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Everything you should know about Puerto Rico’s debt crisis

July 13, 2015

Sent to us by Glen Downs here is a video that helps explain the situation Puerto Rico is in. It is crazy to hear that they might not even have the option of bankruptcy… This sounds like it will be a long and drawn out process.

Puerto Rico’s financial crisis has been well-documented over the last few weeks, but a new report in the Washington Post sheds light on how Congress may have played a role in the fiscal troubles being felt in the U.S. commonwealth. Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post joins Hari Sreenivasan from Baltimore with the latest.

Discussion
15 Comments
    Jul 13, 2015 13:30 PM

    LOOKS LIKE DOWNTOWN DETROIT ………………….

      Jul 13, 2015 13:31 PM

      or any big city with a Democratic mayor…………

    CFS
    Jul 13, 2015 13:09 PM

    A classic example of left-wing PBS lying by omission.
    Sure the industry in Puerto Rico was built up by way of tax breaks. Yes they were phased out from 1996-2006, but the PR economy was still fine in 2006.
    It was the excise tax that PR placed on ALL exports of companies domicile do in the US mainland, that was the coup de grace, that caused industrial movement back to the mainland, rather than re-investment in the island where utilities are expensive (or restricted) for manufacturing.

      Jul 13, 2015 13:58 PM

      The military bases closed in 2005. They could not afford to keep the corporate tax breaks anymore. They tried giving special tax breaks to the rich and have the lower classes pay for them but that only made their problems worse.

        Jul 13, 2015 13:05 PM

        When I was there in 2003 for 4 months there was over around 110K military/fed/civilian/contract working at the various bases, which I believe was 5 or 6 different facilities. Roosevelt Roads was nearly 3000 acres alone.

    CFS
    Jul 13, 2015 13:11 PM

    For “domicile do” read domiciled
    My iPad incorrecting again

      CFS
      Jul 13, 2015 13:18 PM

      Simply:
      1. Faced with the choice of cutting spending on social programs or raising taxes PR chose the latter.
      2. Rather than building new power plants, PR denied permits, and still uses bunker oil to power electrical plants…..about the most expensive way. Three times the mainland cost.
      3. Rather than built new desalination plants for cheap water, PR merely restricts industrial usage in times of shortage.
      And you wonder why corporations left!

        Jul 13, 2015 13:22 PM

        great summary…………

          CFS
          Jul 13, 2015 13:56 PM

          Further with regard to developing tourism. I consider Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic about equivalent. Noy only are hotels in PR more expensive, but you get hit with a sales tax and then a double digit municipality tax on top of that. That’s one of my gripes in the US, the way towns think it is OK to hit tourists with hotel taxes because they don’t have a vote.

            Jul 13, 2015 13:08 PM

            Narco are bringing drugs through PR. There are some really, really bad areas. PR is basically a hell hold that we need to cut ties with.

            CFS
            Jul 13, 2015 13:14 PM

            I tend to steer clear of areas where every house has iron bars over the windows and there sure are a lot of areas like that in Puerto Rico.

            CFS
            Jul 13, 2015 13:19 PM

            Drugs were the problem in Jamaica even after the communist government was replaced.
            With drugs come crime……kills tourism.

            Jul 14, 2015 14:58 AM

            Jamaica they smoke pot. It is different when you are dealing with meth and crack like PR. The Jamacian’s were laid back they PRs are desperate to get their next fix.

        Jul 13, 2015 13:11 PM

        CFS, thank you for that little rundown!

    CFS
    Jul 14, 2015 14:11 AM

    Off topic:
    The big zero goes against advisors in today’s Iranian treaty:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lJgmsiIRVfs