tRump & crew do not seem to understand that these are US citizens. Instead they only see these people as “brown people”. Hugs
About 43 percent of Puerto Rico’s residents are grappling with a sudden cut to a benefit they rely on for groceries and other essentials.
Federal lawmakers have also been stalled by the Trump administration, which has derided the extra aid as unnecessary
Puerto Rico will again need the federal government’s help to stave off drastic cuts to Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor and disabled, as well as for the disbursement of billions in hurricane relief aid that has not yet been turned over to the island.
The island would not need Congress to step in to fund its food stamps and Medicaid programs if it were a state. For U.S. states, the federal government has committed to funding these programs’ needs, whatever the cost and without needing to take a vote. But Puerto Rico instead funds its programs through a block grant from the federal government, which need to be regularly renewed, and also gives food stamp benefits about 40 percent smaller than those of U.S. states.
But at an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 22, Trump asked top advisers for ways to limit federal support from going to Puerto Rico, believing it is taking money that should be going to the mainland, according to senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the presidents’ private remarks.
The meeting — an afternoon session focused on Housing and Urban Development grants — ended abruptly, and Trump has continued to ask aides how much money the island will get. Then, Trump said he wanted the money to only fortify the electric grid there.
A senior administration official with direct knowledge of the meeting described Trump’s stance: “He doesn’t want another single dollar going to the island.”
The impasse comes amid a hardening opposition by the president against extending additional aid to Puerto Rico. Trump sees the island as fundamentally broken and has told advisers that no amount of money will ever fix its systemic problems.
He describes in meetings that large swaths of the island never had power to begin with and that it is “ridiculous” how much money is going to Puerto Rico in food stamp aid, according to the senior official. He has occasionally groused about how ungrateful political officials in Puerto Rico were for the administration’s help, the official said.
Trump also read a Wall Street Journal story from October and became convinced that bondholders and others were profiting off federal government aid — and grew furious. (The story describes prices on Puerto Rico’s bonds increasing after its governing fiscal board projected disaster funding would boost the island’s overall economic health.) Since then, aides have described a president who regularly brings up the island to make sure it is not getting too much money. Current and former officials say Trump often complains in meetings that Puerto Rico doesn’t even know how to spend the money the island has been allocated.
I don’t know enough about it other than to ask “Does he have a point?”
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Comment by Argus — March 26, 2019 @ 15:14
Hello Argus. Not really. Puerto Rico is in the shape it is because of US policies punishing the island for more than 50 years. One of them is the Jones Act which requires any goods to and from the island to be registered in the US and that raises the price of goods incredibly. There are other policies and laws that punish the island by adding fees and restriction not applied to the states. There were programs to get business to move there and then the island couldn’t get tax money from the companies due to the program set up by the US government. So no tRump doesn’t have a point, he simply is doing what so many others have done, punish a people who have not chosen to become a US state. I bet they wish they had now. One of the things a Democratic president must do it either give PR statehood or cut them free. Hugs
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Comment by Scottie — March 26, 2019 @ 15:24
Freudian slip … ‘must ‘… or ‘should’?
I’ve not been challenged when I describe the USA as an empire. Hell, it even has all the ceremonial trappings, and an elected monarch instead of heritance.
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Comment by Argus — March 26, 2019 @ 17:50
Hello Argus. I agree and you won’t get push back from me. As to dynasties, both tRump kids say their father started a political dynasty to rival the Kennedy’s and the Bush’s. They both think they are going to be the next presidents, she thinks she will be the first woman president. Dog helps us, protect us from these people. Hugs
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Comment by Scottie — March 26, 2019 @ 18:17
Dogs are good protectors. Just say “sic ’em!”
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Comment by Nan — March 26, 2019 @ 18:25
Awww … shucks …
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Comment by Argus — March 26, 2019 @ 18:48
Hello Nan. I think it would take the three headed Cerberus the hound of hell to have an effect on these monsters. Hugs
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Comment by Scottie — March 26, 2019 @ 20:03
Scottie – I’m fairly certain that the majority of the Islanders would LOVE to be our 51st state, but since it takes an Act of Congress, the chances of that happening are slim to none with this administration, and slim left town 27 months ago. (The inauguration.) And tRump hates brown people, period, along with Blacks, Mooslimbs, (unless you’re a wealthy Saudi,) and various others.
The entire strategy of the GOP is to starve out the Poorz, take away their Medical Care, and try to wipe them out entirely. The fewer of them there are, the fewer that will be suckling at the Gov’t. teat, which frees up LOTS of $$$ for more tax cuts.
Like most socio- and psychopaths, they lack empathy, but the Society they so desire will not only kill us, but them as well, eventually.
Dennis
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Comment by Dennis Cole — March 26, 2019 @ 17:12
Hello Dennis. Thank you for the reminder about congress. I had forgotten that point and thought there was a ballot question on it once, some years ago. As for their labor and servant needs, they will simply bring back slavery for the quota of us they let live. Hugs
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Comment by Scottie — March 26, 2019 @ 17:50