Posted on 10/10/2006 6:38:59 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá yesterday favored a motion that senators and representatives [with the governing Popular Democratic Party (PPD)] will sign to demand that U.S. President George W. Bush release Puerto Rican political prisoners.
During a meeting yesterday of the PPD Legislative Conference, Representative Luis Raúl Torres made a motion in support of the release of the political prisoners, which was approved unanimously and supported by Acevedo.
Torres told EL VOCERO that he will send Bush and congressional leaders a letter to let them know the PPD leadership's feelings. He recognized, however, that the governor might make additional efforts in favor of Carlos Alberto Torres, Haydeé Beltrán, and Oscar López Rivera, who have been in prison for over 25 years for their struggle for the island's independence.
The PPD representative stated that, in the letter, he will call on the American president to offer these Puerto Ricans an "unconditional" pardon.
"They have paid, and it's time that they return to their families. Christmas is coming, and I believe it's the best gift to these prisoners' families and to the Puerto Rican people," Torres said. "A 78-year sentence is excessively long, and, if the codes are reviewed, we will find that there has not been that high a sentence in other cases."
A march titled "All Hands United for the Freedom of the Political Prisoners" took place on Sunday with hundreds of people walking from the Convention Center to Old San Juan to demand the release of these Puerto Ricans.
Thanks for that.
Did you know that the PR statehood movement is going for the Tennessee Plan to petition for statehood?
If they want to be part of the States, why wouldn't they want statehood?
I had to look that up to refresh my memory. I have to preface my position by saying that I'm not 100% sold on statehood, only that independence (after 108 years in the Union), as the other poster suggested, is ludicrous. There are some tricky issues that would have to be resolved and addressed, the per capita income being one, as PR would instantly become our poorest state, another would be figuring out the language issue (some believe that is the biggest impediment - as we might end up with a smaller-scale version of Quebec), as PR would have to have some unique set-asides that other states would not want applied to them (of course, New Mexico must've had similar problems, as about the time of statehood, or slightly earlier, the Spanish-speakers and Hispanic officeholders outnumbered the Anglos).
Another is gathering a supermajority consensus on statehood itself. I don't think the residents should be forced into an either/or choice of statehood or independence, and should continue to have the option of continuing under Commonwealth status. I wouldn't think until (with all 3 choices on a referendum) it reached 2/3rds to 3/4ths support for statehood, that it should go forward.
Three words: Internal Revenue Service. The powerful people (both mainlander and islander) behind the status-quo movement don't want the IRS into their lives.
That you're not 100% sold on statehood, at least not yet, is perfectly understandable. I'm just glad that you bring your points forward in a reasonable, level-headed, and respectful way. It's just that a large chunk of us think that the status quo is now the root of most island problems, that is, a stagnant economy.
Every once in a while we post to a thread which somehow pushes everyone's buttons, and responding becomes a second career - and this seems to have been one of those threads. That's too much attention to demand of the thread, but nevertheless here goes.
First, I meant no disparagement of Puerto Ricans, and if Puerto Ricans as a group seem to want their island to be a state then by all means it should be put to a vote. This has been done, IIRC, and I believe that the vote results have been largely that Puerto Ricans do NOT want their island to be a state. I could be wrong about that, but, in any case, if they want the island to be a state, then congress should take up the issue and decide the matter. They're the nation's elected representatives and I don't particularly see that the whole thing has to be put to a popular plebiscite. If it happens, fine. Welcome Puerto Rico.
As for who, currently and as things stand now, should be a citizen and who should not... as you say, those wiser than us - in INS - should decide; they've got the experience to deliberate the matter and render a verdict.
I should add that I meant no disrespect with my rather flip reply to the serviceman who didn't like my opinion. No doubt he is a heroic fellow with personal nobility by the trainload and deserves a citizenship if he so desires. Again, that should be a matter of INS policy.
At all events, Puerto Rico is currently not a state. Should it become a state, after due deliberation by our betters in congress and the federal bureaucracy, then by all means we should welcome the fact. I, personally, don't think it'll happen - and, for that reason, I believe Puerto Rico, as it stands currently, is a political liability and should be cut loose.
And that's all I'm gonna post to this thread. Period.
Thank you for your candidness.
Just one more note: people born in Puerto Rico are citizens of the United States of America by birth. The INS, ICE or whatever it's called nowadays does not have a say in this. Okay, it's not strictly 14th ammendment citizenship, it is citizenship by virtue of the Jones Act of 1917, but if tomorrow I move back to Alabama it would be just the same as if you moved from your X state to Y state.
Again, thanks for your interest.
LOL. Okay, okay, I surrender! Whatever. :-)
You mean PRs don't have to pay income tax? How do I sign up.
Thank you for the education!
What a crock. Some education. Where are the numbers? Where are the facts?
Puerto Rico's statutory 'Jone's Act' citizenship can and should be revoked just as easily as it was gifted to the ingrates.
Puerto Rico will receive $17 billion dollars from the U.S. Taxpayers, in cash, this year and what will we get from Puerto Rico in return?
The same thing we've gotten for over 100 years for all our billion$ of dollar$.
Nothing!
U.S. Corporations doing business as Foreign Corporations in Puerto Rico will avoid $4 billion dollars in U.S. federal income taxes this year and what do the U.S. Taxpayers get from Puerto Rico in return?
The same thing we always get.
Nothing!
How many Welfare states can the United States Taxpayers afford to support like this?
Our 'betters in Congress?'
'Wiser men than us'???
Are you guys for real?
LOL!
Wish I'd had those facts at my fingertips yesterday, but... oh, well... thanks.
Almost 60% of Puerto Rico's able bodied workforce is cashing in on a federal government program.
Roughly 40% of the total 3.8 million residents of the island or 1.5 million people receive all of their medical care and prescription drugs FOR FREE under their Socialized medical program called 'The Rosello Plan' that's named after one of their former governors.
Almost 40% of the residents of Puerto Rico, that are working, work for the state and local island governments.
Most of the rest work for our own federal government.
There must be 10 or 20,000 working for the U.S. Postal Service alone.
There are at least 1,000 working for the IRS collecting taxes stateside by phone.
There must be close to 1,000 working for the TSA, another 1,000 working for FEMA, at least 1,000 in the federal courts and 1,000's and 1,000's more at the EPA, U.S. Marshals, Dept. of Agriculture, the DEA, Customs Border Patrol, FBI, Federal Prisons, VA Hospitals, Dept. of Highways and Transportation, FAA, FTC, FHA, HUD, Social Security, Welfare, Food stamps, Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, the Coast Guard and then every branch of our military, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
You name the federal government agency and it's on Puerto Rico in force.
I wonder if there's anywhere stateside that has as many federal government employees as Puerto Rico does? Probably not even Washington, D.C.!
The rest work for the giant pharmaceutical companies and other corporations that avoid paying billions in U.S. income taxes by masquerading as foreign corporations.
Puerto Rico is a Socialist's paradise. Even their car insurance is Socialized. They call the Socialized Auto Insurance programs ACAA and Compulsory Insurance.
The thing that should gall us the most is the U.S. Taxpayers are being forced to pay for all this Socialism run amok through huge, massive transfer payments, but the jokers on the island will try to deny it until they're 'blue-in-the-face'.
We could recruit an international force of 200,000 men and women, from every other nation's elite special forces, pay them $100,000 each and still save money, if we stopped supporting Puerto Rico, tomorrow.
How many residents of Puerto Rico are actually on duty in our armed forces at this time?
If you do the math, you'll probably find that the U.S. Taxpayers are transferring about $1 million dollars to the island every year for every resident of Puerto Rico that's in an American Military uniform today.
Then they fire bomb our Naval convoys, evict our Military from 2 of our bases, try to steal over 30,000 acres of U.S. Taxpayer owned property and billions and billions of dollars worth of U.S. Taxpayer owned infrastructure.
And we should be grateful to them?
We should make them a state?
I say, no way!
I believe that is what the Founding Fathers had in mind.
Thanks; it's very helpful. I've copied down all the facts you cite and will use them in future threads on the subject.
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