Most of the infrastructural upgrades such as airports, ports, major roadways, telecommunications and internet services are mostly to support the tourism industry. This industry is suitor generate sufficient revenue for the government to constantly upgrade these systems and maintain them. But unfortunately, government continues to ignorantly exclude this sector from its equal share of taxes. So the taxes that are collected from Bahamians that should go for roads and schools and hospitals go towards these projects. And when a foreign tourist comes here and lays up in a suite in Atlantis, or gambles in the casinos that Bahamians are banned from gambling, or even laying out on the pink sand beaches in Harbor Island, working Bahamians are helping to pay for that vacation. How long will we be the tail and not the head?

It would be an insult to Donald Trump to say he is related to Mudda tak sic. And the more he tries to defend not taxing the casinos but put quadrupled taxes on the webshops confirms this is racism at its finest. And then to say that Americans incomes average $54,000 compared to Bahamians &21,000 is more grounds to tax the casinos more, not less. When a Bahamian walks into a casino in Atlantic City or Las Vegas of Hard Rock in Florida, he/she is treated like everyone else in those establishments. But in his own hom he is discriminated against by being legally prevented from gambling. It is raw discrimination. And to now tax the web shops more confirms that someone wants to keep disparity between the working class and the ‘elite ‘. Economic dive that transcends to differences between black and white. There are poor folk in America too, but no one tells them they cannot gamble in Hard Rock or buy lottery tickets. They are the ones with the greatest hope of winning and unfortunately also lose the greatest in their income, if gambling is their vice. And when persons like Carl Bethel continue to follow the advice of people who want to heap taxes on Bahoand allow foreigners to ride free, then the national debt will continue to grow, the worker class will continue to increase and the distance between the haves and the have nots will continue to widen. Any Jackson can see that foreigners are continuing to come here and gobble up the assets of this country. So one day the Bahamian flag 🇧🇸 May have to be lowered permanently... and for what?

*taxes

I don’t stand to support the Web Shops. I stand for equality and justice in this country. My vote is just as good as yours and I have as much right to voice my opinion as you do. And the Black populace of The Bahamas will no longer stand around and allow persons like you, mudder-Tak slick, to build a dam across their economic opportunities while choking them to death with the bulk of takes. The yellow shirts came off and the red ones can also fade.

Mudder-sic you with your cretinous self have just confirmed what I said. Your mind is twisted, your reasoning is grounded is racism and you are totally Anti/Bahamian. Calling me names does not put any credibility to your nonsensical posts. And Bahamians DO gamble in the casinos. It’s just that Black Bahamians cannot gamble in them. Go in there and you see. Residents from Lyford Cay, Old Fort and Albany gambling. Are they stopped by security? NOT. So stop your dumb lies. The premise for banning Bahamians from gambling is grounded in racism. No matter how you sugar coat it. So if I am singing for my supper, WHO are you singing for? Secondly the crises where banks have lots of cash but cannot or will not make loans. Except you have brain damage, which you demonstrate you have, and are chronically racist, which you are, and totally anti Bahamian how can you blame Sebas and Flowers for this world wide bank situation? Banks created their own situation by making upside down loans, lending to unqualified borrowers and over inflating values on properties thereby making it impossible for borrowers to get out of their mortgages except packing their clothes and walking away from the property. You try to make bankers out to be such Lilly white holier than thou saints. Innocent victims and without sin. But how many fines has RBC and other banks had placed on them in Europe, and even other Caribbean nations? Fines totaling in the Billions of dollars. Penalties for crimes equilivant to insider trading. And how does banking fees in the Bahamas compare to other jurisdictions. Outrageous to say the least. So crawl back under your rock with your dirty lies and half truths. Your racism, bigotry and hate for (Black) Bahamians is eating you. And it started with your brain. So, yes you are indeed a cretin. The rest of your lack of proper brain functions you inherited.

So now you write under different names to call me precisely what your mother is.

And Carl Bethel defense of not increasing taxes on foreign owned casinos while quadrupling taxes on Bahamian owned web shops is so weak and so whacked. If the government is in desperate search for additional revenue then why are there sacred cows? And yes IT IS discrimination in favor of foreigners to not increase taxes on them but do itbso viciously on Bahamians! Who is reall behind it., Mr. Attorney General! And taxes on foreign businesses as opposed to only Bahamian owned is more effective because the foreign money would have otherwise left the country . Why are y’all insisting on keeping this dual economy that is grounded in racism?

Has this man been spinning or what? The same arrogance and veiled threats he is accusing the web boys of is the same thing he is doing. If someone feels their livelihood or business revenue is threatened, then they have rights to seek relief through the courts. And Carl Bethel , as attorney general, should encourage that with a sober mind. A third party to help conflict resolution. And as for gambling going underground again, there’s two scenarios: First if the operating costs for the licensed shops become too much they may go underground. Secondly if the payouts by the licensed web shops become too small then a third force can emerge and start illegal operations. And Carl Bethel knows the government will not be able to stop it in either event. There are just too many people involved. And with the advent of technology the web shops can move their operations off shore, meaning another set of hundreds of millions of Bahamian dollars will be leaving the country, just like banking and hotel money. Leaving a big dent in government revenue. So Carl Bethel needs to calm his self down. Tone down the rhetoric. Find the middle ground. Illegal gambling was in this country before he born and before the some of those he accusing and who were very instrumental in getting gambling for Bahamians to be legalized, taxed and regulated. Don’t be the one for causing it to go back underground by yourself being arrogant and non accommodating.

I do .. but my reward is Heaven robes and crowns and life eternal amen

Regardless of what the fiscal experts say, if The Bahamas does not get up of its hands and start producing something the financial crisis will worsen. All the so called industries, like banking and tourism are actual leakages that take hundreds of millions out of the country every year. It doesn’t take an expert to tell you that if a bucket is leaking faster than you can fill it up you will end up with an empty bucket. You have several choices since the bucket is a given: fill it up faster, fix the leak or do a combination of both.