What Did The Senate Accomplish On Tuesday?
Prophetic Words and Images from the march in May, 2010. Has the last nail finally been hammered into this coffin?
Just what did the Legislature accomplish yesterday?Â
They authorized one hundred and twenty million dollars in new borrowing – taking the Territory into more than one billion dollars of collective debt and supported with no revenue stream the Governor found acceptable to collateralize it – and what problems will it solve?Â
And why borrow it now?Â
Despite evidence to the contrary, those who supported the borrowing used threats of imminent disaster to try to bully the public into believing that if they did not do this, right now, that today the lights would be out.Â
After a late start, the Senate spent another two hours bashing the media for protesting their three days of secret meetings; bashing Sen. Craig Barshinger with accusations of comments that no one in their right mind believes he made; rambling on through a resolution about solar panels that the Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen later said was a waste of their time (but included conversation about the task force they’d need to put together to go to Washington to help her explain the initiative); and resolving to hold an “economic summit’ later this year – for what? What economy?Â
And then there were the two bills – one to authorize the Governor to borrow yet another $120 million and a second to raise gross receipt taxes from 4.5% to 5% to fund the borrowing. The first one passed – by a vote of 10-5; the second one didn’t – by a vote of 8-7.Â
And the lackluster measures attached to the borrowing bill that were supposed to represent “funding” would give no lender confidence in making the loan. The defeat of the gross receipts measure all but rendered the borrowing bill moot.Â
Not that borrowing was ever a good idea. Why would we borrow money to pay WAPA to pay Hovensa? What happened to the fund that was supposed to pay the tax refunds? How long will what’s left of this $120 million fund the bloated government payroll?Â
In the end, the money – if anyone had actually been willing to lend it – would have made an insignificant dent in a long term problem – which is the accumulated debt created by this Administration’s fiscal mismanagement, and the failure of this Legislature to push back hard against its threats and deceptions. The millions of dollars we gave away to Diageo alone would cover the current fiscal year deficit.Â
And still we did not hear one substantive proposal from the Administration on permanent cost cutting in the government. It’s all borrow and tax. And even while the Senators were meeting to give him even more money to squander, he continued to fire non-management government workers.Â
So it’s back to square one and the only solution on the table is the continued termination of government workers.Â
Where we need to be is at the table with Hovensa getting a real idea of what the closure will mean in financial terms and what we can and should expect from them before and after they pack up their bags and leave St. Croix with the toxic remnants of their 45 years. Then and only then will we know the true impact of their departure, short and long term.Â
Where we need to be is in session with each and every department and agency head, freezing their budgets, going line by line through expenses and conducting job audits to see what positions are productive, and which are not.Â
What we need to recover is the $6.9 million stolen through improprieties and identified in the Legislative audit; what we need to recover is the outstanding taxes from our elected officials.Â
We really had to laugh when we read the Governor’s statement today reacting to the Senate session, stating that the law prohibits the government from issuing checks when there is no money to back them and “we shall obey the law.”Â
There’s a switch. The law said you couldn’t spend that $500k on Mafolie either, and you still haven’t paid that back. “Obey the Law” indeed.Â
Yesterday, we heard that Hovensa was the villain in this most recent act of this destructive saga.Â
But let’s not fool ourselves. Hovensa isn’t the only problem; it’s just the newest problem. And what happened in the Legislature on Tuesday didn’t solve any of our problems.
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Has anyone noticed that whenever a vote is close on an important issue, certain senators leave the floor. Oh, I forgot if you’re watching at home on the TV or listening on the radio, you can’t see them. Anyway, they leave the floor, the vote is counted and a senator or two might be absent. Before the vote is tallied, you’ll hear record Sen. White or so and so as yes or no. That is because they are counting the votes. If there are enough for the measure to pass the Senator will vote no. If there aren’t, the senator will vote yes.
I encourage all to go to the Legislative sessions if you can. The dynamics are totally different because you can monitor their actions. You can see who’s buddying up with who, slapping each other on the back, whispering God knows what. I ‘ain saying they got to be enemies, but we dealing with some life altering dynamics and they are fr*gging around and our hard earned money we pay in taxes (which I sure could use right now) are being fretted away.
Do we have any idea how many people/families will be added to our homeless rosters in the upcoming months? Do we have any idea how many families will need added assistance? Have the churches been activated? God knows they get enough of our monies to at least step up and offer services that are no longer provided because of cuts to services. Is our food bank stocked? Do we have a food bank?
Yes, and with the level of educated senators in the room, it takes a lot of time to count to 15 for them….They have to take off their shoes to count that high.
By the way, where on earth do those illiterate senate staff come from? The ones who cannot count nor can they read before the senate body??? You would think the senators would be embarrassed to have them front and center for all of us to see and hear. Must be relatives. I do note they all have the expensive clothes on, hair dyed/doo’ed, and nails that are 2 inches long. Can’t operate a computer with nails like that, but what the heck, they probably can’t spell either.
dooreo – you’re missing the point. In only a few states is there no sales tax. Why not in the USVI? If the government is broke, and so are the people, why offer a tax break to tourists that would never influence their decision to come, or to buy, and that they’re used to paying anyway? What’s stupid and lazy is borrowing more money with no revenue plan to pay it back.
People…rise up.
I don’t have a problem at all with a sales tax, as long as it applies accross the board for everyone, not just tourists, which is what other bloggers are implying. I am dead set against borrowing more money to cover our debt. Now that is stupid and lazy.
I don’t hear anything coming out of Senate meeting that address cost cutting measures (“leave everything as it is, just borrow to pay the bills”).
see anon @ 9:04
Fools…the tourists travel to get GREAT duty-free (read cheap) jewelry, etc. Once we start to tax these items, the “cheap” appeal is gone, and they’ll just go shopping at their nice malls back home. We have to import some economists to set things straight, the way some of you think.
Spoken like a true YachtMaster, rather than someone struggling to pay power bills and put food on the table. No one comes here to just to buy cheap goods. Let’s see – I live in NYC and I’m thinking…I could buy a plane ticket to STT, pay for a hotel room, restaurant food, etc., and save 8% on sales tax on a $500 watch, or go to my nice mall and pay 8% sales tax equal to $40. Really?
YachMaster may be rich…or he may not be…but as the tourist posted earlier…given the choice on where to spend their vacation dollar, most would probably choose to go where their dollar gets the biggest bang. Rundown, dirty streets and high prices won’t lure people to the VI. And not every tourist lives in NYC. The absolute death knell to these islands WILL be if tourism is killed.
@yachtmaster, why import economists when you state that Dejongh has some great economist on his team?
OK, after the meeting on Tuesday, where NOTHING was accomplished except what we did not want…more borrowing and a circle formed to yet have another economic committee, I am convinced we now need some sort of intelligence/common sense ‘test’ to give our senators before they are allowed to run (besides a drug test).
The questions being asked during today’s session to Hovensa, an eighth grader could ask. Canned idiotic questions to include what we should do with the plant closing. Like Hovensa would know or really care at this juncture. It is painfully apparent to me we have managed to elect the most ignorant, arrogant and clueless group ever in my time here.
Russell of course, wants to be the negotiator for a new agreement. Huh? They still have one and the governor is the one to negotiate any thing at this juncture. They also want to ‘meet’ with all of the Hovensa negotiation team prior to a deal being made, if there is one. Again, you have to wonder if these clowns have EVER had any business experience outside of the government where EVERYONE but the janitors are involved in discussions and nothing gets done. Don’t even ask me about Millin-Young’s questions. I don’t know how the Hovensa team could keep a straight face.
Bottom line, ALL need to go this year.
is all anyone can think about tax? why not cuting the spending we have now! everyone i know is streached thin alreddy how possibly can a person support a family, have a home, afford food, power and transportation on 16,000 a year befor taxes? and here ya sit saying more taxes will solve the problems we have sheesh no wonder we are in trouble.
wake up weare brokeand the senate is living on giving the govenor credit, borrow borrow quates to no new plans no cuttingspening just more borrowing when this runs out
All Millin-Young is good for is to eat, sleep and travel First Class with our money, they all need to go home
Gee rainman, but we have that multi-million dollar viNGN broadband to look forward to…only no one will be able to afford the electricity to run a computer.
Do not fret, the gov will be a millionaire along with Hugo and the rest of the board members while STX faces 18.8 percent unemployment.
Thank you senators for not doing anything but think of being re elected this year.
@rainman 2:58
You are so right. Seriously – WHY ON EARTH are they not doing this???? We need a REFERENDUM on the ballot to FORCE them to cut spending, drastically. How do we get a referendum on the ballot?
ALSO – WHY do I see in the Avis, a request for Proposals for construction of facility access point site buildings on St Croix for the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network????
to the people living in the VI:
you’re stuck.
up the river.
without a paddle.
If your elected officials wont even allow you the most basic electorate/voter rights, if you cannot even attend meetings, if they refuse to address you as intelligent beings who not only can understand what babble they are spewing, but also DESERVE AT LEAST THAT…….
time to blow de conch dem.
plenty of disenfranchised milling about who could help make it real uncomfortable for govt.
i kno i kno…not a solution. rah rah rey rey.
but short of that…not a damn thing go change.
Anon 2:02,
you are trying to climb up the wrong tree. as much as i enjoy all the thoughtful folks on this forum who post some very good ideas there are an
equal number of others whoa re so clueless they make one’s head explode.
Before you get to the tourists and commit economic suicide cut ALL the pork
from your elected/selected officials. Just like the average Virgin Islander tries to live within his/her means these clowns NEED to be forced to do the same. Park the damn cars, slash the exorbitant salaries of the useless fat cats and their cronies. They have mismanaged the territory for a long time and whether folks like to hear it or not the VI is in deep trouble and unless MAJOR structural changes are going to be made NOW the VI will be bankrupt. That the reality and the “fierce of urgency of now” is to make fundamental changes. Surely you all have seen the gruesome statistics on the Daily News.
Your enemy are not the tourists, your enemies are the decadent, bankrupt, ethically challenged and utterly incompetent politicians you keep electing to
govern you. I urge each and every one of you to take it personally at the way these people have managed to destroy that beautiful land with your ennabling attitude, of course.
Unless the VI people are a glutton for punishment at some point they need to
say ENOUGH of these despicable so called leaders who are ONLY interested in
themselves and what is in it for them period. 2012 is a watershed year for the VI and it is time to deal with the brutal reality. These elected officials are totally clueless. They are your #1 problem and deal with them first and foremost in order to solve your socio-economic and political problems.
Anon 3:40 – I read that there was a Memorandum of Understanding between the USVI and the Homeland Security and Imigration and Customs Enforcement recently. Here’s the link http://governordejongh.com/blog/2012/01/governor-signs-agreement-to-further-buildout-communications-network.html
CIF needs to get a copy of that MOU – depending on the wording it may or may not be binding contractually.
2012 is the time to clean the Senatorial chambers – but that still leaves us with almost 3 more years of dear john… Can we afford that?!? And what will happen till the Feds come riding to our rescue? And don’t think that any threat of that will keep this man from doing great damage. Remember – viNGN can purchase/buy/build anything, anywhere, for employees of viNGN… ALL with our money. Well… the profits of viNGN’s investments and other activities….
“Commissioner Albert Bryan, Jr. told the 29th Legislature today that the Virgin Islands Department of Labor has prepared a response plan to assist the thousands who will lose jobs when the HOVENSA oil refinery closes its doors on St. Croix.
The approach to deal with the displaced workforce is three-pronged: respond, retrain, re-employ. That means the Labor Department will ensure laid off workers receive essential social services and monetary support, will be provided access to educational resources, and will receive assistance in connecting to companies with job openings either in the territory or abroad, Commissioner Bryan explained to members of the Committee on Housing and Labor.”
A few things: If Hovensa is closing – how are these people “laid off”? That would be like saying the hundreds of terminated government workers were “laid off”.
How are we to afford “essential social services and monetary support” when we have no money in our coffers to afford these same things for both our previously needy citizens, but also our recently terminated employees? Some of these same families are being hit with both events.
Where is the revenue stream that will cover these expenses and provide some sort of relief for the backlash that the Hovensa closing is causing? What viable options have the Senators been working on to mitigate the devastating financial crisis we were in already – and with this closing only making it much worse? Are they listening to or soliciting ideas from constituents? Have there been any real options put on the table?
Yes,he did say that and now he’s ‘spitting’ from the other side o’ he mout’.
Watchmen watching the yachtman,eh?