So Foulkes forget where ha pa from ay. Bahamians y’all better open y’all eyes and monitor the budgets and actions of your government over the past consecutive years. Their actions are making it more and more difficult for average, working Bahamians to survive while the tax exempt resorts and gated communities continue to silently encompass the country. Bahamians compared to foreigners you own nothing in this country. And the man who control the purse strings controls the power. Anyone with some sense can see that this budget has foreign influence in it. The Bahamians get all the taxes and the rich and non Bahamians get all the benefits. What do you call a government that rather see it’s pe homeless t rather than come up with a long term plan to get them housing? What do you call a government that rather have its people on welfare than have gainful employment? There is no reason why any Bahamian should be enduring the hardships they have been going through since 2008 and losing everything they own. Do you realize that every single government quasi entity is now foreign owned or managed?

This woman missed the bus completely and it wasn't the 15A. The saying in economics is "*bad money chases away good money"*. So the web shops are now clean and legal, licensed businesses in the economy. But assume that the new tax burden forces these web shops to reduce their payout rates so low that someone gets the idea, I will sell numbers, but rather than throwing a ball, I will go with whatever Flowers throw in the mornings and what Island Luck throws in the evening. Since I have no physical locations, and I pay no license fees and pay no taxes, my payout (winnings) will be twice what Flowers or Island luck's are. And since I will have no gaming paraphernalia the police cannot charge me with no crime, much less convict me. And so this guy manages to operate an underground business that can pay out higher winnings and is more profitable. So because of the demand, others pursue the idea. Business at the licensed shops fall off drastically and instead of realizing increased taxed revenue, there is actually a decrease. So some web shops close their doors and others decide to chase the underground market. And so the country is back to square one where a multi-billion dollar industry operates 'underground. The government gets no revenue and employment numbers to shrivel because persons are afraid to work in an illegal business. ANd since they cannot deposit their monies in banks or they are afraid to, much of it is smuggled out of the country.And when the government tries to tax, license and regulate them for the second time it will be near impossible, because the numbers boys were had, hoodwinked and bambozzled the first time

But the public and voters view these men as champions of the poor. And even prime minister Minnis himself had to be removed from the HOA when he was protected by Loretta Butler and there was also the Dissident Eight who were eventually fired by Lynden Pindling. Many who were fired of quit went on to become even stronger politicians.

The laws specifically says it was illegal to be homeless within specific city or county limits. Most persons have learned to get around the ‘setting up’ law by using only tarps and cardboard boxes. And they are careful not to accumulate too much personal belongings so that can always be transient.

Who was the dumb idiots in New York and other places that tried to make being homeless a crime? So someone went to jail for being homeless and came back out it was even more difficult to find employment. Because now they have a criminal record. Honey can you drop the temperature a little on the a:c it’s a little hot today. And bring a big glass of smoking cold water for me pleeze.

As long as there is a shortage of affordable housing some alternative forms of housing will pop up some where, some way. Persons looking for somewhere to live gives not being homeless a priority over not breaking the law. This is not exclusive to the Bahamas as vexing as the problem may seem.

Hope he tells them the best way to avoid VAT is to go back to your own fishing and farming and share within the communities. Self dependence.

In other words the government would rather have them on welfare than gainfully employed. Do you have to take dumb medicine to become a politician?

Government is blowing its trumpet because there was some growth in the economy last year for the first time in a long time and this grid expected to continue through this year. And when the mid year budget is passed and significant work starts on infrastructure development and improvement this should stimulate even more growth in the economy. But what caused the first growth spurt in 2017? For one there was Bah Mar coming on stream, at least a big part of the resort was opened, finally, hiring thousands of Bahamians. Then there was a significant increase in tourists numbers overall. Many attribute this increase to a great part of the Caribbean being still under significant hurricane damage and travelers coming to the Bahamas as alternative travel. And some believe it is because the US economy has rebounded significantly and workers are seeing increases in their pay and their confidence level is up enough to allow them to take vacations to places that include the Bahamas. And they believe the growth in the economy is long term and sustainable. But how much of this growth can be directly attributed to web shops? They hired large numbers of Bahamians too, and they leased store space that was previously empty or shuttered. They paid their license fees and other taxes and utility bill is and collectively hundreds of millions circulated through these legal businesses. And previously and prior to being licensed all this was done underground. The government got zero in taxes , tokens in license fees, fewer employees were hired and always at the risk of being arrested and jailed, and a new industry has been created that is for the most part successful. And while many still want to hit on the note that this grew out of an illegal activity, many who criticized have for fathers who participate ed in the illegal rum running or even the deadly and in humane slave trade. Progress is being made.

@ licks : the study I know about was done under Hubert Ingraham and the previous FNM and not the PLP so stop telling blatant lies. Yes liters as Hubert Ingraham would say. And to prove you are even more intentionally trying to discredit me to misinform the unsuspecting public, international studies have been done and yielded the same results. So take your licks and carry your lies somewhere else. Your credibility scale is so unbalanced it is licking you in your head, Just hope it doesn’t turn red like your neck is.