MataConHacha

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico status should be clearly decided

Metpr, It is ironic to see someone who defends "ELA" posting out of the great Cajun State of Louisiana! I want to comment on some of your assertions in the defense of the limbo status of the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico. 1. “It made it possible for Puertorricans to come to the US and benefit of our citizenship and go to great schools.” Before and after the creation of the status quo anyone could travel to the States. You are right only the very rich could send their children to study, but many still do it now, especially many of the defenders of ELA! After Puerto Rico was allowed to obtain the benefits of the Pell Grant program any poor person’s child on the island could go to the university. ELA did not bring this to the island, just being American Citizens allowed us to obtain it. 2. “Before the ELA the only PR people coming to the US were people who came to work in agriculture for very little money (tomateros)” Yes, there were a lot of those, but a lot came to work in industry too. Even after ELA there were a lot of agricultural workers who would work in the fields so that statement is mute! I know because I had cousins who worked in South Carolina and Georgian fields in the early 1980s. Do a little research on the net and you could get more on this. 3. “It made possible a fantastic school system and the creation of the University of Puerto Rico system.” Wrong!! What we know now as “La UPI” started out as a little school in Fajardo in 1900, as the Escuela Normal Industrial. It then moved to Rio Piedras and funded by the Federal Government under the Morrill Land-Grant Act in 1908, and then the creation of El Colegio de Agricultura in Mayaguez, again before ELA was created! 4. “If it was not for the ELA, puertorricans would have been considered less than Native Americans” I find this claim offensive and bigoted. However, I think you are referring to the treatment Native Americans received in the past from the rest of society in America. Well, Native Americans are having the last laugh. They have more autonomy on their land and many have become super rich. Americans (Puertorriqueños) on the island are denied the full rights of the U.S. Constitution unless they move to places like Wyoming or Oregon. 5. “What would take for Puerto Rico to be admited in the UN?” [sic] Well, independence or a new status; an Associated Republic with all the responsibilities and consequences. Not under the current status quo because it is a territory. Even the old tax code “936” called the island a mere possession The “Puerto Rico and possession tax credit” allowed funds and jobs to be generated to reduce unemployment. It was not ELA, but the economic situation. 936 was just one of many initiatives to try to reduce poverty and unemployment. In the 1930s the "Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration and the PR Reconstruction Administration " were initiated. In the 1950s Operation Bootstrap with the blessing of the Federal Government, not ELA. Remember the metida de pata of Hernandez Colon when he offered Japanese industry leaders the benefits of 936 in the 1980s and Secretary of State George Shutz’s reply? Shutz had to remind the Governor that was a no-no since it was a Federal perk and not ELA’s? Lastly, I am a student of history and of politics. I studied politics at the Inter-America and CORA (UPR), before I went back to the military so I think I am well verse in the matter. I invite you to read a very good book by one who was there to create the status quo “Puerto Rico, The Tails of the Oldest Colony in the World” by Jose Trías Monge.  (Monday Nov 9 | post #234)

Puerto Rico

House committee unveils status bill report - Unclear if will go...

Sorry for the double posting..somehow it went through when I didn't want to.  (Oct 12, 2009 | post #6)

Puerto Rico

House committee unveils status bill report - Unclear if will go...

Hah!! That is why I became independent an conservative!! I am tired of the "change and hope" crap, Reid and Pelosi!!! I hated what Lott did several years ago and fired a very nasty, tongue lashing letter and quit the Republican party just as I did the Democrat party in 1977!! Yes it is politics and the island's political parties are fools!! No one cares and that is a trait of a colonized people. Shame on them and especially the PPD and the 3 stooges from New York and Chicago!! I will keep crossing my fingers for the bill, but man I can't hold my breath on that hag Pelosi!! For those that voted for change and hope, let us hope the bill is voted on and change comes in the future!!! Again, I will not be holding my breath!!!!  (Oct 12, 2009 | post #5)

Puerto Rico

House committee unveils status bill report - Unclear if will go...

Hah!! That is why I became independent conservative!! I am tired of the "change and hope" crap, Reid and Pelosi!!! I hated what Lott several years ago and fired a very nasty, tongue lashing letter and quit the Republican party just as I did the Democrat party in 1977!! Yes it is politics and the island's political parties are fools!! No one cares and that is a trait of a colonized people. Shame on them and especially the PPD and the 3 stooges from New York and Chicago!! I will keep crossing my fingers for the bill, but man I can't hold my breath on that hag Pelosi!! For those that voted for change and hope? Well...let us hope the bill is voted on and change comes in the future!!! Again, I will not be holding my breath!!!!  (Oct 12, 2009 | post #4)

Puerto Rico

Fortuño: These are difficult times - Puerto Rico Daily Sun - 26...

That is what the rest of the world has said about us, the United States and Puerto Rico is part of the U.S.!!!  (Sep 29, 2009 | post #9)

Puerto Rico

Fortuño: These are difficult times - Puerto Rico Daily Sun - 26...

Well, you got to do what you got to do!! If there are no funds to keep the employees then the government has to cut positions. The problem in Puerto Rico is that the government for years has used its positions as a political carrot to get votes. Puerto Ricans can't have it both ways, you can't keep people employed in government if it has no funds to pay them unless you raise taxes and increase fees for services which no one on the island will pay. Life is hard and it is time that the island and those on it learn that the party has to come to end.  (Sep 28, 2009 | post #7)

Puerto Rico

50 years after winning statehood, Hawaii looms larger than ever...

Jorge, Don't forget that the Feds did it with the help of the status-quo supporters the PPD. The people were brain washed to believe that republicas was not the way to go. That the republicanos were bad and that they created a compacto with the great behemoth of the north the U.S.A. It is time to demand give us equality and shared sovereignty or gives us liberty!!!  (Aug 20, 2009 | post #8)

Puerto Rico

Novello gets earful from judge - But after sentencing, ex-healt...

Of course not he was President!! The suspension was for 5 years and a fine for 25K. He lost the the case against Jones when she appealed and she got a little over 850K. And let us not go to the topic of what is "is" is! LOL!! Well, it just goes to show you, when you are beloved by many even after you lie your rear end off.  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #4)

Puerto Rico

Novello gets earful from judge - But after sentencing, ex-healt...

Don't be too hard on her. She certainly had her day in court and even if she is guilty it does not negate that she still had the opportunity to speak her mind. There are many out there that are guilty of being arrogant and dishonest like let us say former President Clinton yet he is seen as a great President even though he lost his lawyer's license in Arkansas and paid a hefty fine for lying. He is admired and sought after to speak on important matters. To compare the two ladies is a moot matter, one did wrong and the other could do wrong in the future you never know, but I doubt it due to Sotomayor's position.  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #2)

Puerto Rico

Study Examines How Surroundings and Country of Origin Affect Ca...

Puerto Ricans never left their country which is USA. Puerto Rico is a U.S. Territory so their cancer rate should be included within the U.S. population and not as immigrants. They migrant like any U.S. Citizen around the country. Just wanted to clarify this fact.  (Aug 11, 2009 | post #9)

Puerto Rico

Language of Baseball ... Man umpires his way to English, career...

What has happen in Puerto Rico is the lack of teaching English to those that really need it; the poor and unskilled. It is time that English is taught the correct way. I am was lucky since my Parents had lived in New York and I was able to go between the States and New York to learn it and eventually go to school there. I graduated from a NYC high School with some difficulty and moved back to the island and then join the military. Anyone with a desire to learn can learn a language, but it's very hard work when you should know the language and you don't since it is a political game with the PPD to stop in their mind Statehood even if it is a the peril of the citizens of the island.  (Aug 11, 2009 | post #2)

Puerto Rico

The status bill in Congress threatens the compact - Hernandez C...

Just a little more for fodder: Since then, efforts to address the issue of Puerto Rico’s status have been unsuccessful. Even with the enactment of Public Law 600, Congress hasn’t hesitated to continue treating Puerto Rico as a territory with the support of the U.S. Supreme Court. In cases such as Califano v. Torres (1978) and Harris v. Rosario (1980), the Supreme Court reaffirmed Congress’ plenary powers over Puerto Rico pursuant to the Territorial Clause and also confirmed the island’s status didn’t change with the advent of the Constitution of Puerto Rico. These cases have allowed Congress to treat Puerto Rico differently from the States. The legal precedent established by Balzac v. Porto Rico (1922), which states Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S., remains very much in effect. Congress hasn’t hesitated to exercise its authority over Puerto Rico in many vital issues. In 1984, for example, Congress unilaterally decided not to return to the Treasury of Puerto Rico the excise taxes in excess of $10.50 a gallon collected on locally produced rum, although Section 9 of the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act provides that "taxes collected on articles produced in Puerto Rico and transported to the U.S. shall be reverted to the Treasury of Puerto Rico." Another clear example of Congress’ plenary powers over Puerto Rico was the derogation of Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code. Congress, through the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996, unilaterally terminated the Section 936 credit. In U.S. v. Casablanca Motors (1994), the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico concluded, "The current [federal] tax exemption Puerto Rico enjoys is dangerously at the mercy of Congress because there is no basic principle of the U.S. Constitution preventing Congress from gradually extending its full taxing power to Puerto Rico." Validating the island’s colonial status once again, Judge Juan Perez Jimenez of the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico wrote in PDP v. Government of Puerto Rico (1998), "Never was Puerto Rico’s approval sought in the derogation of Sec. 936, in the enactment of the Federal Aviation Act, or in the implementation of the legislation related to the rum excise tax. All of these laws of Congress reflect not agreements between equals in the nature of a compact, but unilateral acts pursuant to the Territorial Clause of the United States Constitution. " Excerpts from an article written by Carlos Marquez for Caribbean Business in 2004.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #3)

Puerto Rico

The status bill in Congress threatens the compact - Hernandez C...

I have yet to find anything, anywhere the compact that was signed between the island and the national government. There are references to the achievement of the local constitution and PL 600 in the sense of a compact, but to claim there is a compact is misleading and only the PPD believes it. If anyone with a little time on there hands would research they would find that congressional records indicate that many Congressional hearings that Luis Munoz Marin and his Resident Commissioner were reminded that allowing the island to have its own constitution would not change sovereignty or the relationship the national government had over its territory; Puerto Rico. If there was such thing as a "compact " why has the PPD over the years since 1960s tried so hard to enhance the compact? Did they not get what they negotiated when the Estado Libre Asociado was created? It there were a compact why does the PPD have a section of its followers who call themselves "autonomistas " and are willing to have a republica asociada? The PPD wants to have their cake and eat it too. The current political limbo created by the USA and the PPD is slowly dying and it is time to put it out of its misery and with the so-called "compact. "  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #2)

Puerto Rico

With a friend like Nancy Pelosi, who needs Trent Lott? - Puerto...

What is so "BS?" Puerto Rico was born independent? The only time it was independent was under the control of various indigenous groups and the last one was under the Tainos and known as Boriken. It never was independent under the Spanish or under the current situation. It might be independent even under what you term the "BS" bill. Just give the people of the island the opportunity to express their desires with Congressional backing.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #4)

Puerto Rico

Ask a Mexican

This individual uses terms and satire against everyone and every group, but from what I read in one of the local community paper (which is very liberal) he tents to nastily call those of the Anglo Saxon background Gabachos. Still, I do read his columns and try to take it with a grain of salt.  (Aug 5, 2009 | post #52)