“Taxation Without Representation” Fitting Platform For Goverment Shutdown; And The Only Court Opinion We’re Waiting For Is On Hansen’s Eligibility
It’s a short bill with a long tail, and illustrates with great clarity why all who can must participate in Wednesday’s Government Shutdown.
Act 29-0067 says simply that it is “An Act to generate revenue to assist the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority and the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and for other purposes.”
‘…and for other purposes.”
The act would establish a tax of a penny a pound on all articles, goods, merchandise or commodities (except food and medicine) brought into the Virgin Islands for business or personal use, or for other disposition or sale.
The proceeds of this tax, it says, will be distributed evenly between the Waste Management Authority, for unspecified uses, and to WAPA to “reduce the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause,” or LEAC. But let’s not forget:
‘…and for other purposes.”
This bill represents another big nail in the economic coffin for those individuals and businesses already operating on a thread, or not at all, because of the cost of energy. Daily, businesses close, people are reduced to a seriously substandard quality of life, and more tax on the multitude of items brought into the Territory may tip the scales past recovery.
And don’t forget that as part of the “Austerity” bill passed last summer, the Legislature gave the Executive Branch the power to divert up to 80% of all funds generated into whatever they felt necessary. And nowhere in the bill does it state who, or what agency, will be tasked to assure that the funds go where they are designed to go.
When government agencies owe WAPA MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in overdue payments and allowed to continue to consume power; when millions are being borrowed to support multi-billion dollar corporations like Diageo who, to date, have been a dismal example of return on investment; when bonds floated on the promise of repayment through the gross receipts tax are being invested in a Broadband project that the Territory does not have the infrastructure to support; and when in addition to all this one-third of the population has recently had an 8% cut in income – this act is tantamount to no less than “taxation without representation” – a concept that has fueled justifiable civil unrest since the times of the Roman Empire.
If this latest slap in the face to the rational thinking Virgin Islander is not enough to induce you to take part in the Government Shutdown Wednesday, then we don’t know what is. Take your place on the steps of the Legislature and make it clear that this measure, and any more they have waiting in the wings, will not be tolerated by those they are supposed to represent.
The bill is to be heard in the Government Operations, Energy and Veteran’s Affairs Committee, chaired by Alicia Hansen. And speaking of Hansen…
Nice Try
We have very little to say about Hansen’s attempt to silence the media through her defamation suit targeting Reef Broadcasting. We will say that these suits are historically very difficult to win and are often, as we believe is the case here, the last flailing act designed to distract an angry public from a true and valid underlying issue.
In this instance, the true and underlying issue, and the one in which we are interested, is the disposition of the courts on the question CIF raised as to Hansen’s eligibility for candidacy based on her ineligibility to vote due to her probationary status at the time of the election.
Wednesday will mark one week since CIF, through its President Michael Springer, watched the St. Croix Board of Elections (BOE) defer a decision on this matter, and the complaint CIF filed, to the District Court for an “opinion” – an opinion that St. Croix BOE Chairman Rupert Ross said they may or may not follow when they finally do address the issue. The court, as of Wednesday, has another two weeks to provide that opinion, based on the BOE’s request that one be issued in no more than three weeks from the Nov. 2 hearing.
That is the court action we believe is relevant. The rest is the age-old ploy of distract and diffuse.
We choose to remain Focused.
Be there on Wednesday.
@ SJ 3:04pm
You would not even admit or point out the fact that anyone with any view or chosen side of an issue can come to CIF and state their position WITHOUT censure . But let someone with an opposing view to that of the administration write an editorial or much less call one of the admin friendly radio stations and you can’t even freely express yourself.
Your assertions about CIF are disingenuous at best, and unfair if you ask me. You also say “no one is denying you existence nor status”……oh really? Just read the anon post @ 5:20 am and tell me if you think people will keep getting slapped in their faces and not do something about it.
Its easy to stand when someone affords you a floor…or if you take it from someone else.
easy? do you think the floor just came to those who have one? most things in life are earned,I worked 40 years for mine, no one gave me anything,every step was paved with my youth. every brick was laid with the cement of carrying both a govement with me and people less forunate. The people i worked for always made more off my work than I did as if i was just another part of there money machine. I deeply resent anyone implying my road was easy. many people shared my journy, I know this beacsue i saw them at the thrift stores where i saved enough to send my two children to school,today my dream is threatened by the same reason many others dreams are inturupted
taxs and higher costs of living. I live my life open minded and moved here because of the wonderful sence of community and culture, i didnt come to feel better than or teach anyone how they do it some place else. I feel that the anger towards new comers is misdirected and a backlash of the powerlessness many people feel today, I have been other places some are worse than here the fear is just as great, To allow anyone to take my floor is to loose myself and all that i worked for, I have eaten many many top ramen meals in my life, lived thru car wrecks and jobs, ive had my fights and battles, so you can try to take my floor the difference is you see it as something that comes easy becuse of force or luck where as i see it as a life times achivement paid for in hard work
@above, all new comers, as you say, aren’t to blame, but don’t you feel or even acknowledge that some new comers are of that mindset? Its difficult to tell them apart, therefore, its even harder to tell who is for you or against you. What position does that put the people in? When you don’t know who to trust, trust no one! That’s the point I think we’re at today. We have trusted all for way too long and that is what has us in this predicament today. (our own people as well as outsiders). How do you rein it in now when everybody all look alike? Just another perspective…..