Jack Lew's morale-boosting trip to Puerto Rico

MarketPlace ^ | 1-15-2016 | Mark Garrison

[Citizen Zed]

"I was just in Puerto Rico," recalled Charles Venator Santiago, political scientist at University of Connecticut. "The buses no longer work because they haven't been able to pay their fuel obligation."

He also says his mom and several friends are waiting on overdue tax refunds. Good luck with that. Puerto Rico's contemporary debt troubles have deep roots.

"Puerto Rico doesn't really have an engine of economic growth. Ever since 2006, it has been in an economic funk," said Ted Hampton, a vice president at Moody's, who has been following the territory's troubles.

Now, it is broke. Enter Secretary Lew. The trip is a show of support and seriousness from the administration, which is seeking support in Congress for its proposal to allow Puerto Rico's debt to be restructured and put in an oversight mechanism. But that's just about all it can do, propose.

The Constitution is clear: the legislative branch has the power. Lew said it himself in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan Friday: "Only Congress can enact the legislative measures necessary to fully resolve this problem."

[Citizen Zed]

"The Constitution is clear: the legislative branch has the power. "

Hmm.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

"The Constitution is clear: the legislative branch has the power. "

When did THAT ever stop them before?

[butlerweave]

The UFO and Chupacabra tourism not working out ?

[Jimmy Valentine]

Congress caused some of the problem by closing Base Ramey and Rooseveltq Roads. Also the eliminated significant tax breaks which caused a lot of businesses to leave the island. Add lefty P.R. Legislatures buying votes with gimme programs and the recipe was complete.

[Mastador1]

Big image at the site of someone holding a sign that says "Puerto Rico is in agony because it's a colony", well hell if that's the problem I already see a simple solution!

As Far as I know the Puerto Ricans have voted against statehood each time, and do we really need a welfare state added to the Union with all the welfare recipients Lord Foul and his ilk are already adding to the government dole?

I can see how if the US is your primary export and trading partner you would have problems especially with our economy in the toilet, how would statehood for Puerto Rico benefit the rest of America? I know I'm gonna get it from Freepers with a Puerto Rican history, but we are supposed to be Americans with allegiance to America first, not hyphenated Americans with allegiance to ancestral countries.