[Southack]

"We will just make up their 'loss' by increasing the amount of aid/welfare we send them. In the end the US taxpayer will not be better off."

Don't be such an idiot in public. PR's governor would hardly be raising such a stink if she thought that she was going to get the $300 million even without the naval base being left on her island.

Sheesh. What a thought process you must have... Not!

[TankerKC]

I agree with the previous statement:

We will just make up their 'loss' by increasing the amount of aid/welfare we send them. In the end the US taxpayer will not be better off.

[Karsus]

We already send about 1,200,000,000 USD in food stamps to them. I do not have how much we spend in other assistance to PR but I am sure in is at least in the billion dollar range.

What makes you think the taxpayers will not get screwed in this deal?

(Very DU of you to call a person an idiot and insult their thought process)

[4Freedom]

This article is a little misleading. The base at Roosevelt Roads is on the east coast of the main island of Puerto Rico. It's 11,000 acres in size, has a hospital, landing strip, golf course, it's own water filtration plant, very large harbor and mooring facilities, beaches, roads and other infrastructure.

That's why they ultimately want it for free.

Camp Garcia is 6.5 miles east of Roosevelt Roads on the island of Vieques. It's still 24,000 acres big even after we gifted Puerto Rico 8,000 acres of it.

The U.S. Taxpayers own it all.

The corrupt politicians of Puerto Rico want to steal it all, just not all of it at once. They'd like to push a new Section 956 tax scam through Congress and they need the leverage of a base for the usual extortion tactics they use.

There are already plans in the works for all of the land the U.S. Taxpayers own at not only these two, but the land Fort Buchanan and Sabana Seca are on. The catch is they not only want the land, they want us to pay for everything they want built on it after our military is gone.

They also want the U.S. Taxpayers to build a $550 million dollar bridge to connect Roosevelt Roads to Vieques!

Puerto Rico: Turnover of Roosevelt Roads would be boon for island, investor says.

They have big plans for our money. It never stops.

Anyone that believes Puerto Rico has a vibrant economy that can stand alone, if we pull away the $18 billion dollars plus that we gift them every year is fooling themselves.

The federal government probably employs 25% to 30% of their workforce.

Add up everyone that works for the other 14 - 15 military bases on the island.

Then add up all of the U.S. Postal employees.

The 1,000 that work for the IRS on the island.

The 100s that work for FEMA.

The almost 1,000 new TSA employees.

Then USDA, US Marshalls, Federal Courts, EPA, Dept. of Trans. and Highways, National Parks, INS/Border Patrol, DEA, US Customs, etc. and you begin to see the Puerto Rican economy is just a house of cards.

The island government of Puerto Rico employs another third of the workforce.

Now that the tax give-aways are on the way out, industry is leaving the island in droves.

If the U.S. Federal Government leaves with it's jobs, the military, and the $18 billion plus in cash we gift Puerto Rico every year, all of the rest of PR's industrial base will leave the island, too.

PR would have 66% unemployment and no cash overnight.