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The Man From La Fortaleza (Luis Fortuno, possible VP nominee)
The American Spectator ^ | February, 2012 | John Fund

Posted on 03/24/2012 8:56:20 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued

But there is another intriguing possibility. Luis Fortuño is the 51-year-old governor of Puerto Rico, whose four million people have all been U.S. citizens since 1952, making their governor eligible to become vice president. Mr. Fortuño made history in 2004 by being elected the island's lone delegate to the U.S. House as a conservative and followed up that feat in 2008 by being elected governor with the largest margin of any predecessor since the 1960s. His party not only won control of the legislature by historic margins but also won the power to name three supreme court judges, giving that body its first conservative majority in history.

But the reasons for his sweep were sobering. The economy was in meltdown, suffering from a recession that began in 2006, predating the one on the U.S. mainland by two years. "I inherited a deficit that was proportionately speaking the largest in the country, representing 44 percent of revenues," Fortuño told me recently in an interview at La Fortaleza, the 500-year-old medieval castle that serves as the island's seat of executive power. "We had to take a loan to get enough money to meet our first payroll." The state had had negative economic growth throughout the previous decade. Fortuño recalls, "My wife asked me if we could seek a recount." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So he immediately cut spending by 20 percent and laid off 17,000 state workers, enduring weeks of protests. He reduced the top corporate tax rate from 41 percent to 30 percent, with a further reduction scheduled down to 25 percent. Individual income tax rates were cut by a quarter in 2010 and entire government agencies privatized. ("They will do a better job. They will do it cheaper.")

(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fortuno; fortuo; luisfortuno; luisfortuo; pr; puertorico; vp; vpotus
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1 posted on 03/24/2012 8:56:24 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
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To: fieldmarshaldj; AuH2ORepublican; Impy; GOPsterinMA; randita; Sun; LdSentinal; AuntB; ...

Luis Fortuno is perhaps the best Governor in Puerto Rico history. He would bring excitement to the ticket in the same way that Sarah Palin did.


2 posted on 03/24/2012 8:58:46 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued (A chameleon belongs in a pet store, not the White House)
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To: Clintonfatigued
FYI:


3 posted on 03/24/2012 9:02:10 AM PDT by InterceptPoint (TIN)
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To: Clintonfatigued

How would this work? The people of P.R. are U.S. citizens, but they do not vote for POTUS/VPOTUS. P.R. has no electors in the Electoral College.


4 posted on 03/24/2012 9:10:35 AM PDT by ConjunctionJunction
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To: Clintonfatigued

NO.


5 posted on 03/24/2012 9:12:00 AM PDT by Irenic (The pencil sharpener and Elmer's glue is put away-- we've lost the red wheel barrow)
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To: Clintonfatigued

You gotta be kidding? Right?


6 posted on 03/24/2012 9:12:45 AM PDT by goodnesswins (2012..."We mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor")
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To: Clintonfatigued

And WHOM, pray tell, might this be “payback” too, hmmmm????


7 posted on 03/24/2012 9:14:16 AM PDT by AmericanInTokyo (Fraud: Feign support on FR for weeks FOR Newt--against RICK--then slowly "come out" for ROMNEY!)
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To: Clintonfatigued

If Mitt Romney is the nominee, he could choose Jesus Christ as his running mate and I still wouldn’t vote for him.


8 posted on 03/24/2012 9:14:45 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Clintonfatigued

See how well it goes over when folks learn he fully endorsed a Democrat to succeed him in Congress as PR’s Resident Commissioner.


9 posted on 03/24/2012 9:35:08 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj
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To: cripplecreek
"If Mitt Romney is the nominee, he could choose Jesus Christ as his running mate and I still wouldn’t vote for him."

Ditto....

10 posted on 03/24/2012 9:36:13 AM PDT by traditional1 (Don't gotsta worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gotsta worry 'bout no gas; Obama gonna take care o' me!)
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To: Clintonfatigued

Can I ask a stupid question?

While Puerto Ricans are American citizens, is this guy constitutionally eligible?

As part of the constitutional qualifications for president are that a president or vice-president must be “an inhabitant of the United States for at least 14 years”.

Puerto Rico is not a state, so it seems to be that he has not been an inhabitant of the United States for 14 years, even though he is an American citizen.


11 posted on 03/24/2012 9:37:22 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: traditional1

This Household and extended Family Will only vote down ticket if His name appears.


12 posted on 03/24/2012 9:41:14 AM PDT by easternsky
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To: easternsky
"This Household and extended Family Will only vote down ticket if His name appears"

AHHHHH!

You're not gonna do the clothes-pin-on-the-nose-vote-for-the-(R) Routine?

The Establishment Elite are COUNTING ON YOU (and/or others) who vote for the spoon-fed pick's they allow!

13 posted on 03/24/2012 9:43:24 AM PDT by traditional1 (Don't gotsta worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gotsta worry 'bout no gas; Obama gonna take care o' me!)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

It’s not a stupid question. How can he run for VPOTUS if he’s not even allowed to vote for POTUS/VPOTUS? And the people of Puerto Rico are not allowed to vote for POTUS/VPOTUS either. If they choose him, seems like it will turn into a big distraction over voting rights for people who live in the territories.


14 posted on 03/24/2012 9:44:01 AM PDT by ConjunctionJunction
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To: traditional1

My Convictions and integrity are also counting on me.


15 posted on 03/24/2012 9:52:47 AM PDT by easternsky
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To: Clintonfatigued

First of all, Mitt Romney has to do something to shore up his bone fides with the base of the party. I think Gov. Fortuna would make a terrific candidate, because he actually is a true conservative; but, I am a little nervous about nominating someone from P.R. Would he be accepted by our base? On the plus side, we have elected Hispanics and blacks from many majority-white districts. We have elected Asian-American Governors in S.C. and La. On the minus side, this would be a bit of a gamble. I do think the powers that be will investigate this pretty throughly. I’m pretty sure if Gov. Fortuna were on the Republican ticket, statehood would pass overwhelmingly in P.R. I, for one, there’s room for another star on our flag.


16 posted on 03/24/2012 9:58:28 AM PDT by Redmen4ever
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To: traditional1
The Establishment Elite are COUNTING ON YOU (and/or others) who vote for the spoon-fed pick's they allow!

It always cracks me up to see FReepers deriding the Democrat plantation only to run back to pick the master's cotton on the Grand Old Plantation.
17 posted on 03/24/2012 10:00:55 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

You, sir, ask a very interesting question! While P.R. are citizens by birth and, under most people’s definition of natural born citizen, qualified on that count. Is the time they are in P.R. count toward the residence requirement?


18 posted on 03/24/2012 10:03:25 AM PDT by Redmen4ever
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To: cripplecreek
"FReepers deriding the Democrat plantation only to run back to pick the master's cotton on the Grand Old Plantation."

No different than Democrats who vote for the (D), no matter WHO is behind it, these people vote (R), then rationalize why things NEVER change.....

19 posted on 03/24/2012 10:03:31 AM PDT by traditional1 (Don't gotsta worry 'bout no mo'gage, don't gotsta worry 'bout no gas; Obama gonna take care o' me!)
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To: traditional1
No different than Democrats who vote for the (D), no matter WHO is behind it, these people vote (R), then rationalize why things NEVER change.....

Exactly. Nothing will ever get better if we don't deal with our own mess first. Meekly accepting the increasingly leftist candidates the GOP foists on us is only moving us left.

I encourage people to write to their congressman and tell them that you will not vote for Romney under any circumstances even if they actually intend to hold their nose and vote for him.
20 posted on 03/24/2012 10:08:59 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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