'Unhinged, insensitive and lying': Trump uses bogus bar graph to spread falsehood about Puerto Rico hurricane aid
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Via: don-overton •et; 2 months ago •et; 21 comments
"His racism knows no boundaries," said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.
President Donald Trump spent the opening minutes of a campaign rally in Panama City Beach, Florida on Wednesday attacking hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico for not sufficiently appreciating his administration's relief efforts—which critics have decried as grossly inadequate—and attempting to use a bar graph to bolster his repeatedly debunked claim that the island has received a record amount of storm aid.
"I brought a chart. Would you like to see a chart?" Trump said, pulling a piece of paper from his jacket pocket to cheers from the audience
"That's Puerto Rico and they don't like me," said the president, pointing to a section of the bar graph purporting to show that Puerto Rico has received $91 billion in hurricane relief funding.
As The Associated Press reported, Trump's "number is wrong, as is his assertion that the U.S. territory has set some record for federal disaster aid. Congress has so far distributed only about $11 billion for Puerto Rico, not $91 billion."
After a guy in audience yells "I love you!" Trump makes sure everyone knows he's not gay.
"That's a guy, but I love him. Whoever the hell you are, I love you," he says.
Trump, who opened his speech touting how much disaster relief he's given to Florida, indicates he thinks people of hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico are ungrateful.
He then brandishes chart purportedly showing how much more he's given PR than elsewhere & bashes PR politicians.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz—who Trump has repeatedly singled out in his attacks on Puerto Rico's political leaders—slammed the president's remarks on Twitter.
"Unhinged, insensitive, and lying," Cruz wrote. "His racism knows no boundaries."
Others echoed Cruz:
A real monster, riling up hatred and resentment against a devastated American island. https://beta.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/07/president-trumps-claim-that-puerto-rico-has-been-given-billion/?outputType=amp …
Pres holds up chart to show that Puerto Rico has received far more disaster relief funding than Texas or Florida. "They got $91-billion," Trump says of aid to Puerto Rico. Says he thinks people of Puerto Rico are really grateful to him.
As Common Dreams reported in March, over a million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico have faced large cuts to food stamps and other services in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria as a relief package—which also includes disaster aid to Florida and other states—remains stalled in Congress due to opposition from Republicans and the Trump administration.
Even in the face of the island's devastating circumstances, Trump has reportedly saidthat he "doesn't want another single dollar" going to Puerto Rico.
In a statement following the president's rally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats are moving ahead this week with a $17.2 billion disaster relief package that includes aid to Puerto Rico.
"Sadly, Senate Republicans have been more committed to hurting our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico than healing communities everywhere," Pelosi said. "Meanwhile, the president has doubled down on Republicans' callousness, deliberately delaying assistance payments to Puerto Rico and inflicting more needless suffering on the Americans who are still reeling from his administration's disastrous response to the hurricanes."
Why do republicans hate everyone but themselves?
Trump shows his racist and hate and anti-Christian side again
Waits for the first to defend him.
It has been long established that a big part of Trump's appeal is to white grievance. People who are not white are always lacking something to this mindset.
There is no way Trump will change. He wants a fighting chance in the election and without the white grievance vote he has none.
Hot damn.
Maybe if Puerto Rico residents paid the same federal income taxes as the 50 states do, they to might get further funding.
Maybe if Puerto Rico had not let their own infrastructure essentially collapse even before any storm hit it, they might get a little more sympathy.
Send the American tax dollars to Florida, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, shit, even send it to California before another dime gets spent on Puerto Rico.
3.1 JohnRussell replied to XDm9mm @3 2 months ago
that is irrelevant. The federal government doesn't operate business transactions with each state, giving the best services to the states that pay the most taxes. That's not how the government works.
The Stafford Act, which governs federal response to major disasters, says the government must provide help to Puerto Rico like it would to any other state. It doesn't say that help should be based on the state's financial health. If it did, that would mean the government should give less help to Illinois after a disaster because the state is nearly bankrupt.
Nor does it say disaster relief depends on how much it puts the budget "out of whack," in Trump's words. After all, the majority of states get more back from the federal government than they pay in taxes. One of them is Louisiana, where the federal government spent $9.9 billion rebuilding after Katrina. Nobody complained about the cost. In fact, President George W. Bush was criticized for not doing more for Katrina victims.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/4/16385658/puerto-rico-taxes-hurricane
3.1.1 XDm9mm replied to JohnRussell @3.1 2 months ago
The federal government doesn't operate business transactions with each state
That is irrelevant. Puerto Rico is a territory. Not a state. In point of fact, they voted against it.
They like the territorial status. They get some of the perks of citizenship, yet none of the burden.
Should the federal government have parsed out aid to Louisiana after Katrina? After all Louisiana receives more federal aid every year than it sends to Washington DC in taxes.
Should the federal government have parsed out aid to Louisiana after Katrina
Those people living in Louisiana do in fact contribute to the Federal funds through Income Taxes... Puerto Rico.. nope with only a few exceptions, those that work for the government.
3.2.2 seeder Don Overton replied to XDm9mm @3.2.1 2 months ago
Then make them a state. That's always stalled by republicans, gee wonder why coulldn't be because they're hispanic could it be
3.2.3 Dismayed Patriot replied to XDm9mm @3.2.1 2 months ago
Actually, Puerto Ricans do pay social security, Medicare and commonwealth taxes. Puerto Rico paid $3.5 billion in taxes to the US treasury in 2016. Just because Puerto Ricans aren't required to file federal income tax if they don't make any external income (coming from outside Puerto Rico) doesn't mean they don't pay taxes.
3.2.4 XDm9mm replied to Don Overton @3.2.2 2 months ago
Then make them a state.
The last vote they took, they voted against it.
Past presidents have supported statehood for Puerto Rico, if that's what the majority of Puerto Ricans wanted. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama did. So did Trump, during his presidential campaign. Support for statehood was even enshrined in the Republican Party platform. Puerto Rico's congressional delegates have introduced multiple (failed) bills over the years, which granted Puerto Rico statehood based on the outcome of a popular vote on the island. But there has never been a clear consensus in Puerto Rico on the issue.
Source: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/11/15782544/puerto-rico-pushes-for-statehood-explained
They only even considered becoming a state when their finances went to shit and were hoping for Uncle Sammy to come to the rescue.
3.2.5 JohnRussell replied to XDm9mm @3.2.1 2 months ago
You are misworking the point. Louisina takes more from the federal government than it gives. Why not cut them off too?
Otherwise the law is clear, Puerto Rico must be the necessary given federal aid.
3.2.6 XDm9mm replied to Dismayed Patriot @3.2.3 2 months ago
Reading is obviously not your forte. Please revisit my post and note that I indicated INCOME TAXES. Only a few residents working for the government pay that.
Income taxes are NOT Social Security nor Medicare taxes, and I really don't care about their "commonwealth taxes" that go the the Government of Puerto Rico, much like STATE income and property taxes go to STATE governments.
3.2.7 XDm9mm replied to JohnRussell @3.2.5 2 months ago
Otherwise the law is clear, Puerto Rico must be the necessary given federal aid
Please cite the specific law you're referencing. And what you just wrote on a paper napkin is not sufficient.
And one last time... Louisiana is a STATE with more rights and privileges than Puerto Rico which is a TERRITORY.
Income taxes are NOT Social Security nor Medicare taxes,
However both are calculated on your income from your income tax
3.3 seeder Don Overton replied to XDm9mm @3 2 months ago
Wondered who would be first.
3.3.1 XDm9mm replied to Don Overton @3.3 2 months ago
Happy to oblige.
4 Tacos! 2 months ago
Congress has so far distributed only about $11 billion for Puerto Rico, not $91 billion.
"So far." That's the key phrase there.
I would be fine with criticizing Trump's $91 million claim if the criticism weren't so hypocritical. Based on the existing legislation, Puerto Rico could indeed - given time and the right circumstances - see that amount of money eventually. It's not really an invented number. Of course they haven't seen anything close to that yet, so I agree that it's wrong at this time to claim they have been given that much money.
My problem with the criticism is that politicians of all parties (and the media) do this all the time. For example, let's say there is a proposal on the table to increase Medicare spending by 10% for the next budget. Someone else counters with a proposal to increase spending, but only by 5%. Their opponents will claim they are trying to cut Medicare spending by 5% even though it will actually be an increase in spending from the current levels.
These people lie with numbers and it's SOP so I just kind of roll my eyes a little when they see Trump do it and want to call him a liar.
4.1 XDm9mm replied to Tacos! @4 2 months ago
Shhhh.... you see the world in logical right thinking minds. The left sees a lower increase as a cut.
4.2 seeder Don Overton replied to Tacos! @4 2 months ago
And where do you get that, oh Fox and friends
Nope....
I'll submit he got that from the preceding paragraph. Here, I'll copy and paste it just for your reading pleasure:
4.2.2 Tacos! replied to Don Overton @4.2 2 months ago
where do you get that, oh Fox and friends
Sorry, I don't watch your shows - especially that one. My understanding is that it comes on at like 3 o'clock in the morning where I live. I'm busy sleeping then.
Since my reference seems unclear to you, I will give you some examples of what I am talking about.
A 5 Percent Discretionary Cut Still Provides Ample Spending
President Trump has asked each cabinet secretary to propose a plan to cut 5 percent of their agency's budget for next year. Assuming this cut is relative to spending this year (we discuss other assumptions below), a 5 percent cut would be both reasonable and achievable. Such a cut would reverse only one-third of the spending increases over the past two years. Further, it would still represent a $63 billion increase relative to current law, which would need to be offset.
Obama's claim that Obamacare has reduced health-care inflation 'every single year' since it was passed
In fact, despite the president's claim of a decrease of every year, the White House's own chart shows that the 2013 estimate represents a slight uptick from 2012, when adjusted for inflation and population. As the White House report puts it, "the three years since 2010 will have recorded the three slowest health-care spending growth rates since record keeping began in 1960." That is impressive, but it is not the same as health costs going down "every single year" since the law was passed in 2010. . . .
The president gets even more specific in the second part of his statement — that $180 billion is being saved in the Medicare program. We realize he was speaking extemporaneously at a news conference, but he's using too much shorthand here. He is referring to a Congressional Budget Office projection for the year 2020, not currently, and this is a combined figure for both Medicare and Medicaid, which totals $188 billion. (In speeches, the president has rendered the statistic correctly.)
In 2020, the CBO report shows, the decrease for Medicare alone would be $120 billion. Obama talks about the $180 billion as if it is current savings, but in the 2014 fiscal year, the estimated savings is just $60 billion.
As you can see, both sides do it.