John McCain Is Pushing An Idea That Could Be A Huge Help To Puerto Rico

[riversedge]

Source: Huff post


HuffPost September 26, 2017

WASHINGTON ― Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is urging acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke to take an action that could significantly help Puerto Rico amid its unfolding humanitarian crisis: waive the Jones Act.

The law requires that all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried by American-owned and operated ships. That means Puerto Rico pays double the shipping costs for goods from the U.S. mainland compared to neighboring islands. DHS has gotten emergency waivers to the Jones Act twice in the last months in response to recent hurricanes, and McCain says Duke should waive the law again to speed up relief efforts on the island decimated last week by Hurricane Maria.

“It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food, clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this disaster,” McCain said in a Tuesday letter to Duke. “We must treat this emergency relief with urgency ― every day that business owners are unable to recover their assets and account for lost business, the economy will retreat even further into devastation.”

Here’s the full letter:

DHS was not receptive to McCain’s request...............

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/sen-john-mccain-pushing-idea-012158744.html?utm_content=buffer12a2f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

---

Link to tweet

Xposted:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029643817

Timothy Castantine🔎‏ @Castantine 1h1 hour ago

Trump on why they won't lift the Jones Act.

"Cuz shipping industry threw a tantrum."

Absolutely unbelievable.

Link to tweet

John McCain‏Verified account @SenJohnMcCain

Shipping industry supports #JonesAct b/c it's protectionist. #PuertoRico deserves better than policy decisions driven by special interests.
1:43 PM - 27 Sep 2017

Link to tweet

[JI7]

1. Can't it be temporary ? This is an emergency situation

[EarthFirst]

2. Their neighbors in nearby US Virgin Island territories have permanent Jones Act exemptions...

So this is more dog whistle behavior by the WH & The Swamp Creatures.

[shraby]

3. I don't believe trump. It can't be good for the shipping industry to let the island go down

the tubes to the point where it would make no difference whether there was a Jones Act or not. If the population has to relocate because they can't live there, There will be no shipping at all.

[mercuryblues]

4. McCain has had

it in for the Jones act for decades. I do not trust him, nor the republiklans on this. Not one bit.

[Judi Lynn]

11. You believe it is appropriate for tiny Puerto Rico's citizens to pay TWICE as much for everything?

How can that benefit anyone other than the industrialists and their puppets in Congress?

[mercuryblues]

32. The Jones act basically

works like this. A foreign flagged ship can not pick up cargo in one American port and drop it off in another American port. Foreign flagged ships can go to PR and drop off goods and pick up exports. They just can't drop those exports off at another American port. As a matter of fact 2/3 of the ships that call on PR are foreign flagged.

And they do not pay twice as much for goods because of the Jones act.

the cost of living comparison between PR and the USVI, which is not subject to the jones act.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Puerto+Rico&country2=Us+Virgin+Islands

cost of living comparison between Us and PR

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=Puerto+Rico&country2=United+States

When a republican wants to repeal a law and starts quoting reports to shore up his claim they are lying. It's what they do. There is no way to calculate the financial cost to the consumers because of the Jones act. There are too many variables.

The problem is not that enough ships are bringing in supplies, the problem is the port is getting backed up because there is a shortage of semis and the roads are blocked. They can't get the goods where they need to go. Foreign ship are allowed to bring in relief from their country. The jones act does not stop that from happening.

[George II]

5. I just don't understand why it's taken a week to even start making a decision on aid....

....to Puerto Rico. People are dying daily, the longer we wait the more that will die.

Aid was flowing to Houston and Florida just about a day or two after the storm cleared the area.

What we need is a Berlin Airlift type effort. Maybe most in government don't remember the Soviet Blockade and the Berlin Airlift?

[calimary]

20. Hillary Clinton wouldn't have botched this. ANY of this.

[PJMcK]

26. Let me explain

Trump is incompetent.

(wink)

[JustAnotherGen]

29. Weak leadership leaves aid at port

https://m.

I hate video posts - but it's worth a watch.

The aid is there, but instead of letting Carmen Yulín Cruz (Mayor of San Juan) who is competent and capable take the lead and get all the stuff in those containers on the dock, then on a fueled truck, and out to the people in distress . . .

Trump is sitting around navel gazing.

[DK504]

6. Since we cut tax breaks to PR to bring

industry to the island and they have gone tits up and the Dotard himself declared bankruptcy he should once again been removed form any decision making for the country.

All the Wall st. cretins are trying to clean up on PR debt and yet this admin refuse to do anything humane, it is inconceivable. Not waiving the Act is gouging and going to kill people.

[Turbineguy]

7. McCain, as a Navy man,

has always been against the Jones Act.

In this case I don't know why trump is against a waiver, unless it is to hold Puerto Rico for ransom to create a backlash to get rid of it completely and forever.

[EarthFirst]

8. Puerto Rico has lots of debt owed to big friends of Trump.

It's schoolyard bullying on behalf of these individuals perpetrated by friends in high level government positions...

[Turbineguy]

9. The beauty is

Trump can blame those evil unions.

[elehhhhna]

19. Well they certainly are gonna pay back if they don't have a goddamn island with a population

[Yupster]

27. That is a big problem with any municipal debt

A group of people bind their city to a 30 year debt payback, and they move from the city, state, etc.

There's also a new kind of bond I've seen lately that I don't like. I've seen it mostly from California School Districts. The bond might be a 24 year bond that pays 0 % interest for the first six years and then pays a high interest rate (7.5 %) for the remainder of the 24 years. I've been messing with bonds for the last 30 years and I've only recently started to see these. I interpret it as let's borrow the money and we'll let the next school board start to pay it back.

[Yonnie3]

10. The ports haven't even been fully open.

As of last night most of them opened up to unrestricted use.

Here is the Coast Guard port status report (.pdf)

https://homeport.uscg.mil/cgi-bin/st/portal/uscg_docs/MyCG/Editorial/20170927/MSIB%20019-17.pdf?id=e4712606c4872026b7ac1367485e72f620d8621c&user_id=f79ff154b439725cffdbf33a6a878eff

[Turbineguy]

12. Maybe this will shed some light....

http://gcaptain.com/american-maritime-industry-fights-back-false-claims-regarding-jones-act-relief-efforts-puerto-rico/

[Judi Lynn]

13. Hope some good people will step forward and support this wise, decent suggestion.

How long can US selfish interests love their profits made at the extreme expense of living, suffering, non-monstrous human beings?

Thank you, riversedge.

[Mr.Bill]

14. Could be a coincidence, I suppose,

but Elaine Chao's parents own a huge shipping company.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S._C._Chao

She's Trump's Secretary of Transportation and Mitch McConnell's wife.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

15. The Jones Act is a lot like fetishizing coal

It's defending an industry that barely exists and has zero growth potential from barely existent threats.

[Stallion]

17. Bingo

[FakeNoose]

34. Yes but they make huge campaign contributions

Guess which political party gets all their money?

[BadgerMom]

16. Appeal to his ego.

"Surely, Mr. President, your wise leadership on this issue outweighs the shipping industry."

Unless, of course, he's asked to be cut in or Putin wants PR disabled.

[sandensea]

18. If it's good enough for Big Awl, it should be good enough for Puerto Rico

Bush, after all, waived the Jones Act in 2005, after Katrina, to allow foreign ships to transport oil and gas between domestic ports (crucial at a time when inflation was already at its highest since 1980).

I doubt too many Republicans objected back then.

[KentuckyWoman]

21. OR

The cost is double what it was before the hurricane? That makes no sense. If cost is a concern, The captains of shipping could give Puerto Rico a discount so American workers in shipping could continue to work.

Well yeah, profits before people it won't happen but seriously.

[yorkie77]

22. For most Americans Puerto Rico is not part of our country

And the politicians will be responsible for the greatest humanitarian tragedy ( in the shortest amount of time) in the country's history. In eight short months we have gone from the country that cares about the world to the country that only cared about our richest citizens. I hope our representatives who are not trying to help, all ....

[hay rick]

23. Trump values dollars for rich friends over human lives.

He occasionally pretends otherwise but nobody believes him. Not even his supporters.

[marylandblue]

28. I read it, sounds like BS to me

This wasn't even a question in previous disasters, they just waived it because all that mattered was getting supplies in by the fastest possible means. That's all that matters now.

[Joe Chi Minh]

30. It's the thought that counts, isn't it, Donald ? I think

you probably have a lot of good thoughts. And the country's all the better for those beautiful thoughts, even if they produce nomoran jack diddly.

[Scruffy1]

31. Nice gesture, but it won't help.

It doesn't do any good to get more stuff there if there's no power for the cranes. Last I heard from friends in PR the airport was not fully fuctional and the only way to get people in and ourt was smaller planes to the Dominican Reublic. The US Army and Navy have the equipment to get things running again and should have been sent immediately. The reports I get is ships are sitting in port with no way to unload and many roads impassable. This is turning into a bigger mess than Katrina. Nobody in power gives a shit because they can't vote and if they could vote wouldn't vote for them. McLame is mererly getting his ego fed.

[Joe Chi Minh]

33. I was being ironical, Scruffy. Sarcastic even.