One of the rules of politics is that one should not be too predictable: the populace gets bored and is turned off. Very soon, you’re yesterday’s news. The opposition doesn’t seem to have heard about this rule. They were so predictable in their reactions to the budget that it was like déjà vu. The income-tax threshold is raised by 25 per cent: NOT ENOUGH! Pensioners are given a raise: NOT ENOUGH! Budget is the largest in the history of the country: NOT ENOUGH!
Jeez! Enough already! There has been so much talk about vox populi – the voice of the people and the hope of a more responsible opposition. But it is obvious that this APNU/AFC opposition is confused about what they heard. So let’s remind them: YOU DON’T HAVE TO OPPOSE FOR THE SAKE OF OPPOSING! YOU NOW HAVE A MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT! YOU ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT!
Let’s take the budget. Whether for a family or a country, we have to follow the same, simple rule: don’t spend more than you have or you can borrow and then “pay back”. If you don’t – you’re bankrupt before you know it. Lord knows you would have thought the PNC/APNU would remember this after bankrupting us by 1980. And in case they forget, there’s always Carl Barry Greenidge who presided over the bankruptcy, to remind them.
It’s easy to scream that the government should cut VAT (especially Ramjattan), raise the income tax threshold to $100,000 etc, etc… But how can a responsible opposition at the same time call for more spending for pensioners; more spending for the disciplined forces; higher salaries for public servants etc? Where is the money to come from?
So what would it cost for the opposition to admit, for instance, that the continued growth of the economy is not such a terrible thing? Burnham had changed their name to “Minority Parties”. Maybe we should return to this nomenclature. Maybe to name them “opposition” is to make them think they can only oppose? These are simple minded clods we’re dealing with, you know.
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