Cruise ships must pay their own way

More proof that Washington is full of asses.

wrote in message
...
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/4118894p-4134117c.html
Cruise ships must pay their own way
COMPASS: Points of view from the community

By REP. CARL GATTO

(Published: October 9, 2003)
Last session I sponsored legislation, HB 207, to tax
cruise ship passengers at $100 a head. This tax raises
$71 million to be used as follows: $10-12 million to
Southeast cruise ship ports, $10-15 million to promote
Alaska as a tourist destination, and the remainder to
provide sorely needed help to education. My arguments
in favor of my cruise ship head tax are
straightforward and strictly financial.

. The cruise ship industry pays similar fees to
foreign ports. For instance, local advertisements
indicate that cruise ship passengers pay a tax of $115
to cruise the eastern Caribbean, $99 for the western
Caribbean and $78 for the Mexican Riviera. They pay
nothing for Alaskan destinations.

. Alaska is arguably the most beautiful place on the
planet, and the cruise ship industry for years has
visited the state and made a lot of money doing it.
The cruise ship companies examined their own data and
distributed a report claiming that cruise ship
operations put their profits back into our local
communities. Do they? A check reveals that much of the
money reportedly generated by the influx of cruise
passengers goes right back to the industry. Most of
the money exits our economy in what the cruise
industry calls "leakage."

. Let's follow the money. All or nearly all of the
tours that the ships' passengers pay for are
controlled directly by the ships' owners. In fact,
Alaska tours are advertised on board the ship the
previous day and the money for the tour is paid to the
cruise ship purser before the ship even docks. Those
Alaska businesses not on the cruise ship-approved list
may be listed as "not recommended" and, therefore by
implication "risky." The "approved" tours, those
recommended by cruise ship owners, get charged a
substantial fee (kickback) by the cruise owners. The
ship owners state that their fee is reasonable since
they collect the money for the operators. But the
cruise owners decide which excursions and businesses
get their recommendation. Those not recommended almost
never get a single dollar from any cruise passenger.
That leaves the cruise owners to control even the land
revenue generated by the ship. Any businesses that
complain are dropped like a stone from the recommended
list.

. Next, the cruise ship lobbyists tell me that cruise
owners are experiencing a net loss in profits,
reportedly because of cancellations and decreased trip
fees resulting from the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Again, is this truth or distortion? To get the facts,
I checked the annual financial reports obtained from
the industry leaders operating in Alaska. The reports
show that while a net loss is true in some cases, the
major owners are reporting a gross increase in
revenues.

. So what happened to the money? It's simple. New boat
orders are eating into their profits. For example,
Royal Caribbean has commissioned five new vessels,
Celebrity has commissioned one, and Princess Cruise
Lines is anxiously awaiting the delivery of its
Diamond Princess, expected to create an 18 percent
increase in gross revenues. Furthermore, all of these
industry leaders report plans to increase passenger
space to Alaska, stating that there is an increased
passenger demand for this destination compared with
foreign destinations. It appears that any dollars
reportedly lost by the industry are likely the result
of paying for new ships, and their investment will
undoubtedly be recovered by future operations.

. We should note that Alaska tourism organizations
annually ask for increased state dollars for tourism
marketing. But the cruise ship industry pays no
corporate state income tax. Industries like oil,
fishing, timber and mining pay an income tax. Phillips
Cruises, operating out of Whittier, pays the tax, but
the cruise ships, using the same waters, do not.

. Finally, I interviewed cruise passengers on the
streets of Juneau, in the Capitol Building, and on
Alaska Airlines flights when passengers returned home.
Not a single passenger said a tax would have stopped
them from traveling to Alaska.

It's time for cruise ships to pay their own way.

Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, was elected to the state
House in 2002.

Crap, maybe...but definitely true. They are the second group, after the
professional welfare recipient, who live out of my pocket week in, week out.
Tired of it.


"Queen of Cruising" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 15:17:39 -0400, "George Leppla"
wrote:

LOL... of course, you are right. The number one priority of any
politician
is not to serve the public, but to get re-elected.

Blanket statements like this are crap.

Our Republican Governor here in Florida rightly cut the so called high speed
rail project from the budget because, as so many of us saw it, all it did
was spend money and really didn't go high speed anywhere. Every little town
along its path was slated for a stop...15-20 miles apart here in the
Tampa-Orlando area.

Much like our lottery was touted to help schools. All it did was provide
another revenue source and other funding for schools was cut accordingly.
And this was while a Democrat was in Tallahassee running things.

"NWRep" wrote in message
...
(Mike) wrote:

Maybe, some
day, maybe, we will finally understand that widening highways only
encourages
additional traffic and work to put in light rail from the Airport to the
attractions.

If you can pay for light rail with only local and user dollars, fine.
But Most light rail is political pork paid for mostly by federal
dollars, that never lives up to the claims of the transit socialists
who advocate it.

And your notion that providing roads that keep up with growth causes
congestion is obvious balderdash. Somehow, the fact that something
that gets built is well used is a sign of failure strikes me as
absurd.

Are people migrating to where adequate roads are built? Possibly. Are
people having more children because there were more roads built,
leading to future population growth? Doubtful.

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 23:28:38 GMT in rec.travel.cruises,
(NWRep) wrote:

If you can pay for light rail with only local and user dollars, fine.
But Most light rail is political pork paid for mostly by federal
dollars, that never lives up to the claims of the transit socialists
who advocate it.

only because we don't stop subsidizing the auto & petroleum
industries by subsidizing the construction of ever more roads,
which is where most of the federal transportation dollars go. if
we stopped requiring the construction of parking lots every time
a big box store is built, and stopped subsidizing your SUV habit,
kids wouldn't be dying for dubya and halliburton in iraq.

================================================== ===========
"Widening highways to cure congestion is like trying to cure
obesity by loosening your belt." --- Stephen Goddard
Dennis P. Harris
http://www.ejuneau.net

You really are a fruitcake, aren't you?






Dennis P. Harris wrote:

only because we don't stop subsidizing the auto & petroleum
industries by subsidizing the construction of ever more roads,
which is where most of the federal transportation dollars go. if
we stopped requiring the construction of parking lots every time
a big box store is built, and stopped subsidizing your SUV habit,
kids wouldn't be dying for dubya and halliburton in iraq.

================================================== ===========
"Widening highways to cure congestion is like trying to cure
obesity by loosening your belt." --- Stephen Goddard
Dennis P. Harris
http://www.ejuneau.net

To the N/G.

I see many postings that have almost nothing to do with cruises. Why?

Why do people complain about others who say what they think. They do not have
to be right.

Many ( Way To Many ) Americans died to give you and them that right. Don't
waste it.

Brent

Thanks Brent for the reminder

SUNNY.......knows all to well how right you are

S'nd I

It seems that the purpose of the original poster was just to stir things up in
the NG, and by golly he succeeded. Why else post an anti-cruise message to a
group of cruise enthusiasts?

jt

wrote in message
.. .
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/4118894p-4134117c.html
Cruise ships must pay their own way
COMPASS: Points of view from the community

By REP. CARL GATTO

(Published: October 9, 2003)
Last session I sponsored legislation, HB 207, to tax
cruise ship passengers at $100 a head. This tax raises
$71 million to be used as follows: $10-12 million to
Southeast cruise ship ports, $10-15 million to promote
Alaska as a tourist destination, and the remainder to
provide sorely needed help to education. My arguments
in favor of my cruise ship head tax are
straightforward and strictly financial.

. The cruise ship industry pays similar fees to
foreign ports. For instance, local advertisements
indicate that cruise ship passengers pay a tax of $115
to cruise the eastern Caribbean, $99 for the western
Caribbean and $78 for the Mexican Riviera. They pay
nothing for Alaskan destinations.

. Alaska is arguably the most beautiful place on the
planet, and the cruise ship industry for years has
visited the state and made a lot of money doing it.
The cruise ship companies examined their own data and
distributed a report claiming that cruise ship
operations put their profits back into our local
communities. Do they? A check reveals that much of the
money reportedly generated by the influx of cruise
passengers goes right back to the industry. Most of
the money exits our economy in what the cruise
industry calls "leakage."

. Let's follow the money. All or nearly all of the
tours that the ships' passengers pay for are
controlled directly by the ships' owners. In fact,
Alaska tours are advertised on board the ship the
previous day and the money for the tour is paid to the
cruise ship purser before the ship even docks. Those
Alaska businesses not on the cruise ship-approved list
may be listed as "not recommended" and, therefore by
implication "risky." The "approved" tours, those
recommended by cruise ship owners, get charged a
substantial fee (kickback) by the cruise owners. The
ship owners state that their fee is reasonable since
they collect the money for the operators. But the
cruise owners decide which excursions and businesses
get their recommendation. Those not recommended almost
never get a single dollar from any cruise passenger.
That leaves the cruise owners to control even the land
revenue generated by the ship. Any businesses that
complain are dropped like a stone from the recommended
list.

. Next, the cruise ship lobbyists tell me that cruise
owners are experiencing a net loss in profits,
reportedly because of cancellations and decreased trip
fees resulting from the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Again, is this truth or distortion? To get the facts,
I checked the annual financial reports obtained from
the industry leaders operating in Alaska. The reports
show that while a net loss is true in some cases, the
major owners are reporting a gross increase in
revenues.

. So what happened to the money? It's simple. New boat
orders are eating into their profits. For example,
Royal Caribbean has commissioned five new vessels,
Celebrity has commissioned one, and Princess Cruise
Lines is anxiously awaiting the delivery of its
Diamond Princess, expected to create an 18 percent
increase in gross revenues. Furthermore, all of these
industry leaders report plans to increase passenger
space to Alaska, stating that there is an increased
passenger demand for this destination compared with
foreign destinations. It appears that any dollars
reportedly lost by the industry are likely the result
of paying for new ships, and their investment will
undoubtedly be recovered by future operations.

. We should note that Alaska tourism organizations
annually ask for increased state dollars for tourism
marketing. But the cruise ship industry pays no
corporate state income tax. Industries like oil,
fishing, timber and mining pay an income tax. Phillips
Cruises, operating out of Whittier, pays the tax, but
the cruise ships, using the same waters, do not.

. Finally, I interviewed cruise passengers on the
streets of Juneau, in the Capitol Building, and on
Alaska Airlines flights when passengers returned home.
Not a single passenger said a tax would have stopped
them from traveling to Alaska.

It's time for cruise ships to pay their own way.

Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, was elected to the state
House in 2002.

You can find him at 352 Distin Avenue, Juneau, Alaska 99801 or call him
at 907-586-2384

Jim wrote:
LOL I was thinking basically the same thing, this guy is really off the deep
end.
Jim

"Eden Roc" wrote in message
...

You really are a fruitcake, aren't you?






Dennis P. Harris wrote:


only because we don't stop subsidizing the auto & petroleum
industries by subsidizing the construction of ever more roads,
which is where most of the federal transportation dollars go. if
we stopped requiring the construction of parking lots every time
a big box store is built, and stopped subsidizing your SUV habit,
kids wouldn't be dying for dubya and halliburton in iraq.

=============================================== ==============
"Widening highways to cure congestion is like trying to cure
obesity by loosening your belt." --- Stephen Goddard
Dennis P. Harris
http://www.ejuneau.net

LOL I was thinking basically the same thing, this guy is really off the deep
end.
Jim

"Eden Roc" wrote in message
...
You really are a fruitcake, aren't you?






Dennis P. Harris wrote:

only because we don't stop subsidizing the auto & petroleum
industries by subsidizing the construction of ever more roads,
which is where most of the federal transportation dollars go. if
we stopped requiring the construction of parking lots every time
a big box store is built, and stopped subsidizing your SUV habit,
kids wouldn't be dying for dubya and halliburton in iraq.

================================================== ===========
"Widening highways to cure congestion is like trying to cure
obesity by loosening your belt." --- Stephen Goddard
Dennis P. Harris
http://www.ejuneau.net