Puerto Rico Fiscal Federalism

Are there differences between living in Puerto Rico and living in the United States? I believe that there are big differences. I came to the United States when I was five years old. I then moved to Philadelphia for one year, lived in Georgia for six years, and now I am currently living in Maryland. I always go back to Puerto Rico to visit my family. I love it there. I like living in the United States but there are many things that differ such as the location itself, people and the schools.

Are there differences between living in Puerto Rico and living in the United States? I believe that there are big differences. I came to the United States when I was fifteen years old. Although, I am currently living in the United States, I always go back to Puerto Rico to visit my family. I love it there. I like living in the United States but there are many things that differ from Puerto Rico such as food, education and weather.

The opportunities which are available to every unemployed worker in the United States are training programs, health insurance assistance, and food and emergency aid. With these programs available to the unemployed in the United States, it is helping put America back to work, and giving people the opportunity to go back school to be retrained in a new field of work which they didn’t have the chance to do in the past. Since Puerto Rico isn’t a state they don’t have these programs that assist the unemployed to help them get back to work, in turn it’s causing a big problem for their economy.

At the beginning is how Puerto Rico was discovered. Puerto Rico was found by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas, when he was trying to find his fort on Hispaniola called La Navidad which was destroyed. Then Juan Ponce de Léon stumbled across Puerto Rico again while on his search to find the mystical “Fountain of Youth”. Then for the next three hundred years, Spain will rule Puerto Rico with an iron fist until 1898 when the Spanish-American War broke out and the USA got Puerto Rico for themselves.

Before the federalization of the relief effort, states worked to raise their own money for things like food for the homeless, but after it was federalized many states purposely did a bad job of raising fund and then would over exaggerate their needs, this made them have to do less work and get more money. All states were supposed to supply an equal amount of funding in order to get federal money, but this was not always the case. For example, the director of FERA allowed certain governors to provide a very small amount of state money and sometimes didn’t require them to provide

Puerto Rico, whose word meaning is “rich port” in Spanish, is a beautiful Island located in the middle of the Caribbean. Its strategic location made it a must have territory to the Spaniards who colonized it over four hundred years before the United States took a special interest. It all started in the year 1898, with the Treaty of Paris Puerto Rico now is property of the United States. After centuries of being led by Sevilla and Madrid, Puerto Rico was now forced to look upon Washington. The series of events leading the Spanish-American War changed Puerto Rico permanently. From changing the Island’s name from Porto Rico to Puerto Rico to Americanizing the Puerto Rican people in all ways possible, the acquisition of Puerto Rico from the United States had numerous economic, social and political impacts.

Economy at glance, Puerto Rico. (2011, 06 07). Retrieved 04 25, 2011, from United States Department of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.pr.htm

Independence is a status that the U.S. would only allow for Puerto Rico to attain if it is in their economic interest. Until then Puerto Rico’s fate will be at the hands of the United States despite the pro-independence movements that have been going on for years. First, the U.S. has very strategically placed military bases in Puerto Rico that the Defense Department will not give up even if Puerto Rico gains independence. Even if the United States would grant Puerto Rico independence the island is too dependent economically to be able to sustain their own economy.

Personally, I don't believe Puerto Rico will ever attain Statehood. With that said, I cannot rationalize anyone in their right mind wanting a bankrupt, corrupt, crime ridden Third World hell hole as a State. Not only is Puerto Rico a dangerous place to visit, it's an enormous drain on U.S. taxpayers, and Statehood would only make it worse. :/ Nevertheless, has anyone ever wondered why they never vote for independence? That is one of their options and always has been, yet it not considered ever! Why? They would have to deal with their own debt rather than sucking the teat of the United States to keep them

In a state of national emergency, the United States government is expected to be efficient and organized. When Hurricane Katrina struck on August 25th, 2005, the United States government was not readily prepared for such an immense disaster. The mismanagement of relief efforts by the U.S. government led to a lack of adequate assistance to U.S. victims along with a prolonged restoration period for those in need. Had the government accepted more foreign aid and further prepared for the storm, hurricane Katrina may not have proved such a disaster in our nation’s history. This essay will explain how foreign aid was integrated into the relief effort. Additionally, this essay will explore the government’s refusal of aid from various countries

White sandy sun kissed beaches, ice cold piña coladas with little umbrellas poking out the top, mingling with locals, waves crashing, and the sound of Bomba through the rows of palm trees surrounding the shorelines. This is the image that most people have of Puerto Rico and they would be right, for the most part, about this beautiful island. However, Puerto Rico which translate to “rich port” is far from the name it inhabits. The commonwealth has a $72 billion dollar debt which is causing the residents to live in poverty and the United States government is partially to blame. In addition, even through Puerto Rico has it 's own government the United States Congress has the final ruling. This is making it difficult for Puerto Rico to resolve this issue. The island and its residents that call it home are treated unfairly and the only resolution to help aid in their struggling economy and politics is to grant Puerto Rico statehood, making the island the 51st state of America.

In 1850, Puerto Rico and Cuba were the only Spanish colonies remaining. Puerto Ricans have had been migrating to New York since the 19th Century. After the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico became a possession of the United States. About 1,800 Puerto Rican citizens immigrated during this period to New York. Later, in 1902, the US issued new immigration guidelines that changed the status of Puerto Ricans to “foreigners”. A further decision by the Supreme Court stated that Puerto Ricans were not U.S. citizens but “noncitizen nationals,” an ambiguous designation that left residents of the island in political limbo. They could neither vote nor were they independent from the United States. In 1917 the US entered WWI; that same year the government

The U.S has gone through a major economic struggle and is still fighting for stability. It is, also, undergoing a recession which occurs whenever gross domestic product and the total output of goods and services fall for two consecutive quarters. The 789 billion dollars stimulus package has not created many private sector jobs and the hundreds of billions in TARP money squandered by Treasury Secretary Geithner to bail out General Motors, Chrysler, Bank of America, AIG and Citigroup has not reached most business and working Americans (Peter Morici). Though the unemployment rate has decreased, it is because many Americans have stopped looking for jobs and are no longer in the unemployment rates. This, of course, does not show any improvement in the U.S economy. Most of the taxpayers’ money is being used to support illegal families with American-born babies; while, many illegal Mexicans are taking jobs from citizens who are desperately searching for jobs. With this unattended problem the country’s economical repair will be prolonged.

Observers of failed economic stimulus packages have developed a fear that these large sums of funding will be mismanaged and therefore will not be able to stimulate the economy (“History of Government Spending,” n.d.).

What was Puerto Rico like under Spanish rule, and how important is that rule to the formation of the Puerto Rican people today? To answer these questions, we must take a look at the history of the Spanish and their colonization of the island of Puerto Rico.