Puerto Rico’s July 11 – 15 week in politics as told by Twitter

by Jul 20, 2016News Week in Tweets0 comments

  1. Rubio chosen for Economic Growth Task Force for Puerto Rico

Senator and previous Republican presidential nominee contender Marco Rubio (R-FL) has been chosen to be a member of the Economic Growth Task Force for Puerto Rico. The Economic Growth Task Force is a separate entity from the seven member Financial Oversight and Management Board that was established following the passage of the PROMESA bill. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) have also been added.

 

  1. Nelson and Menendez to also be a part of that task force

Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have also been chosen to sit on the  Economic Growth Task Force. It is important to remember that Puerto Rico has no input on who is assigned to the the separate committees that will eventually oversee their economic recovery.

 

  1. Statehood support grows

This issue of Puerto Rican statehood has underscored the economic and political drama that has been unfolding recently. Because Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory, it can not file for bankruptcy, a privilege that is only afforded to full fledged states.  Both of the pro-commonwealth and pro-statehood parties have stated they would like to hold another referendum similar to the one that occurred in 2012 that showed Puerto Ricans favored statehood. The problem now is if the United States is willing to accept a state with 12% unemployment and a crumbling public infrastructure that it would almost certainly need to fix.

 

  1. Garcia Padilla admits PROMESA’s shortcomings

Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has continued his show of displeasure for the federal government’s PROMESA bill and the oversight board that will control of Puerto Rico’s economic future. Governor Padilla has states that Puerto Rico will take steps independently from oversight board in order to bring Puerto Rico’s financial situation under control, but he did not state specifically what those steps would be.

 

  1. Steve King makes statement claiming white supremacy

Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention is underway. U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has taken the cake for RNC Day 1 with a ridiculous gaft, stating that civilizations outside Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and North America (i.e: white people) have contributed less than to humanity than they have. It is also worth mentioning he categorized non-western civilizations as “sub groups.”