The 2020 General Election Thread (AUGUST 10TH)

[killercow]

@killercrow gross public sector debt can be negative? Also the cso is the official body responsible for statistics in trinidad and tobago. The cso is yet to have a 2019 figure for unemployment. Additionaly, the cso is yet to put out a 2019 figure for gdp. The latest review on the economy only gives an estimate for march 2019 gdp. What is the pedigree of macrotrends for them to be used as a reliable source for data. For all i know macrotrends is a branch of wikipedia. U should have used a neutral source like imf or worldbank who provide their methodologies or process for calculating these statistics. Additionaly, wouldnt statistics like GDP, fiscal deficit, government debt and unemployment be negatively impacted by the fact that oil prices dropped by more than 50 per cent between 2014 and 2015 and took a long time to gain some sense of normalacy thereafter. But that fact doesnt help with the ongoing narrative that the present government mismanaged us and purposefully sent the economy spiralling out of control. I am not saying that the present government did everything right and free of blame for the dilemna we as citizens of tnt face. But it is irresponsible imo to just throw up statistics without any background or hypothesis on what caused the movements in the data. For example, wouldnt macroeconomic indicators suggest trinidad and tobago to be in a healthy position during 2010 to 2014 when oil prices reached historical highs?

One thing people need to know about PNM is that they hide statistics, UWI had an open data group formed in 2013 or 2014 by the highly esteemed Patrick Hosein. They had full corporation of all the government ministries to get crime data, agricultural data, economic, health etc. As soon as PNM came into power that was stopped immediately. Transparency of this government is amazing poor and on par with countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. That is the kind of company PNM wants to put us in. Destroy all private sector that isn't their 1% financiers. Destroy state companies and sell it off cheap to their financier's, tax the population to hell and literally let everything crumble. It's time for people to wake the firetruck up.

All governments hide stats in tnt. Example where is the imf article iv report for 2012. If i can recall once u a member country of imf they will do a article iv for u. Unless u turn them down. I think some of ya'll missing the point here. Both of these regimes are no longer suited for us. We need to move past our hate or disdain and come together and call strongly for a new party to give the people of tnt what we deserve. Till we do that we doomed to repeat the same. That is placing in politicians who study themselves, friends, family and financiers first and the rest of the public after. Its clear who the losers are in this relationship. But we keep on beating that dead narrative oh unc did this but nah pnm did worse. Both need to go. But whatever 2025 hopefully we get some good representatives foe government then.

Fresh party or not, this PNM / UNC thing is unfortunately deeply entrenched in the veins of local folk. I periodically encounter individuals who hold no qualms in advertising their political allegiance but when questioned as to the reason(s) behind such, it's always the same sad story about "well meh mudda / fadda iza PNM / UNC so..." and then there's the nonsensical 'race' card that conveniently appears and influences around election time. In other words, many people are still to uneducated to actually take into consideration the performance of a person (or lack thereof) and vote accordingly as opposed to voting for party regardless of circumstance.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

Im calling a unc win by a very slim margin.....shrugs shoulders

[elec2020]

@killercrow gross public sector debt can be negative? Also the cso is the official body responsible for statistics in trinidad and tobago. The cso is yet to have a 2019 figure for unemployment. Additionaly, the cso is yet to put out a 2019 figure for gdp. The latest review on the economy only gives an estimate for march 2019 gdp. What is the pedigree of macrotrends for them to be used as a reliable source for data. For all i know macrotrends is a branch of wikipedia. U should have used a neutral source like imf or worldbank who provide their methodologies or process for calculating these statistics. Additionaly, wouldnt statistics like GDP, fiscal deficit, government debt and unemployment be negatively impacted by the fact that oil prices dropped by more than 50 per cent between 2014 and 2015 and took a long time to gain some sense of normalacy thereafter. But that fact doesnt help with the ongoing narrative that the present government mismanaged us and purposefully sent the economy spiralling out of control. I am not saying that the present government did everything right and free of blame for the dilemna we as citizens of tnt face. But it is irresponsible imo to just throw up statistics without any background or hypothesis on what caused the movements in the data. For example, wouldnt macroeconomic indicators suggest trinidad and tobago to be in a healthy position during 2010 to 2014 when oil prices reached historical highs?

One thing people need to know about PNM is that they hide statistics, UWI had an open data group formed in 2013 or 2014 by the highly esteemed Patrick Hosein. They had full corporation of all the government ministries to get crime data, agricultural data, economic, health etc. As soon as PNM came into power that was stopped immediately. Transparency of this government is amazing poor and on par with countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. That is the kind of company PNM wants to put us in. Destroy all private sector that isn't their 1% financiers. Destroy state companies and sell it off cheap to their financier's, tax the population to hell and literally let everything crumble. It's time for people to wake the firetruck up.

All governments hide stats in tnt. Example where is the imf article iv report for 2012. If i can recall once u a member country of imf they will do a article iv for u. Unless u turn them down. I think some of ya'll missing the point here. Both of these regimes are no longer suited for us. We need to move past our hate or disdain and come together and call strongly for a new party to give the people of tnt what we deserve. Till we do that we doomed to repeat the same. That is placing in politicians who study themselves, friends, family and financiers first and the rest of the public after. Its clear who the losers are in this relationship. But we keep on beating that dead narrative oh unc did this but nah pnm did worse. Both need to go. But whatever 2025 hopefully we get some good representatives foe government then.

Fresh party or not, this PNM / UNC thing is unfortunately deeply entrenched in the veins of local folk. I periodically encounter individuals who hold no qualms in advertising their political allegiance but when questioned as to the reason(s) behind such, it's always the same sad story about "well meh mudda / fadda iza PNM / UNC so..." and then there's the nonsensical 'race' card that conveniently appears and influences around election time. In other words, many people are still to uneducated to actually take into consideration the performance of a person (or lack thereof) and vote accordingly as opposed to voting for party regardless of circumstance.

I've also noted when u question and actually deconstruct these individuals statements for or against a party they then twist the narrative. Its like literally arguing with a wall. In other words, regardless of what u say their mind is made up and nothing will deter them. I am looking forward to the next 5 years cause irregardless of who go in i am anticipating alot of economic challenges. I believe that 2025 is when tnt people will realize we hadda change this narrative. A pity that it will take so long as, as we witnessed with Barbados, the longer u take to do so the harder it is to fix the damage caused by all these years of political negligence.

[matr1x]

What max ent know is how hard they were trying to forge birth papers for the venes to get the ability to vote.

And if the venes doh like the treatment, they more than welcome to go back

[bluefete]

Take care Max eh troll you all the way to hell and back, eh!!

Friends,

If it was not for the brilliance and leadership of his excellency Dr.Keith Rowley, can you imagine what would have happened?

Remember when he said....”Even though the situation is bad, it could have easily been worse”. A great leader is admitting things are bad, maybe fault of his, but he also outlined how he dealt with the situation.

THAT is a leader, THAT is a man of action..oh gosh that sweet balhead i could just kiss it but i not into afros in that way.

But can you imagine this drunk speech slurring UNC leader wanted to bring in those irresponsible pests from the cruise ship and the highly annoying barbados jackasses. They were already so irresponsible, more than likely they would have NOT self quarantined. Is the UNC leader mad?

Thanks to the father above, we had Keith and his team of medical experts to guide him to make the right decisions for this pandemic.

Now many have said that the lock down was too strict, but how was he to tell? He did the right thing by implementing and carefully engineering the Phases to be on the SAFE side for the protection of the citizens of T&T.....So clever!

I admit, that drastic action should be taken now, but what else can he do? Keith and team has done the best they can, but we have TRINIS who are NOT listening to New Norm measures. Trinis are the MAIN cause for what is happening now, NOT the PNM.

I will be in FULL PNM gear tomorrow as i proudly put that ‘X’ by the Red Palulu.

Join us.

Ooh my gosh I am blushing here, I got so jealous when i read your statement of our beloved leader's sweet shiny balled head but then i remembered I should not let myself become like De Phaggot

Max I am in absolute awe and shock reading your brilliant, quality and beautiful post about his excellency Dr Keith Rowley you have just reminded me of why I had made the decision to vote for the red army for it's leader knows no limits in perfection. It is only now that joining the PNM I can see rum for what it is and what is true and proper governance I thank you max from the bottom of my heart

[zoom rader]

Im calling a unc win by a very slim margin.....shrugs shoulders

Doh start dat nah, it's epic froth up today. Tuner ram today as men start to tote.

[Redress10]

Imagine Kamla in politics for decades now. A former PM and still looking an acting like a noob who have no firm policy or ideology.

Hope alluh know that is a serious crisis this country facing from now on. Keep thinking is jokes and kix. The world hasn't recovered from Covid yet and not sure to recover. Elections is not abt who could give ya a stove or a fridge. Is about who have sound policies to stabilise the country and ensure that it prospers in the near future.

[zoom rader]

Imagine Kamla in politics for decades now. A former PM and still looking an acting like a noob who have no firm policy or ideology.

Hope alluh know that is a serious crisis this country facing from now on. Keep thinking is jokes and kix. The world hasn't recovered from Covid yet and not sure to recover. Elections is not abt who could give ya a stove or a fridge. Is about who have sound policies to stabilise the country and ensure that it prospers in the near future.

Jah is an Trini we safe

[Redress10]

Imagine Kamla in politics for decades now. A former PM and still looking an acting like a noob who have no firm policy or ideology.

Hope alluh know that is a serious crisis this country facing from now on. Keep thinking is jokes and kix. The world hasn't recovered from Covid yet and not sure to recover. Elections is not abt who could give ya a stove or a fridge. Is about who have sound policies to stabilise the country and ensure that it prospers in the near future.

Jah is an Trini we safe

Way

Not in a million years.

[zoom rader]

You can just smell the victory now

[dogg]

I predict a 21-20 PNM win

[Dohplaydat]

I predict a 21-20 PNM win

21-20 to UNC or 21-19-1 (UNC-PNM-PDP).

[MaxPower]

What max ent know is how hard they were trying to forge birth papers for the venes to get the ability to vote.

And if the venes doh like the treatment, they more than welcome to go back

Hello Slim,

Who said they were trying hard bro? The priority is actually to get registered which they were doing on weekends. Remember i also mentioned about the driver’s permits being issued as well? Things are happening Slim, just try not to worry about it and respectfully mind your business bro.

And Venes LOVE the treatment, isnt it obvious to you?

But yeh, they are welcome to go back the same way they are welcome to come in.

Venes busy eh, what Trinis doing? Eating Covid?

[paid_influencer]

20-19-2 PNM win

[The_Honourable]

Let's make it interesting... 20-20-1 (PNM-UNC-PDP)

[Redman]

Boss man I'm no PNM,I'm all for T&T and your preferred party are a party of misfits drunks thieves and conspirators,the small dick syndrome is very dangerous and the UNC have it bad..time will reveal and when it does you too will have to account for your blind support of treachery and mass corruption..

You're a simple idiot bro and deserve a UNC victory but others dont ,race is your guide and nothing else,you cant stand to see de black ugly creole represent you for the next 5 years,you people remind me of my deceased illleterate Indian grandmother,your only motivation is hair texture and appearance,sad af..

Vii is proof that pnm still attracts dotish people

Alright hear what. I care not for party. I usually don't vote because the situation usually comes down to choosing between the lesser of two evils. If you are a trini and have been following politics, then you should know that regardless of which party is in power, they WILL TEIF! You cannot stop that. It's just how much you find out about. That being said, I look at less mismanagement (performance if you consider it that) reflected in statistics. How much can the average poor man (regardless of race) benefit under a particular regime and what he can show for it.

Now I'd like someone to shed some light on how accurate the following information is as I'm certain that it'll influence the people like me who looks at a person's performance (and by extension a reflection of their input towards a political party's survival) rather than the party they represent.

_20200809_132958.JPG
_20200809_132934.JPG
_20200809_132847.JPG
_20200809_132818.JPG
_20200809_132754.JPG
_20200809_132733.JPG
_20200809_132707.JPG
_20200809_132651.JPG
_20200809_133324.JPG

Source: https://ttelections.com/

On the face of it it is accurate.
however it is lopsided in that it doesnt show a complete picture-you should visit the below site- and draw your own conclusions from all the data.
https://www.central-bank.org.tt/statist ... nce-fiscal

You would know that govts do not make money- ALL revenue of any govt is derived from activities and taxes drawn from the private sector-or in our case there is the injections from state enterprises-like the 16B drawn from NGC over 2010-2015(not included in your charts)..And as a energy based country we are entirely dependent on oil and gas prices and world demand for petrochemicals to sustain the country's revenues.

The below image reflects part of the CBTT spreadsheet

As you can see Central Govt Energy revenue went from mid to high 20 B TTD per annum in 2010-15 to single digits and teens 2015-20.
Now thats a big hit since energy represents 45% of tnt GDP and about 50% of our revenues.- You would know that oil prices were at $90 plus until Q2 2014 when they tanked.....and since then have essentially been below half of the average under the UNC.
However as is established now-the UNC negioted tax holidays to the multinationals out to 2024 in order to settle outstanding taxes 2010-2015. ie pay us cash now and take big write offs out to 2024.

SO
...total revenues going from a high of $58B TTD in 2013 to a low(hopefully) of $36B TTD in 2017. Thats a loss of 22B or 38% fall in revenues.
If it is that revenues decreased severely , common sense would dictate that the Gortt would have to draw down on savings, sell assets or borrow to avoid the shock to the economy and thats what they did.

Quick question-if the UNC had such high revenues why were they running deficits???

2010-2015 Our budgets expanded by close to 50% as the UNC spent the revenues-and still borrowed..as your Fiscal Deficit chart shows.
Is this responsible management-would you run your business like that?


In an energy based economy of course GDP would contract....peaked at 27B in 2014( yes they ran deficits of 4.4B) and the low was 22 in 2016...however we looking like we back to 24 last year.... so is this that bad considering where oil/gas and the rest of the world is ?

Well unemployment below 5% is statistically full employment -a 20 basis point move in the average is acceptable given the revenue position over the last 5 years.

The Gross Public Sector Debt well I dont see what the problem is...moving from 109-122 ....with revenues cut by 30+% per annum...that aint bad management.
However-the UNC moved the debt from 70B to 109....thats 55%.....so the UNC increased public sector debt by 55% or 39B TTD at a point in our history where revenues were the highest.....WHY-can you explain that?

POINT IN FACT Jwala Ramberann stated that he saw no evidence of GORTT reducing its rate of spending as a result of oil prices tanking in 2014....despite KPB saying that they reduced it. in other words he called her a liar......so KPB and co were spending money hand over fist despite our main sources of revenues falling .

Is that fiscal responsibility??

They ran deficits, ran up the debt, and saved very little in a time of PLENTY.

Thats the simple fact.

[matr1x]

I know at least 3 groups that's mobilizing to see if venes voting come Monday

[redmanjp]

Let's make it interesting... 20-20-1 (PNM-UNC-PDP)

if dat happen would PDP join with UNC?

[bluefete]

Just had to run a PNM truck from in front my house.

I doing work and they park up playing tape of MP talking real loud.

[bluefete]

Let's make it interesting... 20-20-1 (PNM-UNC-PDP)

if dat happen would PDP join with UNC?

He is ah neemakharam. He go join whichever party agree to make him Prime Minister.

[bluefete]

Is this the level of nastiness the PNM has reached?

Or is it his own party doing this?

[MaxPower]

I know at least 3 groups that's mobilizing to see if venes voting come Monday

Mobilizing to do what?

No Vene will be harmed tomorrow.

The law will protect them.

[matr1x]

Just to make sure they not in the voting lines.

[MaxPower]

Friends,

If it was not for the brilliance and leadership of his excellency Dr.Keith Rowley, can you imagine what would have happened?

Remember when he said....”Even though the situation is bad, it could have easily been worse”. A great leader is admitting things are bad, maybe fault of his, but he also outlined how he dealt with the situation.

THAT is a leader, THAT is a man of action..oh gosh that sweet balhead i could just kiss it but i not into afros in that way.

But can you imagine this drunk speech slurring UNC leader wanted to bring in those irresponsible pests from the cruise ship and the highly annoying barbados jackasses. They were already so irresponsible, more than likely they would have NOT self quarantined. Is the UNC leader mad?

Thanks to the father above, we had Keith and his team of medical experts to guide him to make the right decisions for this pandemic.

Now many have said that the lock down was too strict, but how was he to tell? He did the right thing by implementing and carefully engineering the Phases to be on the SAFE side for the protection of the citizens of T&T.....So clever!

I admit, that drastic action should be taken now, but what else can he do? Keith and team has done the best they can, but we have TRINIS who are NOT listening to New Norm measures. Trinis are the MAIN cause for what is happening now, NOT the PNM.

I will be in FULL PNM gear tomorrow as i proudly put that ‘X’ by the Red Palulu.

Join us.

Ooh my gosh I am blushing here, I got so jealous when i read your statement of our beloved leader's sweet shiny balled head but then i remembered I should not let myself become like De Phaggot

Max I am in absolute awe and shock reading your brilliant, quality and beautiful post about his excellency Dr Keith Rowley you have just reminded me of why I had made the decision to vote for the red army for it's leader knows no limits in perfection. It is only now that joining the PNM I can see rum for what it is and what is true and proper governance I thank you max from the bottom of my heart

Hello ED,

I admire you passion and most importantly your faith.

You were right about the UNC rallies...the sound levels on their toxic fuming rally trucks are ridiculous and a nuisance to society. My neighbor as a sick little baby and couldnt stop crying as a UNC truck and their HOOLIGANS passed in the area doing the donkey wining thing.

A PNM truck passed but was not as loud and disturbing and the UNC.

Now my neighbor’s baby is terrified everytime she hears a truck passing.

[goalpost]

UNC wins 21-20

[bluefete]

David Abdullah said that Kamla thief the UTC/NIB concept from them.

The original plan from his party was to float a bond but Kamla did not understand the intricacies and said they were going to raid the cash funds. LOL.

[The_Honourable]

Let's make it interesting... 20-20-1 (PNM-UNC-PDP)

if dat happen would PDP join with UNC?

He is ah neemakharam. He go join whichever party agree to make him Prime Minister.

And if that is the case, Rowley and Kamla would not budge. It will make both of them look like second fiddle and you don't want to have that weak frame for the next 5 years. We might see a next election in 2021 if my prediction plays off.

[bluefete]

NICE!

[MaxPower]

NICE!

Staged.

[Gladiator]

That's typical PNM politics.... They just couldn't help it. Shows their despiration at the 11th hour

Is this the level of nastiness the PNM has reached?

Or is it his own party doing this?