Jones act hurting Puerto Rico?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

the leadership of the island is responsible for their current plight

Yes!
Exactly!
Their lax construction and investment regulations recently allowed a well known financial gambler and grifter from New York City, who even after years of experience in ridiculous failures hasn't learned when to hold 'em or when to fold 'em, because what he has figured out is how to come to the table without a penny of his own money, that man came to San Juan to built a golf course on the island without obtaining solid financial backing then went bankrupt in 2016 (again) and stuck it to the territory for $30 million.

He's relaxing on another golf course in New Jersey this weekend, tweeting that Puerto Rican authorities, one in particular who works all day with limited resources, then sleeps at night on a cot in an emergency shelter because she lost everything, she's someone who in the bankrupt estimation of the person pulling all the strings, wants everything done for her.

I cculd see that happening in Hawaii, with the exception perhaps of our politicians joining their constituents at a crowded emergency shelter, sharing with them the limited meals-ready-to-eat and local bottled water. Instead, they'll no doubt be at a well stocked "Command Center" necessary for them and their families to "oversee operations."

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kapoho Joe

the leadership of the island is responsible for their current plight..

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I am assuming you are trying for humor.. stand up deadpan straight faced humor. Yes? I mean come on, it was a frickin' hurricane.

[Wao nahele kane]

[quote]Originally posted by HereOnThePrimalEdge

the leadership of the island is responsible for their current plight

Yes!
Exactly!
Their lax construction and investment regulations recently allowed a well known financial gambler and grifter from New York City, who even after years of experience in ridiculous failures hasn't learned when to hold 'em or when to fold 'em, because what he has figured out is how to come to the table without a penny of his own money, that man came to San Juan to built a golf course on the island without obtaining solid financial backing then went bankrupt in 2016 (again) and stuck it to the territory for $30 million.

He's relaxing on another golf course in New Jersey this weekend, tweeting that Puerto Rican authorities, one in particular who works all day with limited resources, then sleeps at night on a cot in an emergency shelter because she lost everything, she's someone who in the bankrupt estimation of the person pulling all the strings, wants everything done for her.

I cculd see that happening in Hawaii, with the exception perhaps of our politicians joining their constituents at a crowded emergency shelter, sharing with them the limited meals-ready-to-eat and local bottled water. Instead, they'll no doubt be at a well stocked "Command Center" necessary for them and their families to "oversee
End quote

What does a golfer who sold his brand to company in PR have to do with your ramblings and the Jones Act?

I thought national politics were off limits here.
At the very least, get your story straight, There's plenty of real things out there, no need to make stuff up.

[Kenney]

I don't think the Jones Act is the problem.

My Son, (grew up here) never one to mince words, just returned yesterday from PR with his FEMA team. This is his take on the situation:

"The PR gov needs to chill. It cost a million dollars for our flight alone going over on a c5 Galaxy. 50 k a day for salary for our 27 man team. Money is being thrown at the problem. Resources expended. The PR government is a sh-t show. I drove all over the island meeting with mayors to set up distribution centers. Some were organized, but collectively, they had prepared very little and expected FEMA to save the day."

Let's hope our warning (Izelle) has inspired us to be more prepared for future hurricanes and their aftermath.

[geochem]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kenney

I drove all over the island meeting with mayors to set up distribution centers. Some were organized, but collectively, they had prepared very little and expected FEMA to save the day."

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Sounds like the situation there is not unlike it was with Katrina: the local government had done very little to prepare the community to do what needed to be done to prepare/protect themselves. The local government is supposed to be the first responders and FEMA is expected to come in after them as a backstop. My impression is that Hawaii is a good deal more aggressive at local preparedness than most - although there is still plenty of room for improvement still. But that is limited by the resources our political establishment is willing to invest - your best plan is to not have to rely on local government or the Feds to bail you out...

[viviansuet]

https://www.facebook.com/BigIslandEagles/?ref=bookmarks
Hurricane Relief Concert
Sat. Oct 7th, 2017
at Eagles 5:30 to 10pm
$10 at the door, Live Latin Music

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kenney

I don't think the Jones Act is the problem...

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Thanks for sharing your son's perspective Kenney.

I don't think the two, the Jones Act and the current crisis in PR, are as tied together in this very moment as to be able to say that because of the humbug with the Jones Act PR isn't getting the aid it needs now. Though I speculate that if the Jones Act is costing each of us in Hawaii some number of thousands of dollars a year in cost of living increases, it's costing a Puerto Rican something too. Which opens the door to all sorts of speculation on how much better we would all be if the Jones Act were to be discontinued. Would Puerto Rico have been better prepared had it had that much of a difference it it's cost of living? Who knows. Would Hawaii be that much better if our cost of living were that much lower?

My earlier comments in this thread are all tied to my opinion of the Jones Act's effect on our lives here in Hawaii. Anything I might think I know about it's effect on PR is pure speculation.

[terracore]

"they had prepared very little and expected FEMA to save the day"

As I understand it, prior to Katrina, FEMA was never expected to be a "first responder" type of agency. State/territory/local response was expected to get over the initial part of the emergencies and FEMA was more of a bureaucratic response that came in after that to implement long-term recovery.

That is the primary reason why FEMA was highly criticized after Katrina, they were tasked to do something they had never done before. A lot of this has to do with the agency being migrated to the then-new Dept of Homeland Security- FEMA had not yet completed it's evolution from bureaucracy to response.

FEMA is still not a "first responder" type of agency. It's unfortunate that PR chose not to prepare better for this inevitability, but considering their budget problems and mass exodus of taxpayers, I'm not surprised.

[Eric1600]

Hard to prepare for the crisis of having all your roads impassible and total loss of power. I'm not sure what people expect to happen on an island 110 miles by 40 miles with 3.5 million people. There's only so much pulling of you own bootstraps when your shoes are underwater. It's either ignorant or just stupid to think they will be able to handle it on their own.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

either ignorant or just stupid

The people of Puerto Rico were treated to both today when a visitor tossed paper towels into the crowd, held up a bag of rice like it was the Hope Diamond, confused the Coast Guard with the Air Force, and talked about how many billions of dollars will be spent on "invisible" jet planes. By all reports, many in attendance weren't sure what they just saw.