When Luis Fortuno became governor in 2009, Puerto Rico's economy was a mess.

Or, as he told me:But he avoided bankruptcy by getting an emergency loan, and immediately cutting Puerto Rico's government. For once, government shrank. Fortuno and the conservative legislature:

•Laid off 17,000 government workers
•Froze all salaries in government



The changes were more sweeping than any state's, so it's no surprise that the protests were also more ferocious. Demonstrators clashed with the police in front of the governor's mansion. Some carried signs calling him a fascist and a ****. One poll shows that if an election were held today, Fortuno would lose, 47 to 25%.

“Bring in the private sector,” Fortuno said. “They will do a better job. They will do it cheaper.”

600 construction permits were issued in last few months. Wal-Mart, CostCo, Coca-Cola, and pharmaceutical companies are moving to or expanding in Puerto Rico. Soon, they will provide thousands of new jobs.

Once people notice that, Fortuno may become popular again. Ronald Reagan, Gov. John Engler of Michigan, and Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico all suffered drops in public support when they pushed for small government - butwon re-election when people realized that the cuts helped the economy.

Economist David Henderson, a Canadian who left Canada for the United States, remembers when The Wall Street Journal called the Canadian dollar “the peso of the north.” It was worth just 72 American cents. “Moody's put the Canadian federal debt on a credit watch,” Henderson said.

The problem, he added, was that Canada had a government safety net that was more like a hammock.

“When I was growing up in Canada, people who went on unemployment insurance were said to go in the ‘pogie.' You could work as little as eight weeks, taking the rest of the year off.”

So in 1995 Canadian leaders cut unemployment benefits and other programs. It happened quietly because it was a liberal government, and liberals didn't want to criticize their own. The result was that Canada's debt stopped increasing. As the government ran budget surpluses, the debt went down.

“The economy boomed,” Henderson said. “Think about what government does. Government wastes most of what it spends, and so just cutting government and having that money in the hands of people means it's going to be used more valuably.”

Canada fired government workers, but unemployment didn't increase. In fact, it fell from 12 percent to 6 percent. Canadian unemployment is still well below ours. And the Canadian dollar rose from just 72 American cents to $1.02 today.

Canada also raised some taxes. But the spending cuts were much bigger, six to one: agriculture was cut 22 percent; fisheries, 27 percent; natural resources, almost 50 percent. “We should learn from Canada's experience that you can cut government substantially,” Henderson said. “It is so wasteful. There's so much to cut, without causing much real pain — not causing pain, but helping your economy grow, helping people become better off.”

Henderson added, “We need to move more quickly than the Canadians did. Unfortunately, we're moving more slowly than the Canadians did.”

If we're moving at all.

While Canada thrives, we pour more money down the hole.

Security tape allegedly shows a group of police officers beating two Chicago brothers Wednesday after apparently mistaking them for robbers while one was closing the store at which he worked.

The recording is a live feed from the security camera at a local convenient store where my oldest brother is the manger of. My youngest brother, Adrian Ayala was waiting for Michael Ayala, in front on his bike. Michael slipped in to drop off a desposit slip from the bank and pick up his house keys, when chicago police officers mistakenly accused them of robbing the store. The two latino men attempted to explain over and over how they were not robbing the store and it was a huge misunderstanding. Micheal pleaded over and over how he was the manager of the store and offered to demonstrate the security code and his keys but the police officers showed no interest in hearing him out. They started manhandling the youngest brother and that angered Michael, who remembered to mention calling the owner. After calling the owner and confirming that Michael was the manager and was authorized to be there the police let them go.
An angry Michael who was punched a couple of times before being let go, then yelled angrily that he had everything on camera and that this would not be left alone and he would report them to the proper authorities. As soon as he made that statement, the SARGENT, rushed at him and bashed Michael's head into the store front window, cracking is in half and leaving a star like crack! Adrian then tried to come between the sargent and his older brother stating, that he was demonstrating unneccessary force!!!! Only to be greeted with a cruel fate! A sworm of police officers piled on top of my two brothers and plumeted their heads and bodies. Kicks, blows to the head, punches, slapping, kneeing came from all directions and from several cops.