by Rick Lowe
When you're walking around the office today ask your colleagues if they think government should do more or less for us as a people.
I know, it's a pretty broad question, but give it a try.
I've tried this thought experiment hundreds of times, and more often than not, people say that government should do more.
When they're asked where government gets the resources to "help" Bahamians, few make the connection that government cannot give anything without taking it from us first.
Fewer still will donate out of their pocket to help the drug addict on the corner, but think the government should take care of them.
So there are many double standards when it comes to giving our own money and what we expect government to do with "other peoples money".
And of course politicians are all too willing to make us believe they can fix all our problems, but along the way, seem to make the problems worse.
Now I don't think for a second that politicians intentionally set out to make things worse, but I submit that the facts speak for themselves.
And now as the government faces a deficit out of control and debt levels beyond anything imaginable, the country sits on the precipice of a free fall where public finances are concerned. It begs the question, how long will it take for the political class to admit their mistakes and set out to reduce the size of government to help unleash the entrepreneurial spirit among Bahamians?
Never you say?
I agree, but where does that leave us in the upcoming government budget cycle?
As one of our bloggers stated recently:
I think we will see a 5% overall tarrif hike, or, more than a 10% hike on select tarrif headings or, some really wild hikes on so called luxury headings.
I do not expect any progressive thinking or action…
Let's hope we wake up and stop encouraging government to do more for us. If we continue to encourage them to do more, we do so at our own peril in the years ahead.
You will absolutely see a duty increase this summer in the budget. The government has been extremely irresponsible in its fiscal management this budget cycle. They have not understood that they have to reduce costs. The way they “reorganized” the civil service actually caused high up front expenditures in a year when revenues were dramatically less than prior years. This is irresponsible fiscal management. We now have to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to stay afloat, causing increased financial instability.
Thanks for dropping in Ryan.
I don’t doubt for a minute that there will be increases in duty. In fact I fully expect to see that happen.
Policies like that by Hoover and FDR is what prolonged the Great Depression however.
You’ll get no argument from me on the irresponsible fiscal management by the govenrment.
That has been going on by successive governments since the Central Bank was formed.
I think the government is a part of the problem, simply because they are far to big, along with all of the “Political Jobs” ,BTC,BEC,ZNS, etc.With these “Political Jobs”, they are just pissing our money out of the window year after year, after year.
Agreed DP but do they have to use the same window we’re standing under?
They so often add insult to injury the two are indistiguishable.
Now they’re eyeballing a 3%tax on annuities, as a revenue stream for their own damn self preservation, taken from working stiffs who plan for their own retirement.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, things are piling up.
Has anyone got the proposed amendments to the insurance act?
I’d at least like to see the legislation concerning their designs on my rear end.
I really think we need a revolution against these taxes, there has to be something the business community can do before they kill everything.We the people are supposed to have the power, not them. They are supposed to be working for us.Why don’t we start by cutting their pay & cutting their perks.OK, the PM & deputy PM can have a car, but the rest of them should not. Between duty & government taxes,it seems like we just work for them. What about our children, God only knows what their taxes will be.
Perhaps somewhere between us and our kids there will be a period of, shall we say, anarchy?
A great re-adjustment, at the very least.
As more and more people slip over to the dark side, less and less are left to foot the bill.
while I could never move over to the dark side, I may stop footing the bill.
At some point, apropriation of assets comes in, instigated by the leadership of the dark side, as a last ditch effort to appear omnipotent.
There goes the neibourhood.
Maybe we should all just stop paying