Freedom Watch
Unleashing the Freedom to Prosper
What’s making Puerto Rico special?
The glory and genius of our nation — one, under God — is that our Founding Fathers devised just the right formula for a system of government that would allow the newly born society to attain some of the greatest advances not just in individual freedoms, democracy, and human rights, but in economic prosperity, scientific and technical innovation, and progress for itself and for all mankind.
From Puerto Rico, where Old Glory flies high atop La Fortaleza, the oldest working Executive Mansion in the entire Western Hemisphere, both the value and fragility of the fundamental freedoms that sustain the American experiment are plain to see. Not far from our shores, two well-known despots continue to espouse and attempt to export ruinous ideologies that stifle individual freedoms and enslave people to the state. Other neighbors, although democratic, have economic systems that thwart their citizens’ ability to reach their full potential.
This is the country that the world still turns to and emulates as the greatest force for freedom, progress, and prosperity in history. But the truth is that not all threats to the political and economic freedoms that undergird the United States are external. It is from within, in fact, that we face the threat of government encroachment and irresponsible fiscal policies that undermine the very foundations of our nation’s success and imperil the future of the rising generations of the 21st century.
At the state and territorial level, many of my fellow like-minded governors are striving to do everything within our power to stem the tide of red ink. When I took the oath of office in January 2009, our administration inherited a budget deficit of $3.3 billion, the highest deficit, proportionally speaking, in the country. Following the better part of a decade of reckless spending and bloated government, Puerto Rico’s credit teetered on the brink of being downgraded on Wall Street to junk status.
I went to work to fulfill our voters’ mandate to restore fiscal responsibility and align public policy with proven pro-growth strategies that would help Puerto Rico reach its full potential for economic growth and a better quality of life for all our citizens. Now just past the midway mark of my current term in office, I am pleased to report that my constituents are beginning to reap the benefits of the tough decisions we made and the wise course of action that we have relentlessly pursued.
In just two years, we have shrunk our budget gap from 44 percent to 11 percent — now, 31 states of the Union have higher deficits, proportionally, than Puerto Rico — and we will achieve a balanced budget in fiscal year 2013. Last year, Puerto Rico received the highest credit rating increase of any other state or territory in the nation, as well as its first positive credit outlook in nearly three decades.
Most importantly, as a result of the tough but necessary action we took to right our course, we’re now in a position to truly unleash our people’s freedom to prosper, by implementing the biggest tax cuts in Puerto Rico’s history. Thanks to these tax cuts, the tax burden on individuals will be reduced by an average of 50 percent, and the tax burden on businesses by 30 percent.
The benefits of tax reform are central to a new era of economic vitality on the island, and they go hand in hand with the implementation of state-of-the-art public-private partnership investment legislation, reform of permitting, and energy reform, among other pro-growth initiatives.
Our experience in Puerto Rico, as well as those of other states and territories that are also grappling with equally formidable fiscal panoramas, can provide a lesson for Washington. As we rise together to meet the perilous challenges of fiscal irresponsibility and government encroach-ment that face us as a nation, we all have a responsibility to lead and keep the United States the number-one driver of peace, progress, and prosperity for generations to come.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (26) | Leave a comment
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figusja| 2.16.11 @ 7:11AM
It is amazing that I do not hear this in the news. I am Puerto Rican and I did not know this. I have family over there. Is this not crazy. Where is the state controlled Media....Oh yeah they are just foaming at the mouth about El Rushbo (Honorary Puerto Rican), Hannity and last but not least Beck. An OBJECTIVE media would be a dream come true. My last thought is, P.R. is not even a state and it is balancing it's budget.....how sad is that CA.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:17AM
"concern for the condition of their environment"
By God, Mc is an environmentalist, tree-hugging granola who must want cockroaches to supersede humans. Careful, Mc might end up as another Ted Kaczynski.
Better have dogs sniff the parcels he sends to AS.
Brian Mc| 2.16.11 @ 1:50PM
It's called stewardship, Alan. True conservatives conserve everything, especially the things that require 'maintenance' so that it can be respectfully handed down in order that future generations might cherish it as well...leaving a campsight better than we found it is NOT tree-hugging, sir. Graffiti is trashing what doesn't belong to the culprit and calling it art; that's as liberal as you can get.
I would venture that those on the government dole, who feel a certain amount of 'entitlement' will never respect their surroundings and are most apt to be the ones who trash beautiful things out of spite for the circumstances they themselves find in their reality they've created by their pilgimage.
Brian Mc| 2.16.11 @ 7:33AM
As my oldest daughter returns to your territory to rejoin her husband there, I can't help but feel a deep sense of contradiction. Her sentiments are founded in what she sees...trash...everywhere. Puerto Rico, to her, wallows in a mindset of disrespect and despondence towards their condition in life. If only this could change at the grassroots level and the residents of that territory rise up and show an inkling of concern for the condition of their environment, my daughter might hold a sense of regret rather than relief when they return to the Midwest this summer.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:20AM
Luis did not mention how PR is heavily subsidized by the mainland. You know, it just slipped his mind, he neglected to write it; he... FORGOT...
JayDick| 2.16.11 @ 9:55AM
As I recall, they don't pay any Federal income tax and the territorial income tax is the same as the Federal tax, except that the money goes to the territorial government. Plus, they participate in most Federal programs, e.g., Food Stamps. And they still have trouble financially.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 8:12AM
If PR disappeared the world would go on the same as before- it is a tiny little speck in the ocean and cannot be compared to CA.
Anommynous| 2.16.11 @ 12:18PM
My God, you show up in every single article that I read, and I don't even read that many. I can only guess that you comment in all the articles that I don't read, too.
How do you find the time to leave multiple comments in every single article posted to TAS? Is this your full-time job? Are you in the employ of some liberal activist group as a full-time Internet troll, whose sole job is to leave multiple inane comments on every single story posted to TAS?
Richard Baker| 2.16.11 @ 12:31PM
Anommynous:
He, Liberal Reader, and many others are like dandruff and just about as inconsequential. They decry this site yet seem obsessed with constantly commenting. For them, it seems, American Spectator is the pain that keeps on giving. Strange folks, indeed.
Conservative Bob| 2.16.11 @ 1:15PM
No CA is about to become a massive sea anchor on the country.
When I went to school late (60s early 70s) in CA is was the 5th largest economy on the planet. People from all over the country were moving there for its wonderful climate and business frendly environment.
Over time it transformed into an envriro-socialist Mecca with an out of control government and a population no longer entrepreneurial but economic and social dependent. It still has the climate and coast which will always attract but people and businesses are leaving it to get out from under its taxes and regulations. What a shame the progressive left have just about killed the golden goose.
No federal bailout for profligate socialist CA, You have got to love Gov Moonbeam Act 2. NOT
RWinks| 2.16.11 @ 6:05PM
Unfortunately, Governor Fortuno, one doesn't have to leave our shores to find a well known despot espousing ruinous ideologies, stifling individual freedoms and attempting to enslave people to the state.
Pelligrino| 2.16.11 @ 6:34PM
Thank you TAS and Gov. Luis Fortuño for this update on good progress in Puerto Rico. Maybe other states might prefer you as their governor?
There is one idiot commenter above who does not appreciate intelligent thought in life, so he need not be given the dignity of mention.
But I would submit that one of the greatest contributions that I have seen over and over in my lifetime is that many good men who have volunteered from Puerto Rico to serve in our Armed Forces.
Probably the state with the greatest percentage of those volunteering.
This, too, goes completely unmentioned in the USA's state run media.
Governor, please stay hard on it: Put other US states to shame as PR gets its fiscal house in order. Simultaneously make PR an irresistable location for businesses to locate! as you 1) ruthlessly clean up crime, 2) work with agencies to ruthlessly terminate the successes of the illegal drug traffickers, and 3) make PR the most law abiding part of our Republic.
Puerto Rico could & should crush all other Caribbean tourism destinations. Why does it not?
Yes, sir, you and a cadre of veterans (use them!) should now write PR's best chapter EVER!
Tap into all thost vets -- the good, sharp, and dilligent ones -- who ought to have so much fire in their bellies to shoulder these tasks. Show the rest of the US that a place can be crime free.
And welcome new businesses looking for the best place to do business. (Yes, unleash those tax decreases!)
Thank you.
Alan Brooks| 2.16.11 @ 7:26PM
EVERYONE PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO ME, I'M RELEVANT AND SMART.PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!
Roberto| 2.17.11 @ 8:46AM
Readers be very careful with Mr Fortuno. He is not saying that to finance the income tax reform, he imposed a new excise tax on sales to affiliates by US Based companies operating in PR. On a Friday evening Fortuno's administration informed these companies about the new tax. In less than 15 hours later, the legislature approved said tax without public discussion, legislative hearings, committee reports, nothing. He is neither saying that weeks after the bill was passed, he asked the IRS to allow the companies paying his tax to claim it as a deduction in the US tax return. So, US taxpayers will be financing his so-called tax reform, if the IRS agree to it. Mr. Fortuno talks about the public private partnerships but doesn't say how many are operating. None! The so-called energy reform is based on the construction of a natural gas pipe that so far all federal agencies have opposed. He is not talking about the over $5 billion in federal stimulus his administration has received and he has so much celebrated in Puerto Rico! Finally, I invite readers to read Rep. Luis Gutierrez' statements to Congress yesterday about the alarming attacks to freedom of speech and civil liberties by the Fortuno's administration. I invite readers to read PR newpapers and find out the truth.
James| 2.17.11 @ 5:27PM
Oh please that speech from Gutierrez was nothing but shameful. This is the congressman that supports the socialists and violent nationalists that claim to be victims of these "attacks on freedom of speech and civil liberties" when they are the ones causing the chaos in the state university. Same congressman that wishes the best for Puerto Ricans, yet, at the same time opposes any type of bill that gives a chance for the island to determine itself. His record in Congress proves he's nothing but a liberal panderer.
Pelligrino| 2.17.11 @ 3:38PM
Roberto, thank you. Your admonishment for us to pay much closer, factual attention to the happenings in Puerto Rico is on target.
American Spectator staff, please do what you can to keep factual, informative articles coming on Puerto Rico in the future.
This is a part of our land that we seemingly ignore. Why? This makes no sense.
Ralph Novy| 2.18.11 @ 2:26AM
Mr. Fortuño:
Fine but definite line between "prosperity" and "greed."
Methinks you've confused them.
Greed is NOT good.
"Prosperity," at the expense of others is NOT good.
At the bottom line, it amounts to taking advantage of others.
Not fair or decent.
Don't do it.
Don't advocate it.
OK?
Ralph
Frederick| 2.19.11 @ 9:59AM
Luis Fortuño presents himself as the new Ronald Reagan. Let me show you the true Luis Fortuño. His government has brought havoc to Puerto Rico. His fiscal policies and government philosophy have resulted in higher taxes and levies to the shrinking middle class, higher unemployment as he fired 30,000 public employees (or as he calls"transferred" to a private sector that does not exist) and a loss of close to 100,000 employment positions in the private sector, a higher crime rate because of an incompetent chief of police (Puerto Rico's murder rate is 33 murders per 100,000 habitants, higher than Mexico's) who is prone to civil rights violations, and a government that does not work for the benefit of the people because it is filled with corruption by his cronies (one of his closest advisors has made over $10 million "teaching" fired public employees how to make resumes and apply for employment in the private sector). On top of that, the first thing he did as governor was increase public debt by taking a $7,000 million loan. And his so called income tax reform is based on a new tax to foreign based corporations operating in Puerto Rico (most of them are USA companies). He is without doubt, the worst governor in Puerto Rico's history.
Andrew| 3.1.11 @ 9:36PM
Luis Fortuño is the worse leader this island has seen, ever.
Mobilizing the strongest police forces to a rioting university and commanding them to hit and abuse the students, and then blaming the students for the increased crime rate in Puerto Rico? Calling out the island into a state of emergency just so you can use federal funds and destroying precious landmarks and protected environmental reserves to build a giant gas pipe that will costs us billions of dollars we don't have, that it will be useless before it's completion due to an unreliable energy source that is basically a ticking time bomb that could wipe out millions of citizens? Firing thousands of public workers that could have easily been kept if alternate cost-cutting measures were to be taken? Spending the tax payer's money on beaurocratic parties that you don't even attend to?
You're a horrible man, and I am ashamed of having to call you "Governor".
Gilbert Flores| 3.11.11 @ 4:22PM
First, speak with the truth, only 14,000 or less employees were fired the rest 3,000 left on a retirement window, NOT 30,000, and besides most of them were illegal contracts (hirings) made by the previous government which due to lack of results resorted to government hirings to keep itself from losing elections which it lost regardless, because of it's mediocrity that included putting PR in a recession 2 years before the rest of the US.
Gilbert Flores| 3.11.11 @ 4:29PM
Second, when you are left with no money to even cover payroll, there is no other way than to borrow money, regardless I'm not so sure those $7 billion dollars were used for recurring expenses rather than to refinance costly debt, because the previous's government borrowed money at more costly rates because of it's budget mismanagement and lies to Credit Rating Agencies. Yes, there has been higher property and corporate taxes but they were scheduled to last up to 3 yrs to solve the deficit now they will last only two and given the results an overall tax reduction could be made into law to favor all sectors and jumpstart economy.
Gilbert Flores| 3.11.11 @ 4:38PM
Third, Foreign Corporation hardly pay any taxes, the jobs they provide are not as many as expected and the salaries they pay are not equal to their US operations, it is and should be of their interest that PR remains a stable society, if PR bonds were to be placed in junk status that would not be the case, regardless their taxation is not permanent but temporary while the remainig deficit vanishes and a tax reduction is placed on the rest of the economy to jumpstart it, on the energy matter we carry a tank of gasoline everytime we go around in our cars, in which case we are all "basically a ticking time bomb" are we going to stop using cars because of this?, NO, we take precautions and safety measures, just as building codes do for earthquakes, progress cannot be stopped by a What If?, we can only take precautions it's the only thing us humans can do.
Gilbert Flores| 3.11.11 @ 4:44PM
Fourth, crime is a serious problem, it is everyone's problem right now in the world, drug dealing has created a great amount of violence in many countries not just ours, not from two years to today but from many years more, I can tell that a smart person should know Gov Fortuño cannot solve a decades problem in only 2yrs, and that of course he is not at fault, specially when the recession has made things worst for the entire population, Gov Fortuño is a great governor, he is doing what he has to do regardless of political cost, no politician does this kind of things if he doesn't believe he just has to do it, he's the man for the job, I'm ashamed and angry that the previous Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila has put all of us in this position
Reebok | 8.11.11 @ 3:38AM
is good
العاب بنات | 4.11.12 @ 5:07PM
thank you