Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Cuomo’s Puerto Rico Audition: Making Sense of the N.Y. Governor's Big Investment in the Hurricane-Ravaged Island Territory

 
By Errol Louis

Count Gov. Cuomo among the Democratic leaders who are responding to the truculent mood sweeping the party’s base by serving up tough, pointed critiques of the Republican leadership in Congress and the White House.

“In my opinion, the federal government should be ashamed of itself,” Cuomo thundered from a podium at Kennedy Airport, condemning the Trump administration’s response to the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria. “It’s a shame that we are where we are 72 days after the storm.”

Cuomo was about to jet off to Puerto Rico to visit relief workers from New York and tour a hard-hit area outside of San Juan. But the politics of the moment were obvious.

Cuomo has endorsed a plan called Build Back Better — which New York officials helped draft — that would require $94 billion from Congress to restore power, rebuild hospitals and otherwise help the island get back on its feet.

Some $31 billion would go to rebuilding homes, $18 billion to restoring electricity and other utilities, and as much as $21 billion over the next two years to keep the government operating, according to Bloomberg News.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The New York Daily News (via The Empire Report) 

No comments: