Puerto Ricans are extremely unhappy and pessimistic. A scientific poll taken February 19-24 found very negative views regarding: conditions in the territory; their personal finances and the insular government’s; and the Commonwealth’s leaders.
A staggering 93% regarded the territorial situation as very bad. The quality of life was bad to terrible for 45% versus 16% who said it was good. Thirty percent said that it was bad to terrible and 24% said it was good in a poll less than two years ago.
The economy will be worse next year, according to 81%, with 54% expecting that their personal finances will be worse and 48% reporting that their current finances are worse than last year’s. Only 11% think that they will be better off next year, with 40% saying they are in better financial shape than last year.
Four-fifths of those surveyed recognize the downgrade of the Government of Puerto Rico’s credit to ‘junk’ status as a major problem vs. 47% last November. Fully 87% said that it would affect their lives compared with only seven percent who said that it would not, and 67% who said that it would three months before.
One-fifth estimate that it will take more than a decade to restore the Commonwealth’s credit to investment grade; 15% guessed seven to nine years; another fifth, five to six years, 18%, three to four years, with only eight percent seeing the territory being creditworthy in one to two years and one percent believing that the improvement will occur in less than a year.
A majority, 52%, disapproves of the 14-month old “Commonwealth” party administration’s handling of the situation. Only one quarter approve.
Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla was graded “A” or “B” by only 18% of voters polled. Another 52% disapproved of his leadership, while less than a quarter 24% approved of it.
Fellow party member Eduardo Bhatia, the Senate President who is thought to want to succeed Garcia, did not really fare better with the voters when the poll’s margin of error is considered. Only 22% gave him an “A” or a “B,” and he got a “D” or an “F” from 47%.
Further, 55% answered that he had little or no credibility. House Speaker Jaime Perello was not trusted by the same percentage.
Perello’s grades were worse: 15% gave him and “A” or a “B” and 51% a “D” or an “F.” His job performance was worse than expected by 46%.
Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner in Washington, DC, Pedro Pierluisi, who heads the territory’s statehood party and was the highest vote getter in the last elections, continues to score better with the voters in polling than the ‘commonwealthers.’
His job performance has been as expected to 43% but worse for 33%. Thirty-one percent approved of his job performance and 39% disapproved.
Garcia, with very poor marks from voters was the only one of the officials whose public standing improved since the poll a few months ago, although the improvement was minor.
One thousand voters were surveyed for El Nuevo Dia newspaper by professional polling firms.
Read the whole story
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A leading Russian political analyst has suggested that his country establish a relationship with Crimea, the part of Ukraine it invaded this week, similar to the U.S. relationship with Puerto Rico.
Unfortunately, he completely misunderstood the U.S. relationship with Puerto Rico.
Georgiy Bovt wrote that the U.S. has a nation-to-nation agreement with Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rico has wide autonomy on many issues, but is de facto under U.S. jurisdiction,” he told readers, asking, “Why wouldn’t this be acceptable for Crimea?”
Bovt confused Puerto Rico’s status with that of a freely associated state. In free association, two nations — one typically much smaller than the other — share governing responsibilities on the condition that either can unilaterally withdraw from the relationship.
The U.S. is in free association with three former territory areas in the Pacific — the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republics of the Marshall Islands and Palau. The islands are totally self-governing nations but the U.S. has military authority as if they were U.S. territory.
The U.S. has also continued selected Federal social programs in the states that operated when they were under U.S. territorial administration. And it heavily subsidizes the insular governments.
Citizens of the islands have free access to the U.S. but are citizens of their nations only.
By contrast, the U.S. makes and enforces all of Puerto Rico’s national laws. It has permitted Puerto Rico to operate an insular government but retains ultimate governing authority over local matters as well.
Most Federal programs apply in Puerto Rico, although the Commonwealth is treated worse than the States in some major programs.
And Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
Bovt was probably misled by the locally determined official name of Puerto Rico’s insular government. It is words that literally translate as “Associated Free State.” The name was included in Puerto Rico’s locally drafted territorial constitution.
Because Puerto Rico is not a freely associated state, the territory’s constitutional convention substituted the word “Commonwealth” for “Associated Free State” in the English version of the constitution so that the constitution could obtain U.S. Government approval.
The word “Commonwealth’ does not refer to a political status. Four U.S. States use the word in their official names. One other U.S. territory in addition to Puerto Rico does too.
Bovt also noted that, “In a 2012 referendum, Puerto Ricans voted for incorporation [into the U.S.] as the 51st U.S. State.”
He told readers that statehood is now “up to the U.S. Congress.” That is always technically true but the situation is a little more complex.
Because Puerto Ricans very narrowly elected a governor and majorities in each house of the territory’s legislature who reject their people’s self-determination decision in the elections held at the time of the 2012 plebiscite, the Federal government has enacted a law for another plebiscite.
This one would be limited to one or more of the options of statehood, independence, and nationhood in a free association with the U.S. Puerto Rico’s Elections Commission would determine which of these options would be on the plebiscite ballot.
The current territory status, which is also known as “Commonwealth” and was flatly rejected in the 2012 plebiscite, could not be an option. This is because territory status cannot be Puerto Rico’s ultimate status. It cannot provide a democratic form of government at the national government level.
In addition, 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and two members of the U.S. Senate have introduced bills that would require the President to propose legislation to transition Puerto Rico to statehood if Puerto Ricans vote for the status again. The bills also pledge that the Congress would approve a statehood transition plan for the territory.
Read the whole story
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Fortuño Speaks on Puerto Rico’s Economy by hadeninteractive
Former Gov. Luis Fortuño spoke to the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce this week.
Fortuño said that his tough financial cuts and transparency with Wall Street had succeeded in keeping at bay the downgrade to junk status that Puerto Rico’s bonds have recently faced. He spoke of the strict integrity and the realism of his government’s fiscal policies, in comparison with his successor’s efforts to make things look better from the outside.
“I worry when I read comments in public discussion to the effect that “what the government should do is not worry so much about balancing the checkbook and focus on economic growth,’” he said. “Look, you cannot grow the economy when the fiscal house is not in order.”
Having taken the opportunity, for the first time since leaving office, to defend his government’s actions, Fortuño moved on to the current economic position in Puerto Rico.
“To address a problem,” he said, “we must first recognize that we have one.”
Fortuño outlined the current economic challenges:
- Increasing unemployment, with a net loss of 25,000 jobs last year and a rise in unemployment to 15.4%
- Contractions in home starts and energy use, contrary to the national picture
- A 6.3% rise in bankruptcies last year, against the previous trend
- Slumps in the Index of Economic Activity after an upward trend in 2011-2012
Touching on the increasing exodus from Puerto Rico to the mainland, Fortuño predicted that fiscal responsibility and efforts toward growth would be necessary to end the downward slide. “As in nature,” he said, “everything that does not grow, dies.”
Fortuño went on to list specific areas in which Puerto Rico could reduce costs, from consolidating schools to streamlining government bidding processes with new technology. He spoke up for partnerships between Puerto Rico’s government and the private sector, and with U.S. federal agencies. He pointed to the importance of education and of making use of new technologies in energy production to “play on the strengths” of Puerto Rico.
Fortuño also announced a new initiative:
It is in that spirit that we have taken on the task of establishing here in Puerto Rico the Center for Economic Renewal , Growth and Excellence – or GROW (Centro para Renovación Económica, Crecimiento y Excelencia—o CRECE) , an institution dedicated to develop, disseminate and implement policies and practices that expand individual freedom, responsibility, and opportunity for all, thereby helping Puerto Rico and Hispanic communities across the nation to reach their full potential for growth and prosperity.
Finally, Fortuño spoke on the question of status:
It’s time to decide, once and for all, the issue of status .Establishing the pro-growth policies that I have shared with you of course will help, no matter what our status. But reaching our full development will not be possible while we are competing on unequal status with the rest of the world. Therefore , I strongly believe it’s time to solve this problem which so divides us with a solution to end the matter permanently.Whether you are someone who thinks that the current status “served us well” or not, the fact is that its most important elements, such as preferential access to cheap domestic market or corporate tax exemptions, no longer exist and will not return. Free trade agreements , changes in tax policy at the federal level and in other countries and other factors have changed the landscape. The world has evolved, but not us. Our model is worn and has brought us to the dead end where we are now.The Department of Justice , the research agency of Congress, and even the Working Group in the White House have said again and again that there are no special accommodations under the current territorial status. They have said more. They have expressed that to end this discussion forever, there are only two ways: integration or separation.This may not appeal to some, but that is the reality we face. I believe that we have every right to choose which of the two ways we go. But whatever we choose, it must not only be in our best interests, but it also a matter of dignity. If we choose the path of separation, we MUST be equal with the other independent countries. And if we choose the path of integration, it MUST be on an equal footing with the other states .Everyone here knows that I prefer the advantages of statehood. To give just one example, the contrast in economic and social growth between Hawaii and Puerto Rico over the past decades is huge and more than eloquent. Regardless of this, my call is to solve it now. We’ve been waiting too long!
The speech ended with a call to action. “I know we are afraid of change,” Fortuño said, “but we should not be, because it is the only constant in life.”
Read the whole story
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Top leaders of Puerto Rico’s “Commonwealth” party are sending letters to U.S. senators to discourage Federal action on making the territory a State even if Puerto Ricans vote for equality in the U.S. for a second time.
The letters from Governor Alejandro Garcia-Padilla and others respond to a Senate bill to require the president of the United States to propose statehood transition legislation if Puerto Ricans vote for statehood in a “Yes” or “No” plebiscite. The bill would also pledge the Congress to pass statehood transition legislation.
The bill sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) mirrors one introduced by 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Puerto Rico’s resident commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi, who heads the territory’s statehood party.
Puerto Ricans rejected their currentterritory statusby 54% in aplebiscite held along with Puerto Rico’s quadrennial elections in November 2012. Territory status issometimes called “Commonwealth“after a word in the formal name of the insular government. Voters also chose statehood among the alternatives by 61.2% .
The letters to all other members of the Senate are inconsistent with requests of the “Commonwealth” party to Congress as late as 2010 to pass a bill for a Statehood: “Yes” or “No” plebiscite.
Garcia-Padilla wrote February 27ththat the Senate should instead pass a bill increasing funding to prevent drug trafficking through Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Governor also asserted that the Federal government should otherwise “be solely focused” regarding Puerto Rico on the drug trafficking and stimulating the territory’s economy. This excludes any of the territory’s other needs. He characterized the bill as “untimely.”
Garcia-Padilla’s letter contended that drug trafficking and the territory’s failing economy “are inextricably linked.” He did not explain how.
The Governor, additionally, wrote that the 2012 plebiscite excluded “the Commonwealth,” although that reads as a reference to the territory’s insular government rather than to a status option. Theplebiscite’s first question was “Yes” or “No” on the territory’s current status.
The word “Commonwealth” can also refer to the unprecedented governing status that the “Commonwealth” party really wants. It would permanently empower Puerto Rico to nullify the application of Federal laws and Federal court jurisdictions and to enter into international agreements and organizations while obtaining greater benefits than at present from the Federal government.This “Commonwealth” proposal has been conclusively determined by Federal authorities of both national political parties to be a legal and practical impossibility and was, therefore, not included on the plebiscite ballot.
Garcia-Padilla claimed that the percentage of the vote for statehood in the plebiscite was 44.4%, although Puerto Rico’s tripartisan Elections Commission reported the percentage was 61.16%. TheGovernor counted non-votes in the result. The Commission and Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court, however, have said that only votes count in plebiscites as well as in elections.
Puerto Rico House of Representatives Speaker Jaime Perello-Borras wrote U.S. senators a day later, characterizing the Heinrich-Wyden bill as requiring a plebiscite on statehood. The bill’s only requirement, however, is for the president of the United States to propose statehood transition legislation if Puerto Ricans vote for statehood in a “Yes” or “No” plebiscite. The decision of whether to hold the plebiscite is left up to the Government of Puerto Rico.
Perello-Borras also wrote that Puerto Ricans had “never … voted to make Puerto Rico a state.” The official result of the 2012 plebiscite was that 61.16% of voters chose statehood.
The territory’s House speaker also contended that the congressional legislation would “deprive voters the right to elect their own system of government,” and that “that some voters would “be willfully excluded” from voting in the plebiscite.” In fact, however, voters could as easily vote against statehood under the bill as vote for it. Additionally, the bill contains no language that would disenfranchise any Puerto Rico voters.
Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration Director Juan Hernandez went further in a letter to senators, contending that the bill “excludes the majority of Puerto Rican voters” from its plebiscite.
Again, the bill contains no language that would disenfranchise any Puerto Rico voters.Hernandez as well wrote
that “statehood has never garnered a majority of votes in Puerto Rico.” The vote for statehood in
the 2012 was 61.16%.He additionally
asserted that the current status “prevailed every time it has been on the ballot” even though it was rejected the two times that it appeared — in 1998 as well as in 2012.
The letters from all three suggested that the Heinrich-Wyden bill (and, therefore, the bill by 130 U.S. House members as well) is incompatible with the legislation enacted into Federal law in January for a plebiscite on a status option or options that can resolve Puerto Rico’s status –even though Pierluisi and Wyden were principal advocates of the law and statehood is a possible option for the
new law’s plebiscite.The letters were also interesting because
representatives of the “Commonwealth” party leadership quietly tried to discourage enactment of the new law, which was proposed by President Obama.
Read the whole story
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Territorial Status Makes Fraud Easier by hadeninteractive
Identity theft has become a familiar concern to many Americans. As consumers become more savvy and businesses tighten up security, thieves have come up with new tactics. In one creative scheme, recently reported by the Dallas News, Luigi Montes stole the identities of Puerto Rican adults and children in a multi-million dollar tax fraud case.
The $3.4 million crime by Montes and his team of up to 18 associates is just the latest incident in a longer history of Puerto Rican identification documents being targeted by thieves and made possible because of Puerto Rico’s unique status as a territory of the United States.
As American citizens, Puerto Ricans have Social Security numbers. Yet many workers in Puerto Rico are not required to file federal income tax returns. (Click here to read about the federal taxes that Puerto Ricans pay.) This has made it easier for thieves to file fraudulent tax returns and successfully receive refund checks using Puerto Rican identities. Puerto Rican residents who do not file federal tax returns would be unlikely have an opportunity to learn that their identities are being improperly used.
Montes’s conviction is not the first involving the black market for this information. The IRS has been targeting Puerto Rican identify theft’s connection to tax fraud for several years. The problem had become so pervasive that the Puerto Rican government required residents to reapply for birth certificates with enhanced security features, a decision that reportedly had implications on voting access of Puerto Ricans living in the states.
If a criminal sends in a fake tax return for someone living in Idaho, there is a high chance either that the individual will send in a real one, or that there will be previous years’ returns to compare with the fake one. An individual living in Puerto Rico may never have filed a federal tax return — but will still have a real Social Security number.
While criminal activities are the fault of the criminals who commit them, the ambiguous position of Puerto Rico’s residents made the deception easier.
A new analysis by President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget shows that territory status, often misleadingly called “Commonwealth,” is costing Puerto Rico billions of dollars in Federal programs a year.
The document sent to Congress this week in support of Obama’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1st reports on State and insular area funding in more than 30 Federal programs.
Puerto Rico is projected to receive $3.589 billion under the programs, .68% of the total. The territory has about 1.14% of the national population. It gets a lower percentage of program dollars because territories can be — and are — treated worse than States in many programs.
Because States — but not territories — with low income levels get more funds in some programs, Puerto Rico would receive more than 1.14% of the total as a State.
White House funding estimates for the programs that do provide more funds in territories as well as in States with low income levels shows that equal treatment for Puerto Rico would be much more.
The numbers released this week also make clear that the Commonwealth is totally denied funding under some programs.
The presidential analysis does not include many Federal programs, including some of the biggest. It does not, for example, cover most State and territory funding under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As a State, Puerto Rico would receive up to $700 million a year more under the program.
The budget document also does not cover programs providing direct benefits to individuals or payment for services to them, such as Medicare, medical care for the elderly and disabled, and Supplemental Security Income, aid to the needy aged and disabled. The programs would provide as much as $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion more in Puerto Rico respectively if Puerto Ricans were treated equally with residents of the States.
Puerto Ricans voted by wide margins to end territory status and transition to statehood in a plebiscite under local law in November 2012. The White House hailed the results but later convinced the Congress to provide for a plebiscite under U.S. Justice Department auspices because a governor and majorities in each house of Puerto Rico’s legislature from the territory’s “Commonwealth” party very narrowly elected at the time of the plebiscite refused to accept the voters’ self-determination decisions.
Additionally, 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and two U.S. senators have sponsored legislation to require the president to submit statehood transition legislation if Puerto Ricans vote for statehood again. The legislation would pledge the Congress to pass a transition bill.
Programs covered by the White House analysis in which the Commonwealth receives no funding include Child Care and Development Mandatory and Matching Grants. Connecticut, the State with the population closest to Puerto Rico’s — just 19,006 less than the territory’s 3,615,086 in the U.S. Census Bureau’s July 1, 2013 estimate, is budgeted to receive $18,738,000 in Mandatory Grants and $25,058,000 in Matching Grants. This would be 1.47% and 1.05% of those programs respectively.
Puerto Rico is, however, eligible for Child Care and Development Block Grants. It would receive $33,664,000 in Federal Fiscal Year 2015, $540,000 more than this fiscal year and 1.29% of the program.
The Commonwealth will also receive no funding to operate a health care insurance subsidy (“Exchange”) program. $154,166,667 a year was authorized for it by the Federal government’s 2010 healthcare programs reform law but equal treatment with the States would require $1 billion a year more. Because of the gross inadequacy of funding, the insular government is using the $154 million a year for its Medicaid program, which pays for health care for low-income individuals.
Even with this and with the 2010 law’s tripling of Federal contributions to the Commonwealth’s Medicaid program, Puerto Rico is treated worse in Medicaid than in any program covered by the analysis in which the territory receives funding. The estimated $1,075,697,000 is only .32% of the national program. The increase from $1,030,029,000 this fiscal year is less than half of what Puerto Rico would receive as a State.
The Commonwealth is also very poorly treated in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Foster Care, and Adoption Assistance programs. It receives just $71,047,000 a year for all. Connecticut is slated to receive $266,788,000 for TANF in Fiscal Year 2015, $56,725,000 in Foster Care, and $40,365,000 in Adoption Assistance.
The Commonwealth fares only a little better in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program. The White House analysis says that the President’s budget would enable it to receive $11,344,000, .41% of program funding, a decrease from $15,281,000 this year.
The Commonwealth is similarly discriminated against in the Social Services Block Grant program. The $8,793,000 for it in the budget is only .52% of national funding, although it would be an increase from $8,160,000 this year.
Puerto Rico is also slated to get very small amounts in the major Federal transportation infrastructure programs. The Obama budget plans for its Transit Formula Grants to decrease from $132,849,000 this year to $50,991,000 next year, .47% of the program.
Commonwealth treatment in the highway construction program is worse. Even though the budget estimates an increase for Puerto Rico to $143,550,000 from $137,185,000, that is just .34% of the program.
Airport Improvement Program funding would decrease from $15,214,000 to $13,814,000, .48% of national funding.
Puerto Rico’s State-like funding in some major housing and education programs and another nutrition program demonstrate what statehood could mean for the territory in programs in which the Commonwealth is discriminated against. The $251,279,000 Puerto Rico would get in the Women, Infants, and Children food program, an increase from $246,457,000, is 3.57% of the program.
The education programs are Title I assistance for schools in low-income communities, Head Start, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Effective Teachers.
- Title I funding is budgeted to drop from $434,566,000 to $417,397,000 — and from $453,904,000 in Federal Fiscal Year 2013 — because of the decrease in Puerto Rico’s population but the 2015 amount would be 2.9% of the national program.
- Head Start funding is budgeted to go up to $285,870,000 from $281,646,000, for 3.22% of total funding.
- Grants for the Effective Teachers program, which replaces the Improving Teacher Quality program, would drop from $70,651,000 to $54,522,000 but the lower amount is 3.08% of national funding.
- Vocational Rehabilitation funding would rise to $73,791,000 from $69,640,000, 2.21% of the program.
State-like treatment benefits Puerto Rico most on a relative basis in public housing programs. $107,454,000 for public housing construction would be slightly less than this year’s $108,097,000 but is 5.9% of the program. $215,990,000 to operate public housing units would be up from $211,798,000 and would be 4.82% of the program.
The territory’s Community Development Block Grant program funding is proposed to decrease from $63,380,000 to $58,844,000 but that is 2.02% of the program.
The President’s Office of Management and Budget report also provided the following program numbers. The first number after the name of the program is this year’s funding, the second is the expected amount for next year, and the third is the percentage of national funding that next year’s amount would be.
School Breakfast $36,052,000 $37,911,000 .97%
School Lunch $133,997,000 $136,253,000 1.17%
Child and Adult Care Food $28,133,000 $29,047,000 .92%
Special Education $115,008,000 $115,008,000 .99%
Children’s Health Insurance $140,979,000 $149,820,000 1.44%
Child Support Enforcement $30,530,000 $28,653,000 .73%
Housing Choice Vouchers $198,418,000 $200,164,000 1.01%
Clean Water construction $18,472,000 $12,866,000 1.27%
Drinking Water construction $8,845,000 $7,350,000 .97%
Schools and Libraries Internet $24,360,000 $29,584,000 1.27%
The analysis stated that State and territory numbers for the HIV/AIDS Treatment and Unemployment Insurance programs had not been completed.
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Puerto Rico, which is already junk-rated and which is facing yet another downgrade to its credit rating, is in no position to call any shots when it comes to raising new debt. If it wants to borrow new money — and it looks like it ...
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First, the Catholic Church announced it had defrocked six priests accused of sex abuse in the Puerto Rican town of Arecibo.
The archbishop of Puerto Rico's capital has revealed that government prosecutors are investigating five additional cases of alleged sex abuse within the San Juan Archdiocese.
This spectacular 13-acre gated estate offers the ultimate in luxury living and complete privacy.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Feb 28, 2014 / 03:05 pm .- Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez Nieves of San Juan and Bishop Daniel Fernandez Torres of Arecibo in Puerto Rico have handed over a group of priests accused of sexual abuse to civil authorities.
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U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez says agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection found more than 1,100 kilograms aboard a boat headed toward Puerto Rico with two men who claimed to be from the Dominican Republic.
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- US Customs and Border Protection and US Coast Guard assets intercepted a vessel on Monday evening attempting to smuggle 38 bales of cocaine, totaling 2,432 pounds , with an approximated street value of $27.5 million, south of the city of Ponce in the southern coast of the island.
Today, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez of the District of Puerto Rico, announced the sentencing of Joel Torres-Velazquez, 49, of Guanica, Puerto Rico, who worked as a state marshal at the Ponce Superior Court, and Jessica Moreno-Alicea, 39, ... (more)
PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS .
On March 8, the six-member boy group staged its solo concert titled "Boyfriend, fan meeting en Puerto Rico" for 1,700 local fans who gathered at the Centro De Bellas Artes Luis A Ferre in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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