Unbridled Republican Racist Disgrace

HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNVEILED a $36.5 billion disaster relief supplemental package Tuesday night, intended to pay for relief and rebuilding efforts for the floods, hurricanes, and wildfires of the past several months. It includes money for Puerto Rico’s ongoing struggle with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, though only a fraction of that headline number. In fact, $5 billion of the funds earmarked for Puerto Rico comes in the form of a loan, increasing the amount of money the island will eventually need to pay back.

And in a cruel irony, the bill also contains $16 billion in debt relief — just not for Puerto Rico’s crushing debt.

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There’s $576.5 million in U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior grants for wildfire suppression and management.

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Another $18.67 billion is intended to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund, particularly for events caused by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. That means Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will share that money, as determined by FEMA. The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general gets $10 million of that for audits and investigations of the use of relief funds.

  The Intercept

Jesus Fucking Christ! Ten million for audits, instead of for relief! Ten Million!

Puerto Rico will get a loan of $4.9 billion out of that same pot, money to be used for maintaining basic government operations. President Donald Trump had previously requested that amount in loan form.

Disgusting piece of human garbage. What was that he said recently about having to "erase" Puerto Rico's debt?

With practically no tax receipts collected since last month’s hurricane destroyed the island — 85 percent of homes remain without power three weeks after the storm — Puerto Rico faces a cash-flow crisis. Officials estimate that the government could run out of money and have to shut down on October 31.

This is critical for Puerto Rico, which has had trouble borrowing from private credit markets because of its existing $74 billion debt. But instead of replenishing the coffers with a grant, this is a loan.

Why in the name of all that's holy are they trying to destroy Puerto Rico? Have they given up on vacationing there altogether? No. This is the same absurd and evil approach of the World Bank and the IMF in their greed to squeeze every last farthing out of the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world. It's heinous.

The appropriations committee allotted another $29 million for administrative expenses for the loan.

I don't even have enough spit.

If you’re keeping up with the math, that leaves $13.58 billion of the $18.67 billion in disaster relief. Puerto Rico would have to share that amount with two far more populous states and another territory.

There is one definitive grant to Puerto Rico in the bill: $1.27 billion for “disaster nutrition assistance,” which is basically an extension of the food stamp program for citizens affected by the hurricane.

What? They don't have to sacrifice the elderly?

The final $16 billion in the bill goes to the National Flood Insurance Program, battered by claims payouts from the season’s hurricanes, particularly in Houston after Harvey. And this is where the bill takes on an almost comic level of bad optics.

No, there's nothing comic here. It's disgusting. It's inhuman.

NFIP took out a line of credit with the Treasury Department — capped by law at $30.4 billion — to cover claims. Last month, NFIP reached that borrowing ceiling.

Funds to pay claims are expected to run out this month, so the House bill cancels $16 billion of NFIP’s debt.

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The difference between NFIP and Puerto Rico is that the Treasury Department holds the former’s debt, while the island owes money to private investors.

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In a bill intended to give relief to Puerto Rico, the island gets a thin amount of guaranteed aid and a vague level of other funding, along with $5 billion in loans. Meanwhile, in the words of President Donald Trump, the NFIP gets its debt “wiped out.”

Wrong again. This bill was never intended to give relief to Puerto Rico.

The House will vote on the bill this week, and the Senate is likely to follow next week.

And if they pass it, there should be a march on Washington.

In the meantime, Congress has reinstated the Jones Act so that Puerto Rico is again having to pay exorbitant amounts for anything imported. And what doesn't have to be imported at this point?

Apologies for not knowing that today is the National Day of Action for the following organization:

Petition for relief: