Bob's Secret Assault on Our Jobs
Bob Richards' long on rhetoric, short on substance reply to the budget is chock full of lofty promises that just don't add up. He says no to tax increases and yes to tax cuts for his wealthy friends. He says yes to spending on a swath of programmes from public safety to subsidies for St. George's. And, in spite of all of his spending and tax cut commitments, he somehow thinks he's going to bring down a debt/GDP ratio that, under the PLP Government, is already among the lowest in the world.
Bob's numbers just don't add up. You can't bring down an already low debt to GDP ratio by providing irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy and by making spending promises. So, how is Bob planning on paying for his giveaways to the rich and powerful?
He's going after our jobs.
Despite all of his lofty rhetoric about spending, under the section in the Reply to the Budget entitled "control spending," he only highlights two ideas. The first is already in place. Minister Cox sent a strong message to all ministries that they are to freeze civil service hiring.
So, with that off the table, Bob is doubling down on his second idea - "cut the consultants" - which sounds nice, but, is little more than crafty code for "fire Bermudians." While Bob talks the fire the foreign consultants whose expertise is essential to running Bermuda talk, the dirty little secret that Bob won't tell you is that the vast majority of "consultants" to the government are Bermudians and Bermudian-owned companies. Bob knows that this is true - because his Bermudian-owned IT company has one of the largest contracts from government - but, it's a fact that he's hiding from Bermudians to score cheap political points.
Bob's plan for Bermuda's economy is to not only deny us much needed expertise that is essential to running Bermuda, but, in order for him to keep his lofty promises to his wealthy friends, it means deep cuts in contracts for Bermudian companies and fired consultants. Bob's plan has the potential to add thousands of Bermudians to the ranks of the unemployed.
This is exactly the wrong approach and it's dangerous for Bermuda. But, to add insult to injury - not only does Bob's plan mean big job losses for Bermudians, he is also plotting to remove a key incentive for international business to provide jobs and opportunities for Bermudians! That's right, hidden deep in the Reply to the Budget is a removal of term limits for international business. In Mr. Richards' Bermuda, not only would upwards of thousands of Bermudians be fired from essential positions in support of government, but, by removing a key incentive for IB to hire Bermudians, it would also be harder for us to get jobs in the IB sector.
Mr. Richards talks about the road to ruin, but, if the UBP was in charge, thousands of Bermudians would be on the road to unemployment.
