Bush must take responsibility
(CNS): The opposition leader has pointed out that, despite the Minister of Finance's persistence in blaming others, the failure to bring a completed budget for his government’s last year in this term of office was down to him and no one else. In response to the Premier McKeeva Bush's presentation of a government motion for an emergency spending plan instead of a budget last week, Alden McLaughlin pointed to the unprecedented situation and the message it sent to all those who live, work and invest in the Cayman Islands. He questioned when it was that Bush, who is also Minister of Finance, would eventually take responsibility for what had happened with public finances.
“It is his responsibility to deliver a budget,” McLaughlin stated as he pointed to the fact that this administration is the first ever to fail to do so. Despite the deficit left by the administration he was a part of, McLaughlin said this was Bush’s budget and his failure.
The PPM leader pointed to the premier's boasting last year about the ”miraculous turnaround” in the public finances which had enabled him to give the cost of living allowance (COLA) back to civil servants. As a result, how could the country’s leader continue to blame others, and the opposition in particular, if the UDP had brought about such an improvement at that time in the public purse.
McLaughlin said the problem was that it was difficult to believe anything the premier said anymore and Bush could no longer expect people to swallow his claims that it was all the fault of the opposition or the FCO. He said that for all of the rhetoric over the last three years, absolutely nothing of consequence had been achieved by the current administration.
“Virtually nothing in government’s plan has actually happened,” the opposition leader stated. “The place has been on auto-pilot while the premier has partied in London, Honduras and Panama.”
The PPM, he said, had been the whipping boy for this government for the last three years but the reality was that Bush had done nothing to address the problems with the public finances. McLaughlin pointed to the excessive spending by government and other issues which were the fault of this administration and not the previous one, such as the money wasted on the Cohen and Co failed loan deal and the settlement to GLF over the cruise port after the premier breached the agreement on the negotiations.
The Nation Building Fund and other projects were nothing more than vote buying schemes, the opposition leader said, as he noted the latest announcement that government intends to give grants to people to fix up their homes using Dart money, as well as the solar panel project, which was one of the reasons why government wanted to borrow in the next fiscal year.
McLaughlin said he was thankful the UK had some say over the public finances because if not, from what Bush had said over the lastfew weeks about the requests from the civil service, the premier had planned to bring operating expenses of more than $630 milllion, with borrowing of around $80 million had the FCO not declined to approve the premier’s borrowing request. McLaughlin pointed out that this year’s budget had “floundered on the reef of new borrowing”, despite the previous claims by the premier that his government would not be adding to the public debt.
“The point the premier missies in the budget problem is not the FCO but spending more than we are earning,” he said. “If we haven’t understood that by now, then God help us.”
McLaughlin said little if any of the recommendations made in the Miller-Shaw report have been implemented and the UDP administration had failed to live up to its three year plan predications or even follow the requirements of the recent Fiscal Framework Agreement the premier had signed with Henry Bellingham, the UK’s overseas territories minister, just last November.
The entire issue of public finances during the UDP government’s time in office had been “artificial”, the opposition leader said. None of the administrations financial predictions had ever become a reality. He questioned how at the beginning of this financial year Bush had gloated over how he had sorted out the mess left by the previous government and bragged about fiscal prudence, only to find himself unable to even bring a new budget at all at the close of the fiscal year.
Government’s claims were “nothing but a lie”, McLaughlin claimed, as it had done nothing at all to address the real issue and make the hard decision to cut government spending.
“This government has been very long on rhetoric but short on consequence,” he said adding that the failure by the finance minister to bring a budget was illustrative of the incompetence and neglect on the part of the premier, for which he had to take responsibility.
“There has never been a sense of greater insecurity in this country, ever,” McLaughlin stated, noting that as a result of his failure to bring the budget government would now have license to spend $127 million in two months without any scrutiny.
“The premier is not only the author of his own misfortune but unfortunately that of the country as well,” the opposition leader lamented.
Category: Politics
Rooster 101.9 was sizzling this morning (opposition Wednesday) like never before and Austin was brilliant and articulate as usual but had a raging fire within that must have had Mr Mclaughlin and Wayne Panton wishing for a North Pole vacation.Mr Harris was straight up and took it to Alden without partiality,i was impressed and proud of the way Austin relayed his thoughts this morning,it was like a stubborn weight being lifted off one's shoulders.Mr Mclaughlin admitted that the PPM is partly responsible for the financial mess that Cayman is currently facing but still refuse to see that multi million dollar school's was totally unnecessary,.Mr Harris gave a good example of the high school in Cayman Brac,old and modest but always producing top grades thru out the Cayman Islands.I hope everybody in Cayman was tuned in to rooster this morning,it was certainly a breath of fresh air,Austin was brilliant and Mr Mclaughlin had nowhere to run.
You are too funny, Austin.
Austin is funny?
I beg to differ 15:21 instead you are the one that's funny, so funny, you wouldn't believe just how funny you are ! Austin is simply keeping it real! Why don't you?
Everyone is not drinking the PPM juice. There are still some of us believe in staying sober and in control of our own destiny instead of trusting politicians too much.
has anyone in cayman ever taken responsibility for anything??????
Yea.
When I was a little boy I emptied the cookie jar once and when my mother asked who did it – I stood up like a man and said "Umm It was me who ate all of the cookies".
And she said "Go find my white plastic belt and bring it for me"…
Yes, McKeeva took responsibility for blaming the PPM. And his muppets took responsibility to defend him forever no matter what. And Richard took responsibility for sending that letter.
Because takeing responsibility for something has never happened in Cayman politics just what happens when and if that ever happens? The Usual? They get promoted.
A bit off topic but interesting!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2168507/Footage-shows-brand-new-Angolan-city-designed-500-000-lying-empty.html
This is very scary for Cayman…
There's an word in ancient Greek: {oxum-oron}
The meaning of this word is what happens when using the words "Bush and Responsibility" in the same phrase! In other words an "OXYMORON" or like saying "A COLD FIRE" It can never happen.
You must be kidding!
He only takes responsibility for "good tings" like dinners, travel, invitations etc.
And National Day of Prayer, haven't had one of those in a looong time. My guess is we'll soon have another one to pray for the budget.. again.
Hell will freeze over before Mac admits to or takes responsibility for anything.
And hell will freeze over before we allow paper Caymanians to run for office here to finish us off. Take all the jobs and push us into the swamp like indians.
Stay away from the OMOV that's what the xpats are waiting on to demand the right to run lor office based on time spent here.
Vote NO TO OMOV NO TO ONE MAN ONE VOTE
The previous poster that wrote that the elephant in the room is corruption and the rhino is incompetence is absolutely correct. I would go one step further and say that the giraffe has got to be the utter silence and absolute failure of the official opposition to indicate that if returned to office they would do anything to change our useless declation of interests and anti-corruption laws that have permitted the elephant to run wild in our country.
They can't do anything, when the powers that b, ignore the happenings
OK> Your right. The PPM was grosly incompetent with Minister Chuckster leading the charge. What we have today is massive coruption. Unless some true born's get off thier butts (sorry qualitied dedicated paper Caymanians not welcome) we will have to choose between the two again. Forget oneman-one vote…..not enough voters will bother to go to the polls. The outcome was rigged from the start when Mac decided that 50% + 1 of the total registered voters was needed for passage. Things have never been this bad.
Interesting title. How did that work out in relation to First Cayman Bank?
Take responsibility? Have you EVER known Bush to take responsibility? All he ever does is BLAME others! Blame the FCO, blame the Governor, blame the RCIPS commissioner, blame the PPM (his favourite), blame the Cayman people, blame anyone but Bush! That is the cowards way out!
For years I have mooted a Directors Disqualification Law without success. The reason for this is the large number of professional directors who just do that, provide directors. Had such a law been in place then the directors of First Cayman Bank would have been disqualified including Mr Bush. Cayman needs gets news laws in place. No wonder we get criticized in the New York Times as in yesterday’s issue and the Financial Times. The regulators need sharpen their pencils as well as their minds.
Dear Mr. Johnson,
You know as well as i do that the current regulators aren't there for regulation-sake.
Prediction: he won't
I think all political candidates should have a psychiatric evaluation prior to running for office, and once elected, an annual psychiatric evaluation thereafter. If you think this is a good idea, then give it some thumbs up, or at least few LOLs
I think Bush should let PPM take over. Lets see what the PPM can do, no disrespect to the UDP camp. Lets see how far objecting to every thing and not having a plan gets Cayman. Let see what anti-development and anti-business gets us. Business and development is what will drive Cayman for the foreseeable future.
PPM has been hollering all along, take a look at Ezzard and Arden, they are like a football referee at a UFC match, calling foul for every move, they either don't realize we are fighting for our lives or don't care. Bush knows this and thats why I support him.
Yes Bush cuts the red tape and bureaucratic BS because he can as Premier and sure he skirts regulations sometimes at the risk of loss but time is a luxury we do not have right now. If PPM got elected in 2009, you can bet that we would handing the keys to the country over to the British right now just like TCI. The PPM might please the by the book crowd, but ultimately it would take them decades to get anything done.
Beenee what you are not realizing is that this country removed the PPM (Correctly) for poor performance and over spending. We all put in Mac and now they are guilty of the same identical thing. Mac cried down the PPM (and still does) and then went and did the same exact thing. But here you are laughing at the PPM and the world sees no difference between the two. You are exactly what is wrong with party politics. People are always blind towards what their party is doing.
I am not blind to anything. After Ivan, PPM had a money tree sprout up in the form of insurance claims that facilitated a huge boom in the construction industry. The financial meltdown in 2008, the record oil prices, which affected everything and everyone, caught them with thier pants down. Instead of putting something away for a rainy day, they spent everything, ignoring the signs of the downturn. The fact is that our economy has contracted and I can bet that Govt revenue is much less now than it was 4-5 years ago. Thats why there is a deficit now. Overspending by PPM plus a severe global economy contraction equals deficit.
Every one and thier grandma knows that PPM is the conservative side and the UDP the more liberal. Thats why investors choose to iniate things when UDP is in power because they feel that they will be given a better chance of success under the UDP. The world know and sees this. That is why we need Bush. Without him there would be no Shetty, no SEZ and no alot of other investors even considering Cayman for investing.
The back and forth between the two parties are a given in politics. Government governs and the opposition opposes.
Mismanagement of our finances by the UDP is what has led to the current deficit. It failed to cut spending significantly, gave back the civil servants 3.2% pay cut, gave away govt. funds on "nation building", solar panels and now house repairs, squandered govt. funds on lavish travel, hurricane hiltons etc, incurred unnecessary debts such as the Cohen deal and the GLF payout, and wanted to add more to our borrowing.
Man just listen to your own reasoning: The UDP came into office on the basis that the PPM had spent too much when a worldwide recession was setting in and they were going to turn things around. The UDP got elected on that basis; they were going to turn the economy and the public finances around. Now they have had three years to do that. Have they done so? What is their excuse for not doing so? Continue to blame the PPM! Something must be wrong with you, because the rest of us understand it. In my opinion, the UDP was not, is not and will not be capable of correcting the problem because their objective never was that in the first place and they have no clue what the simple problem is. They are spending more than they are making. They have made more blunders and lost more money foolishly than any other government that I have known. And anytime you have people who are not willing to consider others opinions and who wish to not follow rules, that is a sure warning sign that you are in for big problems. Now you sit down bobo and consider what you have said and see if one and one make two ok? You can't defend the indefensible.
Bear in mind commenter that UDP did inherited a sinkhole of debt which wasn't audited, which means the debt could have been more than 81 million. Look at Obama in the U.S. , after the wars George Bush caused a recession and that really hurt the United States, it will take years for the United States to recover. It is not easy to bring back a country to properity. It can take years. So here in Cayman, we had Ivan, Paloma, and global recession, and PPM didn't forsee these things whilst they were spending. So in a sense, Bush is right when he still points the finger at them. You cant expect three years to fix it all or just one term of a government. Rome wasnt built in a day.
If there were any possibility of the 2008-2009 deficit being more than $81m McKeeva surely would have claimed it. The greater likelihood is that the UDP govt. have not had 2008-2009 financials audited because it will show that the deficit was rather less than $81m. The more is revealed the more inclined I am to believe that McKeeva hyped the deficit situation so that the public would give him a blank cheque to do as he pleased in order to bring the country back from the brink of disaster. That has been his mantra to cover his tracks ever since.
Last year Bush claimed he would the country back to financial health in 90 days. Bush also claimed to have got a $25m SURPLUS a year ago so, according to him, he had wiped out the deficit. Also, deficits do not carry from one year to the next. Each financial year has its own revenues and expenditures. I think you are right that the PPM didn't foresee the extent of the global recession. Unfortunately, McKeeva does not even have that excuse since it is now plain for all to see. McKeeva's real complaint is that he would like to spend EVEN MORE in an election year (to buy votes) but the fact that our budgets are now subject to FCO approval is frustrating him and it is the PPM which has caused the budget to be subject to FCO approval. We should be thankful that the FCO must approve any budget or we would really be doomed under his leadership.
An excerpt from an article in the Compass;
In the three years prior to 2011, Cayman’s economy had been impacted by the financial crisis and global economic downturn, resulting in a contraction of 0.4 per cent in 2008, 6.9 per cent in 2009 and 3.4 per cent in 2010.
I said it before how are you supposed to start with a huge deficit, have the economy contract almost 10% in 3 years and then magically not have a deficit at the end of it???
We are on a drawn out road to recovery no matter which Govt in in, results will not happen overnight.
First of all, Ezzard is not a member of the Peoples Progressive Party, he is INDEPENDENT. He was offered a big position by McChavez just after the election, and he refused. He is one of the very few that got elected by promising his people that he would concentrate on trying to make things better for them and is sticking to it. I do not know what part of fairyland, but if McKeeva knows we are fighting for our lives, why does he not stop the incessant spending and start helping the entire Cayman Islands. If you think things are bad now, wait until we get the 500 communist chinese here from China Harbour, since the dictator says that they must build the port. The FCO should demand that he disclose how much of a bribe he received to give the contract to them, then you will see who you are supporting. The only ting McKeeva can do well is shout out his demands and brag about what he is going to do, but he cannot show it and never will be able to.
What is the status of the three investigations?
Bogged down in Caymankind.
This is only a better written version of the very same finger pointing the Premier delights in. The fact of the matter is that the Premier has had the time and had the responsibility to deal with the financial issues at hand and this he has failed (refused) to do.
I was wondering who wrote this post as I went through it. For a piece that is supportive of the Premier it's unusual to read something which requires adult levels of literacy.
Now we wait for the other shoe to drop…
Wonder what the premier will have to say about this story……
I guess there is a first time for everything.
The elephant in the room is corruption and the rhino is incompetence.
Cayman's governance future will continue to be dim until the people elect a government that is both ethical and competent.
There is hope. I know Caymanians who are ethical and competent. I just wish that they had the courage to step up to the plate.
I know it will be tough given the current toxic political environment; however, if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
"I know Caymanians who are ethical and competent. I just wish that they had the courage to step up to the plate." Being ethical and competent is the very reason you DON"T step up to and face or become part of this grubby group of self-interested, corrupt hustlers. Don't get too cocky Mr Miller I mean BOTH parties.
I am sure this will incense a lot of Caymanians but It's about time we started allowing ALL Caymanians to stand for election. That's right! Anyone who is Caymanian. Oh shock horror – traitorous thoughts. Men and women who have shown their capabilities as leaders in their chosen fields of expertise now given a chance to make something of what has become a shabby, corrupt, little piece of overbuilt coral.
If we don't solicit proper intellectual help then the UK (read English) will take over. This very morning it has been revealed that none other than the Bank of England is not only complicit in the "Fixing" of LIBOR but actually suggested it. If you, Cayman, do not want to be subjected to the finacial and moral equivalent of lager louts running your country (look at the mess they created in their own country) then you must allow ALL people to have a chance of being elected. Bush will do ANYTHING to stay in power. Miller will do ANYTHING to get that power. Both parties are simply not good enough for the ethical and competent Caymanians ( of which there are many) they pretend to be able to represent.
I am not insulting Caymanians – only suggesting we use our collective resources to do things our own way before decisions are forced upon us. If you choose otherwise then you will get what other people decide you need – not what you want.
100% right on. We need the best team in OR to save the patient. That just might include a few paper Caymanians. Just suck it up and do it.
Paper Caymanians who hate Caymanian guts! Sorry, but we will make sure this never happen.
That's why we are fighting against the OMOV one man one vote that xpats are waiting on to pounce on!
There is also a gorilla in the room………..Size of Government.
The PPM leader seems to forget that the country and
the entire Caribbean region was worried sick of the financial state of our country, the Cayman Islands; when the UDP took over the reins in 2009.
The Premier is to be commended for undertaking such a hopeless situation as other prudent professionals/economists would indeed disassociate themselves from a government inheritance of a bankrupt public purse for fear of being passed on the baton with a stigma odious with gross overspending, and abuse of the public purse and improper planning for building schools etc.It means putting at risk one's reputation. The premier has put his reputation on the line to fix the economy of the Cayman Islands.
Caymanians lets face it, most brilliant politicians would postpone running for office or even accepting the office of premier for fear of being stigmatized
for the incompetence and reckless spending of the predecessors, i.e. PPM.
Our eyes need to be opened taking a keen look at what is really happening to the people of the Cayman Islands.
The PPM has destroyed the economy of the Cayman Islands.
In addition they have put every stumbling block in the way of any and all plans for development in the Cayman Islands that will create an environment that will create jobs and put people back to work.
Thus the government is forced to seek revenue from the work permit sources, while the opposition beat up their gums criticizing government for every proposal of development, very contentious and contemptuous.
Let us not forget the state of the public purse when the UDP took office in 2009.
We can not replace a government with an incompetent PPM government that was the problem that was replaced.
For the PPM to urge people to again re-elect them to repeat the incompetence heralded in election 2009 is utter madness and they certainly are not playing with a full deck!
The PPM must realist that they are fast losing support from Independents as well as their so called diehard voters. People are sick and tired of the divisiveness and pulling down structures without the ability to construct an edifice is futile and unworthy of respect.
Most of us supported some of the criticism against government if we thought they were moving too fast or needed more public consultation, however, when we realized that the opposition HAD NO PLAN, we had to quickly shift our focus on helping the present government build the country instead of joining forces with those who can only contribute negativity and criticism, having no plan at all. To date the opposition has not presented a plan to the L.A. nor the public.
And you seem to forget that no one has actually proven that there was a deficit of $81M when the UDP took over but for the words of the "Almighty Ruler" himself and saying it over and over does not make it so.
Also, he talks about building 2 schools that were way over the top but yet he sees no problem with building a dock that will cost more than the two schools combined AND put this country inworse shape that it already is.
Do you not see the irony in this?
Sorry, it was OVER an estimate of 81 million deficit because they left funds unaccounted for… no one knew what happened to the funds… only that PPM left the country in a state of financial uncertainty. Thank you Anonymous. I will now be voting for individuals and no more party 🙂
You know you are indeed correct and factual. It is just that too many people on this site are biased, and they believe anything their party heads tell them. I too recall that their was no audit done, so how can they say it wasn't 81 or it was 81? It is so unfortunate that we have arrived at a point where we will defend a party no matter what, even if the party is in the wrong we will defend it. That is why Cayman is becoming so divided.
11: 39
No i see not the irony in this. can you expalin?
The two schools were build out of our yearly budget, the port is being financed long term by the investors. not from our budget.
Even in my sleep i can see the benefit of our cruise port, and if you can't see that then, it's no use me trying to expalin.
Don't get me wrong, the schools are lovely and were well needed, a pride to our future children. but they put a big strain on our finances during the global down turn,which caused us to go bust, and for the first time England must approve our budget. what is so hard to understand about this? It is fact, maybe you are in too wrapped up in your hate land.
Its scary to know there are like-minded people out there who share the same view as you.
Yes, the port is free and I believe in the tooth fairy. Cruise ship landing fees are a major source of revenue for the govt. so obviously if a deal involves those going to investors that does affect our budget
Whereas Tiger may not be liked, I must agree with him on his last statement, which is so evident – "To date the opposition has not presented a plan to the L.A. nor the public." I believe it is time for the opposition; especially, PPM to at least DEFINE their solutions to the problem. Why are they being so tight-lipped about what they would do better than UDP??? Elections is just around the corner only 10 months left. I think they should be now in the business of DEFINING their plans and what they will do if they were in, so that people will be able to make inform decisions coming Election Day. The clock is ticking, Opposition! Cayman wants more than to hear criticisms. We have serious issues like crime, corruption, bill of rights, instability between UK and local politicians, a threatened environment to developers, and an illusive democracy. Come with some clear and well define solutions on what you would do for your country, PLEASE!
I have never heard of any opposition presenting its national development plan to parliament during the term of another government. What would be the point? McKeeva Bush is not listening. That is just an attempt to deflect criticism of the premier. When election season is in full swing we will see manifestos and hear plans etc.
XXXXX
Presenting your plans should have nothing to do with "McKeeva listening." You want to educate the public so they will get it right and know what you stand for – not wait until elections to do so. That I feel would be a huge mistake.
Why? That would be pretty pointless.
Lib, it is not that they choose to be tight-lipped. Rather, they have no clue as to what is best for this country. So the clock can tick-tock all it want. They are all ignorant!
Anonymous 11:45
I quite disagree with you, as a matter of fact this is an excellent comment, that speaks to the current situation at hand. The corrupt mind or voluntary brainwashed minds will always find fault with what is right and good for the people and always embrace what is wrong for us all.
To the poster who commented about a failed politician. It is a shame that you are totally misguided and do not understand the civil servant process. The person you are berating ran in 2000 and declare candidacy pretty late, but did get out a very important message that did speak to the white paper and other issues facing the country. You obviously are not aware. Also they have sat in for king of Talk Val Litchenstein at ICCI and did a fantastic job dealing with issues, social economic, political and government. You think Gilbert and Austin are good at this, you need to hear this individual you are criticizing! Much of what this same writer you are criticizing to day has made numerous recommendations to government, much of which has already been implemented by the elected officials. I guess you have no knowledge of this either.
This same candidate was told by voters that had they came out earlier they would have gotten elected. There was not enough time they resigned from government in October and elections were in November! Grassroots Caymanians are fully aware of the stand on moral issues that is taken by the people you criticize because of your expressed ignorance. The fact that foreign journalistsand sleeper liberals dislike moralistic perspectives and ideologies,of Caymanian who speak out, does not discredit the individual but in fact makes them stronger and more viable. You are actually creating viability of a politician past or present when you attack them so viciously. You should stop then no one would notice them!
We hope that more people in the Cayman Islands would take a stand for or against a party or politician when the time comes. Some of you are still ashamed to declare who you support, people who mean the country well..have no problem speaking their mind.
Make the decision – As Ronald Reagan said, "When I've gathered enough information to make a decision I don't take a vote, I make a decision."
Over the past few months Caymanians have made decisions not to be sucked into the opposition venom of muddy politics, but chose to do the right thing and support the present government instead of tearing them down. We have had enough of the divisiveness. Several families have made that change unknown to some of you seemingly.some people can make decisions independently without being influenced, manipulated or paid to do so. They are made men and women!
I hope these same people including Libertarian continue to speak the truth.
"When I've gathered enough information to make a decision you don't take a vote, I make a decision". (Ronald Reagan)
You seem to know a whole lot about the failed politician. It must be you but this time not choosing to use your handle. Anyway all that is irrelevant to my point which has nothing to do with "civil servant process". The post was a disgusting suck up to McKeeva.
If you have had enough of divisiveness then you should get rid of a premier who is the most polarising figure in the history of Cayman politics, who has no respect for other duly elected members of the LA and curtails their input on anything, who has no respect for the rules of the LA or the rule of law, who sues his own constituents and anyone else that calls him into question, who has brought the relationship with the UK to the lowest ebb in history, who calls peoples names unbecoming a premier, who has tried to demonise the opposition. You are as big a hypcrite as he is. He is now claiming that if he is re-elected and serves again as premier he would bring all MLAs to the table to make decsions. Why doesn't he do that now if that is his sincere intention? It is just an election campaign kumbaya promise that he has no intention of fulfilling. At best it is an admission that his curent approach of alienating the opposition has been disastrous.
7:11
XXXXX
This person you are spewing venom on is not one that sucks up to anyone, but speaks her mind regardless of who approves or disapproves are you day dreaming, we must be talking about someone else!
There are still some people that want to see the country succeed and not fail.
Glod bless.
Big Mac told them he wanted to hear nothing from them. They had put the country in deficit and he was going to take it out of deficit. So I don't blame them for leaving him to do just that.
What a load of misguided drivel
Congratulations TIGER,
You just broke the record for Thumbs Down!
Tiger – I nominate you for the post of 'Village Idiot'…
And I second the nomination.
The only way a third world dictator can function is to have a third world Constituants to back him. Bush is only the head. It is the body that keeps him on top. It also should be easy to see that the brains are not in the head. Just the mouth.
Lets not forget that when the head changes the body stays the same. And so do the problems.
CIG cannot increase revenue any more without harming the country. It has to trim some of the fat on the spending side. All they'd have to do is account for each dollar with proper financial reporting so that they can stop the waste and misappropriation by insiders, and the problem would probably be solved. But there is no political will to do that because those insiders are all voters. They will vote for whoever is more likely to look the other way while they abuse their Gasboy cards and call in sick twice a month, and get their driveways paved with free solar panels.
Cayman's political system need to be REVAMPED! And I mean not just a one person, one vote REVAMP! It must go beyond that!
*****
Never should there be an MLA serving 4 years. I understand large countries like the United States have their Presidents serving a complex nation with populations in the millions, serving 4 years. But we do not even have complex issues nor a population of more than a population that can fill the seats of a football stadium! For these very small islands, MLAs and the Premier should serve for only 2 years. Why have them idle for 4 years??? There is no reason why they should be there for such a long period of time, and when they become incompetent, there is no reason why the people have to suffer before they can vote them out! Our system seriously need a revamp! The Constitution need to be re-examined once again. The Premier should not be in there for over 4 years. Not even a lawmaker in the United States Congress serves that long without the threat of losing his seat if he/she doesn't deliver on promises to their constituency!
*****
My second propose REVAMP, is that we need to do something about MLAs, such as, Dwayne and Mark for Bodden Town. Here they were elected to represent the people of their district, preaching NO DUMP, and then makes an about-turn, declaring the opposite. After months of declaring their intentions of putting a waste management facility there, they fail to publicly address the matter to the people. You would think that if someone elected you, you should at least represent them and let them know what your intentions are and why it is best for your elector. But they did not do! Instead Mark and Dwayne represented the For Cayman Alliance. To me, this should never be allowed to be tolerated. Again, the Constitution needs serious amendments. It appears it was written only for politicians, religious leaders, and the Governor – NOT THE PEOPLE. It should be stipulated in the Constitution that an electorate for a particular district, has the power to remove and recall their MLA before the end of their term. Since the MLA is directly elected by the electorate, why can't they remove an incompetent one who fails to represent them?
Cayman, we have to seriously look ourselves in the mirror – just who are we fooling?!
Having twice as many elections is not the answer. That only creates double the expense. As soon as a government is beginning to settle down to business it has to start campaigning for the next election. There is a critical difference with the U.S. House of Representatives. They are simply the lower house of lawmakers, and don't form the executive branch of government. Don't let our size fool you, the issues that Cayman faces are indeed complex.
A constituency having the power to recall their representatives within the 2 year term would not help the current crisis. Does anyone think that West Bayers would ever recall McKeeva Bush regardless of his poor performance as premier when he is bringing home the pork for them as a district?
Stop talking bull. It would help because the MLAs will be more accountable, or else, they will lose their spot. We are too small to have them in there 4 years.
You cannot refute any point that I made. You only think it would make them more accountable. Politicians would then spend all their time politicking in order to get re-elected rather than being concerned with the running of the country. It would be a nightmare.
Size has nothing to do with the term of office.
And that would be different to whats happening right now in what way?
It would be 10 times worse.
The PPM did not bring home the pork to George Town, but instead brough home a lot of debt to the public purse jeopardising the entire country!
Those are the facts. We can not put them back in power.
My proposal is to make me make all the decisions. Dont need anyone else. OO yes we all know how to do things better than everyone else.
Dont ncecessarily need a different political system just better politicians. This is the problem with being small.
Give credit to Mac he wanted more people in here and in theory it would work but the cost of living is so high that there are not many new companies starting. Now we have an island with much more workers than jobs.