Treasury Officials Increase Efforts With Finances of Puerto Rico

The New York Times ^ | 04/13/15 | Michael Corkery and Mary Williams Walsh

[cll]

Antonio Weiss, the former Wall Street banker who became a top adviser to the Treasury secretary this year, has made two trips to Puerto Rico in recent weeks.

Kent Hiteshew, who runs the Treasury Department’s office of state and local finance, has also met with government officials in San Juan multiple times this spring.

The Treasury Department is quietly stepping up its involvement in Puerto Rico, indicating that the island’s financial problems, which have been simmering for years, are reaching a critical point. High-ranking officials have been shuttling between Washington and Puerto Rico, advising commonwealth officials as they try to stabilize the island’s finances.

[cll]

The Puerto Rico government has run out of cash, a fact that is getting harder and harder to hide. They're trying to raise the sales tax from 7 to 14% to cover the gap. They have succumbed to bunker mentality, as they have also run out of people and businesses to tax, by taxing them to death in the first place.

[cll]

Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.

[Jimmy Valentine]

A LOT of people in the P.R. government need to go to jail.

Congress also needs to re-instate the tax breaks that encouraged businesses to locate in P.R. to begin with.

[fruser1]

Maybe we can sell it to Greece.

[tbw2]

The government giving Puerto Ricans disability for speaking Spanish, where few speak English, is also insulting.

[Buckeye McFrog]

And a bunch of Gringos are going to fly down from Washington, D.C. to tell them what to do now? Yeah, THAT’LL go over well! /s

[blueunicorn6]

I’m sorry, but we are going to have to start hanging thieves in this country. They are not afraid of jail any more.