Tag Archives: Hurricane

THEY TAKE AND TAKE AND TAKE – PUERTO RICO CORRUPTION AND WELFARE GONE WILD

SINK OR SWIMENOUGH ALREADY – NO MORE PAYMENTS FROM U.S. TAX PAYERS

Storm dealt Puerto Rico knockout blow after decades of fiscal failure, corruption

Six months after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, many leaders there are pointing the finger at Washington, but the scandal, corruption and waste that now plague the U.S. territory were around long before last summer’s storm.

Decades of dysfunction, mismanagement and embarrassing abuses of power left Puerto Rico reeling well before the storm delivered a knockout blow, say obervers. Enormous debt, absurd infrastructure projects and a tradition of corruption have hampered the commonwealth’s ability to get off the canvas.

“There’ve been so many problems that have built up year after year,” Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., told Fox News. “It’s a tough situation.”

“All these mayors were using borrowed money to build things that were underutilized.”

– Emilio Pantojas-Garcia, University of Puerto Rico

Reckless spending sprees by a revolving door of politicians have turned the commonwealth into a bloated bureaucracy that can’t pay its bills and yet enjoys the benefits of a welfare society without any of the responsibilities attached to it.

Before Maria hit in September, Puerto Rico was already navigating the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. government history at a whopping $120 billion in combined bond and pension debt.

For years, the island blew through billions of dollars in borrowed money.

Pricey and impractical infrastructure projects almost always got the go-ahead.

“Every town in Puerto Rico has a new baseball park,” Emilio Pantojas-Garcia, a sociology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, told Bloomberg News.  “All these mayors were using borrowed money to build things that were underutilized.”

One such project was a 1,000-seat performing-arts center in the small city of Humacao. The building was designed for big-budget Broadway-style performances. Instead, it was rarely used and ended up being the place where the occasional stand-up comic performs.

The territory’s towering debt and mismanagement also led to less money being available for schools and hospitals.

Then Maria hit and things on the island went from bad to catastrophic in the blink of an eye.

Multiple cases of corruption and greed by local leaders, government officials and inexperienced contractors surfaced, shedding light on the toxicity that is still very much a part of everyday life in Puerto Rico.

Those who can leave, often do.

The government of Puerto Rico now estimates that by the end of the year, another 200,000 residents will have moved to the mainland.

But for residents stuck in Puerto Rico, the future looks grim.

“We’re used to it by now but that doesn’t make it right or fair,” Sunita Howell, a waitress in Old San Juan, told Fox News. Howell’s family, who lives in the Hato Rey neighborhood of the city, struggles daily.

Howell says after Maria hit, her family was approached by someone offering to restore power to their home for $3,000.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” she said. “Who has that here? You are supposed to be helping us not taking our money.”

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority – PREPA- has already suspended three employees without pay and says it is looking into another 25 reported cases of possible bribery in the days and weeks after Maria.

PREPA confirmed to PBS that all of the cases involve field employees responsible for restoring power.

El Vocero, a San Juan-based newspaper, said that some employees demanded up to $5,000 to reconnect power.

PREPA’s director was forced out in November after the utility, the commonwealth’s sole electricity provider, failed to call for help from its mainland counterparts after the storm.

Instead, PREPA granted a power-restoration contract to Whitefish Energy Holdings. It was a disaster of a deal and PREPA was forced to rescind the contract after public pressure.

PREPA was also accused of stockpiling supplies badly needed to help with rebuilding after Maria.

“The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has become a heavy burden on our people, who are now hostage to its poor service and high cost,” Governor Ricardo Rossello, who is planning to sell PREPA to the private sector, said in a statement. “What we know today as the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority does not work and cannot continue to operate like this.”

PREPA’s problems are just one of several crises slowing down recovery on the island.

The federal government recently awarded a $156 million contract to a one-person Atlanta-based company that was supposed to deliver 30 million meals to Puerto Rico. Owner Tiffany Brown, who had no disaster relief experience, got the gig but managed to deliver only 50,000 meals to the storm-ravaged island.

There have been problems with the housing situation too and now, the island’s largest restoration contractor says it will pull out of Puerto Rico in the next few weeks after maxing out its $746 million contract.

“It never ends,” Howell said. “Tomorrow I’ll wake up and there will be another scandal, another Whitefish.”

THE PUERTO RICO AFFAIR CONTINUES

This past week President Trump weighed in on the Puerto Rico debt situation. He said that the debt was worthless. Telling  the truth is hard to digest for bondholders, but it is what it is. For the likes of us, we can’t imagine who or what will ever pay back the billions of debt owed by the citizens of Puerto Rico. For heavens sake they are takers not givers; so debtors, kiss your paper goodbye – you can use it for wallpaper or toilet paper, they may be a better use. Puerto Rico has been mismanaged for years by using other peoples money. Why did they ever lend to them is beyond us. And the bond insurers, what were they thinking; beats us.

The best bet here is move forward, bring in the ‘dozers and level the place. Much of the shanty towns have seen total destruction because of lack of building codes and the building of illegal houses. Would you expect anything less. Farmers have seen their crops devastated by the cane. Suddenly, many Puerto Ricans are having to improvise to get by. Maria’s destruction is expected to worsen both. The island could lose 400,000 residents this year, dropping to 3 million. That will lead to steep revenue losses, further draining Puerto Rico’s ability to pay its obligations.Image result for bulldozer

Don’t forget 40% of their debt is owned by locals. Cancelling the debt will be a double whammy. Moving forward is the only way, but expect the Federal Government to throw more money into the wind. As of now, according to those in the know,  the rebuilding will take years. However, in the end, expect the capitalists to boat in, scoop up properties as a cheap price and then rebuild; making Puerto Rico better than ever.

THE WRATH OF CANES FURY

If Harvey wasn’t enough, now comes Irma with Jose to follow; Irma is the most devastating storm ever to evolve in the Atlantic. This storm is not the usual wind/rain affair it is better described as the mother of all hay makers. The storm battered the island chains lying in the Caribbean; Barbuda was a wipe out.

Onward and upward the storm has pulverized the Keys as it heads northwest toward Florida taking its toll along the way. Miami has escaped the head to head match-up that was originally expected.

Now it is Tampa’s turn,  Atlanta is next to see the beast of Irma do its thing which reminds us of Sherman’s march to the sea 150 years ago.

What has caused such wrath? Global warming is the usual suspect. This storm is no gully washer for sure. Even Noah would find it difficult keeping afloat and he had God on his side!NOW: IRMA EYEWALL BEARING DOWN ON FLORIDA KEYS; POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC STRIKEIrma Hammers Florida Keys; Nearly 500,000 Lose PowerPhotos: Hurricane Irma's Destruction So FarHow Far North Will Damaging Winds Occur?Mike Seidel Blasted by High Winds in MiamiWatch: Huge Wave Crushes Irma Spectator

PLEASE DONATE

 

TIME THAT WE DROWN FEMA IN ITS OWN WAKE

We have always called a spade a spade. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA is now in our cross hairs. Let’s be honest here, this is a Welfare Agency for the rich. How so? Those who live on the water benefit by buying cheapo insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) from FEMA; the cost is 1/10 of what private insurance would charge. Contact them now, they are waiting for your call. For more information about the NFIP and flood insurance, call
1-800-427-4661

Two Types of Flood Insurance Coverage
The NFIP’s Dwelling Form offers coverage for: 1) Building Property, up to $250,000, and 2) Personal
Property (Contents), up to $100,000. The NFIP encourages people to purchase both types of coverage. Your mortgage company may require that you purchase a certain amount of flood insurance coverage.

Private insurance companies do insure those with waterfront properties in need of more than the $250,000 limit set by NFIP. However the rates are at market. Excess Flood Insurance Rates are through the roof. It’s expensive, though specifics are hard to come by until you start seeking quotes. In many instances the next $500,000 of insurance cost between $10,000 to $20,000 per year, when in fact the average FEMA policy is closer to $1000.

We don’t mind a flood of money going to states that suffer a natural disaster and specifically used for repairing infrastructure, but filling the pockets of rich people with our money is beyond the pale. It is time for FEMA to exit the insurance market. Those who take risk by living on the water must pay for their own proclivity. They will find that the rate for a basic FEMA policy of $250,000 offered by the private sector is closer to $5000. The rest of us suckers literally bail them out. They play, we pay.

We suspect a flood of claims to be submitted to FEMA for flood damage by people who don’t have flood insurance. The estimates are that 270,000 out of 1.3 million properties were insured. Uncle Sam will bail out those who thought the big one will never come. Time for the United States to say we had enough and warn those who take risk to accept the consequences. After all if you don’t have life insurance do your heirs ask the government to pay up?

Don’t forget the other largess funded by Uncle Sam, rebuilt beaches, breakwaters and sea walls to protect the waterfront homes. We pay time after time. Have any of these super rich ever invited you to sit on their deck over looking the ocean? Time for the government to exit the private sector for good.

HOUSTON ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NOAH’S ARK

Little did they realize the breath and zeal that Harvey would level on them. As the storm approached those in its path were shocked in disbelief. They weren’t evacuated, so they were sanguine to the coming flood. This was no gully washer, this was the biblical 40 days and 40 nights flood.

Over fifty inches a rain came down in a fury. Raining cats and dogs was not an apt description, winds at the epicenter spared no one. Houston was tormented for days on end, with no place to go the residents had to stay put while they bared the brunt of the storm; all wondering if Noah’s Ark will come to the rescue. And as the sun rises by day, the FEDERAL ARK named FEMA will soon be arriving in Houston. 

Expect the unexpected aptly applies to those who live on the water. The Big One is always a possibility and timing is everything. The calm before the “it won’t hit us” storm can and will when least expected. And don’t forget the liberal retards (libtards) who said, “Texas got what it deserved.” Funny that they would say ‘that Houston deserved what it got.’ If memory serves us correctly, Houston went for Hillary (Lock her Up) Clinton. Perhaps there is a God after all

“We’ve been dealing with [FEMA Administrator] Brock Long all day long and he’s been emphasizing the necessity that everybody come to grips with how long this is going to take in order to rebuild the Houston area because of this once in a lifetime flooding incident,” Governor Abbott went on.

Harvey was forecast to move inland Wednesday, bringing its downpours to Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and parts of Missouri. The system has dumped up to 51 inches of rain on parts of southeastern Texas, a record for any storm in the continental United States.

Our hearts go out to the residents of Texas who survived the storm; our sympathy goes out to those families who suffered the loss of loved ones.  

"Where Revolution is the Solution" Taking back the Empire