“Cooper: Moody’s outlook doesn’t help struggling families” – The Nassau Guardian”

Excerpt from this article; “While pleased to see that international credit agency Moody’s changed the Bahamas’ outlook from negative to stable, Shadow Minister of Finance Chester Cooper urged the government to focus less on international reports and more on economic growth that will manifest ‘real impact’ for the Bahamian people.

‘Pretty books and lukewarm report cards from credit agencies will do nothing to stem the increase of joblessness and the erosion of domestic credit now being experienced.’ Said Cooper in a statement Saturday.”

Last week, beside the news that the credit ratings agency Moody’s had improved the country’s credit rating from negative to stable; there was also the news of “Hotels: ‘We’ve never seen this in 10 years” and “Passenger traffic at LPIA hits 3.7 million”, but yet Chester Cooper, deputy leader of the opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) seemed to only be able to focus on the improved credit rating and down play it and I must say that his observations although astonishing and naïve and expectantly so;  were very disappointing of a person that aspires to be deputy prime minister or even prime minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas one day because the very suggestion that the Bahamian people would not benefit from an improved credit rating is disingenuous at best.

The first issue that I would like to address is the statement; “But Cooper warned the government against crowing about reports from international organizations.

We stand blacklisted by the EU (European Union)…….”

Mr. Cooper there is no way, well logically, that you can downplay the improved credit rating by Moody’s but then go on to preach damnation and condemnation to the government over a blacklisting by the EU, real life does not work that way and you are not too far gone to know that there is a vast difference on what is going on here.

What Chester Cooper refuses to acknowledge are the two other achievements and how they would contribute to helping “struggling families”; this very omission lends this entire statement by Chester Cooper to be labeled as lacking in veracity.  What Cooper fails to acknowledge is that with increased airlift to the country and the increased hotel occupancy the very persons whom he claims to be fighting for are directly affected because we are an economy heavily dependent on the tourism and service industry. So while Mr. Cooper may be correct in his assessment that “Moody’s outlook doesn’t help struggling families”, he does not realize or acknowledge that the government is actually capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, a feat that the former administration seemed very challenged to do, and that the present administration is making several positive things happen at one time.

As I close, I find this statement of great interest; “However Cooper noted that it is unfortunate that Moody’s has yet to change the country’s rating from ‘junk status’ it was placed in several years ago, calling Moody’s reasons for the downgrade questionable.”; here we have the deputy leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) asking the Free National Movement (FNM) government how is it that they have not taken the economic outlook of the country completely out of the crisis that the PLP government left it in? But it will indeed happen in time.

You simply cannot make this stuff up.

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) fails for one reason, it is their nature.

END