Rebuilding a Better Puerto Rico?

[DrDelirium]

Why yes, I believe they do. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/subjects/disaster_relief_and_insurance/6015

And I had no idea there weren't enough boots around. I know Trump has trouble filling jobs in Washington, but he seems to have swelled the ranks of the Border Patrol pretty swiftly. Maybe he should send all the military transgendered people to Puerto Rico?

Which bills are you referring to? Tax credits? Be specific.
Most of the bills in your dump list are by republicans and have already been passed, others are for PNW earthquake preparedness and other irrelevances.

As for boots, I seem to recall you bitching about how not enough people were being sent to PR. Or did you think that emergency supplies would distribute themselves, or that roads and power lines would fix themselves, if only somebody wrote a check?

 

[phrodeau]

Which bills are you referring to? Tax credits? Be specific.
Most of the bills in your dump list are by republicans and have already been passed, others are for PNW earthquake preparedness and other irrelevances.

As for boots, I seem to recall you bitching about how not enough people were being sent to PR. Or did you think that emergency supplies would distribute themselves, or that roads and power lines would fix themselves, if only somebody wrote a check?

You have me confused with President Trump, who complained that too many people were going to PR.

 

[sr71plt]

I think that Trump should have a thought to all of the Puerto Ricans he's forcing to move to Florida, where they will have the vote.

 

[phrodeau]

I dunno, sounds like nation building to me.

 

[sr71plt]

Maybe you missed point #1. It's. Not. A. Nation. It's difficult to create something out of nothing.

Oh, now, you're referring to Donald Trump again.

 

[phrodeau]

Maybe you missed point #1. It's. Not. A. Nation. It's difficult to create something out of nothing.

Maybe Rick Perry knows something you don't.

 

[Hypoxia]

Maybe you missed point #1. It's. Not. A. Nation. It's difficult to create something out of nothing.

That's right. It's a colonial possession seized from Spain 120 years ago, an overseas territory filled with US citizens, ruled by Congress but with no representation. Ruled not by local PR pols (mostly pro-statehood) but by Congress, back in DC, which Congress also rules badly.

I'll say again: Congress is responsible for non-States. Congress rules DC, the 'commonwealths' of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, the territories of American Samoa, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands (all the above have limited self-governance), and a bunch of minor outlying islands: Bajo Nuevo Bank, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Serranilla Bank, and Wake Island.

The non-state of Puerto Rico is more populous than 21 States. The US citizens of Puerto Rico have a non-voting 'delegate' and nothing more in the Congress that rules them and no vote in national elections: Representative, Senator, President. PR politics are based on status preferences (territory, statehood, or independence) not R/D polarization -- the R/D parties are invisible there.

Congress is key. Congress COULD (but likely won't) pass measures to allow more local autonomy -- and responsibility. Congress COULD (but likely won't) remove economic barriers crippling the island financially. Congress COULD (but likely won't) grant statehood. On independence, to get rid of the mess. That's the easy way out.

Expect Congress to abandon Puerto Rico one way or another. As usual. Same old same old.

 

[Hypoxia]

But hey...keep pointing fingers. I'm sure that'll help.

I needn't point fingers. The US Constitution does that for me. Art.IV Sec.3 Cl.2. Congress rules the territories. Have you an alt.constitution?

 

[JackLuis]

How to Wipe Out Puerto Rico's Debt Without Hurting Bondholders

During his visit to hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump shocked the bond market when he told Geraldo Rivera of Fox News that he was going to wipe out the island's bond debt. He said on October 3rd:

" You know they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street. We're gonna have to wipe that out. That's gonna have to be -- you know, you can say goodbye to that. I don't know if it's Goldman Sachs but whoever it is, you can wave good-bye to that."

How did the president plan to pull this off? Pam Martens and Russ Martens, writing in Wall Street on Parade, note that the US municipal bond market holds $3.8 trillion in debt, and it is not just owned by Wall Street banks. Mom and pop retail investors are exposed to billions of dollars of potential losses through their holdings of Puerto Rican municipal bonds, either directly or in mutual funds. Wiping out Puerto Rico's debt, they warned, could undermine confidence in the municipal bond market, causing bond interest rates to rise, imposing an additional burden on already-struggling states and municipalities across the country.

True, but the president was just pointing out the obvious. As economist Michael Hudson says, "Debts that can't be paid won't be paid." Puerto Rico is bankrupt, its economy destroyed. In fact it is currently in bankruptcy proceedings with its creditors. Which suggests its time for some more out-of-the-box thinking . . . .

Puerto Rico's debt is only $73 billion, one third the Italian debt. The Fed has stopped its quantitative easing program, but in its last round (called "QE3"), it was buying $85 billion per month in securities. At that rate, it would have to fire up the digital printing presses for only one additional month to rescue the suffering Puerto Ricans without hurting bondholders at all. It could then just leave the bonds on its books, declaring a moratorium at least until Puerto Rico got back on its feet, and better yet, indefinitely.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs data, 33,000 US jobs were lost in September, the first time the country has had a negative figure since 2010. It could be time for a bit more economic stimulus from the Fed.

It takes political will and bold thinking to solve these problems. Does Congress have the will or the guts to do this?

 

[DrDelirium]

How to Wipe Out Puerto Rico's Debt Without Hurting Bondholders





It takes political will and bold thinking to solve these problems. Does Congress have the will or the guts to do this?

On the other hand, why not hurt bond holders? Capitalism is predicated on the idea that risk justifies reward. When 'investors' give credit to entities they know cannot repay it, as has been the obvious case with Puerto Rico for a long time, they are doing so only because, on the one hand, they get cash flow as long as the debt is serviced, and on the other they expect to be bailed out by the tax payers when the debt can no longer be serviced. If lenders, in whatever form, don't take a haircut from time to time, there is no risk and there is no incentive to steer their investments into productive activities instead of dead-end consumption.

 

[JackLuis]

Well no one says the Bond holders have to get 100%. Congress could retire ~90% and still have PR cover the other 10%. Allowing PR to get on withthe job of rebuilding, with say $85 Billion from the DoD budget, they increased?

Some Generals might have to hold off on whiz bang for a year or two, but PR can't wait.

In Puerto Rico, Tesla is doing what Donald Trump isn’t

Almost one month after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, technology firms like Tesla are stepping in to fill the relief-effort void that many say President Donald Trump has created.

Following through with a pledge by Elon Musk that his company could solve Puerto Rico’s energy crisis with solar panels and batteries, Tesla Powerwall battery packs were spotted at San Juan airport on the island over the weekend.

Damage caused by the Category 5 storm decimated Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, with a website maintained by the office of Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló estimating that 85 percent of the island is still without electricity.

Tesla’s shipment will help homes, businesses, schools and hospitals on the island make use of their existing solar panel installations by providing energy storage. The effort, led by Cal Lankton, Tesla’s vice president of global infrastructure operations, means Rosselló now foresees a relatively rapid recovery for Puerto Rico’s energy crisis.

Rosselló said over the weekend that his aim is for 95 percent of Puerto Rico’s energy grid to be restored by December 15. “This is an aggressive agenda, but we cannot be sort of passive in the face of Puerto Rico’s challenges,” Rosselló said. “We are going to need all hands on deck.

Another issue facing Puerto Rico is its poor internet connectivity, something Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is seeking to remedy with a swarm of balloons. The aptly named Project Loon will make use of specially adapted weather balloons to beam internet connectivity to people on the ground.

It would help a lot if the Govt would send a few Engineer battalions down to clear the roads and build some bridges to allow Telsa to distribute their power walls.

 

[DrDelirium]

Well no one says the Bond holders have to get 100%. Congress could retire ~90% and still have PR cover the other 10%. Allowing PR to get on withthe job of rebuilding, with say $85 Billion from the DoD budget, they increased?

Some Generals might have to hold off on whiz bang for a year or two, but PR can't wait.

In Puerto Rico, Tesla is doing what Donald Trump isn’t



It would help a lot if the Govt would send a few Engineer battalions down to clear the roads and build some bridges to allow Telsa to distribute their power walls.

I'm fine with using the military to do basic prep and repair work, but it would mean scaling back on forward deployments around the globe- which I'm also fine with. But congress is not fine with that, nor are they fine with providing billions so 'Puerto Rico can get on with it.' While I think that Trump could do a few things he isn't doing, they would all be essentially gestures to pressure congress to act. Congress, after all, administers Puerto Rico and has since it was acquired from Spain. I think the Puerto Ricans are screwed, but you can't lay it all on Trump.
The US is confronting a host of crises-in-the-making all around the globe, and all around the country. They have been in the making for many decades, due to neglect, corruption, and bad priorities, and the exact moment when any specific one will erupt into a full-fledged crisis is unpredictable, but eventually we will reach a point where each one triggers one or two more and there will be a cascade that wrecks the country on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. It's nonsensical to blame whoever happens to be 'in charge' at the moment for the product of these systemic failures.
Do I think Trump is the right guy to turn things around? Not in a million years. But that assessment applies as well to every single major political figure of recent times, because they are all part of the problem. Casting individual blame and pursuing clever ad hoc 'solutions' doesn't address the underlying problems that are leading us to disaster.

 

[JackLuis]

I'm fine with using the military to do basic prep and repair work, but it would mean scaling back on forward deployments around the globe- which I'm also fine with. But congress is not fine with that, nor are they fine with providing billions so 'Puerto Rico can get on with it.' While I think that Trump could do a few things he isn't doing, they would all be essentially gestures to pressure congress to act. Congress, after all, administers Puerto Rico and has since it was acquired from Spain. I think the Puerto Ricans are screwed, but you can't lay it all on Trump.
The US is confronting a host of crises-in-the-making all around the globe, and all around the country. They have been in the making for many decades, due to neglect, corruption, and bad priorities, and the exact moment when any specific one will erupt into a full-fledged crisis is unpredictable, but eventually we will reach a point where each one triggers one or two more and there will be a cascade that wrecks the country on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. It's nonsensical to blame whoever happens to be 'in charge' at the moment for the product of these systemic failures.
Do I think Trump is the right guy to turn things around? Not in a million years. But that assessment applies as well to every single major political figure of recent times, because they are all part of the problem. Casting individual blame and pursuing clever ad hoc 'solutions' doesn't address the underlying problems that are leading us to disaster.

It is important that something be done in PR to prevent the spread of disease and starvation before it gets more out of hand. PR has much more devastation to deal with than Texas and Florida.

Texas was hurt by their lack of foresight in building in flood plains and lack of effective zoning enforcement, yet few are saying we should do nothing to help the stupid Texans.

This is not about blame, although there is blame enough to spread around, it is about Americans in dire straits and needing help to overcome the effects of a natural disaster now, before more people die!

 

[DrDelirium]

It is important that something be done in PR to prevent the spread of disease and starvation before it gets more out of hand. PR has much more devastation to deal with than Texas and Florida.

Texas was hurt by their lack of foresight in building in flood plains and lack of effective zoning enforcement, yet few are saying we should do nothing to help the stupid Texans.

This is not about blame, although there is blame enough to spread around, it is about Americans in dire straits and needing help to overcome the effects of a natural disaster now, before more people die!

It's disingenuous to make an argument about debt relief and reply to a critique of it by talking about emergency relief. I don't know what the status of the moment of emergency relief in PR is, but it has nothing to do with the fucking bond holders. And there is nothing about emergency relief for PR that justifies paying the bondholders a penny. If you can make a specific case that the emergency relief response is being deliberately neglected, please do so. If the argument is that it's being mismanaged, well, that's SOP. PR is more vulnerable to that mismanagement because of a century of mismanagement by congress and - well, it is actually a place with hardly any resources that's surrounded by ocean. Texas and Florida have vastly greater resources that are much easier to bring to bear on their damaged cities, so it would extraordinary if the response in PR was as as fast and effective. I would note, also, that while PR's population is that of a major US city, they are spread out, and many people are suffering not from the immediate damage to homes and businesses, but from the fact that infrastructure of power, water, communications and transportation has been severely damaged for the entire island. There are practical difficulties in PR not seen in Texas and Florida.

Yes, the people of Puerto Rico should receive emergency help and help in rebuilding a better Puerto Rico. The scale of their need, however, is due to long-standing bi-partisan neglect, not Donald Trump. I will be shocked if the people actually responsible for the management of Puerto Rico- Congress- step up and do something truly constructive for the people of Puerto Rico, as opposed to the bondholders.

 

[JackLuis]

It's disingenuous to make an argument about debt relief and reply to a critique of it by talking about emergency relief. I don't know what the status of the moment of emergency relief in PR is, but it has nothing to do with the fucking bond holders.
-

Yes, the people of Puerto Rico should receive emergency help and help in rebuilding a better Puerto Rico. The scale of their need, however, is due to long-standing bi-partisan neglect, not Donald Trump. I will be shocked if the people actually responsible for the management of Puerto Rico- Congress- step up and do something truly constructive for the people of Puerto Rico, as opposed to the bondholders.

So you'd be happy if the government, poured resources into PR and helped them rebuild the territory, but just left them in the egregious hole they were put in by Congress manipulating the laws to fuck them over?

 

[DrDelirium]

So you'd be happy if the government, poured resources into PR and helped them rebuild the territory, but just left them in the egregious hole they were put in by Congress manipulating the laws to fuck them over?

You don't seem to be reading very carefully.

 

[JackLuis]

You don't seem to be reading very carefully.

I just don't see how you can separate the two issues, PR in deep shit due to Congressional dumb fuckery, and Americans in deep shit due to natural disaster while Congress continues to ignore them.

Why do we care about Afghanistan's development and ignore our own people's situation? Why do we worry about Syrian shit and ignore the shit on our own front step?

Trump dumped $100 million into digging holes in Syria's airfield, but bitches about how little he is appreciated for finally getting off his ass and sending a few troops down to make a half hearted effort to save a territory of the United States. Did he think the few paper towels he playfully tossed to the crowd would blot up the flooding?

Has he tasked his cabinet to get on with the job of planning the recovery, DoT to rebuild the roads, the FCc to rebuild the comunications, HHS to rebuild the shelters, hospitals and public health system, or what?

No he is worried about the NFL, his TV image and his golf. What a dick!

 

[DrDelirium]

I just don't see how you can separate the two issues, PR in deep shit due to Congressional dumb fuckery, and Americans in deep shit due to natural disaster while Congress continues to ignore them.

Yes, these are related issues. But, as you say above, they are about congress (and over the long haul), not particularly about Trump. But you focus on Trump in your posts.

Why do we care about Afghanistan's development and ignore our own people's situation? Why do we worry about Syrian shit and ignore the shit on our own front step?

You could probably answer these questions yourself if you took a moment to deconstruct the term "we." There is no "we," here.

Trump dumped $100 million into digging holes in Syria's airfield, but bitches about how little he is appreciated for finally getting off his ass and sending a few troops down to make a half hearted effort to save a territory of the United States. Did he think the few paper towels he playfully tossed to the crowd would blot up the flooding?

If you will recall, when Trump courageously attacked an empty airfield, the mainstream press that had been hounding him relentlessly suddenly called him "presidential." This ought to tell you something. As for PR being a 'territory of the United States,' what this means in reality is that PR is a colony of the United States. And it's been getting the treatment that colonies generally get, all along.

Has he tasked his cabinet to get on with the job of planning the recovery, DoT to rebuild the roads, the FCc to rebuild the comunications, HHS to rebuild the shelters, hospitals and public health system, or what?

I don't know, has he? Because they can't do those things without funds from congress. I've suggested ways, elsewhere, that he could pressure congress to start writing some big checks, but it seems that congress in general is sufficiently anti-Trump that they would prefer to use Puerto Rico as a stick to beat him with than to spend money to fix anything. And this is despite the fact that congress is effectively the government of Puerto Rico.

No he is worried about the NFL, his TV image and his golf. What a dick!

Yes, Trump is a dick. But, dick or not, he does not have the legal authority or the resources to do what you want him to do. But it's harder to bitch at 'congress.' And it's hard to acknowledge that you didn't give a shit about the plight of the Puerto Rican people at this time last year, or ten years ago, or twenty- at all of which times the conditions to make a hurricane strike into a monumental disaster were being created. Pick your favorite president in the last 120 years: HE HELPED CREATE THIS MESS.

The thing is, most Americans seem to think that problems began when they heard about them, but the foundations of those problems were being built while most people were comfortably ignoring them.

 

[JackLuis]

10-20 years ago I was worried about other things, like keeping the bills paid. Now I see the effects of our feckless congress and worry how others will pay their bills as I don't make bills any more 'cause I don't have the money to pay them.

Trump didn't cause the problem in PR, except his dumping $23 Million in debt for his golf course fuckup. However he is the Prez now and has the obligation to do something for PR. He asked for this, I didn't make him do it. He wanted to be Prez, now he has to take the responsibility for the whole job, not just basking in the glory.

 

[DrDelirium]

10-20 years ago I was worried about other things, like keeping the bills paid. Now I see the effects of our feckless congress and worry how others will pay their bills as I don't make bills any more 'cause I don't have the money to pay them.

Trump didn't cause the problem in PR, except his dumping $23 Million in debt for his golf course fuckup. However he is the Prez now and has the obligation to do something for PR. He asked for this, I didn't make him do it. He wanted to be Prez, now he has to take the responsibility for the whole job, not just basking in the glory.

It's easy to talk about other people taking responsibility. However, just as there are practical problems with you fixing the mess in PR, there are practical problems with Trump fixing the mess in PR. I've pointed out several. You have not indicated how Trump should overcome them, nor the role others should play in fixing the mess in PR. It's magical thinking to believe that Trump is the only one responsible for fixing things or that 'holding him responsible' gives him the ability to fix things. So, blame away, because Trump is, after all, an asshole- but explain to me how that fixes the mess in PR.

 

[JackLuis]

It's easy to talk about other people taking responsibility. However, just as there are practical problems with you fixing the mess in PR, there are practical problems with Trump fixing the mess in PR. I've pointed out several. You have not indicated how Trump should overcome them, nor the role others should play in fixing the mess in PR. It's magical thinking to believe that Trump is the only one responsible for fixing things or that 'holding him responsible' gives him the ability to fix things. So, blame away, because Trump is, after all, an asshole- but explain to me how that fixes the mess in PR.

1. He could call out Congress for funding. Pointing out that Paul Ryan should be pushing legislation funding a rcovery plan, pushing Mitch to get the bill thru the Senate past the Freedumb Caucus.

2 He could divert DoD funds to get the roads cleared as a necessity to preserve and protect the population.

3. He could be kicking and screaming that Congress address the situation that he inherited from his predecessors, who ignored the population for so many years.

4. He could quit spending money to golf every weekend and save a bit to pay for the cost of transport of food and water to the destitute in PR.

5 He could call for a national fund to send food and medicine to PR. Leaning on Wall Street and corporate donations to relieve the suffering.

In short he could do his fucking job.

 

[DrDelirium]

1. He could call out Congress for funding. Pointing out that Paul Ryan should be pushing legislation funding a rcovery plan, pushing Mitch to get the bill thru the Senate past the Freedumb Caucus.

In other words, he could talk, because none of those people like him, and he can't make them do anything.


2 He could divert DoD funds to get the roads cleared as a necessity to preserve and protect the population.

From what I've read, military units have been doing a lot of road clearing. Also fixing the power grid. Possibly more troops could do more quicker- or they might just get in each other's way. I don't know, and I really doubt you do. Are you going to praise Trump now?

3. He could be kicking and screaming that Congress address the situation that he inherited from his predecessors, who ignored the population for so many years.

Again, he has no support in congress. What is kicking and screaming supposed to do? It might improve his ratings with liberals- oh, wait, no it wouldn't. But, yeah, he should do it anyway, because the appearance of concern is more important than actual concern, let alone getting anything done.

4. He could quit spending money to golf every weekend and save a bit to pay for the cost of transport of food and water to the destitute in PR.

Again, you want the appearance, because that wouldn't do jack shit for Puerto Rico and you know it. You could say the same about your congressman, whoever it is, but somehow that slips your mind.

5 He could call for a national fund to send food and medicine to PR. Leaning on Wall Street and corporate donations to relieve the suffering.

You mean like the Red Cross?

In short he could do his fucking job.

I agree, Trump is not doing his job, at least not very well. I will note, however, that the non-fluff items on your list are about somebody else's job.

I don't like Trump, I didn't vote for him, and I won't vote for him, but your critique is senseless. It's just about being anti-Trump, not about concrete actions to solve a problem- because you don't know what the problem is, except in the vaguest possible sense.

 

[JackLuis]

I don't like Trump, I didn't vote for him, and I won't vote for him, but your critique is senseless. It's just about being anti-Trump, not about concrete actions to solve a problem- because you don't know what the problem is, except in the vaguest possible sense.

You are right about me being anti-Trump. and I'm 3,000 miles from the island so I have little first hand knowledge of the facts on the ground, but if Trump was doing his job there would be news about it. The LSM does not cover it because they are too busy covering his diversions.

What do you think should be done, by Trump, Congress, the Red Cross etc?

 

[phrodeau]

I don't like Trump, I didn't vote for him, and I won't vote for him, but your critique is senseless. It's just about being anti-Trump, not about concrete actions to solve a problem- because you don't know what the problem is, except in the vaguest possible sense.

I blame the fake media.

What’s the real media saying about Puerto Rico?

 

[colddiesel]

Puerto Rico should elect a Communist Revolutionary Government. That is the usual Latin American way to attract the interest of the USA.