Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Statehood Bill Gets Most Public Votes on U.S. House Website on All House Bills - by Contributing Editor - PRR


Statehood Bill Gets Most Public Votes on U.S. House Website on All House Bills 

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Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi’s bill on statehood for the territory has won more endorsements on U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s Website for registering public support for legislation than any other bill in the House.
Republican Leader Cantor’s “Citizen Cosponsor Project” Website, www.cosponsor.gov, lets individuals express support for bills by indicating that they would “co-sponsor” the measures.  People back the Pierluisi bill on statehood by going to the site and checking the box next to the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act, H.R. 2000 (http://cosponsor.gov/details/hr2000-113).
As of this writing, 1145 individuals had done that. The number dwarfed the 897 who supported the second-place finisher, the Fair Tax Act of 2013, and the 549 who backed the third most popular bill, the Border Security Results Act of 2013.
Some 70 Members of the House have actually co-sponsored the bill on statehood for Puerto Rico.  The latest prominent sponsor is Deputy Majority Whip Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma).
The bill would require the President of the United States to submit a proposal for the transition of Puerto Rico to statehood if Puerto Ricans vote for statehood in another plebiscite.  It would also express a congressional commitment to pass a statehood transition bill for the territory.
In a plebiscite on all of Puerto Rico’s status options last November, 54% rejected the current territory status, often misleadingly called “commonwealth,” and 61.2% voted for statehood among the alternatives, nationhood in non-binding association with the U.S. and full independence.
The Obama Administration has also proposed another plebiscite. The U.S. Attorney General would determine its options from among proposals submitted by Puerto Rico’s Elections Commission.
The plebiscite could be only on statehood, as proposed by the Pierluisi bill, or include one or more of Puerto Rico’s other options.
The Obama Administration plebiscite could not include the unprecedented “commonwealth” status proposal of Puerto Rico’s “commonwealth” party.  This is  because the proposal “is incompatible with the Constitution, laws, and policies of the U.S.”  The Obama Administration joined the George W. Bush and Clinton Administrations in judging the proposal to be a constitutional impossibility.
The proposal calls for the elimination of Congress’ power under the Constitution to govern Puerto Rico as a territory without the islands becoming a State or a nation.  It relatedly calls for a governing arrangement that the Federal government would not be able to change without Puerto Rico’s consent.
Under the arrangement, Puerto Rico would have the powers to nullify the application of Federal laws and Federal court jurisdiction and to enter into international agreements and organizations as if it were a sovereign nation — without becoming a nation.
The Federal government would be required to grant the insular government a new subsidy as well as continue to grant all current assistance and citizenship to Puerto Ricans.
The lead congressional committees with jurisdiction over the status of territories, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee have said that they will hold hearings on the plebiscite.
The Senate committee planned to hold the hearing June 11th but postponed it because of a death in the family of Ranking Minority Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).  The hearing is expected to be held during the next few months.
The House committee hearing is expected after the Government Accountability Office submits a report on the budgetary impact of equal treatment of Puerto Rico in all Federal laws requested by Committee Chairman ‘Doc” Hastings (R-Washington).  It is now planned that the report will be completed this fall.

Actrices que podrían protagonizar "Fifty Shades of Grey"


FOTOS: Actrices que podrían protagonizar "Fifty Shades of Grey"

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Muchas han sido las especulaciones sobre la actriz que tendrá que interpretar a Anatasia Steele ,...

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi’s Puerto Rico statehood bill is well ahead of a pack... - CB

Statehood bill leads citizen cosponsors

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Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi’s Puerto Rico statehood bill is well ahead of a pack of more than 2,600 bills open to cosponsoring by everyday citizens via a new online initiative launched by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Pierluisi’s Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act has garnered 1,135 citizen cosponsors as of Wednesday. That puts it above all other bills pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. The next closest measures are the Fair Tax Act (896 citizen cosponsors) and the Border Security Results Act (547).
Cantor, a Virginia Republican, announced the rollout of the Citizen Cosponsor Project last month. The new initiative includes a website http://citizens-majorityleader.house.gov/ and allows citizens to comment on pending legislation in the House via their Facebook profiles. From there, users are able to follow legislation they are interested in and receive updates on the status of the bill as it moves through Congress.
Cantor called Citizen Cosponsor Project “a dynamic communications platform that creates a more open, visible and participatory legislative process.”
The Puerto Rico bill’s strong showing in the online popularity contest is due, at least in part, to efforts by Pierluisi and his statehood New Progressive Party, to drum up support for the measure via social media and email blasts.
Meanwhile, offline and on Capitol Hill, Pierluisi’s bill to put Puerto Rico on the path to statehood continues to build bipartisan support in the House, where 67 lawmakers have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors. That’s up from the 30 who had signed on before the resident commissioner presented the measure on May 15.
The Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act hinges on a proposed federally sanctioned “yes” or “no” vote on statehood in Puerto Rico.
Pierluisi is a national Democrat and Puerto Rico’s sole representative in Congress.
The measure proposed in the House of Representatives would ask Puerto Rican voters, “Do you want Puerto Rico to be admitted as a state of the United States?” A majority vote for statehood would trigger a 180 deadline for the president to certify the results of the plebiscite and lodge legislation in Congress to admit Puerto Rico as a state the union “on an equal footing” with other states.
Despite the support online and on Capitol Hill, action on Pierluisi’ bill is not guaranteed. Unlike the White House, which pledges to issue an official response to all petitions on its “We the People” website that garner 100,000 signatures within a month, there’s no mark in the Citizen Cosponsor Project that triggers action by the House.
The House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico, has not scheduled a hearing on Pierluisi’s bill. The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, which covers Puerto Rico in the upper chamber, will hold a general hearing on statehood, likely this summer, but has yet to pencil in a date.
Click here to read the Puerto Rico Status Resolution Act: http://www.cb.pr/pdfs/statehood_bill.pdf
Read the whole story
 
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Puerto Rico policymakers strike key budget deal

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SAN JUAN, June 12 | Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:15pm EDT
SAN JUAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico policymakers have agreed to hike taxes by $1.5 billion as part of a budget which is closely watched by U.S. credit-ratings agencies weighing downgrades of the Caribbean island's massive debts to junk-bond status.

#PR statehood bill leads #US House leader’s citizen cosponsor project. Read:http://ow.ly/lY5CO #caribbeanbusiness

Senado colombiano prohíbe el uso de animales en circos

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Senado colombiano prohíbe el uso de animales en circos www.bit.ly/15XBjG3

6/12/2013 - Today Headlines: SAN JUAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico policymakers have agreed to hike taxes by $1.5 billion as part of a budget which is closely watched by U.S. credit-ratings agencies | Abogarán por la soberanía de Puerto Rico en la ONU - They will advocate for Puerto Rico's sovereignty at the UN - ENDia | 275 Workers Found In 'Slavery' At Mexican Tomato Plant

5:07 PM 6/12/2013

» UPDATE 1-Puerto Rico policymakers strike key budget deal - Reuters
12/06/13 15:42 from puerto rico - Google News
UPDATE 1- Puerto Rico policymakers strike key budget deal Reuters With over $70 billion of municipal debts, Puerto Rico pays the highest interest rates of any big borrower in the $3.7 trillion U.S. tax-free debt market and has since Decemb..

2:49 PM 6/12/2013

SAN JUAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico policymakers have agreed to hike taxes by $1.5 billion as part of a budget which is closely watched by U.S. credit-ratings agencies


Puerto Rico policymakers strike key budget deal

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SAN JUAN, June 12 | Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:15pm EDT

SAN JUAN, June 12 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico policymakers have agreed to hike taxes by $1.5 billion as part of a budget which is closely watched by U.S. credit-ratings agencies weighing downgrades of the Caribbean island's massive debts to junk-bond status.

Puerto Rico Treasury Melba Acosta told local media on Wednesday that the fiscal 2014 operating budget would sharply reduce a $1.1 billion proposal by Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla to broaden a sales tax and instead would rely on an island-wide levy on gross sales by businesses and increases in corporate taxes.

Facing a June 30 deadline to enact a spending plan for the 12 months starting July 1, the leaders of the legislature said they expected to pass the governor's revised $9.83 billion budget as early as next week.

They will advocate for Puerto Rico's sovereignty at the UN
12/06/13 14:42 from The New Day: Politics
A group of unaffiliated citizens attend before the Committee on Decolonization

» Abogarán por la soberanía de Puerto Rico en la ONU
12/06/13 14:42 from El Nuevo Día : Política
Un grupo de ciudadanos no afiliados acudirá ante el Comité de Descolonización 



Abogarán por la soberanía de Puerto Rico en la ONU

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2:42 p.m.
Un grupo de ciudadanos no afiliados a partidos políticos anunció hoy que acudirá ante el Comité de Descolonización de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) para abogar por la soberanía de Puerto Rico y la reinstalación de un representante boricua en esa entidad con sede en Nueva York.
"El día 17 compareceremos ante el Comité de Descolonización para solicitar que esta organización reconozca el Estado Nacional Soberano de Borinken, como estado observador en las Naciones Unidas y como único y legítimo representante de nuestro pueblo ante la comunidad internacional", dijo Francisco Jordán, portavoz del grupo denominado Boricuas por un Nuevo País.
"Es claro que el pueblo boricua ha rechazado el actual estado colonial, por lo cual estamos iniciando los trámites para internacionalizar nuestra declaración de soberanía y para llevar a cabo gestiones para solicitar reconocimiento de organizaciones y de otros gobiernos", puntualizó Jordán.
En conferencia de prensa efectuada en la Plaza de la Democracia, frente a lado Norte del Capitolio, Jordán explicó que Boricuas por un Nuevo País realizó una asamblea el 27 de octubre pasado en Fajardo, cuando aprobaron una resolución para constituir los fundamentos del "Estado Nacional Soberano de Borinken".
Según la declaración del grupo, "la nación boricua es dueña y legítima propietaria del territorio en que sus integrantes habitamos", pero que "se encuentra intervenido ilegalmente por los Estados Unidos hace 115 (años)".
En el documento distribuido a la prensa, señalan que Estados Unidos se ha negado a cumplir con la Resolución 1514 de la ONU, sobre el derecho inalienable a la libre determinación de todos los pueblos y que "exige el traspaso inmediato de todos los poderes soberanos al pueblo intervenido, sin ningún tipo de excusas".
Por el cumplimiento de la citada resolución, es que abogarán ante el Comité de Descolonización el próximo lunes, cuando, según destacó a este medio Jordán, reclamarán también el reconocimiento de volver a tener en la ONU un representante puertorriqueño, de admitirse nuevamente al país como estado observador.
Jordán recordó que en 1945, Julio Pinto Gandía llegó a ser el primer delegado puertorriqueño en la ONU. Sin embargo, eventualmente las iniciativas de Estados Unidos redundaron en la exclusión de Puerto Rico de su participación permanente en esa organización internacional.
Sobre el momento histórico que vive el país, afectado por una grave recesión, Jordán como portavoz principal del grupo recalcó que "bajo el régimen colonial no es posible recuperar nuestra economía, nuestra sociedad, nuestra política y nuestra cultura. Por eso, convocamos a todas y todos los compatriotas de la nación boricua a aportar de su talento e ideas para formar una roca sólida sobre la cual construir un nuevo país".
La aspiración del grupo, en el que participa también el ingeniero Héctor Bermúdez y los profesores Nelson Canals y María Villeneuvx, es continuar un diálogo con los distintos sectores de la sociedad para ampliar una propuesta que desembocaría en una Asamblea Constituyente del Pueblo Boricua... 









» 275 Workers Found In 'Slavery' At Mexican Tomato Plant
12/06/13 11:45 from Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com
Mexican authorities have rescued at least 275 people who were being held in slave-like conditions at a camp where tomatoes are sorted and packed for export, officials said. Thirty-nine teenagers were among those being held against their wi..



Toliman


via FOX News on 6/12/13
Police freed 275 people who were being forced to work at a tomato farm in San Gabriel, a city in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, prosecutors said.

via FOX News on 6/12/13
Six gang members were arrested in connection with the murders of 13 women between 2009 and 2011 in northern Mexico, the Chihuahua state Attorney General's Office said.

» Caribbean agricultural sector seeking China's assistance - Caribbean360.com
12/06/13 11:26 from caribbean - Google News
Caribbean agricultural sector seeking China's assistance Caribbean360.com image Caribbean agriculture ministers joined their counterparts from Latin America and China for two days of talks this week. BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Wednesday Jun..


» Supreme Court Protester Scores Big Win
12/06/13 11:04 from Latino Voices on HuffingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has ruled in favor of a protester arrested two years ago while demonstrating on the plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell's ruling on Tuesday also declared unconstitutional a statut..


» Agencias fiscalizadoras quieren aumento presupuestario
12/06/13 14:18 from Primera Hora : Noticias
La Oficina de Ética Gubernamental, por voz de su directora, Zulma R. Rosario Vega, solicitó un alza de $710,000 sobre el presupuesto vigente. 


» Pope confirms Vatican gay lobby
12/06/13 14:13 from First Time: The Ultimate
Francisco was quoted as saying that although there are many examples in the Vatican, there is also a stream of corruption.


» Papa confirma lobby gay en el Vaticano
12/06/13 14:13 from Primera Hora : Noticias
Francisco fue citado diciendo que aunque existen muchas personas ejemplares en el Vaticano, también existe una corriente de corrupción. 


» Fas Alzamora presented as to promote integration of Puerto Rico at UNESCO
12/06/13 13:26 from Journal of Puerto Rico
THE CAPITOL - The president of the Committee on Tourism, Culture, Recreation and Sports and Globalization Senate Antonio J. Fas Alzamora, introduced Wednesday a Concurrent Resolution in support of Puerto Rico to be admitted as ..


» Ensures Ponce Assembly Speaker balanced budget be approved
12/06/13 13:21 from Journal of Puerto Rico
PONCE - The president of the Municipal Legislature Ponce, José Guillermo Figueroa Torres, said that next Thursday, there will be a session for approve the budget submitted by the Mayor of Ponce, Mary "Mayita" Meléndez for ..


» 6.12.13 - Today Headlines: A Cat Is Running for Mayor of Mexican City Xalapa | Vatican report speaks of a "gay lobby" influencing papal decision-making | Puerto Rico’s Status to Cost Needy $2.2 Billion in Federal Food Funds - Hearing Notes How Companies
12/06/13 10:57 from PUERTO RICO NEWS
10:07 AM 6/12/2013  A Cat Is Running for Mayor of Mexican City Xalapa A Cat Is Running for Mayor o... via  Puerto Rico News and Journals's Facebook Wall  by Puerto Rico News and Journals on 6/12/13 A Cat Is Running for Mayor..



via Primera Hora : Noticias on 6/12/13

Los usuarios podrán usar un hashtag para ubicar una cadena de debates que otros usuarios sostienen sobre un tema específico.

via Caribbean Journal by admin on 6/12/13
Above: a tent camp in Haiti after the earthquake (Photo: Leslie Owen)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
News documentary Haiti: Where Did the Money Go? has won a National Edward R Murrow Award winner from the Radio Television Digital News Association.
The documentary, which examines problems with aid pledged to Haiti following the earthquake, won the category for Large Market News Documentary.
The film was written, produced and directed by journalist Michele Mitchell, edited by Nick Louvel and scored by Nicholas Britell.
For more on the film, see Caribbean Journal’s interview with Mitchell.

via FOX News on 6/12/13
The departing U.S. envoy to Spain, Alan D. Solomont, said here Wednesday that after leaving his post he will be "the best ambassador" for the Iberian nation.

» Papa confirma "lobby gay" activo en el Vaticano
12/06/13 13:20 from Metro - Últimas noticias
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (AP) — El papa Francisco, en un encuentro privado con un grupo eclesiástico...