To: President Donald Trump, The Illinois State House, The Illinois State Senate, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate

Liberate PUERTO RICO

Congress has held Puerto Rico hostage for 118 years and has not given PR the right to self determination, therefore holding a slave state.
Puerto Rico has the right to self government and Congress has no right to keep us from joining the world developing countries as a free and self governing body.

Why is this important?

Puerto Rico is in trouble, yes mostly because of bad government deals USA and Puerto Rico politicians, years of bad policies, mismanagement, excessive debt and kept hostage by Congress
Its economy has been shrinking or stagnant for a decade and the unemployment rate sits at nearly 12 percent on the book but more than 40% after you take the government bad bookkeeping.. The commonwealth and its utilities have a debt of $73 billion, its public pension funds are woefully underfunded and the government could be forced to shut down soon.
Lawmakers in Washington and San Juan are trying to come up with a plan that addresses the financial and economic problems of the territory, which is home to 3.6 million American citizens on the island and 4.4million scattered in the states. The island’s difficulties also affect investors in the 50 states who own the tax-exempt bonds issued by Puerto Rico’s government and utilities and of which they ripe great benefits all throughout these years. Now they want o collect all the eggs, problem is there are no more hens.
Once a growing manufacturing center, Puerto Rico began a long decline in the mid-2000s after federal tax incentives for businesses that produced goods on the island were phased out, prompting many employers and tens of thousands of workers to leave, thanks to the USA Congress who took away the benefits
Puerto Rican leaders made the situation worse by not investing sufficiently in the economy and by borrowing excessively, all by designed since the two parties are at a 50 year old war designed to make themselves rich and the heck with the people. Investors eagerly extended loans without properly analyzing the territory’s deteriorating financial health, so they took a risk which now they will not renegotiate, less provided a chapter 9 format. They did so in large part because interest earned from Puerto Rican government bonds is exempt from federal and state income taxes
One of the biggest and most immediate problems for the island is the roughly $20 billion debt owed by three government-owned companies: the electricity utility, the water and sewer system and the highway authority. Because Puerto Rico is a territory, these businesses are not allowed to restructure their debt in Chapter 9 bankruptcies. Congress should approve a new bill that would allow these and other Puerto Rican government-owned companies, as well as municipalities, to use Chapter 9. Half the problem solved.
Analysts and bankruptcy experts say that Congress should go even further and allow the government of Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy.
It is also argued that federal lawmakers should appoint a financial control board to oversee the island’s finances; this drastic step would be an act tyranny since Puerto Rico under the ELA \?USA agreement of self-determination was signed in the 50ties. Today may not be worth it paper and ink.
There is a lot that can be done to revive Puerto Rico’s economy. The first order is to get the Congress to proclaim Puerto Rico and independent Nation as we are. Puertorricans, we the people, can build stronger efforts to boost tourism, manufacturing and the services sector through targeted public investments could lead to faster growth. We can exercise trade agreement with our Caribbean neighbors, Central and South American partners, as well as with the European Nations.
The government could also improve its finances not by raising taxes, but by balancing tax revenue. Puerto Rico only collects about 11 percent of its gross domestic product in taxes, compared with the 33 percent average for advanced countries.
Again fixing its finances is not sufficient, , Puerto Rico has to answer a bigger question about its future: Should it become a state, which in my mind the Gringos will never have. Should the government hold another voter referendum on the issue, hello its not worth the paper and effort used. Again Congress has the last standing word. Congress and President Obama budgeted $2.5 million for the territory to hold another referendum on its political status; Governor Padilla said last year his government will hold a vote by 2016, will never happen, and if it did it will amount o nothing.
Puerto Rico is about 1,000 miles from Miami, but it can seem a world apart. And as a matter of fact it is a World apart, we have a different culture, we speak Spanish, we eat Rice and beans and fried chicken, we love the Spanish music and have some to the World best musicians artist and poets. The island’s financial problems are a reminder that benign neglect has had terrible consequences for millions of Puerto Ricans, as for American we are all Americans.

To ease everybodys pain I Petition for Freedom