Quotations of the day by Latino News Review
"There's very little trust in the government, and that's for good reason. We're our own worst enemy." - Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as some lawmakers say they will take a new look at ways to keep the U.S. safe from terror attacks without giving up privacy protections.
Russia faces security challenges at Sochi Olympics - News & Observer by Law, Order and Crimes in Puerto Rico
Russia faces security challenges at Sochi Olympics
News & Observer The Sochi games are the first Olympics in history that are almost on the doorstep of an active insurgency whose members could potentially try to "upstage the games with some kind of attack, which would provide a kind of bad PR for the Russian ... and more » |
What’s the problem with PRISM?by Puerto Rico News - Selected Feeds
What’s the problem with PRISM?
WASHINGTON — When the federal government went looking for phone numbers tied to ...
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VenEconomy: Cruelty and Malice by Latino News Review
On June 7, Twitter got a big surprise after a tweet from Luisa Ortega, Venezuela’s Attorney General, said to have requested a “less burdensome measure in favor of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni.”
Gay Community Could Show the Obamas a Little More Gratitude by Devin Barrington Ward
Why the actions of Ellen Sturtz and GetEqual do nothing to advance LGBT rights.
Even after all that the Obama Administration has done to advance the human rights agenda of the LGBT community, it appears as though some members of the community remain unsatisfied by the progress, as indicated by the heckling of First Lady Michele Obama during her remarks at a LGBT fundraiser Tuesday evening in Washington, DC. Lesbian activist Ellen Sturtz who identified herself as a member of the gay rights group GetEqual began yelling at the First Lady during her address to the crowd, demanding that Mrs. Obama tell the President to sign an executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And while as gay man, I agree wholeheartedly with Sturtz that the passage of ENDA (End Employment Discrimination Act) which would protect the employment rights of millions of hard working LGBT Americans is of the utmost importance, I completely disagree with her disrespectful tactics.
Sturtz outburst was then immediately met with a swift, decisive, and appropriate response from Mrs. Obama, telling Sturtz she could “Listen to [her] or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.” What I find even more disturbing is that after Sturtz was asked to leave by fellow guest she then proceeds to tell members of the media that she was “taken aback” after the first lady “came right down in [her] face” as if to say the first lady was not entitled to address her blatant disrespect. What some of my fellow gay rights activist and advocates need to understand is that while we should be deeply disappointed by the failure of President Obama to sign this executive order that would protect nearly 1/5 of America’s LGBT workforce, disrespecting the President much less the President’s wife in a public setting does nothing to advance our cause..
As a gay black man I have the luxury and sometimes downright difficulty of having my foot in the door of both African American culture and the culture of the LGBT community. African Americans, who view Michelle Obama with a favorability rating of 90%, feel like Tuesday’s display of disrespect already adds salt to an open wound. A sizeable majority of African Americans, myself included, take issue with what seems to be an unprecedented level of disrespect for this President and his family, whether it be a Congressman yelling “you lie” during a State of the Union Address, or Arizona Governor Jane Brewer pointing her finger in the President’s face, it seems as if America has lost their manners and their minds when it comes to the current residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In addition, when we compare the progress that has been seen with issues of importance to the LGBT community to level of progress seen with African American issues during Obama’s presidency, the LGBT community has arguably seen more victories. From the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, to the signature of the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Act that expanded federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity to being the first U.S. President to coming out in support of marriage equality. President Obama as shown a historical level of leadership in a short period of time on many issues important to the LGBT community, even being labeled by Time Magazine as the “First Gay President.”
And while it can be argued that all of the progression that the LGBT community has experienced which is made up of a variety racial groups, benefits the larger society, many African Americans have accused the President of not paying the same attention to the social and economic issues plaguing African American communities, such as the rise in crime urban environments or the record level of unemployment among black men. Despite the lack of progress on these issues support for President Obama among African Americans remains high at 90%, which is significantly higher than the 71% rate of support the President receives from the LGBT community, a community who has seen an paramount amount progress in the span of just four and half years.
I am not suggesting that because President Obama has shown support for the LGBT community, that advocates and activist should remain complacent. We should continue to push the President to take even more meaningful actions on the rights of LGBT Americans, especially when it comes to the issue of workplace discrimination on the basis of sexuality, orientation or gender identity. But using these over the top antics will only distract the public and policymakers from the pureness of our fight for equality. Furthermore, after all President Obama has done for the LGBT community, the most any president has done in this history of this nation, the LGBT community’s support for the President should be unwavering, even when change does not seem to come fast enough. Because when it boils down to it, the opposing right has made it abundantly clear that the rights of LGBT Americans is not of concern to them. In essence, President Obama along with the efforts of countless dedicated activists, is all that we have and we should value this committed partner of equality.
Devin Barrington-Ward is a 23 year old Atlanta based Political Strategist, Human Rights Advocate & Racial Politics Commentator. Click here to check him out on the web.
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As Puerto Rico’s fiscal year comes to a close, Governor Garcia’s Padilla’s party (Popular Democratic Party, or PPD in Spanish) is facing close to an $800 million dollar deficit and no easy way to close it. The current crisis is due to the result decades of borrowing have left Puerto Rico unable to refinance any more of its debt, with $775 million dollars in debt payments are knocking on the door. With the true owners of Puerto Rico (the Credit Agencies) threatening to downgrade Puerto Rico bonds to junk status, a four year old economic report has been leaked to the press about what would happen if such a downgrade occurred. In short, the report commissioned by then Governor Luis Fortuño and produced by Advantage Business Consulting in 2009, stated that a junk-level downgrade would result in 60,000 public employees being laid off and a sales tax of 18% (up from 7% now) to balance the budget.
This dire panaroma plays side-by-side with Puerto Rico’s poor economy, leaving many wondering if the Island’s economy will ever recover. One such analist, Cate Long, posed this question in a recent article, adding:
“The GDB is currently rated Baa3. It could be downgraded to junk and see its borrowing costs soar. The government intends to raise taxes on corporations to help with the massive public deficit, and banks are lending at a lower level, both of which can inhabit private sector growth. What will provide growth for Puerto Rico and allow the commonwealth’s $58 billion of tax-supported debt to be serviced?”
Facing a shrinking economy, stagnant job creation, increased migration to the Continental United States and low wages, Governor Garcia Padilla’s party is investing in two main solutions: Gambling and taxes. On the gambling side, the Government plans on offering doubling certain lottery games in hopes of raising $35 million dollars in income. Puerto Rico is already one of the few U.S. jurisdictions in which casinos are legal and numerous, with several state lottery games being used to increase state income. The new move, going into effect this month, will seek to continue tapping the Island’s growing gambling problem to make a slight dent in the deficit.
On the taxing side, the PPD is planning on expanding the current sales tax into a business to business tax by applying it to the entire commercial chain. Similar to a value added tax, the proposal would expand the 7% sales tax to the entire distribution chain. Local business associations have fiercely rejected the idea, claiming it would kill a barely surviving economy. Governor Garcia Padilla has proposed a trade-off in the manner of a .05% reduction in the sales tax, a move that satisfies no one. Additional tax options include increase the tobacco tax, imposing an Island-wide business permit tax (“patente” in Spanish), and filing civil lawsuits against ordinary citizens who owe taxes to the Island’s tax department.
The short term solution proposed by the Government would only impact the economy more without providing for a long term solution. Miguel Soto, of the Center for the New Economy, aptly summarized Puerto Rico’s eternal spending problem in a recent article published on News is my Business, adding:
“We’re running out of flexibility to cover that gap. We have to make a decision as a country: if we want world-class services and education, we have to pay for them. If we can not spend on that, then we have to make adjustments… You can’t buy a Ferrari with the money you have set aside for a Toyota, you’re just not going to have enough.”
Soto’s description hits the nail given that Governor Garcia Padilla is proposing more gambling and more taxes, but no real cuts in the massive government spending. The PPD would hardly move to raise tuition rates at the public university or stand a hard line against unions for lower wages in the public sector, just like it will not cut the ever growing government healthcare program which has run the Department of Health into the red since its beginning in the ’90s.
With a prescription of more taxes and less growth, one has to wonder if the Island’s economy will ever recover, or if we will end up doubling Japan’s lost decade.
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As Puerto Rico’s fiscal year comes to a close, Governor Garcia’s Padilla’s party (Popular Democratic
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