Obama Budget Proposes Changes to Social Security, Taxes
President Barack Obama is proposing a $3.77 trillion U.S. government budget for 2014 that he says is "a fiscally responsible blueprint for middle class jobs and growth."
Speaking at the White House, Obama said the budget would adjust how Social Security benefits are calculated and change taxes for corporations and the wealthy.
"But if we're serious about deficit reduction, then these reforms have to go hand-in-hand with reforming our tax code to make it more simple and more fair so that the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations cannot keep taking advantage of loopholes and deductions that most Americans do not get," the president said. "That is the bottom line."
The proposal fails to satisfy members of both parties, with Obama admitting that parts of his budget were not "optimal" but rather a "compromise."
The budget plan intends to reduce the deficit by nearly $2 trillion during the next decade, through a combination of new revenues and budget cuts. It includes a minimum 30 percent tax on people making $1 million or more a year.
Competing budget plans have been passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled Senate, setting the stage for contentious negotiations.
Republicans are opposed to raising more government revenue, after a deal with Democrats earlier this year that increased income-tax rates on wealthy Americans. And lawmakers in the president's Democratic Party are angry over his suggestion to switch to a modified formula to measure inflation, which will lower annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients.
Obama will host a group of 12 Republican lawmakers at a private dinner at the White House Wednesday night to discuss his budget proposals.
CIG’s Ritz trouble rolls on
RC Cayman has filed a second legal action against the Cayman Islands Government regarding the dispute over the sale price of the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. The new owners of the resort, which is fighting for government to honour the transaction, has filed an application for Judicial Review seeking a legal decision over instructions to the chief valuation officer (CVO) to get another valuation of the hotel after the sale. The hotel reportedly received a letter from the CVO on 22 March saying it was re-valuing the price, despite the previous agreement between the new owners and the valuation officer.
RC Cayman is seeking a decision from a judge that there was already a binding agreement on the resort value for stamp duty purposes in the sum of US$181.5 million and government is bound by that earlier agreement and that it does not have a right to come up with a new value. RC Cayman, which was also the creditor on the hotel formerly owned by Michael Ryan and a collection of his companies, purchased the Ritz at auction for US$177.5 million.
Since then, former premier McKeeva Bush made a public announcement that he believed the hotel was undervalued and the new interim government has continued to question the value, despite its own valuers having agreed a price.
The new owners are hoping the courts will find that the “interference by the Premier and the Government of the Cayman Islands with the valuation process was and is unreasonable, capricious and politically motivated, and therefore unlawful”, the firm states in the latest legal action as it seeks to have the sale, which took place more than six months ago, transferred.
RC Cayman maintains that neither the minister of finance nor the chief valuation officer are entitled to make further valuations of the property as a result of an existing prior agreement regarding the value made by the CVO, the fact that the hotel was sold at public auction, the delay to announce the second valuation and that it was only taken subsequent to, and in retaliation for, the action taken by RC Cayman earlier to get the hotel transferred.
“The decision was taken for political reasons and/or as part of the unlawful and corrupt scheme to make the Plaintiffs liable for the debt of Ryan and/or his companies, which they had allowed to go unpaid during the duration of their government as set out in Cause G 087 of 2013,” RC Cayman says in the action filed in the Grand court on 27 March.
Claiming a breach of human rights and damages for the delay in registering the title to the property, for the infringement and what it described as the unconstitutional acts of the CVO, the premier and minister of finance and the Government of the Cayman Islands, RC Cayman is pulling no punches in the dispute.
RC Cayman states clearly in the legal document that the valuation of the property for stamp duty purposes was expressly agreed between Simon Watson of Charterland Ltd and the CVO on 15 October 2012, just ahead of the sale at US$181,500,000, less the value of the chattels, which was confirmed in writing the next day.
“The Agreement was a legally binding agreement which the Minister of Finance was not entitled to depart from, having delegated the function of adjudication of stamp duty to the Chief Valuation Officer pursuant to section 5 of the Stamp Duty Law,” RC Cayman states.
Despite now facing two law suits over the issue, cabinet members said at last Thursday’s press briefing that they had an obligation to the tax payer to check the value as they did not believe it could have fallen so much from its value of some $400 million just a few years ago. The ministers said the new valuation was being conducted to address the questions which have arisen since the sale.
The value of the resort, however, was impacted significantly by the more than $200 million debt hanging over it and, according to the new owners, the lack of investment in the hotel since its completion more than seven years ago, among other issues.
With the legal action now rolling on, this looks like another costly courtroom drama that will be paid for by the public purse and fall into the laps of the next cash strapped administration to deal with.
Jamaica to Receive $200 Million More from IMF
Jamaica is set to receive some US$200 million more in financial assistance under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, than initially anticipated.
A statement by the lending agency on Monday, April 8, noted Jamaica’s progress in the implementation of the economic programme thus far, and the Government’s efforts to complete the prior actions and structural benchmarks.
“On the basis of this progress, Fund management will submit to its Executive Board a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) in the amount of SDR 615 million (about $958 million, or 225 per cent of quota), with the recommendation that it be approved,” the statement said.
This is more than the US$750 million that was previously agreed under the Staff Level Agreement in February.
“Since the conclusion of a staff-level agreement with the Jamaican authorities in February on an economic programme that can be supported by the Fund, the authorities have submitted documentation to the IMF to confirm that all prior actions have been met. In addition, the Fund has engaged with the authorities and its development partners on the financing for the programme, including through important contributions from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank,” the IMF statement said.
It is expected that the IMF Board meeting will take place by the end of April, wherein the deal will be approved.
Source- JIS
Europe's largest regional airline to pay APD for limited time to highlight 'punitive tax
Flybe is offering to pay Air Passenger Duty on behalf of customers for a limited time to highlight the 'punitive tax'.
It will pay the tax for new bookings made online from Friday April 5 until Tuesday April 9 for travel from October 27 to October 25 2014. The 'tax rebate' effectively lowers one-way fares by £13, and by £26 on return UK domestic fares.
Flybe will also be presenting a petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer calling upon him to introduce a fair deal for UK domestic aviation and is asking customers to show their support by signing the petition on their webiste.
Managing director Andrew Strong said: "The entire aviation industry was disappointed that, in the face of compelling evidence, the Chancellor did nothing in last month's budget to lower UK APD which remains the highest in Europe.
The move follows last month’s Budget where the Chancellor failed to cut the UK’s air taxes, leaving them the highest in Europe.
By giving passengers an equivalent ‘tax rebate’, Flybe is highlighting just how much APD adds to the cost of flying in the UK, indicating how punitive the tax is not only to those travelling for leisure but also for those conducting business so necessary to the country’s economic success and development.
Source-WUC
St. Vincent: US 80 million still needed to complete Airport
Despite the need for more funds to complete the Argyle International airport in St.Vincent, Tourism Minister Cecil “Ces” McKie believes the tourism sector will get a significant boost once work is completed on the facility.
He says the the ministry anticipates between 190,000 and 250,000 tourist arrivals by air annually within the first two years of the airport’s completion.
Currently, the country gets, on average, 80,000 visitors annually via air transportation, he said.
According to the minister, construction is “progressing on schedule,” with the terminal building expected to be completed by the end of the year and “the strip and other amenities will be completed early next year the latest.”
“I am very confident that will be realized,” said the tourism minister, referring to the US$80 million still needed.
He said nationals in the Diaspora are excited about the international airport, primarily because “people outside are more familiar with the hassles of getting home.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has assured Vicentians that international standards are being maintained in the facility's construction according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines.
Beres to get keys to Miami
Jamaican lover's rock singer Beres Hammond is to be presented with the key to the city of Miami on Sunday, May 26.
The presentation will take place during a break in the proceedings at the annual concert Best Of The Best set for the Bayfront Park, Biscayne Boulevard, downtown Miami.
Hammond will be presented with a congressional proclamation by Congresswoman Frederica S Wilson, for his many musical and philanthropic contributions over the last three decades. The key to the city will be presented by Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.
The singer is also part of the line-up for the show which comprises reggae, dancehall and soca artistes including Freddie McGregor, Beenie Man, Sanchez & Cocoa Tea among others.
Barbados says Shanique Myrie an undesirable visitor
Queen Counsel Roger Forde has defended the Barbados Government immigration policy, insisting that Caribbean Community (Caricom) nationals must first be able to pass the test to enter the island in the first place in order to be allowed to benefit from the Caricom free travel initiative.
Forde was making his final arguments yesterday before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that is hearing the case in which Jamaican national Shanique Myrie claimed that she had been discriminated against because of her nationality when she travelled to Barbados on March 14, 2011.
Myrie, 25, alleged that when she travelled to Barbados she was also subjected to a body cavity search, detained overnight in a cell and deported to Jamaica the following day.
Myrie is also alleging that she was subjected to derogatory remarks by a Barbadian immigration officer at the Grantley Adams International Airport and is asking the CCJ to determine the minimum standard of treatment applicable to Caricom citizens moving around the region.
Her lawyers have asked the CCJ, which has reserved its ruling in the matter, to order Barbados to pay substantial compensation to their client.
On September 27 last year, Jamaica was granted leave to intervene in the matter.
Forde told the court that Myrie's statement contained several inconsistencies and that there is no evidence to support her claim of discrimination.
He said several parts of the statement she gave could not be verified and on that basis alone, her entire testimony should be dismissed.
The Queen's Counsel told the court that people had a right to stay in Barbados for six months under the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services within the region, if they were able to first pass the test to enter the country in the first place.
Forde urged the CCJ, which also acts as tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the 15-member regional grouping, that a regional heads of government conference decision in 2007, which states Caricom nationals should be allowed into member states for six months so as to develop a feeling of belonging to the region, is not binding because it was never written into local law.
Forde argued that the conference decision, even if it is determined to be binding by the CCJ, cannot trump the ability of Barbados' border officials to thoroughly determine the desirability of any Caricom national seeking to enter the island.
He told the court that Myrie gave immigration authorities an address and telephone number of a person with whom she claimed she would be staying during her stay in Barbados, but when the host was contacted she indicated that she was allowing Myrie to use her address and phone number, but would not be responsible for her accommodation.
Forde said that, instead, a man arrived at the airport to pick up Myrie, even as Myrie claimed she did not know him.
He said this situation, coupled with Myrie's personal conduct, brought officials to deem her as an undesirable visitor.
But three of the six-panel CCJ judges disagreed that it was a fundamental issue, even as the Barbados lead lawyer maintained that the Jamaican was not telling the truth.
In her submission to the CCJ, attorney Gladys Young, who is representing Caricom, said that on entry into any Caricom country, Caribbean citizens would get an automatic six-month stay.
However, she explained that the member state can refuse entry on the basis of undesirability or in order to prevent the person from becoming a drain on the public purse.
In further explaining the term "undesirable" the attorney said that while there is no parameter in the Caricom treaty for assessing personal conduct, if it is found that there is a genuine serious and sufficient threat, then the person may be refused entry.
Myrie was initially granted permission to enter Barbados, but that clearance was cancelled less than an hour later after investigations by senior immigration officer Merlo Reid showed she had lied about who her host would be in Barbados.
"Merlo Reid did not reject Shanique Myrie because of the colour of her shoes or the colour of her hair. He did not deny her entry because she was a Jamaican. He denied her because it was discovered she was untruthful," Forde said.
The CCJ, established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region's final court, held sittings in Jamaica and Barbados and Myrie's attorney Michelle Brown Monday urged the judges to completely believe the entire testimony of Myrie because the woman's evidence had remained consistent and accurate throughout the process of the hearing before the CCJ.
She told the CCJ that it was one thing to refuse Myrie entry but it was another thing to detain her, and as a result she should be awarded moral and punitive damages of almost one million Barbados dollars (US$500,000).
Haitian Finance Minister resigns with immediate effect
Haiti’s Finance and Economy Minister Marie Carmelle Jean-Marie resigned Wednesday with immediate effect.
Jean-Marie, who has been in the post for a year, sent her letter of resignation to Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.Her resignation comes amidst constant reports that she no longer feels she has the support of her colleagues in her effort to manage the local economy.
Dubbed the “Iron Lady,” she worked in Cuba for eight years before giving up her residency there to return to Haiti in 2010. She is considered by many in Haiti and in the international community as one of the more credible and competent members of President Michel Martelly’s administration.
Political observers say her efforts to bring transparency to Haiti’s finances, initiate a large-scale reform of the management of the country’s finances and put the impoverished French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on a path to macro-economic stability have not been easy.
They said the most recent issue creating a stir among donors to the earthquake battered country is a decision by the government to issue US$432 million in no-bid contracts after Hurricane Sandy last year.
Source-CMC
Antigua gov't extends life of special task force on crime
The Antigua and Barbuda government says it will extend by a further 90 days the operations of a special task force to deal with serious crimes, especially those that involved the use of firearms.
National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort said that notwithstanding the success of the force in recent days, “its task is still unfinished.
“In the circumstance, and after careful review, I have decided to extend the life of the Crime Task Force for further 90 days, after which another review will be carried out,” he said, adding that it was his expectation that over the next three months the force “will have even greater success in apprehending and bringing to justice those perpetrators of serious criminal acts, especially those who are involved in gun related violence.
“We will not allow criminal elements to hold our small island state at ransom. Our law enforcement officers will therefore continue to be proactive in securing and protecting the citizens and residents of and visitors to our twin island nation,” Cort said, praising the work of the Royal Police Force, the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force and the members of the Joint Task Force.
He said since the special task force had been in existence it had executed 91 search warrants, detained 152 people and arrested and charged 50 people on offences ranging from gun and drug activities.
In addition, several rounds of ammunition and firearms had been seized.
But Cort acknowledged that despite the success “there are some areas of the community which continue to be trouble spots” and that “the high visibility of uniformed officers, both military and police in ‘hot spots’ during ‘peak’ times has had the desired effect of reducing the levels of serious crime”.
Source-CMC
Former deputy leader of the Progressive National Party, Albray Butterfield jr calls for the resignation of the Minister of Immigration and Labor
Former deputy leader of the Progressive National Party, Albray Butterfield jr., has voiced his consternation in a four page letter over an incident that put the Minister of Immigration and Labor in a position where a firearm was reportedly fired by a friend of his, in his presence and the presence of two innocent by-standing tourists over the Easter holiday weekend. This resulted in the lady receiving superficial injuries to her leg.
Butterfield said in in the letter that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link; noting that all it takes is for one or two rouge, reckless, irresponsible, self-centred and void of moral judgement government minister(s) to bring down a fragile government administration attempting to rebound from one of its most disgraceful periods in history, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the government’s critics.
He said the Previous Progressive National Party (“PNP”) Government Administration was brought crashing down with the sound being heard all around the world as a result of similar irresponsible and reckless behaviour of a few of its Government Ministers; and between 2003 thru 2008, no one within the hierarchy of the PNP or the Government of that day had the bowels to stand up and speak out publicly in condemnation of such action of its Ministers, until at the very end when the writing was already on the wall.
Butterfield said if TCI public officials, more specifically the PNP party’s public officials and its Government Administration’s image in public office are to change in the mind of the world at large, strong frontline supporters of both TCI political fraternities, local religious and civic leaders, and the electorate on a hold must stand up and publicly speak out, and rebuke such evils each time rouge behaviours and dishonest acts manifest itself from TCI public officials and the Government of the day.
He questioned why the senior Government Minister had not yet come forth publicly to the electorate and apologised for his alleged disgraceful conduct in public, or publicly apologise to the two innocent by-standing tourist that was injured as a result of his male friend’s alleged actions.
It is his belief that the dilemma that senior Government Minister had gotten himself into, could have been avoided and chided the Premier that quote:- “until you commence to instil the fair of God in your Government Ministers, and seek to have their moral compasses calibrated to find true north, one or two of your Ministers will always be an embarrassment to your Administration,” end quote.
Mr. Butterfield expressed the sentiments that he no longer has confidence in Mr Ricardo Don Hue Gardiner’s moral judgment to represent the Turks and Caicos Islands, both domestically and internationally and called on Premier Ewing, as well as H.E. Governor Rick Todd to ask for the resignation of Mr Ricardo Don Hue Gardiner from the Cabinet of the Turks and Caicos Islands Government with immediate effect, for breach of conduct unbecoming of a person in public office.