Free Republic

Known for its white-sand beaches and killer rums, Puerto Rico hopes to stake a new claim: tax haven for the wealthy. Since the beginning of the year, the island has gone on a campaign to promote tax incentives that took effect last year, marketing its beautiful beaches, private schools and bargain costs in an effort to lure well-heeled hedge fund managers and business executives to its shores. So far, Puerto Rico’s pitch has attracted a handful of under-the-radar millionaires. Several American executives of mostly smaller financial firms say they have already relocated to the island, and Puerto Rican officials say...

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer seemed to indicate Thursday they'd consider a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico "natural-born" and eligible to run for president. Their comments, directed at Puerto Rican-born Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), came during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Supreme Court's budget

But that’s not Cuomo’s only pull back. “This state has no future if it is going to be the tax capital of the nation,” Cuomo during his inauguration. Cuomo then passed a supposedly temporary tax on high-earning New Yorkers that was due to end next year, but now, CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday, that’s not going to happen. “There will be an extension of the surcharge set to expire next year,” Cuomo said Thursday. And when asked at if that wasn’t hypocritical, given his prior no-new-taxes positions, Cuomo tried to paint the tax hike as a tax cut, since...

SAN FRANCISCO - After Team USA was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic, we heard the usual lines about the inability of Americans to meet expectations in the tournament. That’s not entirely accurate. Team Puerto Rico — comprised of U.S. citizens — is one victory away from stunning the baseball world. After unexpectedly eliminating Venezuela in the first round and the U.S. in the second, the Puerto Ricans pulled off an even bigger upset Sunday night. Behind starting pitcher Mario Santiago, who spent last season with SK Wyverns of the Korean Baseball Organization, Puerto Rico stunned twice-defending champion Japan, 3-1,...

The surprising Puerto Ricans first eliminated the star-studded United States, then took care of two-time World Baseball Classic champion Japan two days later with a 3-1 victory in Sunday night's semifinal. Puerto Rico needs just one more win to be WBC champions. "We totally showed we can be the new team, the champion nobody expected," said Angel Pagan, center fielder for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. "It means a lot, but not everything, because we're still missing one more win." Alex Rios hit a two-run homer, Mike Aviles singled twice and drove in the game's first run, and...

Could big-money billionaire John Paulson be ready to bolt from New York and into a palatial Puerto Rico penthouse in the name of lower taxes? A Bloomberg News report says the Queens-born hedge fund heavyweight — worth $11.2 billion — has looked at property in the wealthy Condado neighborhood of San Juan. The $5 million penthouse he reportedly eyed is 8,379 square feet, occupies three floors and includes six underground parking spaces, according to the Trillion Realty Group listing. ~ snip ~ Paulson’s potential move to the commonwealth would save the 57-year-old from paying tax gains on the $9.5 billion...

As most of you have read or seen by now, a journalist and NBC/MSNBC media consultant named William “Bill” Arkin has created quite a stir by viciously insulting American soldiers in Iraq. He wrote at his Washington Post blog, “Early Warning: William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security” column (1/30/07), that “… this NBC (Nightly News) report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer force that thinks it is doing the dirty work” re Iraq. The “report,” according to Arkin, featured “a number of soldiers (who) expressed frustration with...

More than 200,000 religious Christians marched against gay rights in Puerto Rico on Monday in the largest such demonstration in the history of the US commonwealth. Gathering in front of San Juan’s Capitol building, hundreds of thousands of Christian Puerto Ricans stopped traffic while defending “traditional marriage” and protesting against the idea of granting gay couples legal rights. “Traffic was snarled for miles leading toward the San Juan islet as buses packed with marchers headed toward the north side of the Capitol,” described the Puerto Rican-based Caribbean Business. The mass demonstration, which took just three weeks to organize, drew in...

Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday voted 5-4 to ban gay couples from adopting children, with judges claiming that a child’s dignity, stability and well-being can only be ensured if raised in a “traditional” family. The vote comes two days after 200,000 religious Christians held a rally against granting same-sex couples any sort of legal rights. As the largest anti-gay rally in the history of the US commonwealth, the gathering portrayed the immense opposition gay couples continue to face in Puerto Rico. Although some lawmakers support granting gay couples with certain legal rights, many public figures remain starkly opposed to...

With the Washington news cycle being dominated this week by a bipartisan comprehensive immigration framework that includes an earned path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, a group of conservative heavy hitters are trying to push another issue that affects over 3.5 million second-class U.S. citizens. Yesterday morning at the National Press Club, the topic was Puerto Rican statehood, as the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles announced a new education campaign to convince fellow conservatives that making Puerto Rico the 51st state of the Union is the most American thing one can do. The LPCP rolled out an A...

Yay!! MORE POOR DEMOCRAT VOTERS! Anti-higher taxes activist Grover Norquist is joining an effort to convince conservatives to support statehood for Puerto Rico. Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, is scheduled to appear at a press conference with Luis Fortuno, the former Republican governor of Puerto Rico, in Washington to push statehood for the territory next week. The group organizing the effort is the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. “The group of conservative leaders will call on Congress to pass legislation to allow the people of Puerto Rico to decide their political future among non-territorial and constitutionally valid...

While the American people are being hit with new ObamaCare taxes, and the ObamaDeficit is climbing through the roof and will pass 20 trillion dollars before long, there’s always plenty of sweetheart deals and pork to be found. 1. Hollywood. Celebrities flocked to Obama and the industry poured millions into his campaign. Payday comes in the form of an extension of the Special Expensing Rules which allow Hollywood productions to deduct 15 to 20 million dollars. That’s pretty generous considering that companies that manufacture medical devices are being hit with a tax. But who really needs pacemakers anyway when you’ve...

Former world boxing champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho was in critical condition today after being shot in his native Puerto Rico, with his family facing the decision of taking him off life support as his condition worsened. Doctors had said Camacho was expected to survive after he was shot in the face while sitting in a car on Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon. However his condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan. 'He's battling minute to minute. This is the most important...

Last night Porta Rico voted to become the 51st state. It won't matter too much financially as we have been supporting them for ever. But it will add a complete state to the " Takers" list. These people well be entitled to two new Senators, and the usual number of Representatives, and they will be allowed to vote in our Federal elections.

Voters in Puerto Rico have supported a non-binding referendum to become a full US state. The measure will require approval from the US Congress, but President Barack Obama has said he will respect the vote. The island is currently a US territory, which uses the dollar and whose citizens travel on US passports. But it does not return senators to the US Congress and is represented in Washington by a non-voting delegate. Almost 80% of the island's electorate took part in the referendum, the fourth in the past 45 years. With almost all the votes counted, almost 54% voted to...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Puerto Ricans have endorsed U.S. statehood for the Caribbean island but also ousted the pro-statehood governor in a close election. Gov. Luis Fortuno conceded defeat Wednesday to his main challenger after concluding there were not enough outstanding ballots to close the gap with his main challenger, Alejandro Garcia Padilla. The margin in Tuesday's vote was less than 1 percent. "Now it's time for us to come together as one people. The campaign is over," Fortuno said in a news conference.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Puerto Ricans have endorsed U.S. statehood for the Caribbean island but also ousted the pro-statehood governor in a close election. Gov. Luis Fortuno conceded defeat Wednesday to his main challenger after concluding there were not enough outstanding ballots to close the gap with his main challenger,

A majority of Puerto Ricans voted to change their ties with the United States and become the 51st U.S. state yesterday in a non-binding referendum that would require final approval from Congress. The two-part referendum asked whether the island wanted to change its 114-year relationship with the United States and nearly 54 percent sought to change it, while 46 percent favored the status quo with ninety-six percent of precincts reporting. The second question asked voters to choose from three options, with statehood by far the favorite, garnering 61 percent. Sovereign free association, which would have allowed for more autonomy, received...

<p>SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A slim majority of Puerto Ricans want their island to become the 51st U.S. state in a non-binding referendum that would require final approval from Congress.</p> <p>The two-part referendum asked whether the island favored its 114-year relationship with the U.S. Nearly 54 percent sought to change it, while 46 percent supported the status quo, with 96 percent of precincts reporting as of early Wednesday. Statehood was the favorite option, garnering 61 percent. Sovereign free association, which would have allowed for more autonomy, received 33 percent, while independence got 5 percent.</p>

ORLANDO, Fla. - As Hurricane Sandy takes aim at the East Coast, the storm is already throwing a wrench in the campaign plans of both President Barack Obama and his challenger, Gov. Mitt Romney. Obama greeted local members of the Puerto Rican community upon arrival at Orlando International Airport just before 8 p.m. Sunday, but he canceled his Monday morning appearance at the University of Central Florida. "Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area, the president will not attend today's campaign event in Orlando. The president will return to the White House to monitor the preparations for and...