Bmda: Not a haven for tax dodgers

Finance Minister Paula Cox is spearheading a crusade to clean up Bermuda's tarnished 'tax dodging' reputation in the US.

The Island's first woman Finance Minister said she plans to visit Washington in April and once there spread the word among US politicians that Bermuda is not a dirty word but instead synonymous with good business practices.

Ms Cox said that she would like to sit down with US Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry, appeal to his intelligence and set him straight on the facts.

"They aren't really interested in what is happening in Bermuda, but it resonates with their local constituents in terms of bringing dollars back and bringing home the bacon and being patriotic," she said. "But I think he (Kerry) strikes me as an intelligent man and I think if you're an intelligent person you listen to the facts before you make a decision."

Senator Kerry has been busy Bermuda-bashing as part of his ongoing political campaign and has promised, if elected, to stop business coming to the Island.

Minister Cox had better not hang her hat on this particular tall rack. For one, Kerry is a Democrat, and Democrats have yet to show that facts matter.

Word to Paula Cox: try talking to Republicans. Don't worry about Kerry; his wife has investments in Bermuda, so he's just blowing election year smoke.