Ryan strikes Puerto Rico debt deal with Obama administration

Politico ^ | 5/19/2016 | Rachael Bade and Colin Wilhelm

[GilGil]

...Paul Ryan has reached a tentative deal with the Treasury Department on a rescue package to ease Puerto Rico's debt crisis, according to House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop, who has been leading negotiations.

“We are moving forward — there is a deal,” the Utah Republican said Wednesday afternoon, adding that legislative text of the deal would be released later on Wednesday.

Details of that deal were released by Bishop’s committee Wednesday night, when the bill was introduced.

The agreement represents a breakthrough on an issue that has been stuck in congressional limbo for months. Ryan (R-Wis.) said last year that helping Puerto Rico restructure its multi-billion-dollar debt would be a top priority for the first quarter of 2016.

But conservatives balked at Bishop’s initial proposal, following a series of ads that labeled the measure a “bailout.” Democrats also refused to support that earlier deal because of a minimum wage decrease included in the measure. Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle have pushed back on the bailout label, and the bill expressly prohibits federal taxpayer funds from paying down Puerto Rico’s debt.

[VanShuyten]

What everybody here needs to do is look through their retirement bond funds for PR bonds, which will be worth zero pretty soon.

[JustTheTruth]

What is unclear is whether the Federal Reserve buys any of this crap debt that will never be repaid. If so, taxpayers WILL pay through an ultimately more depreciated US dollar currency value (money printing). The bond holders should bear the full brunt of the loss in value in THEIR bond holdings.