Neglected WAAAY Before Maria...

On September 20, 2017,  Hurricane Maria
its Puerto Rico.   When President Trump is
asked to his administration’s response to
to recovery efforts,  he says,  “Great…
amazing….tremendous…..a 10!”
 
                        Prologue
1898:  The U.S. wins P.R. in the Spanish
                    American War.
1900:  Foraker Act makes P.R. a territory
1917:  Puerto Ricans become U.S. Citizens
                  (just in time to fight in WWI).
1947:  Island allowed to elect its own governor
 
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S.,
but so are other states.  P.R. belongs to, but
is not part of the U.S. and is still under the
territory clause of the Constitution.  Only
Congress can grant the territory full
constitutional rights.
 
*The U.S. Government makes money off of P.R. 
     via Import and Export Taxes.
*Those who work in P.R. do not pay federal taxes, but
      do pay social security and Medicare taxes.
*They can vote in primaries,
      but not in Presidential elections.
*They have no vote in the Congress.
*Puerto Ricans can serve in the military. 

In 2011,  a Presidential Task Force concludes that P.R.

1. could continue as a territory
2. be given statehood
3. be given independence.

 
In 2012, Puerto Ricans voted for statehood,
but Congress takes no action.
 
Biggest Blackouts in U.S. History
-million customer hours of lost electricity
Hurricane Maria               (2017)              1,248
Hurricane Sandy              (2012)                 775
Hurricane Katrina            (2005)                 691

Impact of Hurricane Maria on P.R.:
Truth be told,  FEMA is “stretched” responding to
multiple federal disaster zones in California, Texas
and Florida in addition to Puerto Rico.
 
Deaths are predicted to be 1,000,  and electricity
will not be fully restored until May of 2018.  Under
the Stafford Act,  the president takes the lead role
in disaster relief.
 
President Trumps turning of a blind eye,
his casual treatment of the life and death struggle of
Puerto Rico ravaged by Hurricane Maria just exposes
general U.S. pre-Maria neglect of Puerto Rico.
 
How is this different from how President Andrew
Jackson treated slaves and Native Americans?

Why did we give freedom to Cuba and the 
Philipines (after a 3 yr. war), but not to
Puerto Rico after the Spanish American War?
 
Can you really be a U.S. citizen when you have no
voice in Congress or full support of the President
in a time of federal disaster?

It seems so un-American - but then again
it is very American with her history of
annexation and territory claims.