JEFF FARROW
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Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said Sunday that he would not call for an assembly to propose a new political status for the islands next year because of President Obama’s proposal for a status plebiscite under Federal auspices.
Garcia said that his “campaign promise … was that if the President did not take action in the first year [of a Garcia administration], in the second year we would take action.” He went on to note that, “The President is taking action.”
In fact, Garcia and his “commonwealth” status party said that they would hold a “constitutional assembly” on a future status if they won the elections and the Federal government did not enact a law providing for a Puerto Rican status choice that would be automatically implemented.
The assembly plan was a strategy to avoid a public choice regarding the territory’s future status. Party leaders have noted that, in a plebiscite, voters would cast ballots for their preferred status but, in an assembly, ‘commonwealthers’ could try to form a coalition with Puerto Rico nationalists to outvote statehood delegates.
An additional ‘backroom’ strategy for an assembly would be to develop a status proposal that Federal officials would say in a plebiscite with options set in advance is impossible for constitutional and fundamental policy reasons.
The “commonwealth” party wants an unprecedented “commonwealth” status under which Puerto Rico would be permanently empowered to nullify the application of Federal laws to the islands and Federal court jurisdiction and to enter into international agreements and organizations limited to sovereign nations.
In addition, the United States would also be permanently obligated to grant all current Federal program benefits to Puerto Ricans and citizenship based on birth in the islands, a new subsidy to the insular government, and free entry to goods shipped from Puerto Rico.
The Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton Administrations and congressional officials have said that the proposal is impossible for constitutional and other reasons. A fundamental deficiency is that Congress cannot give up its power to govern the islands under the Constitution’s Territory Clause unless it makes the islands a State or a nation.
Commonwealthers had hoped that an assembly’s adoption of such a proposal would force Federal officials to accept it despite these flaws because it represents the “self-determination will” of Puerto Rico.
Avoiding such a situation is one of the reasons that the Obama White House last week proposed a plebiscite on options to resolve the territory’s future status in its budget for Federal Fiscal Year 2014, which begins October 1st.
The proposal requires that the U.S. attorney general approve the final options for the plebiscite, along with all explanatory materials, to ensure that the options proposed by Puerto Rico’s Elections Commission do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the U.S.
Obama Administration officials recognized that opposition from Garcia and other “commonwealth” party Puerto Rico elected leaders would block action in Congress on the territory’s petition for statehood made through a status plebiscite held under local law last November.
Garcia said that his “campaign promise … was that if the President did not take action in the first year [of a Garcia administration], in the second year we would take action.” He went on to note that, “The President is taking action.”
In fact, Garcia and his “commonwealth” status party said that they would hold a “constitutional assembly” on a future status if they won the elections and the Federal government did not enact a law providing for a Puerto Rican status choice that would be automatically implemented.
The assembly plan was a strategy to avoid a public choice regarding the territory’s future status. Party leaders have noted that, in a plebiscite, voters would cast ballots for their preferred status but, in an assembly, ‘commonwealthers’ could try to form a coalition with Puerto Rico nationalists to outvote statehood delegates.
An additional ‘backroom’ strategy for an assembly would be to develop a status proposal that Federal officials would say in a plebiscite with options set in advance is impossible for constitutional and fundamental policy reasons.
The “commonwealth” party wants an unprecedented “commonwealth” status under which Puerto Rico would be permanently empowered to nullify the application of Federal laws to the islands and Federal court jurisdiction and to enter into international agreements and organizations limited to sovereign nations.
In addition, the United States would also be permanently obligated to grant all current Federal program benefits to Puerto Ricans and citizenship based on birth in the islands, a new subsidy to the insular government, and free entry to goods shipped from Puerto Rico.
The Obama, George W. Bush, and Clinton Administrations and congressional officials have said that the proposal is impossible for constitutional and other reasons. A fundamental deficiency is that Congress cannot give up its power to govern the islands under the Constitution’s Territory Clause unless it makes the islands a State or a nation.
Commonwealthers had hoped that an assembly’s adoption of such a proposal would force Federal officials to accept it despite these flaws because it represents the “self-determination will” of Puerto Rico.
Avoiding such a situation is one of the reasons that the Obama White House last week proposed a plebiscite on options to resolve the territory’s future status in its budget for Federal Fiscal Year 2014, which begins October 1st.
The proposal requires that the U.S. attorney general approve the final options for the plebiscite, along with all explanatory materials, to ensure that the options proposed by Puerto Rico’s Elections Commission do not conflict with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the U.S.
Obama Administration officials recognized that opposition from Garcia and other “commonwealth” party Puerto Rico elected leaders would block action in Congress on the territory’s petition for statehood made through a status plebiscite held under local law last November.
#Obama offers reassurance in #Boston as feds hunt bomb suspects. Read:
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http://ow.ly/kcsqE #caribbeanbusiness
El pequeño gran incendiario
Raúl Benoit (Escritor y periodista)
Como un pequeñín maldadoso que le hace la vida imposible a sus primos y a sus tíos, es el personaje que inquieta y perturba a muchos colombianos. Es un maestro intrigando y azuza
Willie Colón, “El malo”
Ana María García (Catedrática auxiliar de la Escuela de Comunicación de la UPR, Recinto de Río Piedras)
Willie Colón, que por décadas se hizo llamar “El malo”, finalmente le hace honor a su apodo. Primero describió al comandante Hugo Chávez de forma irrep
Boulevard Baldorioty
Rubén Nazario Velasco (Historiador)
El cierre de dos carriles del expreso Baldorioty para reparar el puente sobre la 18 no ha provocado mayores tapones. Lo que lleva a preguntar si hacen falta dos expr
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Hector "Machito" Camacho, the son of legendary Puerto Rican boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho , says his father's murder last November has provided him with "more motivation" to become a world champion.
Puerto Rico Statehood: Pedro Pierluisi To Submit Bill To Congress Addressing ...
Huffington Post Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party may not wait for another referendum before pushing forward with its bid to make the island the 51st state. The island's pro-statehood Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi told the U.S. Congress Wednesday that he'd ... |
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Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party may not wait for another referendum before pushing forward with its bid to make the island the 51st state.
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http://www.thekoncretejungle.com/ FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/gHZDZr TWITTER: http://bit.ly/f0Ppgq Juan Manuel Lopez makes his ring return, this time in Mexico...
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| Time: 02:27 | More in Sports |
Aristotle once wrote that
?Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human
existence.?
?Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human
existence.?
(Reuters) - McDonald's Corp reported a slight rise in first-quarter profit on Friday, as sales at established U.S. restaurants fell 1.2 percent in a tough environment.
