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General Forum : My $.02 from Puerto Rico

- BMW E21 Community
   - General Forum
      - My $.02 from Puerto Rico
HarryPR   Posted Monday, Jun 26th 4:02am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 14

Puerto Rico
1982 320i, 1983 320i,1976 2002, 1997 528i
Hadn't visited the board in a while and found this very interesting thread.

I live in Puerto Rico and, in fact, we do not pay Federal taxes. Up to a few years ago, the US Government was perfectly happy with this due to the fact that our island provided US companies with cheap, well qualified labor (plus the convenience of having strategically-located military bases during the Cold War). These companies also had huge tax exemption under section 936 of the US Internal Revenue Code,plus a third benefit in that the products they manufactured locally could have a "Made in U.S." label in them.

That is why our economy grew in leaps and bounds until Section 936 was repealed. Once that happened, and NAFTA and CAFTA were approved, we have seen a huge exodus of companies and jobs, with the corresponding effect on the standard of living. Although our per capita income looks to be great compared to Latin American countries, it is less than half of that of the poorest US state (Mississippi)

We are now stuck with a stagnant economy with an almost bankrupt government in which the working middle class is being taxed more and more each day. Many professionals are leaving the island and establishing themselves in the mainland US to get away from this. I personally am making plans to leave in the next year or two.

Curiously, we also have an immigration problem. Dominicans enter the island illegaly by the hundreds each week and have taken over many of the non-skilled job opportunities. They also don't pay taxes and send their earnings back home to their families.

By the way, we do not have "Representation without taxation". We have one Resident Commisioner at the US House of Representatives which can participate in sessions, but can not vote.

Sorry for the long post, but explaining the local political and economic situation could take up a whole book.

HarryPR   Posted Monday, Jun 26th 4:04am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 15

Puerto Rico
1982 320i, 1983 320i,1976 2002, 1997 528i
OOPS! This was a reply to the OT post about immigration below. Sorry!!!!!

If the Admin can move it please do so.

Thanks!

MayanArch   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 2:39pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 1014
   
Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978
Harry,

Interesting stuff. The point of my post was that Puerto Rico is the closest thing to a "colony".....if you are going to accuse the USA of being an "Imperial Power".

No colonies.....no "empire"....not "imperial".

The US Armed forced rolled through all of Europe, and when they were done winning the war they gave all the land back to its rightful owners........and beyond that, gave these European "IMPERIAL" powers money to rebuild them. No imperial power gives any piece of land back to its rightful owners....EVER.

They definetly dont run any "colonies" without taxing the people to the brink of death. As you have stated, no one in Puerto Rico pays any taxes into the Union.

The woes you are describing are the woes you hear everyone cry about NAFTA and CAFTA. Supposedly it has had very negative effects on the Latin American economies as well....since US made products that were prevented from comming in because of high tariffs now come in freely and compete on an even basis.

The company I worked for used to have a distribution office in Puerto Rico. This was 10 years ago, but I remember the salaries being up to US standards. Maybe that has changed.

Didnt Puerto Ricans demand that some of those military bases get removed? I clearly remember Hillary Clinton and Jesse Jackson leading these rallies............and found it funny how the complaints rolled in once the military population dissapeared from the local economy. I thought it was quite simple to estimate what the effects of removing half a million people from any economy would be..........and never understood the logic behind those rallies.

HarryPR   Posted Wednesday, Jun 28th 12:20am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 16

Puerto Rico
1982 320i, 1983 320i,1976 2002, 1997 528i
You are correct about the military bases. There was a very vocal group that did all sorts of protesting to have the military stop using Vieques (a small island off our east coast) as a practice range.

The military decided to leave Vieques, but at the same time decided to close the Roosevelt Roads naval base, which has caused a HUGE impact on the island's economy.

The ironic thing is that many, if not most, of the people protesting against the US precence live off welfare funded by the US government.

There is a book called "Pay to the Order of Puerto Rico" by Alexander Odishelidze and Arthur Laffer that gives a great insight into the island's political and economic situation.


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