Supreme Court Says Puerto Rico's $72 billion Debt Cannot Be Restructured, U.S. Congress To Act

[From article]
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Puerto Rico can't restructure the debts of its public utilities to avoid a financial crisis, closing off one of the island's last remaining options for avoiding default without help from Congress.
In a 5-2 ruling, the justices said that although the government and people of Puerto Rico should not have to wait for possible congressional action to avert a financial crisis, the Constitution does not allow them to rewrite a statute that Congress enacted in 1984.
While states can allow municipalities to seek such debt relief, the lower court said, Congress had not given Puerto Rico that right.
“The plain text of the Bankruptcy Code begin and ends our analysis,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the majority opinion. “Resolving whether Puerto Rico is a ‘state’ for purposes of the pre-emption provisions begins ‘with the language of the statute itself,’ and that ‘is also where the inquiry should end’ for ‘the statute’s language is plain.’ ”
Puerto Rico had long been included as a state under the bankruptcy code, but Congress amended that definition in 1984 to exclude the territory.
The island has more than $72 billion in outstanding debt, with public utilities accounting for $20 billion of the total. Seeking to alleviate that burden, Puerto Rico enacted legislation in 2014 that would have provided the island's electric and water utilities an alternative way to restructure their debts.
Investors filed a legal challenge to that measure, citing the 1984 law. The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that found the utilities cannot restructure the debt under federal bankruptcy rules.
Financial reform advocates said they hope the court's decision will motivate Congress to finish a bill addressing Puerto Rico's debt before the island territory defaults on a $2 billion payment on July 1.
[. . .]



"The Puerto Rican people are our fellow Americans. They pay our taxes. They fight in our wars," Ryan said. "We cannot allow this to happen."
[. . .]
“There is no plan B for Puerto Rico right now,” LeCompte said. “There’s only two viable options: the legislation pending and the other is direct negotiations between the creditors and the government of Puerto Rico.”
LeCompte, however, doubts the territory would be able to reach an agreement with its creditors in time.
“We’re not going to see a negotiated solution by July 1,” he said. “That’s just not in the cards.”
Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, argued that Puerto Rico’s Recovery Act would have given the island greater leverage in handling the $72 billion it owes.
“The [Supreme Court] decision, however, leaves Puerto Rico more dependent than ever on Congress to authorize means for the U.S. territory to avoid insolvency,” he said in an email to The Hill. “Puerto Rico and its public agencies face a $2 billion payment due July 1st, after defaulting May 1st on $370 million of Government Development Bank debt.”

http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/283249-supreme-court-puerto-rico-cant-restructure-debt

Supreme Court rules Puerto Rico can't restructure debt
By Lydia Wheeler -
06/13/16 10:23 AM EDT

Misguided Priority, Encouraging Immigration

[From article]
But the reality is, the U.S. cannot take care of its own citizens, much less take care of everyone who wants to come here, whether legally or illegally.
We don’t have enough jobs for the citizens of this country, much less jobs for new arrivals. We have over 94 million working-age adults not working, most because they cannot find jobs.
[. . .]
Our welfare and Medicaid rolls are already overflowing with citizens and immigrants. The U.S. government is broke and paying for this welfare with borrowed dollars, all funded on the backs of taxpayers.
[. . .]
Many Americans are maxed out when it comes to debt and disposable income. Yes, gas prices are lower, but healthcare costs, thanks to ObamaCare, have more than eaten up any savings at the pump.
[. . .]
At some point the federal government and blithely unaware citizens are going to have to face the facts. The federal government is currently borrowing almost a million dollars a minute, making debt slaves and tax slaves of us, our children, and grandchildren to subsidize a bloated nanny state and irresponsible government spending. Social Security and Medicare are both edging closer to insolvency.
[. . .]
we have over $211 trillion in present and future unfunded government liabilities on top of the much publicized $18.5 trillion debt. To date, few politicians, except Republicans Chris Christie and Ben Carson, have even mentioned this gigantic economic problem or how we will address it.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/why_are_we_taking_in_refugees.html

December 12, 2015
Why Are We Taking in Refugees?
By Catherine Sellers

Presidential Legacy At Risk

[From article]
He boasts a rather impressive legacy, in the negative column. How many presidents, after all, have managed to increase federal spending by one-fifth and the national debt by two-thirds? What president can compete with him on having expanded presidential power via executive action, often without legal authority? Next to him, Nixon and LBJ look like schoolgirls. And who even comes close to his electoral record? Under Mr. Obama, Democrats have lost 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats, both houses of Congress, 12 governorships, 30 state legislative chambers, and more than 900 state legislative seats. Let no one say this man was inconsequential.
[. . .]
Our 44th president is as a political albatross and increasingly reminds one of the hapless Jimmy Carter in his final, miserable days. Indeed, the parallels with 1980 are eerie: Russia on the march, Iranian mullahs chanting “Death to America,” the economy stuck in the doldrums -- and so on.
[. . .]
The list is seemingly endless
[. . .]
A Third Iraq War is no longer out of the question, and would be an ironic legacy for the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Prognosis: war.
A nuclear Iran. [. . .] Prognosis (for Israel): poor.
[. . .]
Although Democrats are celebrating the fall of headline unemployment below 5 percent, the real unemployment rate is closer to 10 percent.
[. . .]
Even if the Fed holds off for now, the deficit, which is currently $439 billion, is expected to rise to $540 billion by 2020.

 

[. . .]
If the costly new [EPA] rules aren’t stopped, U.S. coal-fired power plants, and affordable energy prices, can be expected to undergo manmade extinction.
[. . .]
This month UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest insurer, announced it has lost so much money on Obamacare, it will pull out of the program altogether unless it receives a multi-billion-dollar bailout. And then there’s the Cadillac Tax, a grand time bomb ticking away in the background and scheduled to go off in 2018.
[. . .]



Over the past decade, the food stamps program has nearly doubled in size from 26 million to 46 million recipients (one in seven Americans) and more than doubled in cost from $29 billion to $64 billion a year.
[. . .]



SSDI enrollment has exploded over the past twenty years from 2.8 percent of the working-age population to 5.1 percent; lax rules have morphed the program into a form of unemployment insurance. For Democrats, the only entitlement “reforms” they’ll discuss are proposals to make the programs bigger
[. . .]
in the wake of the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore -- racially charged tragedies that Mr. Obama has tried to exploit for partisan gain. [. . .] Prognosis: mayhem.
[. . .]
Freedom of speech, religious liberty, the rights of conscience, and even intelligible grammar and clear thought, must all be sacrificed to the gods of sexual liberation. Prognosis: sustained unpleasantness, with a chance of civil unrest.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/12/obamas_real_legacy_ten_ticking_time_bombs.html

December 3, 2015
Obama's Real Legacy: Ten Ticking Time Bombs
By Dean F. Clancy

Benefits and Harms From Government Deficit Spending

[From article]
The national and global discourse makes this association: Debt is to good financial practice as cancer is to good health.
[. . .]
Our partner, government, is doing us wrong. We lived our lives not completely ignorant of what was going on, but lazy enough not to stop it. We heard the warnings, but were not very motivated to heed them. We heard about the fiscal cliff a few years ago, not realizing that we sailed off the cliff in the 1950s or 1960s, maybe before, and now we are in free fall. They say it’s not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the bottom, and our partner cares nary a bit.
As I look back over my fifty-plus year life in America, growing up in a medium-sized city, attending average public schools, going to public college, and working regular jobs as a regular guy, I’m realizing that a large proportion of my America was bought with borrowed money.
[. . .]
Since 1930, the government has run deficits in 74 of the 87 years. (See historical figures published by OMB.) From 2006 to 2015, the average of deficits has been 770 billion dollars, per year.
[. . .]
On top of all that disillusionment, deficit spending has financed a whole bunch of bad things, such as global warming research, corporate bailouts, multiple wars, and the entire Obama administration. I would like to think that eliminating deficit spending would cut the bad stuff first, but I’m probably being naïve.
This evening, think back over your life and consider all the things that were bought with borrowed money. Has this diminished the value and meaning of your life by some fraction? The America we loved was, at least partially, no better than an impulse buy.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/the_debt_deception.html

August 8, 2015
The Debt Deception
By Hank Wallace

Manhattan Lawyer Jumps To His Death

Photo: G.N. Miller
15-story Westminster building at 180 W. 20th St.
Is this another death caused by anti depressants? 

[From article]
A man who neighbors described as a lawyer jumped to his death from the roof of his luxury Chelsea apartment building on Sunday morning.
Joseph Cioffi, 56, landed on a third-floor balcony after his leap from the top of the 15-story Westminster building at 180 W. 20th St. shortly after 7 a.m., authorities said.
Cioffi left behind two suicide notes — one in his wallet and another on his dresser — and appeared to be taking medication, possibly for anxiety and depression, law-enforcement sources said.
[. . .]
He owed two consulting firms a total of more than $4,000 between 2007 and 2008.
He also owed Ancora Psychiatric Hospital nearly $3,000 in 2003 and Bally’s Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, $1,500 in 2002.

http://nypost.com/2015/02/16/lawyer-jumped-to-his-death-from-roof-of-luxury-apartment/

Lawyer jumped to his death from roof of luxury apartment
By Dana Sauchelli and C.J. Sullivan
New York Post
February 16, 2015 | 6:39am

Federal Debt Up By 8 Trillion Under Obama

[From article]
The federal government drove $789,473,350,613.20 deeper into debt in calendar year 2014, an increase that equaled $6,875 per household, $7,458 per full-time year-round worker, and $8,853 per full-time year-round private-sector worker.
[. . .]
When Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, the debt was $10,626,877,048,913.08. Since then, it has increased $7,514,567,086,650.22--which is $65,443 per household, $70,985 per full-time worker and $84,266 per full-time private-sector worker.
[. . .]
Ten years ago, at the end of 2004, the federal debt was $7,596,142,802,424.14. Since then, it has grown by $10,545,301,333,139.16—an average pace of $1,054,530,133,313.92 per year.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/under-obama-federal-debt-84266-full-time-private-sector-worker

Under Obama: Federal Debt Up $84,266 Per Full-Time Private-Sector Worker
January 5, 2015 - 11:41 AM
By Terence P. Jeffrey

U.S. Reaching Tipping Point, Inability To Pay Off Debt

As Mark Steyn noted in his book, After America, he does not believe that either Democrats or Republicans are able to stop spending taxpayer money. They remain clueless of the road to ruin they are leading the nation. 


[From article]
Over the century that followed, the US has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor.
Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.
A lot of folks don’t realize that, since the end of World War II, the US government’s total tax revenue has been almost constant at roughly 17% of GDP.
[. . .]
simply put, the US government has reached a point of no return.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-12/paying-down-debt-now-almost-mathematically-impossible

Paying Down The Debt Is Now Almost Mathematically Impossible
Submitted by Tyler Durden
12/12/2014 13:52 -0500

Published on Dec 11, 2014
Forget the hype, the sensational headlines, and all the talking heads, and let's let the numbers tell the real story. Is it possible for the US to pay off its debt? Can the US grow its way out of debt? Find out more at www.sovereignman.com

Debt Collection Fraud Ring Busted

[From article]
Manhattan federal prosecutors have busted a multimillion -dollar debt-collection scam that preyed on more than 6,000 victims across the county by scaring them into making payments under the false threat of going to prison if they did not comply .
John Todd Williams and six others who worked for his Norcross, Georgia-based debt collection company were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a 36-page complaint unsealed Tuesday.
[. . .]
The complaint alleges Williams Scott & Associates staffers repeatedly called victims and claimed they were contracted to collect debt on behalf of the US Department of Justice, US Marshals Service and other federal or local law enforcement entities.
Victims were allegedly told to either pay up or a warrant would be issued for their arrest and their driver’s licenses would be suspended. In some cases, victims were supplied bogus documents with government seals.
The defendants ran the alleged scam from 2009 until the feds shut down the operation in May. The feds, in preparing their case, relied on phone wiretaps and evidence they uncovered at Williams Scott’s offices, including scripts telling workers how to trick victims.
One script said, “Give them 48 hours to pay then slam the phone in there [sic] face.”

http://nypost.com/2014/11/18/feds-bust-multimillion%E2%80%8B-dollar%E2%80%8B-debt-collection-scam/

Feds bust multimillion -dollar debt-collection scam
By Rich Calder
New York Post
November 18, 2014 | 11:41am

States Deceive Voters and Taxpayers Regarding Unfunded Liabilities

Hiding facts from voters and taxpayers, is the dominant paradigm in Washington DC.

[From article]
Aside from the nearly $18 trillion national debt, many state governments are looking at future budgets that are trillions of dollars in the red. And they've hidden the numbers by dramatically under-reporting that debt, according to a new report by the think tank State Budget Solutions.
The group looked at what are known as "unfunded liabilities" -- or debt states will owe down the road. It found a number of states are fudging their numbers -- big-time -- using tricks like assuming their stock investments will soar.
The book-cooking could mean bad news for public pensions and other programs that rely on these budgets. The report finds that, nationwide, states have unfunded liabilities of nearly $5 trillion, or $15,000 per American (even though the states allegedly low-ball that number at $2.7 trillion).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/13/report-state-budgets-fudge-numbers-projected-debt-worse-than-reported/

Report: State budgets fudge numbers to hide massive debt
By Maxim LottPublished
November 13, 2014
FoxNews.com

Paterson NJ Increases Debt To Pay Pensions

[From article]

Last year, Paterson borrowed about $2.3 million to cover retirement checks for 28 police officers and firefighters. In 2012, the city bonded $3 million for 34 retirees, and in 2011 it borrowed $4 million for 50 severance checks. The city is paying a total of more than $560,000 in interest on the bonds for those three years and the proposal for 2014 will add another $141,900 in interest costs. 

http://www.northjersey.com/paterson/Severance_plan_for_Paterson_cops_and_firefighters_puts_four-year_tab_at_11_million.html?page=all

Retirement plan for Paterson cops, firefighters puts four-year tab at $11 million
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2014, 2:26 PM
BY JOE MALINCONICO
PATERSON PRESS

Obama Increased Debt by $6.6 Trillion

[From article]
The debt of the U- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/debt-6666-trillion-under-obama#nationaldebt.S. government has increased $6.666 trillion since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009, according to the latest numbers released by the Treasury Department.

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/debt-6666-trillion-under-obama#nationaldebt

Debt Up $6.666 Trillion Under Obama
February 4, 2014 - 1:31 PM
By Ali Meyer

California economist says real U.S debt $70 trillion

Feb. 24, 2012: A national debt clock is shown during a campaign event for Mitt Romney in Kalamazoo, Mich. (AP)

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/15/california-economist-says-real-us-debt-70-trillion-not-16-trillion-government/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fmost-popular+%28Internal+-+Most+Popular+Content%29

California economist says real U.S debt $70 trillion, not $16.9 trillion the government claims
Published August 15, 2013
FoxNews.com

Man Kills Baby After Kidnapping

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121128/DA2R89203.html

Suspect in baby, grandma deaths had casino losses
AP
Nov 28, 4:39 PM (ET)
By MARYCLAIRE DALE

Obama's Contribution To Future Americans

On August 3, 2011, the national debt rose $238 billion, the largest one-day increase in the history of the U.S. The previous one-day record increase was on June 30, 2009, when the debt increased $186 billion. - Provided byRandomHistory.com

US Debt $218,676 For Everyone Under 18

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/4-yrs-private-college-130468-median-priced-existing-home-173100-us-debt-american-under

4 Yrs at Private College = $130,468;
Median-Priced Existing Home = $173,100;
U.S. Debt Per American Under 18 = $218,676
By Terence P. Jeffrey
November 4, 2012

Current Economic State Of US

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577497442109193610.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

September 16, 2012, 7:03 p.m. ET
The Magnitude of the Mess We're In
The next Treasury secretary will confront problems so daunting that even Alexander Hamilton would have trouble preserving the full faith and credit of the United States.
By George P. Shultz, Michael J. Boskin, John F. Cogan, Allan H. Meltzer and John B. Taylor

New York Judge Dismisses Credit Company Claims, Favors Debtors

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/better_off_debtor_NN6zPgVSlXtAsJyOwUkcXM

Better off debtor
Credit judge’s free rides
By BRAD HAMILTON and GREGORY BRESIGER
New York Post
Last Updated: 4:16 AM, August 26, 2012
Posted: 12:09 AM, August 26, 2012

US To Pay $5 Trillion in Interest in Next Decade

[From article]
"Uncle Sam will shell out more than $5 trillion in interest payments over the next decade, according to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office.
That's more than half of the projected $11 trillion increase in debt held by the public during that period. Those figures assume that a host of expensive policies such as the Bush-era tax cuts are extended.
Over the decade, more than 14% of all revenue the government is projected to collect will be sucked up by interest payments.:"

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/news/economy/national-debt-interest/index.htm

Washington's $5 trillion interest bill
By Jeanne Sahadi
@CNNMoney
March 5, 2012: 5:53 AM ET
CNN

Taxpayer Debt Climbing

[From article]
"the federal government’s publicly held debt would top 101% of GDP by 2021,
[. . .]
Today, intragovernmental debt exceeds $4.6 trillion.
[. . .]
the Social Security system’s trustees, that program’s unfunded liabilities now exceed $18 trillion.
[. . .]
Medicare’s debt could actually top $90 trillion!

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/trillion_the_shocking_true_size_tOxcrobUBUup9IEW3vQAhJ

$120 trillion: The shocking true size of our nation's debt
Michael D. Tanner
New York Post
Last Updated: 3:54 AM, June 26, 2011
Posted: 10:59 PM, June 25, 2011

Greek Crisis Threatens USA

[From Article]

"Here is the chilling fact: the average external debt as a percent of GDP among countries in their sample the year before a sovereign debt crisis was 54.7 percent, and 71.4 percent in the crisis year. The U.S. external debt on Dec. 31, 2009, was $13.77 trillion, or almost 100 percent of GDP. For much of Europe, the story is worse."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-16/greece-s-bailout-heroes-arrive-in-leaking-boats-kevin-hassett.html

Bloomberg.com

Greece’s Bailout Heroes Arrive in Leaking Boats: Kevin Hassett

May 16, 2010, 9:20 PM EDT