The Attorney General last night said senior European officials and politicians have warned The Bahamas: "We won't take our foot off your neck until you implement a corporate income tax."
I think the only response is to reverse everything that has ever been done to placate all these alphabet groups over the years, as clearly none of it has worked, and there are only more demands. Give here, and it will only be more demands. And notice how the US still has no regime to disclose beneficial ownership yet escapes any forms of sanctions or plans to do so. No indications the EU is going to take such an approach with the US. Sorry EU going after the weak with extortion wasn't a good idea. You have a problem with financial regulation, there is this thing called the UN we all pay into and have signed up for. We can discuss all matters at the UN. Bye.
Oh, and Apple, Facebook and Amazon and Google are the source of the vast amount of the EU's tax leakage, so we can suggest the EU go knock on there doors not the poor Bahamas which is suffering from a massive tourism drop !
It was a mistake to have started trying to meet all of these demands of alphabet groups over the years in the first. place. No matter what you did it just got you more demands.
The whole matter should have placed before the UN, where it belongs, there is a UN and it has a procedure for dealing with multilateral issues. "The UN is the forum for such matters" why is that a hard position to communicate? Then everything would apply to everyone, but oh, yeah, some countries not on the blacklist will never agree to those demands and that would mean having to deal with it openly and fairly. I guess that was unacceptable so go after the small countries one by one. Not such an attractive option from where the Bahamas sits.
The goal posts will only just keep moving no matter what you do, at a certain point you are no longer a soverign state if all you do is follow the EU's rules.
Everything done in the past to please the EU should be reversed, if you are going to be on a black list anyway, whats the point to following thru on anything done in a failed attempt to avoid such an outcome anyway ?
So covid is highly contagious. Its spreads easily on cruise ships. Likely many people who would sail on August 1st would have it and not know of it. Hasn't this recent disaster with cruise ships been enough to tell everyone the industry is a health disaster?
Thousands still stuck aboard ships as workers as the industry has no real national regulation! We want to be a party to this?
Could be me, but I would think continuing ahead with new cruise ship terminal developments that damage the environment, bring in little money would very much not be on the agenda along these lines of thinking?
eg. Lighthouse Beach as a National Trust Park is much more in line with a better future for the Bahamas?
What about we just not have a cruise ship industry and instead having a hotel based tourism product together which much higher on island spends of visitors who stay in hotels?
Curious how this is not explored as if accepting only the lowest yielding form of a tourism product is the only option available to the Bahamas?
It is beyond the scope of government policy to fashion and regulate what would be the best form a tourism industry for the Bahamas should take?
Entities that are paid on the public dime must accept we have far less coming in now so head counts and pay must be cut. It is what it is. Times are not great, but people in the private sector are being laid off, the idea a government job is gold plated must be an idea cast firmly aside. We can not just keep borrowing more money.
Really government spend and deficits should not have been allowed to creep up once tourism numbers fell off in 2008 we are paying a dreadful price for this now.
The small amounts of spend per visitor from cruise ships in the Bahamas are not enough to run a modern Bahamas.
Maybe great for the cruise companies and a cruise port, but a poor deal for the Bahamas.
Hotel based visitors spend $1000 on island oer visitor. Probably now with higher class rooms available at BahaMar. I say we part ways with the cruise industry. Sooner the better, and bond investors can invest in Bahamian hotels.
We are not "stuck" with the cruise industry and it is our forever lot to make crumbs off this nations number one industry. We can ask it to leave.
Since we have spent near $100M on new generators from Finland, have plans to do LNG imports, and have issued oil drilling licenses already have we not already defacto renegged on our Paris commitments already? I keep asking when we are going to send the notice of formal withdrawl and be honest about it rather than pretend to care when clearly we do not. All cruise terminal projects still have their permits as well I should ad.
Actions do not match sentiment here, so when is the Paris agreement exit going to be communicated as the US has done?
concerned799 says...
The Attorney General last night said senior European officials and politicians have warned The Bahamas: "We won't take our foot off your neck until you implement a corporate income tax."
I think the only response is to reverse everything that has ever been done to placate all these alphabet groups over the years, as clearly none of it has worked, and there are only more demands. Give here, and it will only be more demands. And notice how the US still has no regime to disclose beneficial ownership yet escapes any forms of sanctions or plans to do so. No indications the EU is going to take such an approach with the US. Sorry EU going after the weak with extortion wasn't a good idea. You have a problem with financial regulation, there is this thing called the UN we all pay into and have signed up for. We can discuss all matters at the UN. Bye.
On Our foot’s on your neck, EU warns
Posted 9 May 2020, 5:20 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Oh, and Apple, Facebook and Amazon and Google are the source of the vast amount of the EU's tax leakage, so we can suggest the EU go knock on there doors not the poor Bahamas which is suffering from a massive tourism drop !
On "Tell Europe that enough is enough"
Posted 6 May 2020, 9:13 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
It was a mistake to have started trying to meet all of these demands of alphabet groups over the years in the first. place. No matter what you did it just got you more demands.
The whole matter should have placed before the UN, where it belongs, there is a UN and it has a procedure for dealing with multilateral issues. "The UN is the forum for such matters" why is that a hard position to communicate? Then everything would apply to everyone, but oh, yeah, some countries not on the blacklist will never agree to those demands and that would mean having to deal with it openly and fairly. I guess that was unacceptable so go after the small countries one by one. Not such an attractive option from where the Bahamas sits.
On "Tell Europe that enough is enough"
Posted 6 May 2020, 9:10 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
The goal posts will only just keep moving no matter what you do, at a certain point you are no longer a soverign state if all you do is follow the EU's rules.
Everything done in the past to please the EU should be reversed, if you are going to be on a black list anyway, whats the point to following thru on anything done in a failed attempt to avoid such an outcome anyway ?
On EU blacklists over money laundering
Posted 6 May 2020, 12:22 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
So covid is highly contagious. Its spreads easily on cruise ships. Likely many people who would sail on August 1st would have it and not know of it. Hasn't this recent disaster with cruise ships been enough to tell everyone the industry is a health disaster?
Thousands still stuck aboard ships as workers as the industry has no real national regulation! We want to be a party to this?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment…
On D'Aguilar likely to let Carnival dock here
Posted 6 May 2020, 2:54 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Could be me, but I would think continuing ahead with new cruise ship terminal developments that damage the environment, bring in little money would very much not be on the agenda along these lines of thinking?
eg. Lighthouse Beach as a National Trust Park is much more in line with a better future for the Bahamas?
On INSIGHT: Time for imagination as we draw blueprint for our future
Posted 5 May 2020, 3:50 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
What about we just not have a cruise ship industry and instead having a hotel based tourism product together which much higher on island spends of visitors who stay in hotels?
Curious how this is not explored as if accepting only the lowest yielding form of a tourism product is the only option available to the Bahamas?
It is beyond the scope of government policy to fashion and regulate what would be the best form a tourism industry for the Bahamas should take?
On No cruise tourists for five months (at least)
Posted 5 May 2020, 3:08 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Entities that are paid on the public dime must accept we have far less coming in now so head counts and pay must be cut. It is what it is. Times are not great, but people in the private sector are being laid off, the idea a government job is gold plated must be an idea cast firmly aside. We can not just keep borrowing more money.
Really government spend and deficits should not have been allowed to creep up once tourism numbers fell off in 2008 we are paying a dreadful price for this now.
On Spending 'explosion' with SOE losses squeeze govt
Posted 29 April 2020, 1:07 a.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
The small amounts of spend per visitor from cruise ships in the Bahamas are not enough to run a modern Bahamas.
Maybe great for the cruise companies and a cruise port, but a poor deal for the Bahamas.
Hotel based visitors spend $1000 on island oer visitor. Probably now with higher class rooms available at BahaMar. I say we part ways with the cruise industry. Sooner the better, and bond investors can invest in Bahamian hotels.
We are not "stuck" with the cruise industry and it is our forever lot to make crumbs off this nations number one industry. We can ask it to leave.
On Cruise port eyes $150m bond despite shutdown
Posted 27 April 2020, 11:32 p.m. Suggest removal
concerned799 says...
Since we have spent near $100M on new generators from Finland, have plans to do LNG imports, and have issued oil drilling licenses already have we not already defacto renegged on our Paris commitments already? I keep asking when we are going to send the notice of formal withdrawl and be honest about it rather than pretend to care when clearly we do not. All cruise terminal projects still have their permits as well I should ad.
Actions do not match sentiment here, so when is the Paris agreement exit going to be communicated as the US has done?
On Fighting climate change the key
Posted 26 April 2020, 12:55 a.m. Suggest removal