America is not Greece, but judging from the Obama administration's just-unveiled plans to bailout Puerto Rico's disastrous debt situation, the American territory may have to sacrifice a little more sovereignty to get some relief. Obama is pressing for Congress to give Puerto Rico (PR) sweeping powers to reduce its $73 billion debt burden through a form of bankruptcy protection not now available to American territories and will also ask lawmakers to establish an independent body to monitor the island’s fiscal affairs (a la Troika). While the proposals likely face an uphill battle in Congress, as NYTimes reports, [12] both Democrats and Republicans are under pressure to respond because Puerto Ricans are flooding the US, particularly in central Florida, and are becoming an increasingly important voting block in the 2016 presidential race.
Puerto Rico is teetering under debt amassed from years of borrowing as the economy failed to grow and residents left for the U.S. mainland. Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla is seeking to persuade investors to accept less than they’re owed, saying tax increases and spending cuts alone won’t be sufficient to eliminate the government’s budget shortfalls.
[13]
Creditors say that the island’s government has been seeking to portray the fiscal situation in Puerto Rico as beyond repair, hoping to force the administration and Congress to act. As The NY Times reports, [12]on Wednesday, Puerto Rico took the unusual step of announcing that talks over restructuring about $750 milllion of the island’s debt had broken off, a move that some creditors saw as posturing to Washington for help.
It appears to have worked... (as Bloomberg details)
President Barack Obama is pressing for Congress to give Puerto Rico sweeping powers to reduce its $73 billion debt burden through bankruptcy, escalating administration involvement as the Caribbean island’s access to cash dries up.
Puerto Rico would be provided with a form of bankruptcy protection not now available to American territories. Administration officials also called for lawmakers on Wednesday to increase health-care funding for Puerto Rico, extend tax credits to the poor and put independent oversight in place to monitor the government’s budget.
The details of the proposals are sparse as yet, but as The NY Times adds, [12] there is some willingness, particularly among top Senate Republicans, to work out a compromise on the bankruptcy issue, according to a person briefed on the matter.
But the Republican leadership would be willing to grant Puerto Rico access to the bankruptcy courts only on a limited basis, and only with strings attached like the imposition of a federal “control board” to oversee the island’s finances.
Control boards have been used in cases of severe municipal distress to take the power to spend public money out of the hands of elected officials. They do not generally have the powers that bankruptcy judges do to abrogate contracts, such as labor contracts and promises to repay debt.
But any such move faces political headwinds...
These changes “are going to be extremely hard to get through both the U.S. Congress and the Puerto Rican legislature,” said Matt Fabian, a partner at Concord, Massachusetts-based Municipal Market Analytics. “This is a Congress that gets almost nothing done. So to expect them to get something controversial done at the request of the administration right before an election is difficult.
Though, there is a chance...
Both Democrats and Republicans are under pressure to respond to the Puerto Rico crisis. Largely because of the island’s economic problems, Puerto Ricans are flooding the United States, particuarly in central Florida, and are becoming an increasingly important voting block in the 2016 presidential race.
According to Bloomberg, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients, and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said the steps are needed to revive Puerto Rico’s economy.
“The decade-long recession has taken its toll on Puerto Rico’s finances, its economy, and its people,” officials said in the statement. “To reward work and break this vicious cycle, Congress should enact proven, bipartisan tools for stimulating growth and rewarding work to people living in Puerto Rico.”
The situation in Puerto Rico “risks turning into a humanitarian crisis as early as this winter,” one senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.
But, it is not just politicians that will be hard pressed to pass the bailout...
The proposal is likely to meet resistance from many investors in the municipal bond market according to Brandon Barford, a partner at Beacon Policy Advisors LLC in Washington and a former Senate Banking Committee staffer.
“Including ‘super Chapter 9,’ significant new social spending, and demands for respecting Puerto Rican public sector pensions when mainland pension funds would register losses from restructuring are all a bridge too far,” Barford said.
Finally, there is the unintended consequences...
Federal law allows for cities, counties, special districts and the like to seek bankruptcy protection if their states agree, but the states themselves are excluded. There are concerns that if Puerto Rico gains access to bankruptcy, fiscally troubled states like Illinois might try to follow suit.
* * *
So the bottom line is that Puerto Rico is Greece... laws will be changed to enable the proligate spending of the past to be bruched under the carpet, and Federal oversight of fiscal affairs (i.e. all government in a nation whose finances are so dire) will be handled by an 'independent' body (just like Troika) and that will enable Puerto Rico to borrow more (likely from the US taxpayer via some subsidized router) to fund what officials call "growth initiatives."
Because:
“The situation in Puerto Rico is urgent,” one administration official said. “Without economic growth there is no path out.”
So the same as the rest of the world then?!
* * *
But for now, we celebrate, President Obama will save the day...
[14]
