No one dying in Puerto Rico?

[Andrew NDB]

At least, beyond about 16 people that were the initial news blurbs.

[Autbot_Benz]

ya like CNN Faux News is Fake News. I wouldn't believe anything they report.

[plastroncafe]

No one at all?
Dude, we should all move to Puerto Rico! Apparently no one dies there.

But we might want to wait until they have basic infrastructure restored.

[Leofan26]

Seriously? Good for them. Texas had how many people killed in the aftermath of Harvey but every ones ok in Rico? Amazing.

[turtle1237]

Originally Posted by Leofan26

Seriously? Good for them. Texas had how many people killed in the aftermath of Harvey but every ones ok in Rico? Amazing.

Sometimes storms are unpredictable, why does a tornado levels one city and than leaves other one intact? You don't know what lives or damage will happen in a storm.

[Andrew NDB]

But the mayor actually admits it there.

"What's all this about people dying all over the place here?"

Mayor: "Well... what I mean is, everybody is in the PROCESS of dying... so what I said was true."

[turtle1237]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

But the mayor actually admits it there.

"What's all this about people dying all over the place here?"

Mayor: "Well... what I mean is, everybody is in the PROCESS of dying... so what I said was true."

In a way, every one is in the process of dying.

[Autbot_Benz]

Trump told Puerto Rico Your hurricane isn’t a "real catastrophe" like Katrina. This guy is a moron

https://www.vox.com/2017/10/3/164114...source=twitter

[IndigoErth]

Humankind can only last so long with limited resources, and some less than others if they need medication and/or medical care that is currently impossible to access.



Recent passing thought:

"They want everything to be done for them..."

Imagine if the people who helped run his various properties quit and some of them (edit: the properties, not the people! lol) burst into flames and he's standing there wondering why the fire department isn't showing up and no one is trying to help... You own it, Trump, why do you want everything done for you?



Puerto Rico may be an island, but it's still part of the U.S. and we're still part of its wider community, no matter if a bit removed. That includes its government! Social creatures, esp humans, help each other when needed. If that is somehow "wrong" now, then we may as well call it quits on having a civilized world and society, head back to the woods, and become a solitary species.

[Andrew NDB]

There's a lot today about there being "4,600 deaths" in Puerto Rico from the hurricane. When I look closer as to the proof, though, all I can see is "a study suggests."

What study? By whom? To what end?

[Refractive Reflections]

Yes, let's all blame Trump despite the fact that already Puerto Rico was in dire straits financially before the hurricane, the FBI investigating the local government for inadequate distribution, and $100 million worth of bonuses to island government employees per year (while struggling with the island government's debt) as Puerto Rico's governor asks for $94 billion in hurricane aid.

FBI investigates local Government for inadequate supplies distribution
October 10, 2017

Five municipalities in Puerto Rico are being investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on charges that high-ranking city officials retain supplies provided by the central government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for hurricane Maria victims.

According to close sources, the municipalities investigated are Patillas, San Juan, Arecibo, Aguadilla and Vieques island. The head of the federal prosecutor, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez acknowledged that they have received several complaints on the matter, but she declined to reveal which municipalities are investigated. “We have FBI agents who this morning moved to one of the villages on the Island where they informed us that apparently the supplies delivered by FEMA were being stored, and are being kept for the political benefit of a person or some persons for them to ingratiate themselves politically, “said Rodríguez. The official said that those who incur in this illegal practice could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, Department of Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez indicated that agents of the Special Investigations Bureau (NIE) work in coordination with federal authorities. “Any irregularity that is detected in the delivery of supplies, or that the aid is not reaching the citizens, will be investigated rigorously, both at the state level and at the federal level,” said Vázquez. At the state level, high ranking city government officials are taking advantage of their positions and are benefiting specific citizens of their choice and they will be investigated and prosecuted.

Citizens are urged to report irregularities of this type of behavior to the federal authorities.

http://www.prinforma.com/archives/186

Puerto Rico gives out $100 million in bonuses after pleading for $94 billion in hurricane relief

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello Nevares last month asked federal taxpayers to shell out $94 billion to pay for the territory’s recovery from Hurricane Maria — then turned around and paid out about $100 million in Christmas bonuses to island government employees.

The governor’s aides say the bonuses are a longstanding tradition and part of the law, and were planned for in the budget approved last summer. But that budget came well before Hurricanes Irma and Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, leaving much of the territory in ruin and leaving the government begging for federal assistance. The island’s financial oversight board, created by Congress as part of a deal to bail the government out of a potential debt default last year, called the payments “imprudent” and said the hurricanes should have forced the governor to rethink his decisions. And the payments could dent Mr. Rossello Nevares’ efforts to get Capitol Hill to pony up for the recovery, where the $94 billion price tag the island has set is already meeting with shock.

“Puerto Rico has demonstrated time and time again that its government is incapable of responsibly handling its finances. This is yet another such instance,” Rep. Tom McClintock, who sits on the House committee with oversight over Puerto Rico, told The Washington Times in a statement after the bonuses were revealed.

The bonuses, which analysts said are not uncommon in Latin America, date back to the 1970s in Puerto Rico. But they’ve been controversial in recent years as the island has struggled with debt. The payments in 2015, of about $120 million, sparked a fierce debate. This year the payments will total $113 million, the government told Bloomberg News. Some 250,000 people get bonuses, with current workers averaging $600 bonus and retirees getting about $200, Bloomberg reported.

For the majority of government employees who make between $20,000 and $40,000 it’s an important boost, said Carlos Mercader, who leads Puerto Rico’s office in Washington, D.C. He said the governor, in making the payments, is following the law. And he said members of Congress who are pondering the territory’s massive relief request should be aware of how much the governor has already done to control the budget, such as a 20 percent reduction in political appointees in the government and a 15 percent cut in the operating budget.

“I would challenge whoever argues that the government hasn’t been austere in this whole process. The government has been saving money from the get-go,” Mr. Mercader said.

The bonuses raised questions at the oversight board, which fired off a letter Nov. 27 saying the governor should have talked with the board before making the payments, and called the bonuses “imprudent.” The board was particularly critical of the payments to retirees, who account for more than a third of the money being doled out. “While the Oversight Board shares in your desire to recognize public employees who have gone above and beyond in aiding recovery efforts across the island, to do so in a way that increases the liquidity strain on the commonwealth at this time puts the public at risk and demonstrates a lack of fiscal discipline,” the board said in its letter, signed by Chairman Jose B. Carrion.

Mr. Mercader countered that the board itself this year approved both the 10-year fiscal plan and the yearly budget, both of which included the bonuses.
“The notion that the board had no clue about it or it was done without the purview of the board is not true. The board knew about it, it was something that was in the budget and they had approved the budget,” he said.

Andrew G. Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a member of the oversight board, said there’s probably nothing illegal about the payments. The board imposed certain liquidity requirements on the territorial government, and they met them.

But he said it would have been a sign of fiscal health if the government had changed its mind and withheld the bonuses.

“My view is that in extremely difficult times you have to make some changes to how you do bonuses and this strikes me as an area where change is appropriate,” he said. Mr. Biggs said Puerto Rico’s last debt payment was a year and a half ago, and paying more than $90 million in bonuses at a time when the debt payments have been suspended sends the wrong signal to the very people the island is asking for help.

“I want to see federal assistance to Puerto Rico, especially in the short term to get the economy going again. My concern is the Christmas bonus may hurt their chances with Congress,” Mr. Biggs said.

Mr. McClintock said if Congress does end up approving a relief package, the money shouldn’t go to the island government itself, which he said has proved incapable of good fiscal management.

“I believe that any disaster funding should go to a federally-appointed receiver who would disburse it in a responsible way, instead of being handed directly to the local government that simply can’t help itself,” he said. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but for some key players the bonus issue is apparently too hot to handle.

The office of Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of Congress, didn’t respond to five emails or phone calls seeking comment since Thursday.

The office of House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop also declined to comment on the bonuses, as did Mr. Carrion, chairman of the oversight board, whose spokesperson said the letter sent last week spoke for itself.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...fter-asking-h/

[plastroncafe]

Thousands of Americans died during a natural disaster on his watch.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

Thousands of Americans died during a natural disaster on his watch.

And millions more died during other presidents.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

Thousands of Americans died during a natural disaster on his watch.

...And so have many other presidents before as Sumac pointed out.

Truly shows how concerned the Puerto Rican government is about their citizens and well being by hoarding emergency FEMA supplies from their own citizens for political gain.

[plastroncafe]

I'm of the mind that much of the devastation in Puerto Rico could have been avoided if their infrastructure had been well maintained. The only thing in Puerto Rico that's been maintained until recently is its status as a tax shelter for people on the mainland.

Puerto Rico has been very ill used by the mainland, and as a result was vulnerable even before the hurricane hit. Now, people are dying because they lack basic services. I don't deny that an aspect of this is due to corruption, either by local authorities, but also by federal ones who denied the island the same shipping waivers that Texas was allowed.

At the end of the day the citizens of Puerto Rico are American citizens, and we're supposed to take care of our own.