Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The UDP & PUP style propaganda

Note: Please folks, this is not a partisan blog! If you read the following that way then you are not reading it properly. We must be able to write things that criticize an administration without being seen as anti-UDP/PUP...so please don't comment that I am partisan.

So........

As I watched our 5 day a week local news last night, to my dismay I saw big boy Delroy, looking like Pastor Bob Roberts, spurting utter untruths about why the cost of fuel / butane has gone down.

It was horrible. It was shameful. Made me think that the UDP, just like Queen St and Co before them, think we are stupid.

Pastor Cutkelvin asserted the amazing price fall was because the UDP cut /changed taxes. What a joke. It has not fallen because of some miracle the administration has managed to pull off, or because the UDP has tried to deliver on its promises. No way. Everyone with reasonable common sense knows that the price of fuel/butane has gone down because the world markets for oil have crashed. They have gone from $140 to $45 per barrel.

Yes the UDP in its manifesto did take a huge gamble and bet that the price of oil had to come down, so "we promise to lower rates", and yes they were right.

Why would the UDP get on TV and spurt such a complete fabrication? Because they can't help themselves...that's why. If they are going to lie in as blatantly as manner as this to the Belizean people then they are no better than their predecessors, and what else are they lying to us about.

All they had to say was we promised lower prices at the pump and today you have it. Simple message. Effective message.

Come on UDP...rise above...show us why we elected you....if we wanted PUP style propaganda we would have left Said and his cronies in Belmopan.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

i agree with what you have to say here. it was very misleading.. actually, a downright lie to say it the way they did.

so now, the belizean people will say, it is not because of obama, but because of the UDP :P

however it also goes to show that the average person is not aware of their surroundings. we don't live in a vacuum and belize most certainly feels the effects of the global economy.

oh well.. let's see what happens next.

The Voice said...

One comment, they DIDN'T lower fuel prices and they DON'T control global markets, but, as a government, they have reduced the amount of tax they charge per barrel.

The last time pump prices were so cheap back in 2003 or 2004, oil prices were about half what they are today. It's the taxes that makes gas really hard to swallow.

So for less tax, I applaud them! But my question is, without that tax, where will they pick up the slack? Economic disaster comes this way, methinks.

Democrates said...

This is the most partisan, one-sided blog I've ever read (sorry, I couldn't resist)

Nonetheless, I agree. I was surprised when the Prime Minister seemed to take credence for the current state of fuel prices in the country. It was, to say the least, misleading and completely unjustified. But in the grand scheme of things, what else do we expect? Politicians are rational, power-seeking actors. I rather a politician take false credit for something that was not his own doing (especially something that is beneficial to the economy regardless of its origin) than for him/her to shy away from admitting the truth about unethical/corrupt behavior, like what our Mayor successfully did to Jules Vasquez on Friday.

Anonymous said...

The Voice is on the money. They don't control global markets, but they did reduce the tax charged. Government anticipated recouping the loss with the windfall tax. With the global economy in a downward spiral, we will have to contribute somehow, somewhere. We are quickly moving to the point where gasoline is considered a necessity, like electricity, and telecommunications. What should government tax to realize the monies it needs for schools, roads, law enforcement, health care, etc? Any suggestions?

Trazidex said...

The amount of tax they have reduced is miniscule compared to the actual drop in the acquisition cost....in fact as the acquisition costs drop the taxes now become a bigger portion (% wise) of the final price.

The Voice said...

Lord knows I don't understand economics, but all I know is less is less!

Anon... I don't know we're at the point yet that gas is seen as essntial for life, and therefore must be regulated. I'm trying to think of an answer to your question.. I know the current adminstration is trying to ease the gap with business tax.

Hell, if Ashcroft paid all the taxes he owed, we might be in the green instead of the red...

Democrates said...

The last point that Trazidex makes is interesting. He rightly points out that the acquisition cost is greater than the taxable portion (% wise). It is also true that as the acquisition cost decreases, that the taxes assume a larger portion of the price we pay at the pump. With this logic in mind, if GOB has decreased the taxable portion, then, it only makes sense that their reduction in taxes has a substantial - not minuscule - effect on the actual price. Now the only way to prove this is to measure the ex ante (before) and ex post facto (after) fluctuations in the tax rate. Simply put, if it turns out that there was a further reduction in taxes after the last shipment of oil arrived, then our Prime Minister may have been justified in saying that his government indeed contributed significantly to the reduction in price, seeing as the tax portion assumed a larger share of the cost. If there were no reductions in taxes, or maybe even an increase on the tax rate, then we can attribute the lowered price primarily to the external oil market. My guess would be the latter. But again, only true figures can answer this.

The Voice said...

All I can say is huh?

I need simpler topics in my life. Like Quantum Physics... now there's something I can wrap my mind around.

Trazidex said...

Come on "the Voice"...I am eager to read your quantum physics post.

As a physics minor, I shall be very eager to vett it.

The Voice said...

Belizeans discuss physics.... only on Belize Watch! haha!

I understand the mysteries of atomic motion more than the obsenities of economics, that is a guarantee. Whether I can write a post on the subject that would obtain your stamp of approval, Trazidex, is an entire different manner.