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Puerto Rico statehood has made national headlines in recent weeks as Democrats threaten granting statehood to both Puerto Rico and D.C. in retaliation for President Trump nominating Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy left by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. In response, several Republicans have come out against statehood for the island, with the implication that the territory would only support Democrat federal elected officials. While Puerto Rico is more valuable to our nation than as a political football, these fears are unfounded. With Puerto Ricans voting on a statehood referendum on November 3rd, known...

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead shrunk in Hillsborough County since the last poll conducted in late September, according to a new survey from St. Pete Polls released Saturday. The latest poll shows Biden with a 9-point lead over Donald Trump in the county at 53% to 44%. The previous poll, by the same pollsters, showed Trump with a 13 point deficit in the county at 55% to 42%. ... ... One of the biggest take-aways from the latest poll is the crossover appeal for both candidates. In the Sept. 29 poll, Biden claimed 16% support from Republican voters, a...

Puerto Ricans For Trump Car Rally Sunday, October 18, 2020 at 1:00 PM Meet at the ToysRUs parking lot in Carolina, Puerto Rico towards the Republican Movement office in San Juan. (Flyer at link. If someone would be so kind as to post here, I'd appreciate it. I no longer use Photobucket. Thanks!)

BREAKING: Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vázquez Garced has endorsed Donald Trump for President https://t.co/b2eBc9KGwY — Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 6, 2020 Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez Garced on Tuesday threw her support behind President Trump’s bid for a second term and called on Puerto Ricans to cast their votes for him on Election Day. “I ask all Puerto Ricans who are listening to go vote,” the governor said in an interview on Telemundo. “They have to go to vote, exercise their right to vote and evaluate who has represented being a person who thinks about Puerto Ricans and their needs...

Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced endorsed President Donald Trump for reelection in a Tuesday interview with Telemundo, urging Puerto Ricans living in the United States to vote for the president. The development comes after Vázquez was scheduled to campaign with President Donald Trump in Central Florida, but the event was canceled due to the president contracting the Chinese coronavirus, according to Miami Herald reporter Syra Ortiz-Blanes.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “everything is on the table” if Democrats win a majority of the Senate, including making Puerto Rico and Washington, DC, states. “I’m not busting my chops to become majority leader to do very little or nothing. We are going to get a whole lot done. And as I’ve said, everything, everything is on the table,” the New York Democrat said on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” on Wednesday.... Host Joy Reid asked Schumer if statehood would be on the table for Washington and Puerto Rico if Democrats control the chamber next year. “I would — believe...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he would “love to” make D.C. and Puerto Rico states and addressed the prospect of ending the filibuster if Democrats take the Senate by stating, “I’m not busting my chops to become majority leader to do very little or nothing. We are going to get a whole lot done. And as I’ve said, everything, everything is on the table.” Schumer said that Senate Democrats are “using all the tactics we can” to slow down Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation.

Low taxes lure wealthy buyers to U.S. territory, where luxury developers are reporting brisk business. At the Dorado Beach resort west of San Juan, the developer has signed 46 contracts for homes in one of the site’s new phases with prices spanning $1.9 million to $4 million. Developers of luxury projects are reporting increasing sales volume and prices compared with 2019. The uptick comes despite years of natural disasters and financial and political upheavals that made many wary of buying property in Puerto Rico. Residents of the territory—who must live there at least 183 days a year—pay a Puerto Rico...

Democrats, their media friends want us to know, are furious. If Republicans exercise their constitutional prerogative and fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court, the Democrats are prepared to burn it all down. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) told his caucus on Saturday that if Republicans move forward with a nomination, "nothing is off the table." Others were more explicit: If the Democrats retake the Senate in 2021, Massachusetts senator Ed Markey vowed to abolish the filibuster; his failed primary challenger, Rep. Joe Kennedy, promised to pack the Court. They'll bestow statehood on Puerto Rico and...

Michelle Rojas Tal is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor on her mom's side, and the daughter of a Puerto Rican non-Jewish father. She grew up in New York City, where she had pride in both heritages, and a full understanding that she was one of the Jewish people. She was 16 years old when the Twin Towers blew up across the river from her high school. While the events of 9/11 were a turning point in the young teenager's life, it was while in college that Michelle became an activist for Israel, when a professor claimed that the Israeli...

The Puerto Rican population in Central Florida returned to pre-Hurricane Maria levels, according to the latest American Community Survey, conducted yearly by the U.S. Census Bureau. The newest estimate of Puerto Ricans is roughly 385,000 in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties, which is similar to before the Category 5 storm ravaged the island in mid-September 2017, driving many Puerto Ricans to Central Florida. UCF sociologist Fernando I. Rivera, founder of the Puerto Rico Research Hub, explained that Puerto Rico’s migration “is circular.” “Basically, the economic conditions are what really determine the population movement,” he said. “If you are going...

Democrats are reportedly gearing up for “total war” and plan to implement radical changes to the legislative and judiciary branches of the government if the GOP-led Senate confirms a new Supreme Court (SCOTUS) justice before the Nov. 3 election then lose the majority after the election, Axios reported Sunday. The Democrats’ options include ending the Senate filibuster rule — which requires a 60-vote supermajority to end debate and move to a vote instead of a simple majority — expanding the number of Supreme Court justices, granting statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and even undertaking a second...

SAN JUAN — Three years after Hurricane María, the government of Puerto Rico and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) agreed to allocate $13 billion to rebuild the electricity grid and repair educational structures destroyed by the historic storm. At a press conference in FEMA headquarters, Gov. Wanda Vázquez took the opportunity to thank the FEMA leadership in Puerto Rico and President Donald Trump for the funding obligation. Earlier, Vázquez tweeted that FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor called her to give her the news that they had approved the multimillion-dollar allocation. “I just spoke with @FEMA_Pete notified me that we achieved...

Joe Biden was mocked by viewers last night after pulling out his phone and playing the hit song 'Despacito' at a Hispanic campaign event in Florida. A grinning Biden played the song into a microphone after being introduced by its Puerto Rican-American singer Luis Fonsi at the event in Tampa, as the Democratic nominee seeks Hispanic backing in one of the chief battleground states. But critics accused Biden of 'pandering' and mocked him for playing a song whose title translates as 'Slowly' - evoking Donald Trump's nicknam

Under the state’s revised policies, incoming travelers from California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio will no longer be required to quarantine for two weeks before entering the tri-state area. The Northern Mariana Islands have also been removed, while Puerto Rico has been added back to the list. "When other states and territories make progress fighting COVID-19, that's good for New York and while I am glad to see areas removed from the travel advisory list, it still remains far too long," Governor Cuomo said. "Make no mistake: We must continue to be New York Tough and stay smart. Wearing...

On September 5, 2020, Frankie Lucena pointed his video camera at a tropical wave passing just south of Puerto Rico, and he recorded some very impressive and huge Gigantic Jet lightning events and clusters of sprites. Interestingly, weaker systems often produce the strongest upward-directed lightning, that intensifying tropical waves have the most sprites before these systems become furious hurricanes. Once a storm becomes a hurricane, however, sprite activity seems to subside. Lucena has surveyed many passing hurricanes with relatively little success in catching sprites and Gigantic Jets. However, last month, he captured a very rare Type II Gigantic Jet event...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 1h Today we join millions of baseball fans and Puerto Ricans in celebrating Roberto Clemente’s life and his immense contributions to baseball and equality. He was one of my all-time favorite players – Roberto had everything! #ClementeDay #Retire21

Puerto Rico Democratic Party Chair Charles Rodríguez on Friday called on congressional Democrats to oppose a bill proposed by New York Democratic Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to decide the territory's status through a convention. "The proposed legislation allows a group of delegates to decide and impose an option. In a democracy, we should trust the people to make their own decisions rather than rely on a selected few to decide for the people," wrote Rodríguez. The Velázquez/Ocasio-Cortez bill has pulled Congress into the island's core political debate, which defines party affiliation at a local level. In his letter,...

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — During a joint investigation between U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico, CBP officers seized Saturday undeclared currency totaling $27 million found inside boxes bound to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. “Legal currency can be transported if properly declared under US law. Transnational Criminal Organizations seek to conceal proceeds and move it as part of their criminal activities,” indicated Gregory Alvarez, Director of Field Operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “We remain...

After years of bulldozing, President Obama finally got Senate confirmation for a scandal-plagued diplomat forced out of a U.S. ambassadorship for her close ties to a terrorist-sponsoring foreign government. That means a leftist open borders activist (Mari Carmen Aponte) with a controversial past officially represents the administration abroad. In a 62-37 vote last week, the U.S. Senate approved the confirmation of Aponte, a former board member of the National Council of la Raza (NCLR) and Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), as the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador. Obama originally nominated Aponte in December 2009 and made her...