We have entered the ‘silly zone’
For all of those still buzzing from the last CADRES poll, I have two words for you... Hillary Clinton.
If we take the poll at face value and I have my reservations given the time at which the poll was taken, then we are entering a phase where both parties are clearly having challenges with support and love for the top of their respective tickets. The poll was done just two weeks after a Budget, which imposes taxes that have not even come into effect yet and took the pulse of the dire predictions of a Barbados coming apart at the seams made by the said leader of the Opposition and those who make their livings on call-in programmes. This should be an interesting few months.
The reason why I say we have entered the ‘silly zone’ of politics, has to do with certain observations I have made in the last few months. First of all, we heard about Government creating the ‘fiscal space’ needed to allow for an ease in debt repayments. The convenient omission from the whole discourse was that any attempt to seek that option would be an admission that Government was unable to handle its debt repayments. The rosy description of any such scenario fails to address the serious habits which brought us to this point in our history.
If you listen to some of the criticism which has been levelled at this Administration, the issue of entitlement comes quickly into the question. Last week, I addressed the issue of UWI, and the statements which come from some regarding that issue, but in that same vein, we must look at some who advance the arguments on this front.
In fact, I was stunned to see a story, which stated that all of the Regional economies had sovereign credit ratings which were ‘junk’ status. High Government debt which fuelled deficit development has come at a cost. The lifestyles which successive Governments have sought as a symbol of development have come at considerable costs. Central Government operates at a loss with heavily subsidised services. Many believe that tax revenues are enough to sustain these services, only because they were never presented with the true costs of any services which they received at point of delivery.
Independence simply meant moving from dependence on Britain to local Government. What it should realistically mean is transitioning a country to a more mature one as people moved from poverty to a degree of financial comfort, that Government would gradually wean them off their support to true independence, where they can afford their own services. Recessions cause a regression in the true march forward and sadly that is our state of affairs.
Health care is one of these areas, where entitlement is visible. When you receive care at the QEH or polyclinics, what you pay is miniscule when compared to actual market costs, yet we complain. Education and public transport are in the same area, as is sanitation service. We expect things on time and when we need them, and without any care as to what they truly cost.
Therefore, the legitimate expectation vs entitlement aspect of this discourse has arrived. I watched with amazement at the attitudes expressed by both the BWU and NUPW during their meetings with Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Chris Sinckler and Prime Minister the Right Honourable, Freundel Stuart, when after the meeting, union leaders emerged and started their ‘song and dance’. One made the statement, that taxes can be ‘amended’. Taxes which have not even gone into effect – I continue to add.
However, what was most distasteful was the abandonment of basic common-sense on certain facts. It should be noted that $1.2 billion out of a Budget of $3.4 Billion represents considerable investment in expenditure on wages and salaries alone. Government has stated a policy of maintaining employment levels, but it comes at a cost. Therefore, trimming expenditure at other Government departments has not attracted the attention of these leaders who conveniently forget that in the aforementioned budget, primary expenditure on salaries, as well as towards debt repayment, top the spending list.
Yet, we hear about threats of strikes and other non-serious attempts for public attention for the ‘entitled’ class amongst us. This while over $50 million has been budgeted towards increments for public servants and offices are being moved to better conditions, new labour legislation to protect workers on the way to Parliament, appointments being made... it seems as though these leaders have already decided that they want to disrupt society... maybe we should ask them why?
We are in the lead-up to another General Elections and rational thinking and reason will gradually disappear. We hear from the arm-chair economists on Facebook or Twitter constantly. We hear the prepared speeches on call-in programmes daily or the strategic letters, but we never hear the alternatives. It is not enough to say that the policies are incorrect or the direction is wrong, but the absence of any serious alternatives that will necessitate a debate shows what the true intent is, to avoid a debate because they have no alternative, just ‘gimmickry’.
So we see the course set. NUPW and BWU want salary increases but job levels to remain untouched, but no revenue raising measures. Then, when Government seeks Central Bank or NIS financing of its operations, salaries for public servants forms part of the agenda.
No one likes taxes, I certainly hate them, but are we willing to have Government remove itself from certain services and we fend for ourselves? Many called for Government to address its foreign reserves stability, so common-sense would involve tamping down demand on things which are not critical.
Things which can be sourced locally should be preferred over things from elsewhere. Maybe an agreement can be reached where we can offer incentives to local producers to make their products more affordable. It benefits Barbados in the long-run.
I look at polls as a snap-shot in time. People would have serious concerns about the economy, but we also should factor in a theme of despair which is being pushed across the country. The continued under-estimation of Prime Minister Stuart and his political acumen might also be the undoing of the newly crowned front-runner, but this is the start of the ‘silly season’ and sometimes over-exposure leads to a true examination of records. But time will tell.