Puerto Rico—What did the President Say?

For John, BLUF:  If it can't sustain itself, over the long term, bring the citizens to the US and quarantine it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Puerto Rico can’t get aid ‘forever,’ Trump says

This is a Washington Post article by Reporter Philip Rucker, published on 12 October 2017 in The Boston Globe.

I am trying to see the President's sin here.  The headline says, to me, the fifty states can't afford to underwrite Puerto Rico for ever.  And I agree.

Here is the lede plus two:

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump served notice Thursday that he may pull back federal relief workers from Puerto Rico, effectively threatening to abandon the U.S. territory amid a staggering humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Declaring the U.S. territory’s electrical grid and infrastructure to have been a ‘‘disaster before hurricanes,’’ Trump wrote Thursday that it will be up to Congress how much federal money to appropriate to the island for its recovery efforts and that recovery workers will not stay ‘‘forever.’’

In a trio of tweets, Trump wrote, ‘‘We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!’’

Para 1 seems to overstate the case.

Para 2 has the President stating the obvious, the Puerto Rico infrastructure was a problem before the Hurricane.  And, in this nation the Congress appropriates and authorizes the funds, not the President.

Para 3 is also true, unless the US Congress provides for more FEMA folks and Service Members and those First Responders on loan never go home.  At some point Puerto Rico has to return to normal and the residents, overwhelmed by the Hurricane, have to pick up their normal responsibilities.  Otherwise the relationship will continue to give people like San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz a reason to decry American colonialism.

And speaking of San Juan Mayor Cruz, I do think the United States should declare Puerto Rico an independent nation.  Immediately after this Hurricane disaster is cleaned up.  And we should take five years of decreasing Federal Payments to ease them into their new status.  At the end of five years we should provide them one shot at statehood within the United States, with English as the official language.  It would require a two-thirds vote in favor of statehood, with a two-thirds turnout of registered voters.

In or out, but no more this straddling of the fence, by any side.

UPDATE:  Fixed a typo.

Regards  —  Cliff