In a society where red-tape often rules, connections in, with and through government can yield handsome profits.
The solutions – which will likely include prefab housing – are going to be worth billions of dollars to those who tap into the massive needs on the island still devastated post-Hurricane Maria.
The Toledo Blade recently torched the post-disaster relief in the Caribbean. They specifically named the Clayton Homes/Clinton Foundation/Hillary Clinton nexus.
That recent report, which will shed light on what will come in this report, is linked below.
Left-of-center, Bloomberg and Democracy Now take a look at some of the issues facing the island.
Some of the fact claims from Democracy Now are different than what Bloomberg reported.
The Democracy Now slant is dramatically more pro-socialist than Bloomberg, which will come across in their report. But both sources touch on the issue of “disaster capitalists.”
A closer look at the reports reveal that its simply another form of crony capitalism.
Puerto Rico, Post-Hurricane Maria, Manufactured Homes and Factory-Built Housing
“His real name is Robert Anderson”, said Bloomberg. “…and shortly after the storm hit, he reported to the convention center, figuring his technical know-how might be of use. He’d done the same thing during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, joining a group of private volunteers called Radio Response in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Back in 1989, when he was in the U.S. Army and studying Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., he’d leapt into action to provide emergency services after the Bay Area earthquake.”
While government plays several important roles in society, what Bloomberg lightly and Democracy Now – ironically – highlight are the limits of government. They also point to the ways that corporations can tap government for financial opportunities that are often difficult for smaller businesses, or those without the right connections, can reach.
Anderson, said Bloomberg, “since [he] begun treating his undefined role as full-time work, and when I pressed him about his motives—what angle was he playing?—he curtly repeated that he liked solving problems and wasn’t making a cent. According to Anderson, Don Boyce, director of HHS’s Office of Emergency Management, witnessed him in action at the convention center and told him, “I don’t know who the f— you are, and I don’t know what the f— you do, but keep doing it.”
Bloomberg’s report also noted that, “In 2012, Puerto Rico’s government passed laws, collectively called Act 20/22, that aimed to turn the island into a tax haven for financial-services companies. If certain types of businesses—particularly investment and hedge funds—moved to Puerto Rico, their corporate profits would be taxed at a flat 4 percent and the money managers would pay no taxes on their income. Individual investors who moved to the island and spent more than half of the year there would be exempt from all taxes on dividends, interest, and capital gains.
By the time Maria landed, about 1,500 people had signed up for Act 20/22 programs. This community of transplants generally values the private sector over the public and is particularly sensitive to how the U.S. collects and manages money. With Maria, many of them quickly realized that if they wanted to slip into the disaster relief system, there was plenty of space for them to assume a role.”
There will be political and financial waves that radiate from PR, and impact the island as well as the mainland U.S., for years to come.
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