Watching the recent Budget Debate, I was struck again by the regular byplay between both sides. It's certainly a far cry from the usual po-faced seriousness of the United States Senate and Congress, or the snarling mock humour of Westminster.

When Peter or Phillip or Andrew or Portia spoke across the divide to "my good friend", they were generally smiling, and the first-name banter suggests that our MPs probably get on pretty well outside Gordon House. You don't see many political houses descending into full-blooded laughter all around as our Parliament did when Portia began her Budget speech by joshing with Desmond McKenzie about the red tie he was wearing.

What a contrast to the recent BBC story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22362760 - "Fistfights have broken out in Venezuela's Parliament ... Several legislators were left blooded and bruised, with both opposition and pro-government lawmakers accusing each other of starting the fight". Our political system has faults aplenty, but plenty worse out deh! If only our parliamentarians would teach their followers below to get on as well as they do at the top.

Overall, it was not a bad Budget presentation. Dr Peter Phillips gave a confident and technically sound presentation, and probably presented as good a Budget as IMF constraints allowed. What resonated most strongly, perhaps, was the philosophical shift away from any lingering statism or socialism. The private sector, he made clear, was the key to growing the Jamaican economy, and the Government would do all it could to facilitate this. It should have bolstered business confidence and allayed some fears of a confused Cabinet.

Audley Shaw gave a robust, fact-filled speech and offered some interesting ideas worth serious examination, such as having the NHT acquire FINSAC assets. He can't be faulted for highlighting how much the better macroeconomic fundamentals were when he left office. Perhaps, though, he lacked a bit of empathy for those Jamaicans who, no matter how we got here, are really feeling the effects of six consecutive quarters of GDP decline and a skyrocketing dollar.

Andrew Holness' presentation contained a good deal of substance and interesting suggestions. He is surely right that divestment of lossmaking government entities and fundamental tax reform must be at the core of any national growth plan.

While perhaps not as technically detailed as Dr Phillips' or Mr Shaw's, he showed a lot more understanding of the common person's plight, and definitely connected better with the man on the street. His $3,000 food baskets of today versus 15 months ago will stick in the public's mind for a very long time, and the 2013 presentation will always be remembered as the 'basket' Budget.

Sad to say, unless there is a dramatic change in our economic narrative of continuous currency value decline and persistent inflation, some future opposition spokesman will likely re-enact this demonstration of 'look how much more food costs now than when we were in power!'

Mr Holness gained many plaudits for his amiable, good-natured style. He firmly made a number of pertinent points without the finger-pointing, personally insulting aggression that often seems the norm, engendering a lot less jeering and catcalls than usual. Some people say "Andrew too soft and nice fi Jamaica dutty politics". But vox pops suggest they are outnumbered by those who like his non-confrontational approach. However, much as he keeps assuring us that "I'm different", the proof will be in the pudding.

Mrs Simpson Miller's confidently delivered speech showed her usual passion for helping the less fortunate, but it contained far less detail than the other major presentations. To those hoping for a strategic vision of how this country is going to grow our way out of this current debt trap, it was a disappointment. What is her position on divestment and tax reform? We still don't know.

DEAL WITH THE CAUSES

Yes, our hard-pressed civil servants deserve better housing and grants, but dealing only with symptoms and not causes can never solve a problem. She used 'transform', or variations thereof, 52 times, and repeated versions of 'unleashing potential' almost as many times, as if constant repetition can create reality.

Jamaicans, as a whole, are tired of fine words. We see so many obvious ills crying for obvious remedies that all this talk about "different" and "transformative" is making us sick. The April 27 Gleaner editorial 'Tyranny in the ghetto' highlighted one of this country's most glaring evils, without any comment so far by Mr 'Different' Holness or Mrs 'Transformational' Simpson Miller. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130427/cleisure/cleisure1.html (Health Minister Fenton Ferguson commendably wrote a letter in response.)

"A police superintendent has this week confirmed what was often rumoured about girls who have been reported missing from inner-city communities. According to Deputy Superintendent Steven Moodie, some teenage girls living in such neighbourhoods are sent away by their mothers to the country, or to relatives elsewhere, to get them out of harm's way. These girls are then reported missing.

"By sending their daughters away, parents are trying to prevent their daughters' sexual exploitation by inner-city dons who are known to summon these girls, explained the deputy superintendent. Presumably, there are some parents who have nowhere to send their daughters, which means they have no alternative but to expose them to sexual abuse.

"This revelation by DSP Moodie raises serious questions about the national effort to protect our children. First, there is genuine puzzlement that the police would expose the fact that these parents have developed their own survival strategy as they fight for existence in tough, lawless inner-city communities.

"And second, if the police have all this knowledge, when was the last time a so-called don was brought before the court and tried and punished for child abuse?

"The abuse of our children, whether in state care or in their family homes, has often been the focus of public discourse. However, the plight of inner-city teenagers has been studiously avoided. DSP Moodie described it as a "perpetual" problem, yet it is unclear what law enforcement has been doing to tackle the reprehensible rape of
our young girls."

Incidentally, why did
The Gleaner not ask Deputy Superintendent Steven
Moodie to name these inner-city communities, and follow up with an
investigative report telling us which constituencies they are in, and
who are their elected representatives, and what they are doing about
this situation? Isn't that what a free and fair press is supposed to
do?

In his 2010 inauguration speech, Mr Holness talked
about "degarrisonising Jamaica" and invited Mrs Simpson Miller to walk
with him to help "break down the walls of exclusion". Mrs Simpson-Miller
refused his invitation - despite 92 per cent of those polled favouring
such a walk - and Mr Holness has never revisited the issue. Not that
they are the only ones ignoring this obscene elephant in the room. None
of our so-called civil-society or human-rights groups supported Mr
Holness' call, and none have commented on Saturday's editorial. The only
one I've heard speak about it is Sandra Graham of Bess
FM.

Though National Integrity Action was also silent
on the walk proposal, it has laudably run a graphic ad depicting the
very horrors that editorial describes, in which a young actress
chillingly depicts the moment when 'the don send fi her'. So none of us
Jamaicans can say we don't know what's going on. The real horror is that
there is no horror.

I, personally, will believe
Andrew is different and Portia is transformational when he again makes
his offer to "walk with me and help me break down these walls" and she
accepts. One transformational deed is worth 52,000 'transforming'
words.

Kevin O'Brien Chang is a businessman and
author. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and
changkob@hotmail.com.