ThisIsOurs 9 years, 6 months ago on Gray: I would never break the law knowingly
Gray: I would never break the law knowingly
Is he serious???? He should have been asked for his resignation on the spot. Did he buy his law degree? Has he never stood in a courtroom and heard the judge admonish a defendant with "ignorance of the law is no excuse"? Why do we continue to elect these ignoramuses who tell us repeatedly that their performance is horrible because they don't know what they're doing. This is the same man who knew nothing about BAMSI. Now Mother Pratt is telling us she knows nothing about PAC. Danny Johnson doesn't know that the BNFC went way over budget, they couldn't even pay back the security deposits the carnival bands paid to them. Brave Davis doesn't know if contractors paid insurance. Perry Christie never knows anything on any subject. Are we paying these people so they can learn how to govern?
This is an utter disgrace. Resign already
JohnDoe 11 years, 1 month ago on 'Bahamians don't understand VAT'
'Bahamians don't understand VAT'
"Bahamians do not understand VAT" so says the deer in the headlight, as if anyone in our government understood the full ramifications of VAT when they were being lectured by the IMF. Halkitis and our government has once again misread the tea leaves. The issue is not that Bahamians do not understand VAT and this is evident by the critical and brilliant questions the Bahamian public has raised concerning VAT, most of which the government has yet to deliver a coherent, rational or intelligent response to. It is interesting to note that for the majority of VAT implementations that have failed the primary causes have been poor preparation, lack of consultation, poor education and hurried implementation. Classically, the politicians appear to now be deflecting blaming to the public for their lack of understanding, preparation and consultation. The real issue is that no one in government has even tried to intelligently explain to the Bahamian people the following: Why do we need to embark on an austerity program, during these hard times, to increase tax revenue and reduce expenditure; Why VAT, amongst all of the other options, is the optimal fiscal policy tool for our economy to accomplish this; Why the VAT rate must initially be so high at 15%; Why not an introductory lower rate; How will VAT impact other taxes already on the books and What are the short, medium and long term ramifications, positive and negative, for our economy in general and in particular for the businesses impacted and consumers. The reality is that our issues, similar to the issues of most countries in this region go way beyond ballooning debt and deficits. We are faced with two other equalling vexing issues of low to no economic growth and high structural unemployment where there are just not enough jobs in our economy for those who want to work. This is exacerbated by our business model that depends on exogenous drivers of economic growth including FDI and tourism. Introducing VAT will also likely be unhelpful to the latter two vexing issues.