Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Posted on 03/16/2010 7:03:33 AM PDT by Ebenezer
(English-language translation)
SAN JUAN – Senator Eduardo Bhatia publicly called on Governor Luis Fortuño on Monday to reveal which Republican congressmen support including Puerto Rico in federal healthcare reform.
The demand comes in the wake of another trip by the Governor to the federal capital and following unsuccessful efforts and multiple trips by the Governor to secure Puerto Rico's inclusion in the largest public-health program to be considered in Washington since the creation of Medicare.
“Fortuño is a Republican only for his own convenience. After months of cheap talk and ridiculous threats against President Barack Obama, what the Governor has not demonstrated to us is that he knows how to use his political capital within the Republican Party to convince his colleagues to support Puerto Rico's inclusion in healthcare reform. I challenge Luis Fortuño to provide the name of a single Republican Congressman or Senator who, thanks to his efforts, supports Puerto Rico's inclusion," Bhatia pointed out.
The Minority Whip for the Popular [Democratic Party] delegation in the Senate foresaw that the Governor will not offer the name of congressmen who support him, explaining that his effort has centered on "complaining when it's too late and displaying bravado for the crowds here in Puerto Rico."
"If he were really working effectively and had real political influence in the United States, we would already have seen some of his Republican allies speaking in favor of our inclusion. This is more proof that Luis Fortuño knows how to use his limited political influences for his own benefit only and not for collective benefit," he stressed.
ping
Puerto Ricans pay no federal income tax.
So the dem’s health care will include free care for the territories as well? Guam, PR all of them?
That is true for Pay-Nay-Pays in general, it seems.
Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.
Bhatia might be angry that some Democrats are having second thoughts about voting for Obamacare, hence his scapegoating Fortuño for the lack of Republican support.
In any event, the Governor put himself in a pickle by assuming a “we-want-a-piece-of-the-pie” attitude in true RINO fashion. Sheesh, Obamaniac Resident Commissioner Pierluisi’s cheerleading is bad enough!
Can we cut them loose already!
Why are we still holding onto this colonial war relic that refuses to commit itself to union or independence?
So the guy is complaining that Fortuño hasn’t been more effective at convincing mainland Republicans to support Obama.
This sounds vaguely incoherent.
The political reality is that the island can only petition for Independence or statehood. The federal government then decides to either grant or deny said petition.
As to statehood, if it looks like the island will provide more votes for the Democrats, the Republicans will not vote for inclusion of the island as a state and vice versa. So statehood is out of the question.
As to Independence, it will look on the world stage as if the mean ole USA is kicking it's unwanted child out into the street to fend for itself. So that ain't gonna happen either.
The whole statehood/Independence bru-ha-ha is nothing more than political theater to keep the islands citizens occupied with things other than the real problems of the island.
Just my $0.02 worth.
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