Puerto Rico Is Broke

Can they fix it?
Two things sort of leap out at you when you read the article:
1) “The island currently has no sales tax.”
2) “The government is Puerto Rico’s largest employer, with some 200,000 workers. Salaries make up about 80 percent of the government’s operational costs.”
Not surprising they’re broke, is it?

categories Nanny State | | datetime May 1, 2006 3:45 pm

5 Responses to “Puerto Rico Is Broke”

  1. John says:
    May 1, 2006 at 3:57 pm

    Not to mention the tax breaks they used to give companies for locating factories down there. They’re not collecting corporate taxes either because it’s all manufacturing, not HQ. If it weren’t for the tax incentives, it would not pay to locate a factory there and ship by sea to the mainland. They’ve been living off of largesse for a very, very long time.

  2. The_Real_JeffS says:
    May 1, 2006 at 4:22 pm

    One president (Ford?) tried to get Puerto Rico brought in as th 51st state. I recall that the biggest opposition came from Puerto Rico. Why be a state? As a commonwealth, they have all the benefits and none of the responsibilities of a state.

  3. tree hugging sister says:
    May 1, 2006 at 4:45 pm

    There’s a sh*tload of happy Guamanians who learned that long ago. It’s not an island paradise for nuthin’.

  4. Dave J says:
    May 1, 2006 at 9:52 pm

    Empires rarely actually pay for themselves, and the US’s weird little legacies of the Spanish-American War are certainly no exception. Forget about continuing “commonwealth” status: Puerto Rico should be forced, once and for all, to choose either independence or statehood.

  5. The_Real_JeffS says:
    May 2, 2006 at 1:34 am

    Funny you mention independence or statehood, Dave. There was (is?) a terrorist group for PR independence: Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation, or “Fuerzas Armadas Liberacion Nacional Puertoriquena” (FALN).
    Guess they learned their lesson, huh?

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