Puerto Rico voters sent a signal of displeasure this weekend with the debt rescue package now pending in Congress, but leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing ahead anyway, insisting the bipartisan compromise is the best deal for federal taxpayers and the island territory, The Washington Times reported yesterday. Conservative critics still fear that the bill will end up socking average Americans’ pockets, while liberals say that the deal is too harsh on Puerto Rico itself, making cuts to social services more likely. Puerto Ricans appeared to send that same message when Ricardo Rossello, who opposes the House bill, defeated Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi in a primary this weekend to see who the New Progressive Party’s candidate for governor will be this fall. The House is scheduled to vote on the rescue package today, and Speaker Paul Ryan has implored his Republican troops to rally around the bill he negotiated with the Obama administration, saying it is the best a divided Congress can do to help Puerto Rico restructure its $72 billion of debt without resorting to a taxpayer bailout. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is also urging her Democratic troops to back the bill.
For more news and analysis of Puerto Rico's debt crisis, be sure to visit ABI's "Puerto Rico in Distress" webpage.
