The Value Added Tax (VAT) debate in The Bahamas ...and the Bahamian politicians, politics and healthy political discourse involved...

Bahamas will ‘pay savagely’ for VAT politics

Consultant fears VAT delay would lead to credit downgrading, loss of policy choices

BY ALISON LOWE
Guardian Business Editor
alison@nasguard.com
Nassau, The Bahamas

The Bahamas will “pay savagely” if plans to implement valued added tax (VAT) gets “bogged down in politics”, a consultant to the government has warned, suggesting that delays in implementing the new revenue measure could lead to serious fiscal woes.

Noting some of the negative response to the proposed new regime to date, Ishmael Lightbourne told Guardian Business that there is “no question” that the new tax regime would represent good fodder for political fireworks when the legislation is introduced in Parliament.

However, pointing to the situation in crisis-stricken Greece, Lightbourne said that The Bahamas’ choice is one of either implementing VAT – or some other revenue raising measure – or being forced to implement new taxes or expenditure cutbacks by “external forces”, like the southern European country.

“I think the essential issue is the country’s fiscal position which is consistently showing a deficit gap, and that is not getting better from our present tax regime, and we are putting ourselves further and further into deficits and national debt,” he said.

“In that position, my focus has always been that if we do not get off that path, we’ll be losing a chance to voluntarily make these changes in terms of expanding the revenue base or reducing the cost of government. When we can’t do that ourselves, external forces come in and impose certain conditions. If you look at Greece, Greece has been under IMF watch or care, and they are having to do things like cut some 12,500 public servants. Those are the types of issues we want to try to avoid.”

Highlighting a continuous “gap” between government’s revenues and expenditures in recent years that has led to a spiralling national debt, which stands at 60 percent of GDP and is projected to hit $4.8 billion by the end of this fiscal year, Lightbourne suggested that The Bahamas’ fiscal situation could take a turn for the worst if a further downgrade occurs as a result of international agencies perceiving that The Bahamas is not committed to fiscal reform, which would increase borrowing costs.

The situation to date is already “pretty dismal”, he highlighted in a recent presentation to the Bahamas Society of Engineers, with the government borrowing to pay administrative and operational expenses such as salaries racking up around $200 million in recurrent deficits alone per year as a result.

To date, it is unclear exactly how the official opposition, the FNM, will respond to the VAT plans. Earlier this year, former junior finance minister Zhivargo Laing suggested that had the party been re-elected during the last

general election, it would have implemented VAT within two to three years of taking office.

In a recent statement, FNM Chairman Darron Cash suggested there need to be more “public discussion” on VAT and the government was not doing a good job on the education process.

The Democratic National Alliance, headed by former FNM Minister Branville McCartney, has recently come out against the tax. In an email sent to supporters yesterday entitled “VAT will destroy us”, the party which ran a slate of candidates in the last election tells supporters that if VAT is implemented, The Bahamas “will never be the same”.

“The cost of living will be going up, the cost of your food, your cable bill and school fees!” said the party.

During an appearance on Guardian Radio’s “Coffee Break”, DNA Chairman Andrew Wilson charged that the tax will destroy the middle class and suggested the government consider a sales tax instead.

Lightbourne said: “You have to look in the real world of politics, any opportunity that presents itself for the opposition to catapult itself in the political arena, they will take. That’s the nature of politics. Now whether they will do that to the detriment of country and allow government to be the fall guy, I’m not sure, [but] that may be their strategy...”

The VAT consultant said that in a recent presentation to the Killarney Constituency Association on VAT, Opposition Leader and Killarney MP Hubert Minnis “made no comment.”

He said that a presentation on VAT to the entire parliament has “yet to come off” but he is hopeful that one can be made shortly.

“They need to be able to see the issues and challenges that we face as a country and how we go about resolving those issues. I’m still hoping that will happen so we can bring to their attention the kind of decisions that need to be made. No matter who is government these issues will present themselves and won’t go away.”

“It’s not VAT or nothing, it’s got to be VAT or something, in order to close this enormous gap we have growing by the year,” he added.

Pauline Peters, another newly-hired VAT consultant and a former head of Grenada’s inland revenue service who led the implementation of VAT in that country, told Guardian Business that while that country may remain challenged with reducing its debt burden, the introduction of VAT in 2010 in Grenada has been helpful.

“It has certainly raised additional revenue that can assist in that process (of reducing debt). One would recognize that the revenue is going to the consolidated fund and the government would prioritize with respect to how that is spent.

“There would’ve been areas that would’ve benefited from increased revenue, such as infrastructural development in the country, the social safety net would’ve been increased, and other financial issues that government would’ve been dealing with.”

October 01, 2013

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

There are four kinds of Bahamian politicians in The Bahamas: the lotioner, the grunt, the lone wolf and the bulldog

Portrait of the ‘lone wolf’

By Ian Strachan
Nassau, Bahamas


Last week I told you there were three kinds of Bahamian politicians. I was wrong. There are actually four. And since I neglected to even say what the three were, let’s get the four names out of the way early. The four types are the ‘lotioner’, the ‘grunt’, the ‘lone wolf’ and the ‘bulldog’. I told you last week about the Lotioner. The leader who leads from behind. The lotioner is the prototypical or classic politician, when you really think about it. Mostly talk, very little action.

The grunt I won’t waste time on. He’s just the kind of guy who hangs onto the coattails of the people in charge. He does what he’s told. He’s a follower really, a drone. So let’s leave him alone and deal with the big boys.

Next up: The lone wolf. Lone wolves can make inspiring, innovative, political leaders. But the truth is they are happier people if they lead in some other sphere than politics—some sphere where you don’t need people to vote for you. They probably do best as businessmen or civic leaders. They are natural leaders, don’t get me wrong. They are driven by passion, by ideals, not by the desire for attention or the desire for power. Well, to be precise, they want power, certainly, but they want it so they can turn the world into what they want it to be. They’re not all charismatic but they can all get in front of the crowd when they have to. The Lone Wolf wants you to hear him more than he wants you to see him.

He has strength of purpose. He can be visionary. But it’s hard for him to play the game of politics. It’s easy for the lone wolf to be political, but he often fails at being a “politician.” The lone wolf has a hard time doing what political survival and political success often call for: Lying, bribing, flattering or BSing the people. Which probably means he won’t last long. Lone wolves make great martyrs. They can’t keep their big mouths shut.

Sometimes, the lone wolf wants to be in charge but he doesn’t want to earn it. He wants you to just hand it to him because heck, he’s obviously the best man for the job. He will probably never earn it because he has a very hard time playing the game of hand go hand come. He’s rarely a good broker of deals. He has trouble understanding why everybody is not motivated by the same thing he is. In short, he wants to be in the game, needs to be in the game, will have no peace if he doesn’t get in there and t’row his blow, but he doesn’t want to play the game by the game’s rules. He wants a different set of rules. He wants to make the game over. He is prone to delusions of grandeur, you might say.

You see, hundreds and thousands have been playing the game just as it is and have no desire or will to change it. And to get to the top of a political party, you need to slip the delegates some cash, promise this one and that one a contract, guarantee this one a job for their louse of a son and that one a promotion they don’t deserve, grin up with scummies of various stripes, but he can’t bring himself, won’t bring himself to do it. He therefore can never really rise to number one under normal circumstances. He fails to understand that though he may be in politics because of a high sense of duty, or because he has what he thinks is something unique to contribute, others are there because they are trying to get over, trying to get ahead or trying to just plain survive. He won’t grease and he won’t lotion, so he remains respected but never trusted. He is a man of action, a man who gets things done. But secret deals often get made after he leaves the room. He is only made aware and included when the leader needs ideas and needs the right language. He is included when the organization needs to really get a difficult job done, a job that requires strategic thinking, analysis, eloquence, hard work and vigilance. But he’s not there when the spoils, the “unofficial spoils” are being discussed and divided.

On a basic level, politics, for the politician, is not so much about right and wrong as it is about compromise. Half measures are often the only measures that are possible. The lone wolf has an all or nothing personality, but in politics you never get “all”, so he usually settles for nothing. (Lone wolves do better as political advisers and consultants, speech writers and strategists, the power behind the throne. They last longer).

There’s another problem with the lone wolf. You have to follow before you can lead in this world and the lone wolf, in his impatience, in his passion, in his pride, in his faith and his own specialness has real trouble following. Lone wolves are never content unless they’re in charge; not really. Oh, they can endure someone else’s leadership for a while but eventually, inevitably, they get cross about something, and lose faith; eventually they’ll jump ship or do something that causes the captain to make them walk the plank.

Even if the lone wolf is in charge, he finds it extremely difficult to share leadership, even if it is going to strengthen his advantage or his cause. He does not trust anyone to properly implement his vision. So this kind of leader is normally less effective than he should be and is probably the most likely of all to burn himself out. (Which feeds his martyr complex).

Because the lone wolf is motivated most by his own principles (and ambitions?), not merely by the pleasures of being part of the winning side, he is the most likely to break party ranks. Because the lone wolf believes he’s the best man for the job, he normally can’t handle being passed over for someone else and can’t endure slowly climbing the ladder. He launches out alone. Better to be leader of a party with five thousand followers than a deputy in a party with forty thousand, apparently.

Oh, and one more thing; the lone wolf is blind to his limitations. He believes things are easier to accomplish than they actually are. And no matter how many times he fails, he is never cured of this affliction: this blind belief that he can do anything he sets his mind to and do it quickly and easily. What he thinks will take three months takes nine. What he thinks will take five years takes 15. But he charges on, normally blazing a trail. A trail ain’t nobody else interested in blazin’, cause they already know it’s too hard or will take too long.

Many political lone wolves die forgotten, penniless or heartbroken, haunted by the thousand good ideas they never brought to reality, the brilliant schemes left half-hatched, the scores of project blue prints gathering dust in the corner of some silent room in their homes. At his best, the lone wolf’s lack of conventional wisdom allows him to achieve remarkable feats. His lack of concern for his own long term political/professional survival challenges everybody around him to step up their game. His level of commitment and intensity makes others look bad. Unfortunately though, a lone wolf often ends up destroyed by the powerful people he helped gain that power, because he eventually decides to play the hero. He takes some principled stand instead of being quiet and being loyal to the team.

Who are the lone wolves? Randol Fawkes, Carlton Francis, Edmund Moxey and Cecil Wallace Whitfield come to mind. B.J. Nottage and Paul Moss perhaps.

Jul 07, 2011

thenassauguardian

Bahamian Politics Blog

The "Lotioner" in Bahamian politics and other kinds of Bahamian politicians

Portrait of the ‘Lotioner’
East Street Blues


BY IAN STRACHAN

Nassau, Bahamas


There are three kinds of Bahamian politicians. The question for the Bahamian electorate is, which kind is the best kind for these times and which should they give the powers of the Prime Minister to?

The first kind I’d call “The Lotioner.” Our people seem to like this kind a lot. They smile a lot. Love to shake hands and hug people. They make sure the black dye in their hair is always done perfectly. They seem to genuinely enjoy high office. I’m not sure they enjoy hard work and making unpopular decisions but they do enjoy attention.

This type of man is popular and has been his whole life. More than anything, he wants to be liked, likes to be liked, and usually that’s not very hard for him because he’s a natural charmer. He never wants to get on the people’s bad side. In fact, he tends to choose his sides depending on where the people stand. As soon as he’s pretty sure where most people stand, he’ll get up and say “You don’t have to vote for me if you want, but such and such is my position!”

Now, as a politician this makes very good sense, since the people elected you and can easily remove you. Popular opinion and popularity are the oxygen and bread the politician needs to survive. But there’s a flip side. The flip side is that the majority are often wrong, often misinformed, often emotional, often short sighted, often bigoted, so the politician who focuses on what the people want to the neglect of all else can turn out to be a leader history has little good to say about.

Pandering to the people at all times is no way to lead. In fact, it makes you a fraud. There are times when the people must be made to do what they would rather not do; there are times when for their own sakes, their appetites must be curbed, their habits altered, their convenience sacrificed.

When power for its own sake is the only goal, not actual progress, the Lotioner becomes a liability. But there he is, constantly flattering us, telling us how great we are, how great our nation is, how blessed he is to have this opportunity, how humbled he is by the power we have bestowed upon him.

Oh, and let us not forget one other very important thing about the Lotioner: he prefers form over substance. Nuts and bolts are anathema to him. He doesn’t have the appetite for it. Or he just doesn’t care about it. He lives for the grand speech, not the backdoor planning meeting. He goes in for grand gestures, for emoting, his goal is to be the One. He rarely ever really has anything he really wants to accomplish once he is the One, so long as he remains the One. The Lotioner strikes as someone who should have been a Hollywood actor but found that the crowds enjoyed political rallies and therefore gave up on the Hollywood dream and pursued Parliament instead. It’s easier.

Lotioners are very astute politicians when it comes to reading the current of popular opinion; they are very adept at expressing things with certitude and conviction even if their actual commitment to what they are saying is paper thin. They love the performance of politics but produce little change. The Lotioner is far better at keeping this going the way they are than he is at making dramatic changes or reform that could get people worked up and angry at him. This leader works better in government than in opposition and works better when times are good than when times are hard. He needs a well oiled machine to sit on top of. Don’t ask him to build the machine.

Now, I must give credit where credit is due. The Lotioner, in his eloquence and shininess is able to bring the masses to a level of euphoria, hopefulness and optimism that the other two kinds of politicians can rarely match. To put it plainly, the man can make you feel good about your life and your world. They can make you believe the world can be a better place. They can make you believe they will deliver that world to you. When they are their best, the Lotioners can make the masses stronger and more united than anyone thought possible.

It helps is the Lotioner is a man of high intelligence. His intelligence doesn’t make him less of a B.S.-er, it makes him more likely to surround himself with people who actually know what they’re doing. A super smart Lotioner, like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton, has good judgement and knows to listen to the experts. Lotioners almost always marry wives that are smarter and more competent than they are. That’s no mistake. You will find that such men lean on their wives heavily for their actual career success.



IAN STRACHAN is Associate Professor of English at The College of The Bahamas. You can write him at strachantalk@gmail or visit www.ianstrachan.wordpress.com.

Jun 30, 2011

thenassauguardian

Bahamian Politics Blog

Big Money and Politics in The Bahamas

Big Money and Politics

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Nassau, The Bahamas



While practically everyone talks a good talk concerning the need for campaign finance reform in the Bahamas; practically no one wants to do anything real about the matter.

This is most unfortunate.

With but months to go before general elections must be called, there are some Bahamians who loath the extent to which politics in this country seems to be driven by money; and therefore by the men and women who are rich enough to buy practically everything their little hearts desire.

Today’s word on the street is to the effect that, some of these men and women of the deep pockets are sometimes minded to fund this or that party – evidently expecting some return on their ‘investments’.

Evidently, practically no one would ever step into the light and confess that, this is why they give; or for that matter, ever say that, when they give, they expect some return for the funds they dole out.

We could quite frankly speaking care less about what people say about the purpose to which their money might or might not be put; but for sure, we are fully cognizant of the fact that, we live in a very real world where talk is cheap and where [by the same token] money buys land.

And that there is an intimate relationship between money and power is – as they say a no-brainer; since this is just the way things are in a place where money always means so very much.

The problem that arises – as far as we can surmise – rests with the extent to which money [and especially Big Money] can and does on occasion go to great lengths to conceal itself and its ownership of this or that political party, individual or entity.

This leads [as day follows night] to a perception that, in such circumstances talk about free and fair elections is just so much high sounding hot air.

Nowhere is this truth as telling as it is in the realm of Bahamian politics where any numbers of political aspirants routinely tell themselves and their publics that, they are solely motivated by their desire for public service.

No one with an iota of common sense is ever fooled by these protestations.

We recount these facts as prelude to our contention that big money has played on extraordinarily large role in funding this nation's best organized political entities.

The truth of the matter is that money does talk.

It is true too that big money can be expected to 'talk big'. And so, no one should be surprised when large donors to political parties expect dividends on their investments.

What compounds this matter of the often illicit relationship between money and power is the nagging suspicion that deals are struck by politicians on the make.

When the day for payback comes, the public interest is itself vitiated and undermined. Again, what makes this matter of money even more troubling is that it is often used to create and embellish a notion that the electorate is in charge.

The picture is obviously more complex.

When millions of dollars can be secretly pumped into electoral contests, extreme questions arise concerning the integrity of the entire democratic project.

We note, too, that this problem is one which pervades politics worldwide. In the United States, for example, campaign finance reform is one of that nation's perennial problems. To their credit they have done something about it.

In The Bahamas, on the other hand, little has been done about the matter. Indeed, the record shows that the problem has gone from bad to worse, with the Progressive Liberal Party and its Free National Movement counterpart apparently getting set for an orgy of money-spending.

Big Money might yet prove pivotal in determining the outcome of general elections whenever the date arrives for Bahamians to do their thing in an environment where that thing is preceded by Big Money and its myriad of oily maneuvers.

Simply put, the elementary and undeniable fact of the matter is that the public interest cannot and will not ever be best served if money moguls can between them curry favor with political aspirants and political parties.

The public should be able to know who has paid what to whom.

The way ahead for this country is for its political leaders to so conduct themselves that no one could expect favors in return for money contributions or any other consideration.

If such were to become principled policy in The Bahamas, there would be an ensuing liberating effect on the entire political process.

Debate would be more honest and genuine leadership would be given an opportunity to have its voice heard.

For the moment, the voice of Big Money continues to drown out others, including some which have a genuine contribution to make to this nation's economic, social and political growth and development.

April 28th, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

HURRICANE ANNA NICOLE WREAKS HAVOC IN THE BAHAMAS

Rough Cut
By Felix F. Bethel
“…cry havoc…”

Wednesday, 15 November 2006, 15:15

SUBJECT: HURRICANE ANNA NICOLE WREAKS HAVOC IN THE BAHAMAS

This cable describes how an eventful residency by the late model Anna Nicole Smith left several key institutions in the Bahamas in disarray and even managed to reinvigorate the country's media.

SUMMARY: Several months into her Bahamian residency, American B-list celebrity and regular entertainment television fixture Anna Nicole Smith has changed the face of Bahamian politics.

1. Not since Category 4 Hurricane Betsy made landfall in 1965 has one woman done as much damage in Nassau. Lying in disarray in her wake are Doctor's Hospital, the Coroner's Court, the Department of Immigration, local mega-lawyers Callenders and Co., formerly popular Minister of Immigration Shane Gibson, and possibly Prime Minister Christie's PLP government.

2. At the eye of a series of scandals over her Bahamian residency application and the death of her son, Anna Nicole has inspired a revitalized Bahamian media to take aim at a system that too often rewards the privileged….”

With this –then –as background; I speak of havoc and shame and rot and corruption to the core in this land that is mine.

Welcome to a corrupted, cruel place; a place where greed, slime and crime routinely cavort.

Take note that, with Christmas lurking in the shadows; and with my pocket as tight as ever –and with some of my children far, far away in countries far away from these troubled shores - I have today decided to take a kind of break from thinking about love affairs; my own creeping decrepitude – or for that matter, about Out East and the old days when I grew up young and green in one of yesterday’s fetid nigger-yards.

Happily, the break I take is liberally assisted by information coming my way from somewhere out-there in Cyber-Space; that same space that has allowed so very many Negroes to take a chance on losing even more of their hard-earned money to the magicians who own the so-called Web-Shops.

And so, the break I take concerns information purportedly coming from the United States Embassy; information involving some of this land’s most prominent citizens; and for sure, information that mesmerizes.

And since, I still remember what happened to Rodney Smith in the aftermath of his decision to rip off a speech made by John Sexton; I have decided to tell you [up-front and direct] that the words I quote are not mine.

1. The Anna Nicole affair has severely damaged Shane Gibson's political career, tarnishing one of the PLP's brighter stars. It also killed the Coroner's Court and may lead to changes in the laws allowing foreign property owners to obtain Bahamian residency.

2. Whether the scandals also determine the fate of the PLP in coming elections is still to be seen, but a newly energized media holding the government accountable will almost certainly make the campaign more difficult for the incumbent party. END COMMENT. ROOD

3. In Anna Nicole's wide swath of destruction, one entity has flourished -- the Bahamian media. At Post's quarterly media reception in October, a newspaper editor gushed about the increase in sales on days when Anna Nicole coverage is featured.

4. Not since Wallace Simpson dethroned a King and came to Nassau has an American femme fatale so captivated the Bahamian public and dominated local politics.

5. On August 11, Anna Nicole Smith filed for legal residency in The Bahamas as a result of her alleged ownership of a local home, pursuant to local immigration law permitting residence for persons owning homes of $500,000 or more. In September, the application was granted and Anna Nicole allegedly provided a $10,000 check directly to Immigration Minister Gibson at a meeting at her home.

6. According to Anna Nicole, Minister Gibson personally approved her residency permit on September 20. In response to concern over the timing of the approval -- residency approval typically takes years in the Bahamas -- Gibson and PM Christie sought to reassure the public. They said that Anna Nicole was treated as any other applicant, noting glibly that the Ministry of Immigration should not be criticized for "improved efficiencies in government for which it deserves praise."

7. (SBU) Gibson's protestations of distance with the matter were shattered by a prominent local law firm and a local gossip publication. Callenders and Co., the law firm that handled Anna's home purchase and residency application, said it delivered a $10,000 check from Anna Nicole directly to Gibson at Anna Nicole's residence, and that it communicated to Anna Nicole repeatedly on Minister Gibson's government cell phone.

8. The resulting public furor over Gibson's favoritism has been strong. Before Anna Nicole came to Nassau, Minister of Immigration Gibson enjoyed strong public support as a result of his aggressive anti-immigrant policies. His midnight raids of Haitian communities and restriction of residency options for Haitians was widely applauded by a Bahamian public fearful of losing Bahamian opportunities to illegal immigrants. The Anna Nicole scandal has recast Gibson as puppet of the privileged rather than defender of the common people of The Bahamas.

9. In response to the public outcry and mounting calls for Gibson's resignation, the Government promised a review of procedures in the Department of Immigration at the same time it fired back at Callenders and Co. for its role in the affair -- tactics that have brought criticism to others but have not helped turn the tide of public opinion.

10. During a November meeting with Poloff, an opposition Free National Movement Central Committee member gleefully reported polling in Gibson's parliament district foretold a clear FNM victory in coming elections. Local newspaper and radio feedback on Gibson has been brutal.

11. Even in the normally friendly Bahama Journal, Christie and Gibson have been roasted and a poll of the Journal's largely PLP readership showed 90% disapproval with Government handling of Anna Nicole.

11. At the heart of Gibson's problems is the fact that Anna Nicole received residency in a matter of days, when the process normally takes many months or years. His reported direct receipt of the $10,000 check for residency represents another flagrant violation of the normal process, leading to bitter denunciations of the whole process by which residency is granted to persons for buying property here.

12. Gibson and the PLP have not been the only victims of Hurricane Anna Nicole. Following the death of her son in Nassau's Doctor's Hospital on September 10, international media descended upon Doctor's Hospital, which carefully guarded Anna Nicole's privacy in the face of heavy criticism.

13. The quality of care at Doctor's came under fire for its treatment -- or more pointedly its complete lack of treatment -- of Anna Nicole's son while in Doctor's. For the record, Doctor's Hospital is regarded as the finest medical institution in the country and has enjoyed an excellent reputation among the expatriate community.

14. The criticism of the hospital was nothing compared to the criticism of the Bahamas Coroner's Court. The Court, which served to review death cases and determine cause, was under heavy fire for its inability -- or unwillingness -- to provide a cause of death for Anna Nicole's son.

16. It had yet to issue a statement when a US pathologist issued a report concluding that a toxic cocktail of drugs caused the death, leading to speculation that the government was protecting Anna Nicole from embarrassment by delaying its findings.

17. Before the Coroner's Court concluded its inquest, the government disbanded the inefficient Court and fired the Coroner…

There was even more, but suffice it to say – even now- I cry havoc at what the flunkies, lackeys, blood-suckers and pimps have made of this land that is mine.

Merry Christmas to all-a-yinna from Bettul.

December 23, 2010

The Bahama Journal

Bahamas Blog International