Why The Administration Cannot Help Puerto Rico With Its Financial Crisis

Commentary

by Richard Lawless


If there is a political crisis that this administration should be able to
get behind, it is the financial meltdown in Puerto Rico.  It would be
good for the Hispanic vote, it would be good for the New York and
Florida Puerto Rican votes.  Even the most ardent detractors unders-
tand that Puerto Rico is on the verge of an imminent financial collapse.

Behind the scenes, it has become clear to many on both sides of the isle
that the amount of government malfeasance in Puerto Rico makes the
Enron scandal look like petty theft. All the administration can do at this
time is to ask the DOJ to drag its feet on any criminal complaints that
have been filed. And hope they can keep a lid on what actually caused
Puerto Rico’s financial mess.

The Republicans are asking for audited financial statements from the go-
vernment of Puerto Rico.  Puerto Rico has not prepared any audited fin-
ancial statements for a number of years. The Republicans understand that
it would be impossible for Puerto Rico to find a credible auditing firm that
would not uncover much of the alleged corruption in Puerto Rico.

There are so many federal probes and investigations going on in Puerto
Rico at the current time that almost all of the federal agencies had to add
staff to handle the volume of work. For these reasons I don’t believe there
is a political solution for Puerto Rico.  Without the help of the administra-
tion, it appears that the bulk of the pain will have to be absorbed by the
bond holders and the Puerto Rican people.

Richard Lawless is CEO of Commercial Solar Power, Inc. in Temecula, CA. The opinions 
expressed in the preceding article are exclusively his own.