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Capitol Hill help at what price?

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Dear Editor,

Mrs Christine Lagarde's disclosure that Capitol Hill nudged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help Jamaica with a stand-by loan agreement does not come as a surprise.

However, the question most well-thinking Jamaicans are now asking is: "What is it that we have to give up this time?"

I am very concerned when one government or group of representatives from a political party (Democrats) that espouse socialist views and policies encourage a lending agency to help out another government with socialist policies and views.

Each time the Jamaican Government, through the People's National Party enters into some multilateral or bilateral agreement with the American Government and other international partners, the Jamaican people are left out in the cold. Those agreements include the 1991 extradition treaty and the secret MOUs, to name but a few.

Mrs Lagarde and the IMF are not out to help us out of our dire poverty, they are merely here to assist, and unless we can make good on that assistance we will not be any better off with them than without them. If Mrs Lagarde thinks that the wage freeze is a good thing, it is a bad joke! I would have hoped that Mrs Lagarde would have encouraged the Government to downsize the Cabinet and cut the size of the public sector, as we currently have too many people tripping over themselves doing the same thing.

Mrs Lagarde should have exerted her influence and ask the Government to cut their pay rather than lauding them for adding more pressure to the backs of the already burdened populace. We the unemployed, underemployed and sickened Jamaican people are at our wits' end with austerity measures, taxes and the high debt burden that we must pay with nothing to show for it, along with the prime minister's heavy aeroplane bills. The measures being put in place by the Government at the request of the IMF are draconian, unbearable and will eventually stifle any possibility of ever growing.

The Government, its advisor, and Mrs Lagarde should know that taxing the rich is not going to get us out of debt, because those persons with money will only venture into new business if they have substantial disposable income.

They would have also learned that taxing basic items is no indication that they will acquire more revenue, because people will only spend based on what disposable income they have.

Wayne White

wayne2white@gmail.com

Capitol Hill help at what price?

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