Puerto Rico's Crushing Debt Is Unpayable – And The Fallout Will Hit Florida

WLRN ^ | 6/30/15 | Tim Padgett

[Kartographer]

As WLRN has reported this year, the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico is staggering under $73 billion in debt. The Caribbean island’s governor is giving a speech this afternoon to announce it’s unpayable. And that could have a significant economic impact here in South Florida.

How bad is Puerto Rico’s financial crisis? Its debt load equals three-fourths of its entire economy. Governor Alejandro García Padilla has conceded that Puerto Rico can no longer make payments on a debt that massive.

Annual trade between Florida and Puerto Rico is about $2 billion. Bankruptcy attorney Charles Tatelbaum of the Fort Lauderdale law firm Tripp Scott says Puerto Rico’s collapse will hit Florida.

[RayChuang88]

Maybe it’s time to make it legal to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy and start all over again. They may just do that with the City of Chicago pension fund soon.

[762X51]

I say we just flip the Island over and start over! ;-)

Is that you Hank?

[Covenantor]

73 billion dollars with a population of 3.7 million is some pretty impressive spending.

[itsahoot]

Puerto Rico can not print money.

They can become a State very easily. Until now they haven't been to keen on the idea of paying taxes but now they may see the benefit. Two new Dem Senators what is not to like.

[fella]

Watch what happens to Puerto Rico’s debt problem, it’s going to be the RAT’S solution to the debts they have run up in the cities, counties and states that they control.

[BenLurkin]

1/3 on disability?

Where is 60 minutes doing a fraud expose?

[Chgogal]

Let's give it back to Spain/the EU. ; )

[VRW Conspirator]

Easy:

It will be blamed on Rick Scott.

[JoeFromSidney]

From the standpoint of the US, the best thing that could happen with regard to Puerto Rico is that it sink under the ocean. If we make it a state, it will become like Quebec, an unassimilated lump that is a drain on our economy. If we give it independence, it will soon be taken over by someone like Chavez or Castro, who will side with our enemies (Chinese or Russian or Iranian missiles?). Bad as the current situation is, there seems to be no good alternative. It's a tar baby.

[Dr. Ursus]

The Bronx is going to have a big population spike!

[Clintonfatigued]

Puerto Rico was doing well for a short time, but ‘Rats regained the governorship and now look at things. I hope this isn’t the first of a series of dominos.

[Kartographer]

"73 billion dollars with a population of 3.7 million is some pretty impressive spending."

Pikers compared to my Ex-Wife!

[sarasmom]

The dominoes need to fall!

The jig is up. It's game over. And one can hope the guilty criminal architects will suffer hardest, but we all know that won't ever happen.

Years before the dotcom bust, I asked my friends who freely chose to “invest” in those companies, WHY????

The dotcoms sold no products, had no profits or business plans, and outside of marketing ponzi schemes, had no value.

Before the housing bust, I was screaming it was insane of the Fed government to allow/require financial companies to set up $0 down loans, with no income verification, who then re-sold those “mortgages” as legitimate products to “pension investment funds”.

And don't even get me started on “derivative markets”. So here we all are, gathered together to suffer the consequences of tolerating greed and corruption.

Nothing will change for the very rich and the very poor.
The vast majority of the middle class OTOH, will be killed off, one way or the other, by the New World Order.