San Juan Mayor Wasted $20k Bankrolling Violent Protests
The Trump-hating Mayor actually used taxpayer money to fund a “militant and aggressive” protest against a Federal Fiscal Board.
Add this malfeasance Mayor Carmin Yulin Cruz has created. Her biggest lie to date had to do with the mayor’s claims that President Trump had not sent aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Mary. Ironically, the mayor made her declaration in front of stores of food and waters.
As if this wasn’t enough, Fox News Correspondent Geraldo Rivera showcased another lie by Cruz. In the interview, she exaggerated the condition of her people. According to Cruz hundreds of people were dying without assistance. Meanwhile, Rivera found only 58 patients were treated in the hospital. Of those patients, only one was critically ill.
That’s just the beginning.
Last year, Cruz funneled $20,000 into a fund to pay for a violent attack against the U.S. Government. Puerto Rico has serious financial issues, and are dangerously close to insolvency. Cruz paid protesters in an attempt to stop the forming a Federal Fiscal Control Board to monitor and regulate government spending in Puerto Rico. A crackdown on funding means there is less to skim off the top.
As GotNews reports:
In September of 2016, Cruz admitted that she and the San Juan People’s Assembly had financed the violent protest to the tune of $20,000, according to Tu Noticia Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican public officials and media alike were furious at the revelation.
Senator Itzamar Pena Ramirez denounced Mayor Cruz for misusing public funds and demanded she started respecting taxpayer money. Moreover, local San Juan television could hardly believe the city’s chief elected official had the audacity to spend her constituents’ money on violent protests.
Trump is a fiscal hawk. He ran his campaign on a fraction of Hillary Clinton’s. And as president, he’s instructed all departments to show austerity.
So no wonder Cruz needed protesters. She needed to pay somebody to gen up the false notion that Puerto Ricans don’t want a fiscally responsible government.
Trump represents fiscal responsibility. Moreover, Trump opposes government waste. If Tom Price had to resign for misusing private jets, just imagine how he will handle fiduciary irresponsibility on behalf of Puerto Rico.
Thus the Trump-hate by the mayor:
Numerous current and former Puerto Rican elected officials have accused Cruz of playing politics with Hurricane Maria relief as part of a greater liberal effort to smear President Donald Trump. Former Puerto Rico Attoney General Jose Fuentes recently called Cruz a “political hack,” and Angel Perez, the current Mayor of nearby Guaynabo, blasted Cruz for skipping FEMA meetings so she can do cable television interviews.
Alarmingly, a Puerto Rican police officer recently called in to a New York City Hispanic language radio station and accused Cruz of deliberately withholding food and supplies as part of a publicity stunt, describing how “Carmen Yulin won’t move unless there is a camera behind her.”
Obama vs. Trump
Obviously, Obama and Trump govern from opposite ends of the totem pole. Just days after the violent protest, Obama signed a bill to rescue Puerto Rico with a massive slush fund. However, that wasn’t even enough.
On Thursday, President Obama signed a bill known as PROMESA (Spanish for “promise”) to help Puerto Rico get out of its massive economic crisis.
The island has run up nearly $70 billion of debt (about $20,000 per resident). At the same time, the island’s population has shrunk dramatically. Puerto Ricans are moving to Florida, Texas and elsewhere in the mainland U.S. for better paying jobs.
PROMESA was a bipartisan compromise with the Republican House and Senate. Both chambers approved the bill by a large margin.
“There is still much work to be done. With legislation in place, Puerto Rico will now have time to work out an orderly financial path forward after July 1,” Obama’s Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Wednesday night after the Senate approved PROMESA.
Puerto Rico still filed bankruptcy to address the $73 billion debt Puerto Rico holds. Worse, the island is losing its tax base. So how will they repay the taxpayers of America?
Trump won’t allow American tax payers to continually bail-out the island territory. Trump is a “pick yourself up by the bootstraps” kind of guy. If Puerto Rico wants his help, they’ll have to work for it.
