We’ll become like GreeceOctober 31, 2012Dear Sir,When the PLP came to power in 1998, the debt of our country stood at about $138 million and the current account revenue minus expenses was in surplus. In 2004, Government revenue was $705 million and its expenditure, excluding capital expenses, was $633 million, leaving a surplus of $72 million. In 2011, Government's total revenue was $996 million and its current expenditure was $1.272 billion leaving a deficit in the current account of $275 million. Our debt service cost was about two percent of revenue or $13 million in 2002 but by the end of 2011 had risen to about $88 million or 11% of revenue.During the time of the PLP, the debt of our Government has risen from about $138 million to $1.3 billion and is projected on its present path to reach $2 billion within three years. Should the PLP Government or any other government be unable either to increase the revenue of the country or to reduce spending to match its revenue, the Island's debt will rise until our good sovereign rating is destroyed and we are unable to borrow any more. At that point, we will become like Greece in the hands of our foreign creditors and the negative social consequence for us all will be immense. We have to get the budget deficit under control before it is too late.As debt rises, the Government will have less and less money to spend and will be forced to cut back on services to an ever greater extent. Already the PLP Government has been forced to completely eliminate its support for such worthy charities as The Family Centre, The Sunshine League, The Bermuda Autism Society and to sharply reduce support for The Salvation Army, Pride, Focus, The Bermuda Cadet Corps, the Reading Clinic and The Bermuda Sloop Foundation.Is this what the Premier, Paula Cox means when she says the PLP Government has stood strong for the people? No, they have not stood strong. They have spent money wastefully, inadvisably and frivolously.Bermuda is now caught in a debt trap and there is no easy way out. Already the PLP Government have had to suspend further contributions to the already underfunded pension programme for the civil service thus paving the way for the day when the pension fund will run dry and all those civil servants who trusted the Government to run the pension fund properly will be let down.Is this Premier capable of saying that she has run the financial affairs as a good steward for her people? I think not. She has been driven by others in a direction not in the best interest of the people of Bermuda.CICEROWarwick