I have witnessed the greed of insurance companies, and i know they are not as saintly as they try to present themselves at times. However, they have presented sound arguments as to why NHI in its current implementation is not a good idea, even with the little information they have been given. Lastly, despite all of the above, the government is perhaps the most corrupt, uncouth, despicable, disrespectful, and devious group of men I have even observed in my life. I trust them less than anybody. If they are doing anything, its only for financial gain. Just like VAT, they probably just want this new tax so that they can pay themselves and their cronies even more behind back doors.

Couldn't agree with you more. The way I see it, due to the amount of funds that go missing and the wasting of money on various projects and kickbacks, why give them even more money to steal and waste with no real system of accountability in place?

I'm actually curious as to why the US has stopped there. What about polygamy and other views on marriage? What about marrying family members or animals? Aren't we still discriminating against these people as well?

agreed @Alltoomuch

“You just think about what justice might be and it is my view, Mr Speaker, that they were never ever interested in justice. They wanted me, no matter what the situation turned out to be.”

Interesting Mr Gray, seeing that your case was not put forward to the Judicial system, where is the justice in that? What a hypocrite!

The PLP talks trash. If they really cared about making health care more affordable, why did they put VAT on it? Just like they put VAT on other essentials such as food items and Electricity. They are full of hot air and I am sick of them. Shame on Bahamians for putting these bastards in power.

I am not concerned about the cheap politics which might be feeding off of this issue. However, what I am concerned about is this obvious case of nepotism. The politicians are keeping "their own" fixed up by waving their bills and paying little to no taxes. As a citizen, I am fed up with our leaders. They have no integrity, no moral character, and no regard for the Bahamian citizens and at the same time are "Lording it" over us from the high hills. No taxes or paying bills for them, but hey, we will be disconnected at the slightest delay in payment. This example only proves once again, that while we the average citizens will be taxed to hell and penalized when we are delinquent in paying our bills, the politicians and their family members and cronies, will be avoiding all of the above as they are on the "preferred customers" list.

The concern is not that everybody will suddenly start to gamble, but the short and long term affects of these operations. Any vice which is legalized in a society affects the culture for years to come, that is fact. Over a period of time there will be more people gambling and there will be more addictions as a result, just as with alcohol. Also, the length of time that an act has been going on is meaningless, prostitution is one of the oldest "professions" in the world, should we legalize that too?
Whether you believe that gambling is a sin or not is up to you and requires prayer and biblical meditation, but one thing is for sure, we will be held accountable for not being our brother's keeper and for not looking out for each other's best interest. We are not talking about a friendly game of poker or "bingo" here. We are talking about Number's houses which are operating illegally, practising money laundering, illegal banking, and are exploiting the populous, especially the poor who are the most vulnerable. I will never support this type of operation, as much as possible, which intentionally takes advantage of people. I am sure that they will never turn away anyone who is an addict, and on the other side of that coin, they will never fully cover the costs to rehabilitate those who are addicted, which means that we as a people will have to foot that bill. While every person is accountable for their own actions, we are also accountable for helping our fellow man, especially, if we are the ones who have caused him/her to fall.

There's nothing left to debate. The government has made their decision, and if it's one thing that I have learned about our government(s), it is that they will do whatever they want at the end of the day regardless of the people's will. As a Christian, I agree that we are not here to control this society or the government's duty to govern. However, we are here to teach salvation and give moral instruction. However, as you have pointed out, their are hypocrites in the church, as are in every area of life, who partake in activities that they preach against and should not do. Please do not let these guys give you a false view of who the church really is.

Back to the issue, I agree that once the practice was legalized for foreigners, it should have been done for Bahamians as well, because I do not believe in having double standards. However, as with all vices, every time we introduce or legalize a new one in our society, we are going to have those who become addicted and will damage many families, usually of the low economic income level. As someone who has concern for his fellow man, I would gladly give up all vices in this society, including alcohol, for the sake of those who are hurting because of it. Unfortunately, I am sure that not everyone is willing to go that far. It is claimed that the tax and monies generated from this industry will go towards many useful areas in our society, but at what cost? At the cost of those who suffer? If we are genuinely concerned as a people about "giving" towards industries such as health, education, and sports, then as a people, why don't we voluntarily give such a tax to these things without incentive? Why do we have to hide behind this guise of "gambling for a good cause" and play like we really care about those things? When someone gambles, they play to win, I have never once heard a gambler who lost his money say, "well i'm just glad that my money went to charity"!

My only hope at this time is that with this industry, as with all other industries which are built on vices, that sufficient monies from the taxation of the industry will go towards those families and persons which are ultimately devastated by this vice. If not, then the social services will continue to be overburdened, and all of us, including those who do not gamble will continue to have to support these people. Of course, I have no problems helping people in need, but I do not and will not support addictions. It is my prayer that our people become creative, and stop relying on such industries to earn an income and support themselves. If not, I fear that we will consider many other things in the future that will only add to the detriment of this society.

Interesting, it was already said to us that taxing the webshops would not affect the decision about VAT so his comments are a bunch of hot air. Secondly, while I believe that the webshop owners are all crooks, at this point, I say go ahead and tax them like crazy. Just make sure to also make them (the webshops) pay for the rehabilitation and support of all the addicts who waste their last dime on gambling as well. We don't need them to continue living off of social services and wasting the bahamian people's money.