We spent $600,000 on another report, the recently uncovered CORE Report, to tell us what intelligent Virgin Islanders have said over and over again.
And we are paying another $500,000 to First Union to advise us on what we need to do to emerge from our fiscal crisis.
A recent report from our myriad financial advisors said business as usual will lead to a $2 billion debt and that we are technically bankrupt already.
Actually, the governor has said that over and over. Why do we keep paying people to advise us? Are we hoping for a different answer? The answer has always been the same, and Virgin Islanders have the answers.
In this publication alone we find two recent op-ed pieces that lay out the answer in detail— answers from Virgin Islanders. And though the detail may vary slightly, we know what we have to do. We need to manage our money better, downsize the government and convince federal officials we are sincere in our efforts so that they will forgive millions of dollars in loans.
What we want to know is when are we going to do it. Why do we continue to commission off-islanders to tell us what to do, and then not do it?
We would like to know, at the very least, how many people have been stopped for driving government vehicles without authorization. We would like to know when the governor is going to combine and delete useless boards and commissions. We would like to know when he is going to slash some of the paid holidays taken only by government workers to the detriment of government productivity.
Okay, we've made the hard decisions. Now when do we get the hard action? We say no more costly reports and expensive financial advice.
We want immediate, intelligent, firm enforcement.
