[While the mandarins at the IMF are having second thoughts about the effects of neo-liberalism, its policies are still very popular with the moneyed elites. Actually, they are implemented in terms so harsh it would be comical, if it wasn't actually devastating. Next up, Puerto Rico. This must be a form of creditor's madness that Graeber wrote about.]
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/27/a_colonial_takeover_proposed_puerto_rican AMY GOODMAN: Thatâs called "Puerto Rico faces 'wholesale' colonial-style takeover to ease $2B debt." Can you talk about this? JUAN GONZÃLEZ: Yes. Well, as weâve discussed here on the show several times, theâPuerto Rico has been asking for nearly a year now for Congress to give it legal authority to be able to restructure about $72 billion in debt that the government of Puerto Rico has said it cannot pay. So, finally, after months and months of wrangling and negotiations between Democrats and Republicans and the Obama administration, on Wednesday the House Natural Resources Committee, by a vote of 29 to 10, a bipartisan vote, did finally pass a bill that will now go to the full House, and then, if it passes there, to the Senate. And that bill does have a restructuring mechanism in it for Puerto Rico, but itâs now really a poison pill, because in addition to providing the restructuring that the government of Puerto Rico has asked for, itâs also requiring the government of Puerto Rico to submit to a virtual total takeover of its economy. It would require a new oversight board of seven people, four of whom will be chosen basically by the Republicans; even though they will be appointed by the president, the president has to take them from lists provided by Speaker Ryan and by the Senate majority leader. So itâs basically going to be a Republican-dominated board. And most importantlyâthis is what rankles most people on the islandâis that only one of the seven actually has to be a resident or have a primary business in Puerto Rico. So youâre in essence creating a board, an oversightâa control board that will be of nonresidents of the island running the financial affairs of Puerto Rico for the next five, possibly 10 years. AMY GOODMAN: Is the model for thisâI mean, is this similar to Washington, D.C.? JUAN GONZÃLEZ: Itâs similar, but much more tougher. In fact, there was a memo that the Republican leadership provided to the hearing on Wednesday that said that this wasâthat boasted that if Puerto Ricoâs government "fails to comply with the fiscal plan" that the board approves, the board "may impose mandatory cuts ... a power far beyond that exercised by the Control Board established [for] the District of Columbia." So, the Republicans are boasting that this is much tougher than the District of Columbiaâs control board. And, more importantly, in the District of Columbia, all five residents of the controlâall five members of the control board had to be residents of the District of Columbia. This is an outside board nowâand this outside board will control not only the finances. Any new laws that are passed have to be approved by the control board. Any capital investments on the island have to be approved by the control board. AMY GOODMAN: I mean, it soundsâ JUAN GONZÃLEZ: Itâs a complete takeover of the islandâs economy. <...>
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