On Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:53:29 GMT, Jay Maynard
wrote:

On 2008-04-02, Morgans wrote:
"Jay Maynard" wrote
There's gotta be fire under the smoke; EAA wouldn't be publishing this one
right before Sun n Fun if there weren't some basis for it.
Did you not see what the Florida guberment put out, in response to AOPA's
inquiry?
They WILL NOT have a presence at Sun and Fun. None. Zip. Nada.
No trying to catch anyone with an untaxed plane. No Ramp Checks.

So they claim, at least. I'm not sure I trust them. Would you trust the IRS
if they made a similar statement? EAA has all the reason in the world not to
publicize things that would hurt Sun n Fun, yet they publicized this one.

I've been generally staying out of this one, but I've got a few comments here.

1. Yes, if a government agency (even the IRS) put out a press release saying
"We won't do 'X' next month," (where 'X' is a very specific action), I believe
they won't. The mainstream media gets REAL excited when they catch government
reps in a bald-faced lie, and doing so is considered a CLM among government
press agents. Dodge, equivocate, yes, but saying "We won't do 'X' next month"
is pretty definitive.

2. I further believe the Florida tax folks in this case, as tourism is a major
Florida industry. I don't think the state and local governments would stand for
it if the tax department decided to disrupt a major event that brings hundreds
of thousands of well-heeled individuals to the state every year.

3. EAA and AOPA's messages are a reaction is due to their *member's* concerns,
not an indicator as to how serious the threat to Sun-N-Fun really was. If the
subject is at least *possible*, they're going to respond to it if enough of
their members ask. And as AvWeb has pointed out, Florida is not the first state
to institute this sort of policy.

Jim Campbell has been printing or posting an annual anti-SnF rant every March
for over ten years now, and having just lost his second lawsuit against them
probably hasn't improved his attitude. He also just got nailed by the Florida
tax folks for a tax lien dating back to the US Aviator days. I suspect the
opportunity to slam both SnF and the Florida tax folks was heaven-sent.

Ron Wanttaja