Sunday, June 12, 2016

Rewarding Puerto Rico's Failed Leftist Behavior

By Douglas V. Gibbs, AuthorSpeakerInstructorRadio Host

Puerto Rico is a larger version of Detroit.  Spend enough time swimming in the failed policies of the liberal left, and failure is always the result.  What is worse is that Congress has passed a bail out bill for Puerto Rico that will essentially reward their bad behavior, and force the taxpayers to pay for yet another liberal left Democrat Party debacle.

The bill, a compromise crafted by Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, passed the House of Representatives on Thursday.  The vote was 297-127, with a majority of support from both parties.

The bill's next stop is the U.S. Senate.  The hope is that the bill will be signed by President Obama before the critical July 1st debt payment deadline, according to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

The island territory faces a default on $2 billion of debt payments on July 1. The leftist policies in Puerto Rico has destroyed the territory's economy, and as a consequence an exodus of islanders have headed to the mainland, exacerbating the situation.

The negotiations regarding the disastrous bill has lasted for months, largely through private, closed door, negotiations between both parties and the White House. Democrats pushed hard to ensure the island could restructure its $70 billion in debt, while Republicans wanted to see an outside board that could step in and overhaul the island’s grim finances.

Conservatives have long been skeptical of allowing the island to rework its debt obligations, fearing it could encourage other debt-strapped parts of the country to follow suit.  Granted, there are some provisions in the bill that Republicans were able to keep in it, to the chagrin of Democrats, but overall the bill is still a bad idea.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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