My waning interest in Barbadian politics got the better of me last week and I must confess to not following the Financial Statement And Budgetary Proposals as closely as has been my wont since senior school days.
Perhaps, too, there was a pervasive personal acknowledgement that in the grim prevailing circumstances, there was unlikely to be anything of great interest to keep me glued to my TV for four hours of the presentation and a full four-hour response.
With great respect to the political class, it is amazing the presentation took that long. I watched numerous Budgets during my 15 years in London and remember well that they seldom exceeded 30 minutes. One is forced to ask if some of what was presented on Tuesday had any right in a financial statement and budgetary proposals.
To cite two examples, did the Minister of Finance’s references to the CLICO impasse and REDjet affair properly fall within the boundaries of his statement? While I understand that the airline had mentioned his alleged involvement in one of its missives and he felt the need to set the record straight before a captive audience, I am not sure the occasion was appropriate.
But communicating with the people of Barbados, fundamental to good governance, is not one of the strengths of this Stuart administration. I am sure viewers would have been more interested in hearing how the major plank of their 2008 election platform – the cost of living – would be adequately addressed to ease the daily difficulties of all who live in Barbados.
And if the minister thought it appropriate to advert to CLICO and REDjet, surely he could also have updated the public on the Al Barrack affair which drags on and on, racking up punitive interest charges daily that the taxpayers will have to fund and causing the gentleman to pull his hair out.
I listened to some of the response by the Opposition’s principal spokesperson, St Michael North-East representative Mia Mottley, who marshalled and delivered her facts excellently and presented a number of eye-catching, broad-based proposals to relieve existing hardships, fund the productive sectors and put the country back onto a growth path.
Over in Washington, on Thursday the Republican witch-hunt against Attorney General Eric Holder, buttressed by the powerful National Rifle Association, saw Congress cite him for contempt. Meanwhile, President Obama scored a major victory when the Supreme Court upheld his health care law which will change the lives of 33 million Americans and reaffirmed the fundamental principle that the entire population’s lives will be more secure.
Triumph
This great constitutional triumph saw Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, surprisingly side with the court’s liberals in the 5-4 vote that ensures that health care is available to all and removes the fear that should one lose one’s job, insurance will not also be lost.
This landmark piece of legislation makes the best affordable health care available to all Americans, a signature achievement which impacts especially millions of poorer Americans.
The response from the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was predictably obtuse. He said because a few Supreme Court judges say it is so does not mean it is so and he will repeal and replace it on his first day in office. The Republicans have called for a congressional meeting on July 11 to address this matter.
They seem hell-bent on denying Obama a victory in anything. What is amazing is that when he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney too introduced a similar act. Now fearful of the electoral gains for his opponent, he comes out against it saying it will, inter alia, put the government between the people and their doctors.
Romney’s interest was at the narrow state level unlike Obama’s, which is at the wider national. Fortunately, there is nothing he can say or do to overturn the fact that sickness no longer means bankruptcy and his comments do not appeal to a country looking for solutions to myriad problems plaguing it and its expanding poor.
This is another validation of the thoughtful policies of the Obama administration which infuriate the right wing and shift public opinion and votes towards the Democrats. Coming weeks after his deportation ruling, he again demonstrated his ability to implement fundamental humanistic changes in the population’s best interest.
The president called it a “victory for the people” which he pushed “not because it is good politics, but because it is good for the country”. Now affordable health care covers significantly more people, showing the fundamental caring and humanity of the president who will reap major election rewards.
Romney’s siding with the Supreme Court’s dissenting minority, and doing a somersault on his position when a governor, demonstrates that being a private citizen has done nothing to enhance his understanding of the basic hardships facing millions of fellow Americans.
• Peter Simmons, a social scientist, is a former diplomat. Email [email protected]
