Given the emotional intensity that tends to surround the issue of Puerto Rico’s political status, recent plebiscite results have been relatively straightforward and devoid of drama. The numbers are clear, and statehood won.Read More »Statehood for Puerto Rico: The Numbers Add Up
Latino Decisions has published a thoughtful blog post about Puerto Rico’s treatment by the U.S. Congress. The Puerto Rico Report welcomes this addition to the longstanding debate on Puerto Rico’s status as a territory. Yet we also question some of its conclusions. Read More »What Congress Really Thinks About Puerto Rico
Free Association is once again being discussed as a possibility for Puerto Rico. Much of the discussion has centered around abstract ideas of rights and responsibilities.… Read More »What’s Wrong with Free Association for Puerto Rico?
The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, part of the 2000 Community Renewal Tax Relief Act, was designed to encourage investment in Community Development Entities (CDE) in low-income areas. The thinking was that companies not normally interested in investing in depressed communities would do so with the tax credit, which covers 39% of the investments made. Not only do NMTC projects bring capital into poor neighborhoods, but they also create jobs for local residents.Read More »New Market Tax Credits — Not in Puerto Rico
Former Puerto Rican Governor Rafael Hernandez Colon speaks with authority as a leader of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP). He served as the fourth governor of Puerto Rico over three terms (1973 – 1977 and 1985 – 1993) and has earned the title of statesman for his party – which is why his recent comments in a Caribbean Business interview were especially enlightening. Read More »Is the PDP Against Minimum Wage, Job Safety and the Environment?
We recently published a post documenting Republican support for Puerto Rican statehood, beginning with presidential candidate Mitt Romney and extending back decades to include Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.Read More »Support for Statehood: A Bipartisan Tradition in Congress and the White House
A recent interview on the subject of Puerto Rico’s status suggested, with a startling degree of discourtesy, that Puerto Rico wants to be a state only “for the money.” In fact, Puerto Ricans who are in favor of statehood generally explain that they seek equal responsibilities as well as equal rights with other United States citizens.Read More »Sovereign Free Association: An Economic Risk for Puerto Ricans
Recent gains by presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Florida are prompting some analysts to question whether either campaign should continue to pour resources into the state during the final weeks of the campaign. Florida, the thinking goes, has moved into the Republican column, while President Obama’s relative strength elsewhere makes the state less important for a Democratic victory.Read More »America for All Americans
It is not often that the Supreme Court weighs in on the constitutional angles of Puerto Rico’s status as a territory of the United States – a topic of increased attention as the November 6 plebiscite approaches. Read More »Supreme Court Silence on Puerto Rico’s Lack of Voting Rights
