Q: Are Texas and Florida really “doing great”?
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Ryan said Monday that Congress will ensure the people of Puerto Rico “have what they need.” yup no affordable health care an tax break for anybody making over a million 
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I suspect that the Deplorables have already got the message that mass deaths by disease and starvation is the plan.
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Trump, thy name is Megalomania!
Tweets don’t feed people donnie.
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A: No, they are not. The Dolphins and Tampa are both 1 & 1, and the Texans are 1 & 2, but the Cowboys are 2 & 1 - so there’s that…
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The Navy and Army are really good at that sort of activity. They have transport capabilities and the gear at hand. They can move food and fuel and they can access anywhere on that island in minutes by helicopter. Imagine if the USS Comfort was deployed there or if an aircraft carrier group moved in to help. Too bad the shitgibbon can only tweet and not lead…
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Fallows did a series called “Trump Time Capsule” during the campaign, documenting things he said or did that were abnormal, and ended with #152. We’re on beyond zebra since then, of course. But you’d have to put on the list this bizarre need he has to pretend that disasters that kill numerous people and cause millions and billions of dollars in property damage, lost productivity, and environmental havoc are simply a kind of foil for our “great” first responders and government officials and are quickly and easily dealt with. It’s like a subliminal understanding that he’s actually responsible for getting a vast array of things taken care of, and he knows he can’t begin to, so he has to draw a Christo-style huge curtain around it all.
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Yeah, this has been a worm in my ear the past few days. Not in a good way though…
So is Trump hinting that if the Puerto Rican government asks, he will be happy to put them in touch with some people from, say, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, or Kazakhstan, who have some serious money to “invest”? And, if it happens, does he get a cut?
Geez, perfect opportunity for the tangerine temper tantrum to promote his Art of the Steal. Have Puerto Rico declare bankruptcy, default on all the U.S. lenders and then get money from Deutsche Bank and by selling overpriced real estate to the Russians.
trump should be all over that.
Puerto Rico had an influx of jobs and a growing economy due to tax breaks to the export sector in Puerto Rico from Section 936 passed in 1976. This led to an influx of pharmaceutical and other manufacturing to the Island.
However, President Clinton signed legislation in 1996 that phased out Section 936 over ten years, leading to many plant closures and starting the economic downturn, and Puerto Rico became a hunting ground for hedge fund vultures.
The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) was signed by President Obama in 2016 to help the island get out from under its massive debt and fund key infrastructure projects.
I am sure that Trump will try to undo PROMESA because it has Obama’s name on it and it helps people who speak Spanish.
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Well compared to PR, yes.
So – first of all, let’s note that the 2010 Haiti earthquake was on a vastly larger scale in terms of destruction and human suffering. But granting that, it is still instructive to consider a few items from the timeline.
The quake struck on the afternoon of 12 January 2010.
By the evening of the 13th, a USAF team had secured the airport and reestablished air traffic control.
At dawn on the 15th, the USS Carl Vinson with its escort group, arrived, bringing helicopters and supplies as well as substantial capacity for fresh water distillation (400,000 gallons daily on the carrier alone) and power generation.
The following day, the 16th, the USNS Comfort hospital ship left port, along with several other major Navy ships. Comfort would arrive on the 20th.
On the 18th, a Marine Expeditionary Unit centered on USS Bataan, a helicopter carrier, along with several other major warships, started to arrive.
So within the first week, that’s a carrier group, an MEU, a hospital ship, along with multiple other ships, a couple thousand Marines, a functioning airport compliments of the USAF …
Now, just to reiterate – I’m not comparing the disasters here, not in any way. My purpose is simply to illustrate the substantial resources at our nation’s disposal, when we choose to use them.
Or maybe our military is mainly there in order for a childish fool to stage a parade down the streets of our nation’s capital. It’s hard to say.
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Many and sharp the numerous ills
Inwoven with our frame;
More pointed still, we make ourselves
Regret, remorse and shame;
And man, whose heaven-erected face
The smiles of love adorn,
Man’s inhumanity to man,
Makes countless thousands mourn.
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We might also need the US Army Corps of Engineers to help rebuild infrastructure quickly.
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I’m glad to see this article bring up the Jones Act and its impact on PR. I would have LOVED to have the follow up question asked, if the Jones Act was temporarily suspended for FL and TX after their hurricanes, why not for PR?? If “enough ships are available” now for PR, how is that different from 2 or 3 weeks ago, especially considering both FL and the Houston area can be served (as the article notes) by fleets of trucks as well?
I posted this yesterday in another thread, but we have a once in a century opportunity to fix Puerto Rico’s infrastructure and economy. Rebuild everything (roads, power grid, schools, etc.) to today’s gold standard (not just shoddy fixes to unstable buildings and roads), repeal the Jones Act (which would massively help both Hawaii and Alaska as well), repeal the law that treats the US Territories (including the USVI and Guam) differently in terms of Medicare and Medicaid spending. Otherwise, we will most likely see the population of the island falling by a third over the next decade (if not the next 24 months), leaving predominately the old, infirm and sick and an economic death spiral that makes Japan look good.
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Is it me or is he setting up a Wall Street payout as part of any disaster relief for PR?? “The debt MUST BE DEALT WITH”.
Surely you must know that Donald Trump is all about paying back debts owed to bankers. I mean, his whole life and business history provides ample evidence of his deep personal commitment to repaying loans in full.
In fact, his financial integrity is second only to his steadfast marital fidelity.
(Nurse! He’s at the keyboard again.)
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Taking a knee is disrespectful to hurricane victims.