Posted on 08/05/2015 2:18:21 PM PDT by Lorianne
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico —
Most tables are empty at Walter Martin’s coffee shop in San Juan’s colonial district. His brow is furrowed with concern and glistens with sweat in the sweltering Caribbean morning.
He’s turned off the air conditioning to lower his power bill. With fewer customers, he’s cut staff hours and tried to make up the lost income by raising some prices. But Puerto Rico’s entrenched economic crisis is leading people to either cut their personal spending to the basics or flee to the mainland to search for jobs, contributing to the struggles of those left on the island.
Nearly 10 years into a deep economic slump, Puerto Rico is no closer to pulling out, and, in fact, is poised to plummet further. The unemployment rate is above 12 percent. Some 144,000 people left the U.S. territory between 2010 and 2013, and about a third of all people born in Puerto Rico now live in the U.S. mainland. Schools and businesses have closed amid the exodus. The population of 3.5 million is expected to drop to 3 million by 2050.
The government has tried to boost revenue by hiking the sales tax to 11.5 percent, higher than any U.S. state, and closing government offices. Its debt-burdened power utility already charges rates that on average are twice those of the mainland, and is under pressure from bondholders to raise them higher.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
democrat heaven.
I don’t think Puerto Rico should become a state, but maybe we could make it part of D.C..
At least you lived through it. They had a hotel that burned down when the union thugs decided to start a fire on New Year’s Eve. Over 100 people died.
Purchase vacation property.........
Heck, when we visited over a dozen years ago, it was eye opening to see that the beat cops were all patrolling in pairs wearing body armor and helmets.
The other thing that jumped out was that the locals seemed to be buying razor wire and wrought iron fences and security bars by the metric ton.
Oh, nooooo! They have to color their hair at home! Excuse me, but if my kids were going hungry and didn’t have school supplies, touching up the grey or having pink hair would be far down the list of needs. Twelve kids? If you can’t afford 12 kids, then keep your pants zipped.
Cutting the a/c and raising prices does nothing but drive away customers. What a moron. He deserves to lose his restaurant. Call cousin Ricky to throw some $$$$$ at it.
Can’t go to the movies or out to eat and buy only the basic groceries. Big whoop. Welcome to my world.
Puerto Rico is a beautiful country, with some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. That being said, there is a lot of poverty, and most of the doors and windows are covered with what appears to be wrought iron. The crime rate is high, and staying in a gated resort when visiting is, imho, wise.
She and other relatives are pooling their money to buy back-to-school supplies for her 12 grandchildren. She cares for them while her own children work and study, but she yearns to move back to New York.
“We don’t have money to live,” she said.
***
Back to NY to sign up for the generous welfare benefits, I suppose.
There’s lots of places like that, but better to grab a good 7.62, like an ar-10. I find the 15s to be too weak.
I used to travel there back in the 80’s when the island was prosperous due to US companies taking advantage of the 10 year tax break. Naturally, when the tax breaks expired they all moved on. PR is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been - properly managed it could be the playground of the Caribbean. Lots of really nice people also, though even then you didn’t have to wander far from the tourist trap areas of San Juan to encounter the way most of them lived.
The Navy left in 2003. The article says the slump has been a decade long.
Hmmmm.............
You can possess guns there. Of course, the place is full of Puerto Ricans, so it’s a wash.
Those beaches on the former base on Vieques are simply stunning.
Very clean, which is odd because this is Puerto Rico we’re talking about.
1) Independence.
2) Repatriation.
Fixed it.
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