Puerto Rico Aid Should Not Be A Partisan (Political) Issue

The recent Hurricanes Irma and Maria have decimated parts of Puerto Rico.  Puerto Rico is part of the United States.  The island is not a "country" by itself as suggested recently by our Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.  Regardless, we have a moral obligation to help fellow residents to recover and provide sufficient relief immediately following a disaster.  I received a rather disturbing message in my e-mail box regarding the relief effort in Puerto Rico from 'Politico Energy' earlier this week which is shown below:

CONCERNS RAISED OVER PUERTO RICO FRAUD: A group of House Natural Resources lawmakers, led by Chairman Rob Bishop, sent letters Tuesday to FEMA and the FBI seeking information about alleged mishandling by local officials of emergency relief supplies in Puerto Rico. "Allegations that local elected officials are distributing life-sustaining FEMA emergency supplies based on political loyalty is deeply disturbing," they wrote. "Any persons misappropriating FEMA emergency supplies should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." The lawmakers want briefings from both agencies by Oct. 23.

Hearing announced: Bishop announced the committee would hold an oversight hearing on the Puerto Rico response efforts Oct. 24. Energy and Commerce subcommittees are expected to announce similar sessions this week.

McCaskill seeks her own investigation: Sen. Claire McCaskill, the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, called for a bipartisan investigation into the federal government's response to the string of recent hurricanes. Letter here.

The very possibility that such a disparity for food relief could exist should make anyone sick to their stomach.  Of course, maybe this is expected after the recent comments made by President Trump over the last few weeks which are shown below:

Each citizen of the United States and its territory deserve to be supported through their respective natural disasters.  We are a nation who do not leave its citizen out in the cold to die...at least that is what we hear from various politicians.  If this is the case, then we have an obligation to support the residents of the Virgin Islands along with the residents of the island of Puerto Rico.



On Wednesday of this week, the governor of Puerto Rico visited President Trump at the White House.  The shift of leaving the residents of Puerto Rico out in the cold has evidently shifted due to unforeseen forces (political -- Congressional Support behind the scenes) motivating the President to change his position regarding funding the rebuilding of lost electrical infrastructure.  This was highlighted in this morning's email from 'Politico Energy' below:

CHATTER ON REBUILDING PUERTO RICO'S GRID: During an appearance with Trump on Thursday, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló floated the idea of using public-private partnerships to help rebuild the island's electric grid. Rosselló said he hoped to "rebuild a much modern, much stronger platform, and not only have Puerto Rico have energy but actually be a model of sustainable energy and growth towards the future." Trump replied: "You were talking about rebuilding your electric plant long before the hurricane; you've been wanting to do that for a long time. So maybe this is a reason that we can do it. And we'll help you and we'll all do it together."

Side note: Seems like Trump is referring to the electric grid when he refers to the "electric plant."

Patience is a virtue: Trump said it would be a "period of time" before electricity could be restored on the island given its electric infrastructure had been "totally destroyed." The president floated one potential policy idea: "It would be wonderful if you could have underground wire. It makes it a lot better in these storms." (Side note: Underground wires didn't fare so well during Hurricane Sandy in New York and it would hugely expensive for the whole island).

Rosselló promises corruption crackdown: "If there is a public official that is purposefully mishandling the food that should go to the people of Puerto Rico, there is going to be some hell to pay," he said.

These suggestions sound great.  Let us see what surfaces in reality for the residents of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  Every day there seems to be a new revelation that the current natural disasters are causing a great partisan divide.  Actually, the culprit of the divide is the promise that the Trump Administration made to the public to reduce 'federal support' -- i.e., federal regulations, federal spending, federal workers (number of employees).  The result of which are with the current disasters which have plagued various parts of our nation.  Funding for relief and recovery have been cast by this administration into a partisan battle as highlighted in the excerpt below:

 HOLD UP: Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn has placed a hold on Russell Vought's nomination to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget unless he gets more funding for Texas hurricane relief, Axios reports. That comes as Florida Sen. Bill Nelson said Thursday he'd also placed a hold on Vought's nomination after the administration kicked funds for his state's citrus growers to a later disaster relief package.

Hold up...this is "political hijacking" of a nomination based on funding relief efforts for American citizens.  The practice is unethical and immoral on all levels.  There is an unspoken commitment to the residents of the United States to provide relief and rebuilding funding for the future generations of this country.  Lets stop letting partisan politics get in the way of repairing the damage to our nation from these natural disasters and heal in order to move forward as a nation -- united.