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Jim
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Posted: Tue Nov 4th, 2008 10:34 pm |
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Culebra
Luis Fortuno 634... Anibal Acevedo Vila 511
waiting for rest
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admin
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Posted: Tue Nov 4th, 2008 10:49 pm |
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jim --- can you explain more on the partys and positions?
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admin
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Posted: Tue Nov 4th, 2008 11:00 pm |
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just in from Noramid...
As of 6:57 PM Abraham Pena PNP leads by 45 votes over Alexis Bermudez Munoz PPD
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Jim
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Posted: Tue Nov 4th, 2008 11:12 pm |
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| Abraham by over 100
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Jim
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Posted: Wed Nov 5th, 2008 04:53 am |
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Aníbal is Progresso Nuevo Partido = PNP = Blue and
White = Republican same as Abraham.
Manuel Dubon is Mr..Republican, headed
the Bush Reelection Committee in PR in 2004 and is
the developer of Villa Mi Terruño (larger than Costa
Bonita) we're f'----d (Maybe not, remember we got a
back up plan)
Local Municipal Press Release: The candidate of the PNP
and the incumbent mayor of the Municipality of Culebra,
Hon. Abraham Pena Nieves , according to the results to
date, has renewed for the third term in Culebra. For his
part, the candidate of the PDP Alexis Bermudez accepted
the victory of Peña and gentlemanly offered to cooperate
in helping the alclade with the island. . Peña Nieves will
win the right for four more years at a rate of 700 votes
against 544 of Bermudez Muñiz ... "We will continue to
honor all equally 4 years, thanks Culebra" expressed an
excited Mayor in his message to the people who flocked
to the PNP camp in Culebra
Nationally there was some good news besides the obvious:
DAs Made To Look Stupid
All 11 Massachusetts District Attorneys, and Attorney
General Martha Coakley, came out against the ballot
initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts
of marijuana. They ranted and raved about the evil it
would do.
So it's a pretty major embarrassment for them that the
citizens of the commonwealth passed the measure today,
apparently by a very wide margin. Clearly, the people are
not looking to the top law-enforcement officials for their
advice on law-enforcement policy.
.
[ i] Attachment: abraham.jpg (Downloaded 114 times)
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realesta
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 04:39 am |
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If I may intrude here it would be my pleasure to tell you about the PNP and the PDP.
I am a native of Puerto Rico living in Florida now and still interested in island politics.
The PNP (Partido Nuevo Progresista) is the New Progressive Party and it is the Party whose main goal it is to achieve Statehood for Puerto Rico. That is, for PR to become the 51st State of the Union.
The PPD (Partido Popular Democratico) is the Popular Democratic Party and it is the Party whose goal it is to maintain the status quo which is that of a Commonwealth,
or as it is known in Spanish, Estado Libre Asociado.
The PNP's position is that we are, for all practical purposes, a colony of the U.S. and that, since this is a status that is not supposed to exist anymore in the world, the U.S. Government should begin a process to facilitate the celebration of a plebiscite whereby Puerto Ricans will decide, among other options, if Puerto Rico should become the 51st State of the Union . Then if the people of PR vote yes for statehood on said plebiscite the Commonwealth of PR will, in essence, "fill out an application" and ask the U.S. Legislature (Congress and the Senate) to vote on it. It would then be up to the U.S. Legislature to grant Statehood to Puerto Rico.
That is a simple explanation. Of course it is more complicated than that. For example the allegation the PNP makes that we are a colony, which by the way is the same thing that the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) had been making all along, has been discussed and voted on as a resolution proposed by the PIP at the United Nations. The U.S. has been able to maneuver so that said resolution is voted down in effect keeping the United Nations from declaring Puerto Rico a colony. Nevertheless the PNP believes we've earned the right to become a State by, among other things, the sacrifices we've made for the Nation specifically the lives of all those Puerto Rican Veterans lost throughout every war and conflict since World War I.
As far as the Commonwealth is concerned the PPD alleges that this is a status that can keep evolving and through which we can keep getting concessions from the U.S. government such as being able to vote for the U.S. President.
As we are right now we enjoy all the privileges of a U.S. citizen (we were granted citizenship by the Jones Act of 1917) if we live in any of the 50 States but once we move back to PR we lose some of them such as representation in Congress and the vote for President, although we can vote in the primaries (go figure).
And PR only receives a portion of the federal monies Congress doles out to the States. It is definitely a complicated status that we Puerto Ricans have had to deal with since the U.S. invaded the island during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and we were ceded by Spain through the Treaty of Paris, even though Spain had granted Puerto Rico autonomy some time before the invasion.
Hope this sheds some light on the politics of the island.
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Jim
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 04:43 am |
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just a quick follow up
the Municipal Assembly seems to be along party
lines that is , Abraham's slate won.
Milagros Santiago, Judy Romero, Carmen Parrilla
(Wallesca's mom) Paulino Espinosa (Linn)
There is a possibility that on a recount Dr. Del Toro
who ran for the Assembly on the Independentista
Ticket may win a seat, he is a very popular
Dr./Figure in Culebra. I'll update.
The aftermath of the election left a lot of
people in shock, a few cheap remarks, but
generally everybody is glad that it's over.
To those of you who feel all is lost, re-read the
editorials from October, as you know I never write
unless I check and recheck my Culebrense elders
and elders in the N.A. community also.
Here is Benjamíns final sentences:
. " It is time to demand respect and all of us together,
without political party colors, without religious prejudices,
without hate or resentments, stand up against the horrible
threat of some bandit developers who want to turn our dear
island of Culebra into a giant cement ball. Only united can
we avoid this. With sterile and infantile divisions, very soon
we will end up losing the little we have left.
The principal leader of the island, after the 4th of November,
weather it may be my friend Abraham or my friend Alexis,
must be an upright person, committed to our town and not
to foreign interests. It must be a person that can show
responsibility and face the problems we have with these
arrogant businessmen that want the island for themselves.
Good leaders must recognize the times we are living and act
with courage and justice; it is the only way to stop gossip,
hate and discrepancies among voters and regardless of colors
and feelings, people will support that leader. May God help
us.?"
Notice he was speaking about action AFTER
the election. And this from mine:
"There is a growing awareness and frustration that we
are being pushed too much by outside interests. This is felt
by supporters in the Abraham camp, in the Alexis camp, and
of course in the Sanes camp as well. If there is one thing that
unites us as a people, it is that: this Island sanctuary and our
way of life must be protected".
No, the Battle was not lost, it hadn't begun.
The election was not a referendum on development, maybe
it should have been, but that was not what was happening.
But now we begin, it's gonna be fun and it's gonna
be exciting..in fact it's a great time to be living in Culebra!
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admin
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 11:41 am |
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thank you realesta for sharing your insight!
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Diving Debbie
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 01:28 pm |
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realesta,
Thanks very much. Surely the parties have other goals as well. Is one or the other similar to the US republican and democratic parties? Is one for big government and the other for reduced government? Do you have any insight into why the US would not want PR to become a state?
Do Puertoricans (living in PR) pay US income tax? I think not, but am curious.
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Hillman
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 01:45 pm |
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DD, The US Congress will never let PR become a State. It does not want PR to have 2 Senators and perhaps 4-5 Representitives having influence on laws and votes. The US is willing to give us a break on taxes for that. If you are willing to accept this, happiness reins.
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realesta
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 03:53 pm |
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The party's platforms in PR deal mainly with the status question. As far as I know there is no other characteristic or ideology that separates them. To further complicate matters there are members of the PNP that are part of the Republican Party and participate in fund raising and campaigning for the primaries and there are members of the PNP also that are Democrats and do the same thing. The same is true for the PPD. They have Republicans and Democrats in their ranks. But this mainly a way for them to attract allies in Congress for their cause.
There are a few reasons that have been discussed as to why the U.S. would not grant statehood to PR. The main one is that it is widely believed that a majority of Puerto Ricans would gravitate towards the Democratic Party. If such is the case, Puerto Rico's delegation in the Legislature, which would be a big one given the fact that PR has a population that is larger than 24 States, could all of a sudden tip the balance in favor of the Democrats (that might not be such a big deal right now since they have won a majority of seats in both houses, but things can always change).
One other reason that nobody seems to mention is the fact that a delegation of 2 Senators and perhaps 4 or 5 representatives, as Hillman just mentioned, that are all Hispanic would add to a growing Hispanic Caucus which, tied to the fact that Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the U.S., would create a very powerful block of Hispanic Legislators with a very powerful (maybe not in economic terms but definitely in numbers) constituency. I can see how the white establishment might view this as a threat to their power. Although with the election of a black President now, who knows. I'd like to know what Barack Obama's position is regarding statehood for PR.
Puerto Ricans living in PR do not pay federal income tax unless they work for the federal government there and then they can deduct those in their local income tax return. I haven't lived there in a while but that is what I remember. They do file a local income tax return and Social Security taxes are taken out of their paychecks the same as in the U.S. They also pay extravagant taxes on imported goods which must be, by law, brought in to the island using U.S. merchant ships which are said to be one of the most expensive in the world.
There are some people here in Florida that ask me the same thing as to imply that we are in the best of situations since we don't pay federal income tax. They agree that we don't have those other rights, like representation in Congress, that every U.S. citizen has but say it's okay because we don't pay federal income tax. That is the argument the U.S. has to dispel the notion that we are a colony. You know "taxation without representation". Nevertheless the PNP's will tell you that they would gladly pay federal income tax if they could have representation in Congress. You know someone you can write a letter to if some corporation is polluting your backyard.
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Jim
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Posted: Thu Nov 6th, 2008 06:16 pm |
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Although some people are passionate about
Statehood, for or against, a lot of people feel
that it has evolved into a wedge issue that can't
be resolved because the inherent nature of the
game is to keep us divided. The initial appeasement
of the U.S. by Muñoz Marín that gave birth to the PDP
party also paved the way for economic development
and industrializing the somewhat agrarian Puerto Rican
economy. The parties now run strongly on economic
issues, injected interests are more represented
by the PNP, although the PDP had its hand out first.
Using economic wave theory, the US is in collapse
and will have to adjust its supposed free market
capitalism and Puerto Rico is falling faster. A
system that constantly carries on it's back
freeloaders in the name of mindless investors cannot
sustain itself but so long, particularly when they
do not participate in Capital formation but in fact use
the Banking system (and now the treasury!) as
leveraged capital. In other words its a house of cards,
a pyramid scheme, whatever.
I don't think that Statehood is an issue now that the U.S. got
it's economic interest well represented her. Like Hillman said
they are not going to concede to a division of power. After
all they already got what they want.
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Diving Debbie
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Posted: Fri Nov 7th, 2008 04:04 am |
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realesta wrote:
One other reason that nobody seems to mention is the fact that a delegation of 2 Senators and perhaps 4 or 5 representatives, as Hillman just mentioned, that are all Hispanic would add to a growing Hispanic Caucus which, tied to the fact that Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the U.S., would create a very powerful block of Hispanic Legislators with a very powerful (maybe not in economic terms but definitely in numbers) constituency. I can see how the white establishment might view this as a threat to their power. Although with the election of a black President now, who knows. I'd like to know what Barack Obama's position is regarding statehood for PR.
What? Seriously? How is this any different than the tipping of balance from states that have large Hispanic-American populations?
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Diving Debbie
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Posted: Fri Nov 7th, 2008 04:07 am |
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Hillman wrote:
DD, The US Congress will never let PR become a State. It does not want PR to have 2 Senators and perhaps 4-5 Representitives having influence on laws and votes. The US is willing to give us a break on taxes for that. If you are willing to accept this, happiness reins.
Maybe I am naive, but I seriously don't understand this. All other states have representation and influence on laws and votes. What's the problem with a few more from another jurisdiction?
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Jim
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Posted: Fri Nov 7th, 2008 09:47 am |
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As to the Hispanic theory, the hierarchy whites
who control everything could care less what
color or ethnicity defines the masses, they know
how to indoctrinate you and control the political
process so it doesn't threaten them directly.
It doesn't matter what you are, they control the
Banking system, the Congress and the Media.
Have you noticed how the media has a habit of
brow beating us for a week on some story then
we get the poll which shows we were indoctrinated
and then we're told "The American people want..."
And what about us, we get that freedom thing,
fear of Socialism, and anything else antithetical
to Capitalism. Try this on your friends.
What if we took our medical system and took
the profit out of it, paid decent wages, how
much more could we save or how much more
could we deliver? People get interested!
But we are never allowed to consider that unless the
question is framed with "Do you want SOCIALIZED
medicine, and of course we obediently shriek in horror
and say No Way! And then defend it with other
crap like I want to choose my Doctor. As if we have
a choice or when we do, of what. Socialism, Marxism
Most people don't even know what the hell they are,
they just know they're bad. Whites and Hispanics!
Telemundo is owned by NBC, which is owned by
General Electric which is a very large defense (war)
contractor for jet engines, bomb detecting equipment.
So now you know why the News hardly mentions
permanent bases in Iraq. The others ABC etc have
similar ties.
¿Hable Español?
I know it's depressing but thats why a lot of us
love Culebra and want to keep that sick world out of it.
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Jim
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Posted: Fri Nov 7th, 2008 06:35 pm |
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Scratch Dr. del Toro for Municipal
Assembly, he didn't make it
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realesta
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Posted: Mon Nov 10th, 2008 04:17 pm |
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Unlike States with high Hispanic or Latino populations PR's population is 100% Latino whereas, according to the 2000 Census, California's is 32%, Texas' is 32% and Florida's is 17%. It will take a while, if ever, for these States to have a large Latino contingency of Senators and Representatives in Washington but PR's would be immediate soon after being accepted as a State. Of course I seriously doubt it will happen.
Although the ideal situation would call for PR to become an independent country like everyone else, (By the way we are not officially a country. Look it up on the list of countries in any World Almanac. Nevertheless if you ask any Puerto Rican what he or she is they will tell you they are Puerto Rican, not American), I feel for my late father who passed away a couple of years away without seeing his dream of Statehood become a reality. He was a retired Lt. Colonel of the Army Reserve who served honorably in World War II and, while he had a strong sense of being Puerto Rican, he was very proud of being a part of this Nation.
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realesta
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Posted: Mon Nov 10th, 2008 04:17 pm |
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Last edited on Mon Nov 10th, 2008 04:18 pm by realesta
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Jim
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Posted: Mon Nov 10th, 2008 07:24 pm |
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My father-in-law is 88 and a World War Vet, amazing
how they honorably served. They also came home to
a grateful nation and for the rest of their lives were
praised for their service and saving America. It was a
lot different for Korean and Vietnam Vets, Iraqi vets
will soon join.
Veterans Day originally celebrated the signing of
the World War I Peace treaty and was intended to
celebrate a day for Peace. It was hijacked "patriotically"
and probably innocently to include all veterans after
the Korean War. Now less important was the Armistice.
Now it celebrates the service of all veterans who
served in all wars. All wars were not honorable but
all service certainly was.
And the reason I point this out is that these remembrances
are too easily used by some to assuage their guilt and
misgivings about our less than honorable wars. They need
to keep the two things separate in their minds. I am a
Vietnam, I have had to keep the two things separate in my
mind, patriotic/honorable service and defense policy.
If this day is about veterans now, then thats what it is
simply, humbly, and honorably.
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