After setback, Puerto Rico governor lays out recovery agenda

Reuters ^ | 4/30/2015

[cll]

Fresh off a setback on his tax reform plan, Puerto Rico's governor laid out a recovery roadmap on Thursday for the U.S. commonwealth's struggling finances.

In his state of the Commonwealth address, Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla chastised the Puerto Rico House of Representatives for rejecting tax changes critical to his financial recovery plan, saying it made recovery harder but not impossible.

Padilla said he will form a group of financial experts charged with improving Puerto Rico's liquidity and another to take on a reorganization of the government.

He also released an agenda that calls for spending cuts in all government branches without layoffs, a fiscal 2016 budget based on recurring revenue that he plans to unveil in a few weeks, a rejection of any hasty or improvised taxation ideas, and restructuring the treasury department to increase revenue collections.

[cll]

Duh! Spending cuts and a budget based on realistic revenue projections and a rejection of any hasty or improvised taxation ideas is what he should have done since his election, not more than halfway into his term.

[cll]

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

[OttawaFreeper]

But up here in Soviet Canuckistan, Justin Trudeau says the debt and deficit pay themselves off.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I’d suggest the governor focus on finding ways to reduce the cost of electric power.

PR can’t attract new business with electric rates that are three times higher than here in the Midwest US.

Coal from north and south America is plentiful and cheap. Maybe offer advantageous tax incentives, etc...

[livius]

PR had a good governor who attempted to do all these things about 5 years ago, but then they elected the same old same old socialist again, after hard work by the municipal unions and the usual suspects.

Those are the same ones, I’m sure, who are objecting to the current governor’s tax and energy proposals.

[MasterGunner01]

Revised financial recovery plan from Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla(D-Puerto Rico):
1. Taxes raised.
2. More spending.
3. Increase drug exports to continental United States.
4. Take bigger cut of profits from pushing drugs.

[adorno]

I’m sick and tired of what’s happening in my native P.R.

The best and biggest stimulus for economic recovery on the island, would be to never again elect a liberal or socialist. Puerto Rico could be the model for all other South American countries, if only the liberals and progressives and socialists would get out of the way.