Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico's federally appointed financial oversight board said on Wednesday it will investigate the U.S. commonwealth's debt "and its relationship to the fiscal crisis" which has left it with $72 billion in debt and a 45-percent poverty rate. The board, a creation of the 2016 federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, said in a statement that the investigation will review the fiscal crisis, examine the debt and how it was issued, including disclosure and selling practices. "The Oversight Board considers this investigation an integral part of its mission to restore fiscal balance and economic...

Where America’s Day BeginsTumon–While the rest of the country debates President Trump’s Twitter use, health care reform, tax reform, border security, the war on terrorism, and the 2018 midterms, it’s easy for some stories to fall by the wayside.The 2016 election was dominated by many issues, but trade was a key factor that helped push Donald Trump over the top. The main villain was China. Yet, trade isn’t the only arena where we’re going to do battle with this Asian economic powerhouse.In the Pacific, China is spreading dollars, subsidizing building projects across Tonga and the Federated States of Micronesia. The...

Paul Murphy, a U.S. Army veteran, and resident of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) was denied his right to keep and bear arms in the CNMI since he arrived in 2007.  He followed every administrative remedy that he could.  He was denied at every turn.  He attempted to hire an attorney.  No attorney would take his case.  He filed suit in the federal district court, pro se (as his own counsel).  He (mostly) prevailed. The Northern Mariana Islands District Court, in Murphy v. CNMI Government ruled for Paul Murphy, in summary judgment. From justia.com: Plaintiff Paul...

The United State District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands recently ruled that existing gun laws, written by a peace corps volunteer in the 1970's, are unconstitutional, and violate the Second Amendment, in several provisions. The House and Senate of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands reacted to the Court ruling by passing an extremely restrictive bill, S. B. No. 19-94(pdf), entitled "To regulate the possession of firearms in the Commonwealth.", in a special session on 5 April, 2016.  The bill passed the Senate unanimously.  The short title is the SAFE Act (Special Act for Firearms Enforcement), perhaps...

The U.S. District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands has issued a strong ruling that enforces the Second Amendment in the Commonwealth.  The long running lawsuit filed by David Radich and his wife, Li-Rong, was settled on 28 March, 2016.  The ruling enforces the findings in Heller and McDonald, both of which are referenced.  Here are the primary findings of the Court:The import ban on handguns and handgun ammunition is unconstitutional,Refusing to use “family defense” or “self-defense” as a valid reason for issuing a Weapons Identification Card” (WIC) , required for purchasing a firearm, is unconstitutional.Refusing to issue a...

Donald Trump has won the Republican caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands, picking up nine pledged delegates, according to the local GOP. Trump won 73 percent of the total 471 votes cast in the remote U.S. territory on Tuesday, followed by Ted Cruz with 24 percent, John Kasich at .02 percent and Marco Rubio at .01 percent. Jason Osborne, the executive director of the Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party, shared results of the winner-take-all caucus early Tuesday morning on Twitter and Facebook. Breaking News: @realDonaldTrump has just been declared the winner of the CNMI Rep Caucus with 72.8% of the...

Imagine if a state didn’t let someone vote in an election because their grandfather wasn’t the correct race. Surely lawyers in Eric Holder’s Justice Department would be typing up a lawsuit as fast as fingers could fly across the keyboard. After all, Obama is the president who boasted he was a champion for voting rights, falsely we’d later learn. Eric Holder compared voter ID to a modern version of Jim Crow. But a recent federal court opinion shows Jim Crow is alive and well, and living in paradise. This week, the United States District Court in the Commonwealth of the...

A former U.S. Army Ranger who is now an educator has agreed with a lawyer that the CNMI Weapons Act is unconstitutional and should be repealed or made moot. Paul Aguon Murphy said that defendant Sergio M. Rangamar should not be charged with criminal action for the mere possession of a handgun. Murphy so far is the only one to submit an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief at the invitation of Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho. Attorney Mark Scoggins, counsel for Rangamar, has asked the court to dismiss the charges of illegal possession of a firearm...

Michael Steele owes his dramatic victory in the race for Republican National Committee chairman to votes from island territories outside the 50 United States. Now, the question is what else he owes them. The residents of the five territories, from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea to the tiny Northern Marianas in the Pacific Ocean, provided Steele with a bloc of 15 votes - one more than his margin of victory - when they swung into his camp late in the balloting last week. Now, a leading committee member from the Virgin Islands, former shadow Senator Holland Redfield, said they...

WASHINGTON - The United States Mint today announced six new designs that will grace the quarters issued next year to honor the District of Columbia and the five United States territories: the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, United States Virgin Islands and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The coins will be put into circulation in approximately two-month intervals throughout the year. "Like the 50 State Quarters® Program before it, these new quarters will encourage Americans to appreciate the unique history of the District of Columbia and the territories of the United States," said United States Mint Director...

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — The U.S. credit crisis has extended far out into the Pacific territories. Sixty percent of homeowners under a 10-year-old government-backed loan program in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are in default on their loans, The Marianas Variety newspaper reported, citing the Marianas Public Housing Trust and the Marianas Housing Corp. Lawmakers say many homeowners could be forced to move into smaller homes or move out of the territory because they cannot make loan payments. The loans were issued under a $10 million program set up in 1998. Republican Sen. Paul A. Manglona...

Saipan GOP Delegates Pick McCain 2 hours ago SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) — The first nine delegates to a national Republican convention from the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas say they'll all be supporting Sen. John McCain, although they won't be able to vote for him in November. Some of the delegates elected at a party convention Saturday said they're convinced the former Vietnam prisoner of war can deliver better times for the far-flung U.S. territories in the Pacific. The islands are one of three Pacific territories each sending nine delegates to the GOP convention. American Samoa, across...

01-23) 04:00 PST Washington -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats plan to push through legislation Wednesday that would increase the size of the 435-member House on most matters by giving votes to delegates from four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Republicans are outraged by the plan, referring to it as a "greedy power grab'' in a statement from the office of Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. But they are probably powerless to stop it. The proposal would allow the elected members from Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a vote...

http://projectusa.org/ezine/2005/05-03-wsj_burns_gop_delay.html May 5, 2005 Issue 231 DeLay scandal hammering Wall Street Journal wing of GOP But Abramoff, the escape clause in the Contract with America, will likely be ineptly exploited by Democrats By CRAIG NELSENProjectUSA director WALL STREET JOURNAL REPUBLICANS Willie Tan, left, Hong Kong based owner of several sweat shops on the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. Commonwealth exempt from U.S. immigration and labor laws. "Returning from a fact-finding trip (to the Marianas) where he played two rounds of golf at the first-class Lao Loa Bay Golf Resort, DeLay blasted critics of what he called Saipan's 'free market...