it istime they pulled their finger out of their mouth and tell this man to to resign!

  4. No more Cheap Liquor Ya says:

    The stop gap is now filled with "Likker" until it runs out i guess, still not a long term plan and the necessary cuts that are need to aleast come on line with a good strong financial position and a managable debt position. Why because our government does not have the way with it all to make the necessary cuts to our over staffed civil service and police force and to sever these pork barrel political projects and programs and to tell these unsavory political minions No! So here we are now destroying our small liquor businesses which will no doubt benefit WHO???????  Our government can never be accused of not being Dart oops! Smart.

  5. Anonymous says:

    I spent my lunchtime looking through this joke of a budget and as a Caymanian I have a request for the Auditor General to look at budgeted expenditures relating to the Minister of all Tings for which there is either little or no evidence that the activity is taking place at all, or little or no apparent value to the country for money spent:

    CBO 1 Coordination of Government Policy (seriously??)– more than $50k/MONTH

    CBO 9 Protocol Services (Is that more than personal servants and electricity bills etc???) – more than $50K /month

    TP2 – Nation Billing Slush fund etc – more than $365K/month

    ETP 1 – Policy Advice etc to the Premier (what policy??) – roughly $225K/month

    FTD 1 – more policy advice (I want one of those consultancies) – almost $600K/month

    CMA 1 – more policy advice ?? for what policy – almost $25K/month

    MOA 14 – more policy advice ?? for what policy – almost $75K/month

    WTF is going on when we are spending close to a million per month for "Policy Advice" that there is little or no evidence of any benefit from and more than $50K/month to coordinate this "Policy". This is compared to the less than $20K per month that is paid for Customs to protect our borders. Guess who benefits?

    • Anonymous says:

      Looking at the numbers "Policy Advice" appears to be "salaries and benefits" for civil servants in the Ministry.

      • Anonymous says:

        Bottom line remains – either the advice is cr## or he ignores it so lets cut the cost.

  6. anonymous says:

    "Policy Advice and Ministerial Service to the Premier 449,896"  That must be the people how lick his boots and bow when asked, to make him feel important.  
    "Promotion of Nation Building and Church-Based Support  736,582"  This is Mac's personal slush fund used to reward those who do as they are told and to buy votes.

    Those two items are almost 1.19 MILLION dollars and that is just for 2 months.

    We, the people of Cayman, are here for the convenience  of of this man, we serve no other purpose.  He cares not what we need or want.  He is making sure his needs and wants are being taken care of and the rest of us be damned.  And "Be Damned" is just what we will be if this man, who is under three criminal investigations, is allowed to continue in office.

  7. CHECHE says:

    Foolish mortals, you didn't expect this budget to completed by the deadline did you? Fooled ya' twice, shame on you.

    • Anonymous ;-) says:

      CheChe, you drinkin too much CheChe Rum, and so foo foo to tink dat deh PFML legiswashion is right for cayman. Bush is me real CheCheman

  8. Reason says:

    Face it Opposition, when its your turn you will have to deal with PMFL. It is high time to support the UDP and have this broken law amended; or, face the same criticisms and unmet deadlines when it is your turn in office. Think before you become political to score points! 

    • Anonymous says:

      "It is high time to support the UDP and have this broken law amended"

      The UDP doesn't need the PPM's support to amend the law.  Why hasn't it been done?

       

       

  9. Anonymous says:

    People need to understand that the Public Management Finance Law is a strict code from the UK. With the responsibilities of any Premier, any Leader of Government Business, it is very very difficult to see how deadlines can be met on a timely basis. I am not making excuses for MB, but being Premier is not a walk in the park!  Kurt should know this being LOGB when they had to oust him out from the LA in 2002 because he couldn't financially manage the country. I recall he was ousted. Now it seems more rule to the territory has become more strict. In an attempt to control the way government manages its finances, the UK is already on our backs.

    • jsftbhaedrg says:

      "difficult to see how deadlines can be met on a timely basis"

      Do you work? Everyone else in the real world is able to manage their affairs on a timely basis, if we didnt we would get fired or fail in trying to accomplish what we set out to do.

      The fact of the matter is Mac and his cronies, are never here, they cannot cope with the workload on their table and quite franky are an inept group looking to bleed this country dry.

      They have produced no results  to date they have nothing to show us in terms of getting this countryback on ist feet after nearly 4 yrs at the helm.

      Give them a break? Yeah right, give them the door.

    • Anonymous says:

      Kurt was 'ousted' by McKeeva and gang (now known as the UDP) as LOGB in November, 2001 when he had not yet completed one year in office as LOGB. He was never ousted from the LA and it had to do with McKeeva's lust for power rather than the PMFL which was not yet law.

  10. Anonymous says:

    Calling what the Premier brought to the LA a "plan" is like calling the hole the iceberg put in the Titanic a "water redistribution system".

  11. Anonymous says:

    Looking through the budget it seems that the slush funds for "Nation Building" etc and the huge cash drains in WB have been unaffected by any cutbacks and that hundreds of thousands have been budgetted for what appears to be the campaign to defeat OMOV. It looks like most of the cutbacks are in unessential services like education and health care.

  12. Anonymous says:

    $127M for 2 months or something over $700M expenditure for the year compared with less than $500M in government revenue. We know that the UDP is focussed only on the next election but why did the UK approve this??????

     

  13. The Spin Cycle says:

    See!? He does have a plan!  But it's a secret. People don't need to know everything. Why do you think he was in Panama??  To work on the secret plan at a secret place!!!  There was too much distraction in Cayman. Now that he is rested you just wait– you'll be surprised by the budget. So will he. Because it's so secret — not even the Premier knows.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Come on UDP members, help the opposition vote this thing down and give yourself a chance of getting re-elected. Time to let Bush go.

  15. Hiphophooray says:

    Surely the Premier should fire the Minister of Finance since the MoF is clearly not up to the job.

  16. Anonymous says:

    My apologies, I understood the headline as measures being taken to prevent further beaches of security by infiltraters chisling holes through "Mr. premiers home wall". . . – back to the tardy budget. . .

  17. Anonymous says:

    Deer Kee Kee,

    As yo cheef consullant on finans matters I got de plan fo yu juss in time fo today big sho. What yu do is chaing de law so dat de fiscal year fo income is 18 months and de fiscal year fo spences is 9 months. Dem Enlish never cach on to dat. Den yu can keep on double dipping an can keep de servvants we pay fo an yu an yo posse can keep on travlin in stile fo eva. I jus inwoice de nation billin fund as usual fo mah adwice. 

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Man dat souns like a plan bro. We ga pay ya 350 tousin now n d balance wen we get approwal from dem foo foo englishmuns y hear?

  18. anonymous says:

    He should have been working on the budget instead of partying in Panama!

    Now he predictably is blaming the UK, or the PPM, or the civil service, or anyone except himself…..

    • South sounder says:

      Let’s ask one question only: Should Mr Bush be sacked by his party for total incompotence……answer yes or no only

      • Anonymous says:

        But it's his party and he will cry if he wants to.

        • cow itch says:

          yeah…

          cry if he want to, cry if he want to
          You would cry too if it happened to you
           

      • Knot S Smart says:

        No.

        He should sack his party for their incompetence!

        Once they are gone – then Im sure he can count onthe PPM and Ezzard to vote in favour of his many hare-brained schemes, waste of public funds, giveaway of the country to rich investors, and world tours etc…

    • Anonymous says:

      UK, PPM, CS, Ezzard, Governor, Auditor Gen, FOI, Hurleys, Austin Harris and Gilbert McLean, Aunt Sookie, Devil Worshippers, heretics, the Constitution, dem pesky Bloggers, media, Commissioner, assistant, bureaucracy… the list truly is endless!  Seriously, I don't think I can take another year of this…

  19. Anonymous says:

    shambles!…time for marches and demonstrations!

  20. MacShambles says:

    Typical of this UDP "gowerment". The endless introduction of incomplete and ill-thought out measures to get them to the next sunset continues.

  21. Anonymous also says:

    "minister of finance’s failure".  This about says it all!!!