Kids having kids

March 2, 2006

Dear Sir,

Lawyer Larry Scott: What a nice person. I am sure he does possess some intelligence, however he seems to conceal it rather well. As the father of a young girl I take issue with his comments, as I am sure, or would hope, most of Bermuda does.

Mr. Scott should contemplate moving to a country where there are no laws to abide by. Go to a place where one can freely have sex with whomever or whatever, where there are no traffic laws, drug laws, laws of any sort. As there would be no laws he would no longer have a job and hopefully we would not have to read his nonsense.

Mr. Scott, have you produced a daughter? Kids having kids is not a good thing in case you did not know.

Shocked by lawyer

March 2, 2006

Dear Sir,

The comments attributed to Larry Scott in today?s paper were outrageous! It is obvious that he wanted to ?shock? conservative Bermudians, but there was no need to spout such utter ignorance in the process!

As a black man and as an attorney, one would hope that he felt a certain measure of obligation to the young people he represents, to give them sound advice as well as serve as a role model, not to encourage destructive behaviour! Our young men and women are in dire need of good role models and he has missed a golden opportunity!

It saddens me to think that I have to hide today?s from my nine-year-old daughter so she does have not to read such utter ignorance from a professional member of our community!

What about seniors?

March 1, 2006

Dear Sir,

Following the front page story in your newspaper today, I look forward to seeing your headline: ?Seniors get 26.8 percent increase in their pensions payments?.

Guess pigs will fly before that happens!

It would be nice to see it back dated to the date of the budget and not left until August when the last increase was paid out. Must apply to one of the political parties to run as candidate, then perhaps I can cash in on this deal.

You get what you pay for

February 28, 2006

Dear Sir,

News of a pay raise for our politicians is shocking. At first glance they don?t seem to deserve it. On the other hand a glance at their current salaries would indicate that you get the people you pay for. Now days talent does not gravitate toward public service. There are so many better ways of serving the community than the thankless job of governing. One puts in many years serving a party?s apparently arbitrary platform, only to rise to the top and be voted out. Why would talent take this road? Much better to get into management if you think your ability is worth anything and work in charities.

As organisations go, historically, governments are inefficient, disorganised, ineffective and expensive. Ours is no exception. Unfortunately we can?t really accept the norm. Bermuda plays a delicate game to maintain its astounding wealth. It is boutique capitalism has to be carefully tended and watched. We don?t live in an economy that can tolerate this sort of slap-dash, we?ll-get-around-to-it government.

Poverty corrodes the health of the capital system. That?s ironic because nothing produces poverty like capitalism. Capitalism has to be regulated and maintained. It doesn?t just go. Government has to be a part of its maintenance. When the market system drops people from the system or when the market system abuses people to point that they have to helped, the government must step in and correct the problem. Capitalism produces disparities in wealth, yet it works best when there are more people in the middle class. Government has to maintain that balance.

The main problem today is empowering the lower classes. That would require a vigorous education programme and a focus on housing. Neither party has shown the acumen necessary to carry these things out. Maybe it?s because we hired people who will work for way below the market rate. As everyone knows we ride a very fine edge. Maybe we have to start paying for the talent we need.

Where?s my raise?

February 28, 2006

Dear Sir,

I am appalled that certain government employees wish to give themselves an (almost) 80 percent pay raise. It?s obscene. There is a housing crisis, the majority of Bermudian households barely survive pay day and their bills.

I work in an exempted company and for nine months of the last year I worked two full-time jobs and when I pointed this out, everyone agreed with me that yes I deserved a raise for that.

I wish I could get an 80 percent pay raise. I deserve it.

Earn the increase

February 28, 2006

Dear Sir,

I would like to applaud your recent article entitled ?Politicians may get big pay hikes? as well as the very thought that our leaders will be greatly rewarded for their service to our country. I am wholly in support of shrinking the size of our Cabinet and paying our leaders more when they do a great job. Here?s the very crux of it though, and the basis of my question to each and every one of your readers, have they done a job worthy of such a pay increase?

In the last few months alone we?ve had to bare witness to such wasteful atrocities coming to light as a result of the guiding hand of our government. Let?s recap for a moment; we?ve had to spend $1.5 million renovating the Premier?s home while many suffer under a housing crisis. We?ve had to spend an extra $80 million on the Berkeley project all while listening to various Ministers tell us that it is complete only to later suggest that it is not. All at the potential of having put our children at risk that if it were not for an outside whistleblower our government did everything imaginable to discredit, they may very well have done nothing. I could obviously go on with many more examples, yet our leadership believes that they deserve a pay raise, well perhaps rightly so, I?ll leave it up to your readers to come to their own conclusions.

Here?s a thought though, how is it that as of the beginning of February, our Premier?s approval rating was a mere 33.8 percent? Without personally polling the people myself, I don?t doubt it would be a righteous conclusion that our Premier himself is not doing a great job, let alone the rest of his party. So how is it that 33.8 percent approval merits a pay increase of 80 percent? Somewhere these numbers simply don?t add up.

I?ve got a wild idea, how about we let our leaders have their pay increase, but lets give it to them on condition ? it is our money, after all. The condition being that they can have their increase, but it comes on a tiered system.

Let?s use Premier Scott as an example, shall we?

Mr. Scott at present earns $111,714 per year, that?s of course not including his many perks. Let?s propose that we cut his salary to a base of $100,000 and institute a bonus structure based on a tiered system for him and the rest of our leadership.

If our Premier can achieve:

A mere 50 percent approval rating, lets give him an extra $25,000 for a total of $125,000 a year salary.

A reasonable 75 percent approval rating, lets give him an extra $50,000 for a total of $150,000 a year salary.

A spectacular 90 percent approval rating, then by all means, let?s give him his $200,000 a year salary.

As a taxpayer, I for one believe it?s time we got what we paid for ? don?t you?

Policy is our loss

February 24, 2006

Dear Sir,

I agree with Skipper Ingham?s opinion that Government wants to penalise everybody and benefit no one.

For this Government to change the regulations on selling to non-Bermudians in an overnight decision is absolutely ridiculous. Selling this Tuckers Town property to Oprah Winfrey would have brought so much advertising to this island we could only have benefited from its sale. If Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones can enjoy Bermuda as their home, then why not Oprah or anyone else who can afford these type of homes live here. Bermuda is Another World. These people are not going to vote or get status, but they will spend money here and add to our economy.

I am sorry that we could not hear Oprah say on her show how she was going to her house in Bermuda with friends for a fun weekend or how she hosted a party at her home in Bermuda. That would have been a Tourism plug, if there ever was one.

Not to worry, only millions of people watch Oprah on a nightly basis. Our loss.