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Puerto Rico governor says U.S. shouldn't close Vieques base
AP | 1/16/03 | RICARDO ZUNIGA

Posted on 01/16/2003 1:50:07 PM PST by kattracks

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To: KansasConservative1
The 4,800 jobs they're worried about losing are at the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base on the main island of Puerto Rico.

I'm not sure how many of the residents of Vieques work at Camp Garcia on Vieques, but I don't believe it's too many.

They'll make up the lost income through increased drug trafficking. Oh no, I meant fishing. Yeah, that's it, fishing. ;^)

101 posted on 01/17/2003 11:22:27 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
Are you out of your mind???

No, but your anti-Puerto Rico fanaticism has convinced
me that YOU'RE not playing with a full deck.

102 posted on 01/17/2003 11:26:00 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
"...anti-Puerto Rico fanaticism..."

We gift Puerto Rico over $18 billion dollars in cash each year.

We lose an additional $3 billion to $4 billion in tax revenue each year, because we give U.S. companies doing business in Puerto Rico a 90% tax break.

We're building Puerto Rico a $2.5 billion dollar Urban Train.

They're kicking our Navy off 24,000 acres on Vieques that we own.

They insist we leave the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base open that's on another 11,000 acres that we own even though we don't need it anymore. They still want the Navy to pay them $250 million each year and employ 4,800 people that they no longer need.

I say enough is enough already and you call me a fanatic?

Let's hope it's not as easy for Puerto Rico to make a sucker out of everyone in the United States as it was for them to make a sucker out of you.

If you're the rule and not the exception, we're in big trouble.

LOL!

103 posted on 01/17/2003 12:04:58 PM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
I say enough is enough already and you call me a fanatic?

The bulk of the money allocated to Puerto Rico is for government welfare subsidies,
if you want to decrease that amount, it is fine by me.
It is also fine by me to eliminate the special tax "incentives" given to corporations for locating there.
But I stand by my recommendations for infrastructure development.
YOU propose no such constructive alternative.
Yes, you ARE a fanatic.

104 posted on 01/17/2003 12:50:05 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
They've already received all the U.S. Taxpayer's dollars for infrastructure they should ever receive. They deserve not a dollar more.

You wouldn't believe what we've already built for these ingrates on that island.

Only a fool would advocate the continued flushing of more billions of U.S. Taxpayer's hard-earned dollars down the toilet that is Puerto Rico.

We have plenty of states that money should be helping instead.

Revoke Puerto Rico's statuatory American citizenship and cut them loose. They're worse than useless to us.

And only a raving lunatic would advocate giving Puerto Rico nuclear power plants. They would be the North Korean threat to the 10th power.

105 posted on 01/17/2003 2:13:48 PM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
And only a raving lunatic would advocate giving Puerto Rico nuclear power plants. They would be the North Korean threat to the 10th power.

As I stated previously, you offer no constructive proposals,
merely anti-Puerto Rican fanaticism and hysteria.

106 posted on 01/17/2003 2:30:44 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
"...you offer no constructive proposals..."

What is that, socialist code-speak for someone that doesn't agree with your opinion that we should throw $100s of billions more good U.S. Taxpayer's dollars after bad in Puerto Rico?

My post #105 in addition to others is a constructive proposal.

Take away Puerto Rico's citizenship and cut them loose. Bring those jobs home and spend that money on something else stateside or give us a tax cut.

Your proposal to continue spending is frivolous and foolish.

Your suggestion that we give Puerto Rico the building blocks for nuclear weapons is shear lunacy.

107 posted on 01/17/2003 3:22:16 PM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
Your suggestion that we give Puerto Rico the building blocks for nuclear weapons is shear lunacy.

Hogwash. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory.
Any nuclear power plant built there would be just as safe and secure as those built on the mainland.

If anything, your proposal to "cut them loose" only guarantees creation of another Haiti or Cuba in the Carribean.

108 posted on 01/17/2003 3:33:19 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
All Puerto Rico would have to do is declare its independence after any nuclear plant was built and they would have total control of it.

The rise of a Castro like dictator in Puerto Rico would put the building blocks of a nuclear arsenal in the hands of an enemy.

My proposal to cut Puerto Rico loose guarantees nothing except that the U.S. taxpayers will save a lot of money.

Look at all of the other islands in the caribbean that we don't support. Are they all like Cuba or Haiti? No, they're not.

That's just another one of your bogus false premises to cover the weakness of your argument.

You sound like Clinton giving assurances that the North Koreans would never use the by-products of nuclear power generation to make a bomb.

Anyone in the U.S. that wants to build a nuclear powerplant anywhere in this hemisphere south or north of our borders is a lunatic.

109 posted on 01/17/2003 4:44:32 PM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
My proposal to cut Puerto Rico loose guarantees nothing except that the U.S. taxpayers will save a lot of money.
Look at all of the other islands in the caribbean that we don't support. Are they all like Cuba or Haiti? No, they're not.

So my proposal to facilitate development of the Puerto Rican economy by investment in infrastructure would make them a threat 10 times more dangerous than North Korea...
while your proposal to "cut them off" (and send Puerto Rico into socio-economic chaos) would yield concerns less significant than any other benign Carribean island?

There's no need for me to waste my time trying to figure out what your anti-Puerto Rico agenda actually consists of. You've already proven yourself dumb as a rock.

110 posted on 01/17/2003 5:27:46 PM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
You're ignoring the fact that 100 years of our pandering politicians attempts to facilitate Puerto Rico's economy have back-fired at every turn.

If we pull out, there's no reason for Puerto Rico to fall into economic collapse.

They can abandon ther socialist ways.

They can cut their corrupt politicians and advisors salaries from $90,000 to $150,000 to $35,000. They can get rid of their chauffered government cars and around the clock bodyguards.

They can drop the socialist demands on businesses in Puerto Rico that the USA doesn't even make.

They can trim waste and fat from goverment programs. They can root out corruption and stop stealing.

Their former superintendent of schools, Victor Fajardo, was caught with $390,000 of U.S. Taxpayer's dollars in his safe at home.

This kind of theft is rampant on the island.

You've never even been to the island. You have no idea what you're talking about.

If you still believe that building a nuclear reactor on Puerto Rico is a good idea, when the whole damn U.S. Navy couldn't keep 4 ski mask wearing, Molotov Cocktail throwing, Puerto Rican terrorists out of the base on Vieques, you're crazier than any Liberal Democrat I've ever heard of.

111 posted on 01/18/2003 3:43:33 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: kattracks
*SIGH* Once again the lives of hard working innocents are financially decimated by Leftist idiocy.
112 posted on 01/18/2003 4:17:56 AM PST by Caipirabob (These tag lines are gonna get me in big trouble soon, I just know it!)
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To: 4Freedom
If we pull out, there's no reason for Puerto Rico to fall into economic collapse.

Hogwash.

Puerto Rico’s economy has reached a gross domestic product of $60 billion and $17.8 billion come from transfers from the federal government. That means that 30% of the local economy is financed by the U.S. Congress.

You can't just "cut off" 30% of the local economy and not expect economic collapse.

What you CAN do is shift the federal spending from support of social welfare programs to investment in infrastructure that facilitates private sector development, providing socio-economic stability and prosperity.

113 posted on 01/18/2003 7:03:40 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
What we can do is force the corrupt politicians of Puerto Rico to stop spending hard-earned, U.S. Taxpayer's dollars like a bunch of drunken sailors and live within their means.

No business is going to go near Puerto Rico as long as they continue observing twice as many paid holidays off each year as we receive here stateside.

No business is going to go to Puerto Rico where they are compelled to provide a minimum of 2 weeks holiday bonus pay.

No business is going to go near Puerto Rico with the knowledge they'll be taxed into bankruptcy to pay the exorbitant salaries and perks for a bunch of corrupt politicians and socialized medicine for the entire island.

And the list goes on.

We can build Puerto Rico 10 more Urban Trains and it won't change a thing. The island must abandon socialism and get down to work.

At least you've dropped your ridiculous proposal to build a nuclear reactor on Puerto Rico.

It's time to send Puerto Rico a message from the U.S. Taxpayers. The party's over! Get to work! You're on your own, now! Good riddance.

114 posted on 01/18/2003 7:29:16 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
At least you've dropped your ridiculous proposal to build a nuclear reactor on Puerto Rico.

My proposal remains as previously stated.

Your intentional misrepresentation of my opinions merely
illustrates the pyschotic absurdity of your own position.

115 posted on 01/18/2003 8:09:15 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
"My proposal remains as previously stated."

The U.S. Navy can't keep Puerto Rican terrorists off the Naval Base on Vieques, but you believe private security will keep those same terrorists out of a nuclear power plant?

Here's a scenario for the sane among us to consider. It might help you as well.

Imagine a hurricane as powerful as Hugo, Hortense or George rumbling past Puerto Rico on its way to the United States as their reactor goes critical on Puerto Rico.

With Puerto Rico's public utility maintenance record, that's a very real danger regardless of whether terrorists could gain access to the facility or not.

116 posted on 01/18/2003 8:39:42 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
Imagine a hurricane as powerful as Hugo, Hortense or George rumbling past Puerto Rico on its way to the United States as their reactor goes critical on Puerto Rico.

Unlike windmills or solar panels which would be blown to kingdom come, the solid structure of a nuclear reactor containment building could easily withstand such storms unscathed. There is no reason to expect that the reactor would go critical. Especially when modern weather tracking capabilities provide more than adequate time for any storm preparation.

Your efforts to instill emotional hysteria on this topic exludes the possibility that you're a conservative. My guess is that you're actually a radical liberal, perhaps even a marxist Puerto-Rican separatist hoping to gain power in the wake of economic collapse of the island economy. "4Freedom" my butt, your convoluted socio-economic analysis betrays your true agenda.

117 posted on 01/18/2003 9:15:14 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
You're assuming that terrorists in Puerto Rico wouldn't be capable of timing their attack on a nuclear power plant to coincide with the arrival of a hurricane.

Foolish assumption considering 4 Puerto Rican terrorists fire-bombed a Naval convoy on Vieques on 8/11/01 and got completely away with it.

It seems you're also assuming that a Puerto Rican nuclear facility would be as well maintained as one in the continental United States as opposed to the one in Chernobyl, Russia.

You really should visit the island, soon.

Here's a good article that provides some pretty compelling arguments against our continued squandering of our tax dollars abroad.

The Debt Bomb: Only housing is keeping the fuse on America's borrowing habits from burning us down.

We just can't continue to borrow ourselves further into debt for ingrates like Puerto Rico.

118 posted on 01/18/2003 10:05:02 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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To: 4Freedom
What I accurately ascertained was your employment of Klintonian/marxist scare tactics.

Scat. You have no credibility.

119 posted on 01/18/2003 10:19:20 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Willie Green
They're not scare tactics. If you had ever visited the island, you might have some credibility on the subject.

Throwing even more $10s or $100s of billions of U.S. Taxpayer's dollars won't fix what's wrong in Puerto Rico.

You must fight that Liberal compulsion to attempt to fix problems by throwing more money at them. It doesn't work.

It's the truth and I won't allow you to avoid or obscure it.

120 posted on 01/18/2003 10:31:40 AM PST by 4Freedom (America is no longer the 'Land of Opportunity', it's the 'Land of Illegal Alien Opportunists'!!!)
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