The Obama Administration's Backdoor Bailout Of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s economy and its government finances are in dire straits. The territory has had eight consecutive years of negative economic growth. Its official unemployment rate is nearly 15 percent. All three credit rating agencies have put its bonds just one notch above junk. Over the last decade, while the total U.S. population grew by 8 percent, the population of Puerto Rico declined by 2 percent. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, and many of them looking for jobs have settled in the central Florida area.

The Obama administration is committed to helping Puerto Rico’s economy get back on its feet — within limits. On October 30, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13517, which expanded the responsibilities of the President’s Task Force on Puerto Rico’s Status to seeking recommendations on economic development. On March 11, 2011, the task force issued a 122-page report with recommendations consisting mostly of streamlining access to existing federal programs, the formation of intragovernmental working groups, and a wish list of legislation that Congress is unlikely to pass. On June 14, 2011, Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Puerto Rico in over 50 years. And in light of Puerto Rico’s continued problems and new concerns about defaults on its bonds, on November 21, 2013, David Agnew, co-chair of the task force, announced that a team of experts from the administration would begin working with Puerto Rican government officials to marshal existing federal resources and help Puerto Rico build its capacity for addressing economic issues.

Read more >