Tax reform chaos in the Dominican Republic

[tape]

man I don't even know how to start this...

so there's this ugly USD$4.5b government deficit in my country right now, and the country leader's answer to it is force through the incredibly-corrupt senate an abusive tax reform on every single citizen.

The previous president, Leonel Fernández, who was our president for 8 years (2 terms), upon retiring of his duty said "the deficit is fault of the previous party" (the PRD). Which is basically like saying he did absolutely nothing against it when he was president, which obviously is equally as bad. The current president, of the same party as Leonel (the PLD), and his name is Danilo Medina. He let this reform pass.

Some effort has been made to reach international news outlets to inform of the chaos that is brewing from this (a student was killed in a protest, just today) but it's apparently for naught. There are rumors that the local media (almost all absurdly government-controlled) are telling outsider media that there is no problem in the country right now.

There's a lot more happening but words fail me right now. The reddit articles are here and here, and the Twitter hashtag (currently number 2 of our country) is #NoReformaFiscal. We're struggling to get it to worldwide TT to see if we can get some coverage on this. I don't want this day to go to waste.

oh and a video! http://youtu.be/2SVHLvzTAAs this was at a protest. So far, only 2 "international" news about this: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news...lic+dies+clash+with+police/7519742/story.html and http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/lo...-dies-in-Dominican-Republic-anti-tax-protests

If you're confused about anything, just ask me. I don't know what I might've left out, I'm kinda flustered lol.

i feel im makin a fool outta myself but i want to at least be able to say i tried. here goes nothing.

 

[Ouro]

My first thought: Holy crap another Dominican on Smogon.

My second thought: Hopefully Dominicans will finally rally and fight the rampant corruption that has been plaguing the country for years.

Leonel and all his accomplices need to be brought to justice for years of stealing from the Dominican people. It is a shame that people in our country only get involved in politics to steal.

 

[tape]

My first thought: Holy crap another Dominican on Smogon.

My second thought: Hopefully Dominicans will finally rally and fight the rampant corruption that has been plaguing the country for years.

Leonel and all his accomplices need to be brought to justice for years of stealing from the Dominican people. It is a shame that people in our country only get involved in politics to steal.

yes, this is the most worrying thing. the apathy (after some whining) of the country. the news are already making it to some international outlets, and hopefully we can keep this up. there are some protesters at FUNGLODE right now, but I dont think thats the right answer right now. I dont know of any other current protest at the moment.

edit: oh yeah FUNGLODE were the ones that suggested this abusive reform. obviously the politics didnt think TWICE about passing it.

edit2: also pics! http://www.trust.org/alertnet/multi...diaInode=ba3c7ad6-fcca-4aec-a681-58405bfdecd6 of the felled student, that is.

 

[tape]

well it seems no one gave a shit lol so ill keep it short.

we went to FUNGLODE (Global Foundation for Democracy and Development) and passively protested and blah blah. More and more people joined us as time passes, and we were quite a mass at 10PM. The dark unused building right next to it was filled with police officers, so it seems they(the politics and whatnot in FUNGLODE) were prepared.

there were a lot of people, and as time passed more and more people joined. I was happy for that.

as expected, absolutely no media covered the protest, except Acento and Noticias SIN, which seem to be the only presses not controlled by the government. We got some articles in NY Times and some other presses but I havent been able to check it all, i just got home.

and whatever. thanks for reading???

 

[Ouro]

Well I've been in the Dominican Republic for about three weeks now. Nothing is being said in the news about this even though there are tons of tiny protests everywhere.

 

[tape]

... well that was a random bump. the local media isn't covering the protests at all. when it does, it basically insults every protesters and tries to portray it as a violent protest.

from what ive gathered, the protests in the city of Santo Domingo (more specifically, Distrito Nacional) are pacific, but there are really violent outbursts in the other provinces; burning tires, throwing stones, with the occasional peaceful protest.

i personally think its gonna blow the hell up in january, when the all new taxes roll in.

edit: especially when these ridiculous new tax rate for alcohol/cigarettes rolls in ahueahuehua

 

[Nietzsche]

Wait, isn't higher taxes a good thing if your country's deficit is terrible?

And I agree, boosting cigarrette taxes is always hilarious.

 

[tape]

Wait, isn't higher taxes a good thing if your country's deficit is terrible?

And I agree, boosting cigarrette taxes is always hilarious.

the problem is how we wound up in the deficit. we refuse to pay for all the scandalous shit every single person involved in politics squandered (and are still doing)from this country.

and our previous president went batshit crazy on inaugurations of phantom schools/hospitals/whatnot. you'd think that if you don't have money you wouldn't spend it, right?

many, many, MANY people do say that they'd be absolutely and completely ok with the tax reform if we actually DID see or get our rights/services as tax-paying citizens. roads are bad, there's technically no medical service, male-biased laws (they want to incorporate a reform that says as long as the woman doesn't die or end up paraplegic, its ok for a man to beat the shit out of her); the list goes on. corruption runs very deep.

 

[Nietzsche]

Alright, I see now.

Man, we U.S. Americans complain about our politicians being stupid/crazy/corrupt a lot but we don't really appreciate how (relatively) sane they are compared to a lot of other countries.

 

[BattleStar]

Wow this is pretty tough I can imagine to you guys. I feel fortunate that I don't live in sub a country. Do you guys see any possible to solution I this problem? Is there something that can be done but the government won't consider?

 

[Marathon]

A deficit will only worsen if the attempts to remedy it are similar to the austerity measures Greece faces now. Raise taxes by all means, but they have to offset the lack of consumption by citizens with some government spending.

I don't know much about Dominican policies or government, but political turmoil often exasperate economic woes.

 

[tape]

joke's on all of us when they publicly state the country should be in austerity and they keep raising their salaries and propose a larger budget than last year's by quite a far margin. as i said before, the citizens would be ok with higher taxes if the money was used for its intended purpose, instead of the debauchery we're accustomed to see.

a solution...? outright saying no to corruption, overall, everywhere. people seem really eager to bring the politic leeches (that have a lot of dirt on them) to court and punish them accordingly to their deeds, but it's kinda hard when the 3 powers of the state (Legislative, Judiciary, and Executive) are under the governing party's mantle.

 

[WaterBomb]

did anyone else skim the thread title and think it was something about our site's creator?