Posted on 10/28/2015 6:53:21 PM PDT by EinNYC
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said Wednesday President Obama should go around Congress to find a way to aid debt-ridden Puerto Rico.
Obama proposed a plan last week to give the island a form of bankruptcy protection and let it restructure debt — but that requires Congressional approval, and the Republican-controlled Congress quickly gave it a hostile reception.
"In the light of the lack of response from Congress--no sense of urgency, no sense of concern being expressed to deal with this in any way--we have to figure out other options," Mark-Viverito, who is from Puerto Rico and has become one of the most outspoken voices on the debt crisis there, told the Daily News.
The East Harlem Democrat said the Federal Reserve and the Treasury could act on their own to help save Puerto Rico, which has $72 billion in debt its government says it can't pay.
One proposal would have the feds step in and offer loans to Puerto Rico's public corporations, under the same rules that let it give emergency loans to financial giants during the economic crisis.
The Puerto Rican government would then use the cash to buy back debt from its creditors.
The idea, backed by anti-hedge fund activists, would require the debt holders to take a cut in the money they are owed.
"The Federal Reserve and the Treasury are very powerful entities, and they could find a way," said Mark-Viverito, adding a "humanitarian crisis" is around the corner for the island's people if nothing is done.
"We need to see that urgency from the administration."
Mark-Viverito will speak at a forum Thursday hosted by city workers union DC37 and New York Communities for Change on the fiscal crisis.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the administrative actions will not be able to resolve the crisis, and only the stubborn Congress has the authority to enact the necessary protections.
Bondholders and their supporters blame Puerto Rico's struggles on overspending by the government and say cuts are needed, and a bankruptcy plan would take off the pressure to put through reforms.
But Mark-Viverito and other activists insist austerity policies won't help, and say Puerto Rico has been put at a disadvantage for years by federal policies that treat it differently than states.
Why even have a Congress? I mean seriously, they’re just there for show.
Remember back when it took acts of congress to pass acts of congress?
How quaint...
Barack Obama should Go To Jail. Go Directly to Jail.
The Puerto Rican government was running a Ponzi Scheme for years.
They need money?
Go get it from the politicians and their families.
And they vote to be treated differently every time!! If the administration does a "work-around" Congress, deduct those funds from the administration's budget!! You want to fix it? FINE! You pay for it!!
Spend grandkids’ dough in America,
Voting’s for show in America,
It’s who you know in America,
Obama’s ho is America.
Default, PR, it is the only solution. You’ve already paid a MUCH higher interest rate, and paid through the NOSE for the financing deal - investors claimed it was required for the risk of default. Give it to them.
Otherwise, immediately demand refund of the increased fees and a reduction of the interest, since there is no risk of default.
#ObamaStash
The communists are on a roll. “Bypass Congress”. To hell with the U.S. Constitution. Amerika is becoming a cross between the U.S.S.R. and the old Third Reich. Fascism Rules! Right ‘RATS?
Actually Puerto Rico has had serious advantages for years in terms of taxes etc. their politicians pissed it all away
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