the President and his promises...why do they don't understand!!

daddy1 · Jun 4, 2005

I would like to know, because as a Dominican American like myself who was educated in America, I don't comprehend why after countless reports on D.R.'s educational system or lack there of...is any elected president not make educating his people his number one priorty!!!...I would wish that there are very important politicians in D.R. who log on to this forum so that maybe they can see the big picture.

when Dominican politicians campaign thoughout the country during there election year president talk about food, the electric power, the abolishment
of poverty, economic growth, and gov't corruption...and when presidents after president's take office things get worse before it gets better, and the more they want to change the more things stay the same.

when will Dominican's understand, the people as a whole, and the gov't that no promise can be fulfilled NO PROMISES can be fulfilled, unless education is payed 100% attention first....why does the Dominican gov't want and insist on keeping there citizen's Dumb...the issues of teen pregnancy, power problems, lack of respect for the law on both sides, the garbage issues, etc etc... can all be solved or remedied by just having an insane dedication towards education, D.R. is a very strange and odd country.. they want the benefits of living in a modern world with dictatorship tendencies, because those dictatorship tendencies and mentallity, have not fully been swashed from the mine of the older generation, is it there fault that they can't comprehend something they never had...what is it!!!

No matter what modern structures, rail system, or bridges are built...and even if the dollar went down to five pesos for a dollar that doesn't matter either...an uneducated population cannot govern themselves, they will always be reliant on other nations for help...and the people will always fall victim to thief's, swindlers and liars...that was proven during Hippo's presidency....lionel built and put in place modern structures and programs but the countries lack of education and dictatorship past caught up with the island again thus once again finding itself still behind in social, economical, and educational progression in 2005....and still looking for answers to problems that can be solved by spending at least a million dollars give or take every six month's or so on building modern educational facilities begining from elementary to high school...D.R. is not the only inpoverish country in the world others have made it there priority and there citizen's and children are reaping the benefits..

FireGuy · Jun 4, 2005

I M H O,

daddy1 said:
...and the people will always fall victim to thief's, swindlers and liars...

I think you just answered your own question.

It's the way the politicians (thieves, swindlers and liars) like it.

Gregg

hugoke01 · Jun 4, 2005

Education

I can but fully agree with your mail .. The country would be so different

daddy1 said:
I would like to know, because as a Dominican American like myself who was educated in America, I don't comprehend why after countless reports on D.R.'s educational system or lack there of...is any elected president not make educating his people his number one priorty!!!...I would wish that there are very important politicians in D.R. who log on to this forum so that maybe they can see the big picture.

when Dominican politicians campaign thoughout the country during there election year president talk about food, the electric power, the abolishment
of poverty, economic growth, and gov't corruption...and when presidents after president's take office things get worse before it gets better, and the more they want to change the more things stay the same.

when will Dominican's understand, the people as a whole, and the gov't that no promise can be fulfilled NO PROMISES can be fulfilled, unless education is payed 100% attention first....why does the Dominican gov't want and insist on keeping there citizen's Dumb...the issues of teen pregnancy, power problems, lack of respect for the law on both sides, the garbage issues, etc etc... can all be solved or remedied by just having an insane dedication towards education, D.R. is a very strange and odd country.. they want the benefits of living in a modern world with dictatorship tendencies, because those dictatorship tendencies and mentallity, have not fully been swashed from the mine of the older generation, is it there fault that they can't comprehend something they never had...what is it!!!

No matter what modern structures, rail system, or bridges are built...and even if the dollar went down to five pesos for a dollar that doesn't matter either...an uneducated population cannot govern themselves, they will always be reliant on other nations for help...and the people will always fall victim to thief's, swindlers and liars...that was proven during Hippo's presidency....lionel built and put in place modern structures and programs but the countries lack of education and dictatorship past caught up with the island again thus once again finding itself still behind in social, economical, and educational progression in 2005....and still looking for answers to problems that can be solved by spending at least a million dollars give or take every six month's or so on building modern educational facilities begining from elementary to high school...D.R. is not the only inpoverish country in the world others have made it there priority and there citizen's and children are reaping the benefits..

bob saunders · Jun 4, 2005

My wife, who knows leonel personally is also a bit suprised that he isn't putting more into education. May there are so many problems with the goverment that it's hard to know where to start.

Mirador · Jun 4, 2005

...is any elected president not make educating his people his number one priorty

Cynicism aside, but it's a lot easier to govern ignorant people than those who are educated...

Now back to cynicism... but there's a lot less gain for politicians from kickbacks, graft, waste derived from investment in education than from other public investment fields (privatization, feasibility studies, transportation infrastructure...

suarezn · Jun 4, 2005

Basically agree with what everyone has already said. Don't you think they know that spending in education, medical care and the like is the right thing to do - Not just morally but also for the good of the develoment of the country? But politicians know that doing this does not win elections as this kind of expenditure is not as tangible as building a road, for instance.

I remember that last year when Leonel was going against Hippo I was discussing the topic of why people should vote for The PLD instead of Hippo and some people in my hometown would say "Leonel didn't do anything for this town...Hippo, on the other hand built us a road". Hippo did build a road, but Leonel improved education tremendously in my hometown by providing better salaries for teachers, school breakfast, etc...But people just don't see this.

Now Leonel is back in power and apparently he's learned from Balaguer, Hippo and others that spending money in education and health does not pay pollitically so they are just doing the bare minimum. Somewhere I read that The DR has one of the lowest percentage of GDP dedicated to education and public health. It's a shame...You can't count on the government, so if you want to help adopt a child and pay for his/her education...

Bartolomeo67 · Jun 4, 2005

'Now back to cynicism... but there's a lot less gain for politicians from kickbacks, graft, waste derived from investment in education than from other public investment fields (privatization, feasibility studies, transportation infrastructure...'

and don't forget that the president's election campaign is paid for by businesspeople that he needs to pay back now. That's they way things go in today's world. Unfortunately a poor country's government budget doesn't stretch far enough to both repay the sponsors and have enough money left to spend on the real priorities.
Also, you can have a good president, but if the levels below him in administration are incompetent, you can promise people the world, vote new laws, not much will materialize.
just my 2 peso
Bartolomeo

NALs · Jun 6, 2005

Bartolomeo67 said:
'Now back to cynicism... but there's a lot less gain for politicians from kickbacks, graft, waste derived from investment in education than from other public investment fields (privatization, feasibility studies, transportation infrastructure...'

and don't forget that the president's election campaign is paid for by businesspeople that he needs to pay back now. That's they way things go in today's world. Unfortunately a poor country's government budget doesn't stretch far enough to both repay the sponsors and have enough money left to spend on the real priorities.
Also, you can have a good president, but if the levels below him in administration are incompetent, you can promise people the world, vote new laws, not much will materialize.
just my 2 peso
Bartolomeo

Good point!

However, the biggest problems to fiscal budget (assuming taking care of business pals on the side and running the government) is the debt and tax evasion.

If the debt could be declined to half of what it is, that would be good for government budget since 51% of the budget goes to paying interest on the national debt owed to mostly rich countries and organisations controlled and owned by rich and power countries such as IMF.

Also, if tax evasion could be deminished (and the authorities are working hard on this) this will also help the budget.

NALs · Jun 6, 2005

suarezn said:
Basically agree with what everyone has already said. Don't you think they know that spending in education, medical care and the like is the right thing to do - Not just morally but also for the good of the develoment of the country? But politicians know that doing this does not win elections as this kind of expenditure is not as tangible as building a road, for instance.

I remember that last year when Leonel was going against Hippo I was discussing the topic of why people should vote for The PLD instead of Hippo and some people in my hometown would say "Leonel didn't do anything for this town...Hippo, on the other hand built us a road". Hippo did build a road, but Leonel improved education tremendously in my hometown by providing better salaries for teachers, school breakfast, etc...But people just don't see this.

Now Leonel is back in power and apparently he's learned from Balaguer, Hippo and others that spending money in education and health does not pay pollitically so they are just doing the bare minimum. Somewhere I read that The DR has one of the lowest percentage of GDP dedicated to education and public health. It's a shame...You can't count on the government, so if you want to help adopt a child and pay for his/her education...

When Leonel was in power in the late 1990s, 16% of the budget went to paying interest on the national debt. Of course he was going to spend as much as he could on all those public goods.

Today, (thanks to Hippo) 51% of the budget is going to interest on the loans taken. Obviously, when 51% of your paycheck goes to interest (not even principal) on your debt load, you will not be able to invest in yourself as much as you could when it was only 16% of you paycheck.

People, look at the entire picture before coming to conclusions.

suarezn · Jun 6, 2005

Nal0whs said:
When Leonel was in power in the late 1990s, 16% of the budget went to paying interest on the national debt. Of course he was going to spend as much as he could on all those public goods.

Today, (thanks to Hippo) 51% of the budget is going to interest on the loans taken. Obviously, when 51% of your paycheck goes to interest (not even principal) on your debt load, you will not be able to invest in yourself as much as you could when it was only 16% of you paycheck.

People, look at the entire picture before coming to conclusions.

OK we understand that, but what's your point? Did they spend a lot more in education back when only 16% of revenues went to servicing debt? NO.

What are they doing to recoup some of that money Hippo borrowed and pocketed between him and his cronies? NOTHING.

Is Leonel trying to reduce the debt load? NO. On the contrary we're taking more and more loans and taxing the heck out of everything. They even had a surplus. Are they putting any of that surplus money into education or health? NOT A CHANCE.

Hillbilly · Jun 6, 2005

Leonel, like most of his ilk talks nice, does little

If any of you were President, I think that one of your first acts as President would be to demolish and rebuild the schools in POP that were damaged in the 22 Sept 03 earthquake!....

Just to see the people react!!

The numbers are mind numbing!

36% live in abject poverty
200,000 abortions a year
5% of students that enter first grade ever make it to High School Graduation.

And we all know who most of that 5% is, don't we Golo?? Jojocho?

Of course this country is run by a elite clique, because they are the only ones that can read and write!!..

Did you see today's Papers? Leonel wants to have a better work force to compete. Like Dominicans say, this was from "the teeth, out."

Did you see it takes 28 man years to graduate one high school student?
That, according to Education Ministry reports, of the 1000 hours of schooling that are programmed, the students get closer-in reality-to 300???

Leonel complains about a lack of a "strategy for competitiveness" Bullsh!t!!
Anyone can write a strategy, but who the phuck can read it and implement it?? In a worker population of about 800,000, there are only between 40 and 60,000 truly qualified workers, trained in the Zona Francas. There is no way the DR can compete without qualified workers. It is as simple as that.
"A World Bank report says that while foreign investors consider the cheaper labor cost of Dominican workers as a competitive factor, the abilities of these workers is basic a offer few quality related advantages from other countries."***

The writers of the posts above have put their fingers in the dike: EDUCATON...no more, no less..

HB

*** Taken from the report: "Evaluation of the Commercial and Labor Competitiveness of the Dominican Republic" prepared by the World Bank.
The document concluded: Greater availability of qualified workers = Greater comptitive stance for investors.

daddy1 · Jun 7, 2005

so I guess there is no hope for D.R. educational development

All of you have awesome points...can the number of D.R. educational system get even lower then it is right now, I believed that leonel was the countries answer to salvage education there, but if leonel does not do it then there may not be any hope for the countries educational programs, I mean the P.R.S.C. never did anything with it, and the P.R.D. almost eliminated it...I mean really Miss Borsh only build two or three crummy buildings, and the capital's library is horrible to say the least...without quality education for all Dominican's no matter what you balance, provide, or build, it will all crumble..
what will the younger generation do without these prorgrams in place,

Because one thing I noticed living in the island last year was, that stealing and swindling and lying is becoming part of the culture...it has become the norm..that's one of the biggest reasons why I returned...it just gets to you after a while when you have people insult your intelligence with bold face lies
and trying to hussle you everyday...and to feel I had to live behind iron bars and thick metal doors, because people had become consumed by nightmares of a ladrones coming to rob them 24-7...no offense if leonel does not make a radical change for education in the island, those GDP numbers will even be lower..I truly believe that the best candidate for a Dominican president is one who was born in the U.S. who has been educated there, and who has dual citizenship...let me tell you guys this!! the best ideal presidential candidate that the country would have out there right now would be none other then "Alex Rodriquez" women love him, he is rich beyond belief, famous in the sports world, Educated!! raised by a hard working single Dominican born mother with very good family values, very popular and well known by all American politicians and businessmen, nike etc and then some...he would win in a land slide!! think about it.

planner · Jun 7, 2005

As always...

Hillbilly you have hit the nail right on the head!!!!

Without education this country will not progress. AND let's remember clearly that it is not in the elite or the politicos best interests to educate this country's people!!!

Keep them stupid and in the dark and you can control them. That seems to be the status quo!

I do believe (maybe I am naive) that things will change. But it will take some intervention from outside this country to make it happen!

Thanks HB for your info, as always you bring solid info to the forums!

Rick Snyder · Jun 7, 2005

My 2 pesos

daddy 1, your assessment of the situation is correct and it is true that education would fix almost all the problems in the DR. A lot of people have a tendency to blame the president for that which is broken but I remind the people that the DR is governed by a democracy which means that there is only so much that the executive branch can do without the approval and backing of the legislative branch. As long as the same people stay elected they will continue to apply their obstructionism to that which threatens their emoluments.

It is people like you, educated in a different country and having experience with other cultures that must get involved in the political process here in the DR if you expect change to come about. The present president is an example of that and I honestly believe he wishes to change things but there is only so much he can do with the present nefarious legislative branch in place.

Quote by Bartolomeo67: you can have a good president, but if the levels below him in administration are incompetent, you can promise people the world, vote new laws, not much will materialize.

Quote by planner: Without education this country will not progress. AND let's remember clearly that it is not in the elite or the politicos best interests to educate this country's people!!!

Quote by suarezn: Don't you think they know that spending in education, medical care and the like is the right thing to do - Not just morally but also for the good of the develoment of the country? But politicians know that doing this does not win elections as this kind of expenditure is not as tangible as building a road, for instance.

I remember that last year when Leonel was going against Hippo I was discussing the topic of why people should vote for The PLD instead of Hippo and some people in my hometown would say "Leonel didn't do anything for this town...Hippo, on the other hand built us a road". Hippo did build a road, but Leonel improved education tremendously in my hometown by providing better salaries for teachers, school breakfast, etc...But people just don't see this.

On the DR1 news of 20 May 06, Elena Viyella de Paliza, president of the National Council of Business (CONEP), said ?the real cause of increasing poverty and low human development is the lack of a state of law, inefficient justice, lack of transparency, corruption and politicians that place their particular interests before national interests?.

And I believe this is due to the fatalistic outlook of the Dominican people as I addressed in http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?p=296387#post296387 post 7.

bob saunders, I would be interested to know if the president reads or knows about DR1. Something your wife could ask him. I really think he should read what the DR1?ers have to say.

So, in closing let me say that with the elections next year it is you the voters that can change the legislative branch and therefore bring about positive change to the DR.

daddy1 · Jun 8, 2005

D.r's President Will Never Succeed..it's Just Not Possible.

Basically if they continue to ignore the education issue all efforts will be a waste of time, and rick snyder your right, a new modern movement of educated Dominican brothers and sisters need to involve themselves on a global scale!!...but I'm just full of confusion because Dominican expat's and the natives in the motherland just are not demanding it..and for some reason even with the U.N. statistics nothing changes... it's seems that now leonel wants to be known for building modern structures, I use to think that he was this big visionary globalist guru with a realistic view on how to get the most out of his people, but it looks like he is going for the title of being called the (Taxation Presidente) with no representation...and once again he will cause a give me, give me, sociaty like D.R. to walk around there streets with there eyes wide shut!!

MerengueDutchie · Jun 8, 2005

At the rate the DR is currently loosing ground against its global competitors.. thye need not worry about the Haitian problem much longer.. soon they will be a nation equally poor, uneducated and uncivilised.. a nation were poverty, violence and greed will rule... a nation from which all 'civilised' Dominicans (and there are quite a few) have perished.. Hillbilly will be probably be one of the last ones shot while defending the library of the university

...

You can say what you want but until this country gets a wake-up call that will improve the educational and economical position of the masses.. the DR will continue to slide down the slope of despair, towards a mire of graft and greed... in which it does not pay to educate your adversaries children...

Don Juan · Jun 8, 2005

More warplanes?

In todays DR1 home page, we see an article about the possible purchase of Brazilian SuperTucan jets for our needy air force. Apparently, the air heads have tired of playing with the French-made jets they got some years ago and want new ones. But I digress.....My question here is why it makes all the sense in the world to our govt. to buy war planes instead of educating our people?
Who the fiick is going to invade us? why the hell should we be preparing for a war that'll never come?
It is so damned frustrating trying to figure the Dominican mentality. How can they prioritize war planes over education? Where's their freaking common sense?
You know, we keep doing this $hit to our people, we're gonna end up worse than Haiti! and THAT is an absolute & irreversible certainty! How sad is that?! Co?o!

Porfio_Rubirosa · Jun 8, 2005

Don Juan said:
In todays DR1 home page, we see an article about the possible purchase of Brazilian SuperTucan jets for our needy air force. Apparently, the air heads have tired of playing with the French-made jets they got some years ago and want new ones. But I digress.....

Sorry Don Juan, but you have made two erroneous assumptions. First, there are no French jets and never have been any. The FAD had Cessna (USA) jets and, prior to that, De Havilland Vampire (British) jets (but none of either kind are currently operational). Second, the Super Tucano is not a jet at all.

I suppose the Super Tucanos could be justified for drug intradiction. If that is the case, let's hope Uncle Sam pays for them since the FAD would be doing its dirty work.

mondongo · Jun 8, 2005

Nal0whs said:
...51% of the budget goes to paying interest on the national debt owed to mostly rich countries and organisations controlled and owned by rich and power countries such as IMF.

This is not even close.....and the fact that a lot of people have been suckered into believing is damaging.

If 51% of the budget went to pay interest then DR$105Billion would be spent by the PLD in interest payments....at 28:1, that means US$3.7Billion in interest payments alone.

Since the debt was about US$7Billion, that would be 52% interest. The average interest on these hard currency loans is somewhere near 10%.

This mens that only about DR$20Billion....which is ONLY 10% of the budget.

The notion that the budget is as high as it it to pay off the interest on the debt is a travesty at best and is most likely a campaign to keep all Dominicans ignorant of what is really going on.

daddy1 · Jun 9, 2005

it's Amazing!... and totally mind boggling!

Once again as one of you reported... Mr. Fernandez looking to purchase military equipment and a private presidential plane for ???? WHOM, WHY, and
WHAT FOR!!...you see Mr Fernandez can get away with these decision because the Dominican community foreign and domestic are not united enough to make him think differently...

A friend and fellow Dominican brother came up with a great idea..he said we should form a group like the organization (TRUTH) in the U.S. but not to fight big tobacco companies, rather produce commercials,literature, and letters to the palacio in large numbers to get the govt's attention..on education and athletic development issues...you see...they have never been challenged yet! so they will continue to spend the people money how ever they want without a vote or approval from the public...they believe you are to ignorant to make sound and rashinal desicions, "in other words" they forget that they are public servants you see you guys put them in power
and then there is nothing you can do to get them to give you at least half of what you need to secure your future..rather you can't stop them from doing anything can you!!! if there is anyone who know's this president closely or any persons of political influence, come to this board and give this community the reasons why you are delibarately keeping your people and the children of that island down, with so many viewers out there,not one of you work for the Dominican Gov't,or are you afraid of this communities intelligence. well anyway we will be waiting I'm sure there are computers in the secretary of educations office or in the palacio!

the President and his promises...why do they don't understand!!

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