Trump Waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico

[demmiblue]

Last edited Thu Sep 28, 2017, 08:54 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump ordered the Jones Act to be waived for shipments to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico immediately at the request of Governor Ricardo Rossello, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday.

The waiver will be in effect for 10 days and cover all products being shipped to Puerto Rico, Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said in an email.

The 1920 Jones Act is a maritime law requiring shipments of goods between two U.S. ports to be made with American-flagged vessels, manned by American crews. Pressure was mounting on the Trump administration to lift the restrictions regarding supplies being sent to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, which ravaged the U.S. territory more than a week ago.

The administration temporarily lifted the rule this month to ensure gasoline-starved Florida received supplies after Hurricane Harvey.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-28/trump-waives-jones-act-for-puerto-rico?utm_content=politics&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics

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Finally, FFS.

[whathehell]

1. Good!

This was very worrying.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Flip-flop?

[elleng]

32. Fortunately, people change their/our minds.

They, whomever they are, should not be disparaged for such.

[keithbvadu2]

35. Right wingers disparaged it greatly some years back...

Right wingers disparaged it greatly some years back...

[elleng]

36. Yes they did. I don't encourage them

(or anyone) to do so.

[Blue_Tires]

40. He only changed his mind because Hillary was shredding his ass

Hillary deserves a big slice of the credit for making this happen

[dhol82]

3. Took long enough

Somebody must have whispered in his ear.

[George II]

4. EIGHT FREAKING DAYS! How many people have died in those eight days? Of course....

.....they're not white so who cares?

[rurallib]

7. he had more important things to attend to

like the BS "flag controversy."

Presidenting ain't easy.

I think I have been enraged more in the past 9 months than in the rest of my life in total.

[Amimnoch]

25. "I think I have been enraged more in the past 9 months than in the rest of my life in total."

Let me give you a HUGE, atheist AMEN on that one.

[PJMcK]

5. Why does the Act exist?

By limiting the amount of shipping in U.S. ports, the Jones Act increases the cost of goods to American consumers. Puerto Ricans are especially hard hit by this law.

Get rid of it!

Of course, Trump didn't know anything about it and neither did his advisors. That's why it's taken so long for this administration to suspend the Act.

Trump and crew suck.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. They suspended it lickety-split for Texas & Florida. How do the demographics compare with P. Rico?

[George II]

8. White southern republicans. Enough said.

[IronLionZion]

18. Texas and Florida have plenty of Latinos and African-Americans

conservative hate media has tried to white wash the narrative by portraying one demographic as rescuers and the other as looters, but there is plenty of diversity in both states as shown in mainstream media images and video.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. If Texas had been as devastated as P. Rico & aid as slow there would have been more looting.

Hungry Texans with guns?

Texas was lucky it didn't get so much wind. Flooding is slow and can be fled overland more easily. There was nowhere to evacuate to on the island.

[FakeNoose]

11. It exists to create business for American shipping companies

Otherwise it would all be outsourced to cheaper and better foreign shipping.

[King_Klonopin]

29. Sooo, what's the difference between this "arrangement" and organized crime ?

In the case of organized crime, such as the Mafia or drug cartels, this is illegal.
It would be properly called usury and price-fixing.

In the case of State-sponsored organized crime, however, is called "Capitalism" !
It ain't usury; it's profit.
It ain't price-fixing; it's protecting American interests.

P.R. is an American colony.
Now you see why empires wanted to have colonies:
it is a license to make tons of money by screwing people, either at the end of a gun
or a fountain pen.


Henry Hill in Goodfellas -- "Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you; Pay me !!"

Please, God, let there be a Hell.

[FakeNoose]

34. Sounds about right

I can't tell you the history of this law, but it was probably created to benefit rightwingers - contributors to the GOP.
Hopefully someone else on DU can elaborate.

[melm00se]

12. the text of the act

says exactly why it was implemented:


It is necessary for the national defense and the development of the domestic and foreign commerce of the United States that the United States have a merchant marine...

[Ligyron]

21. Too bad they don't also think health care and social services are necessary to the

national defense.

[melm00se]

26. this was originally drafted in

1920 when attitudes were slightly different.

[24601]

37. I didn't know the vote history. The final vote was to agree on the conference report on H.R. 10378

In both the House and Senate, the plurality was to not vote.

In the House of Representatives:

For 145 (R-114, D-31)
Against 120 (R-19, D-101)
Present 1 (R)
Not Voting 168 (R-106, D-59, Union Labor -1, Ind. Repub -1, Prohibitionist -1)


In the Senate

For 40 (R-21, D-19)
Against 11 (R-4, D-7)
Not Voting 45 (R-24, D-21)


Woodrow Wilson signed it into law on June 5, 1920.

Source: www.govtrack.us

[atreides1]

15. The highlights

(a)Objectives.—It is necessary for the national defense and the development of the domestic and foreign commerce of the United States that the United States have a merchant marine—
(1) sufficient to carry the waterborne domestic commerce and a substantial part of the waterborne export and import foreign commerce of the United States and to provide shipping service essential for maintaining the flow of the waterborne domestic and foreign commerce at all times;
(2) capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency;
(3) owned and operated as vessels of the United States by citizens of the United States;
(4) composed of the best-equipped, safest, and most suitable types of vessels constructed in the United States and manned with a trained and efficient citizen personnel; and
(5) supplemented by efficient facilities for building and repairing vessels.
(b)Policy.—
It is the policy of the United States to encourage and aid the development and maintenance of a merchant marine satisfying the objectives described in subsection (a).

[PJMcK]

20. Thanks for the information

It sounds like it's a law that should be changed.

[jmowreader]

38. The law is a lot bigger than you think it is

I am a very vocal anti-sovereign citizen person.

What ye need to know about Sovereign Citizens: among other tripe, they believe the US is run by maritime law...and because sovereign citizens are on the land they aren't subject to the law of the sea. It's not; continue following along. To denounce their stupid fucking belief system in a rational manner I started researching maritime law, and came upon the Jones Act. So I read it.

One HUGE reason the Republicans want to repeal the Jones Act is its protection of sailors' rights. We seem to be alone in this world in thinking a sailor has no duty to ship in an unfit vessel, but the Jones Act allows American sailors to sue their employers over unsafe equipment.

The problem with the Jones Act is it was written in an era when America's merchant fleet was the pride of the world, and there is quite a bit of protectionism in it - protectionism that isn't really workable now that most ships are foreign-flagged. If we could tone down the protectionism...say, require military cargo to travel in US-flagged ships, but place no restriction on their nation of construction (because, thanks to Republicanism, new merchant ships come from Asia)...and align the requirements of the law with the reality of the shipping industry as it now stands, it would be a real good law.

Having said that, the party our president is in loves to do this:

...so, between Protectionism Gone Wild and The Law of the Jungle, I think I'll side with the former and want the law kept as it is.

[riversedge]

9. He knows his poll numbers will go down if did not waive this ACT.

[mopinko]

10. 10 days? ffs. they will be rebuilding for months.

i dont think they make cement or drywall there.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Finally!

[groundloop]

14. 10 DAYS folks, it's ONLY for 10 DAYS.... that's a drop in the bucket

I see this as a political 'photo op' which does very little yet essentially preserves monopoly status for US shipping interests.

[El Mimbreno]

16. Too little, too late, too typical.

10 days isn't enough time for even emergency supplies, let alone the years of rebuilding.

[sheshe2]

30. Plus I read that the hospital ship will not leave port until tomorrow.

Then will take another 5 days to get there! More than 2 weeks total.

[rateyes]

17. The Jones Act; supported by Republicans...so much

for free market capitalism!

[unblock]

19. maybe this isn't donnie's katrina, maybe it's his benghazi

supposedly, if you believe the right-wing fantasy, hillary inexcusably delayed help and americans died as a result.

sounds rather like what donnie actually did in puerto rico.

[Ligyron]

22. Many of the morans also blame the Katrina disaster on Obama.

They are just idiots.

[SunSeeker]

23. Finally. Why was this even a tough call for him? nt

[lark]

24. Insufficient!

This should have been in effect from day 1 and that it wasn't is criminal negligence on drumpfs part. I know, not legally, but morally yes. He put shippers profits above the actual lives of the people of Puerto Rico, unforgiveable, and in anyone else in the world, unbelievable! Then, after catching lots of grief for his murderous, hate & greed filled decision, he only lifts the rule for 10 day! Like an entire countries infrastructure can be repaired and the roads cleared so the relief materials can get where they are needed in 10 days. Every day I hate the orange assface more and more. It's getting to be very depressing and stressful, knowing American citizens are dying because he's the worst person in the world and stole arguably the most important office in the world with the help of a hostile foreign country.

My heart is totally bleeding for Puerto Rico & US VI right now. How many will die because they aren't the right color for Hair Furor?

[jmowreader]

39. Oh come on, I wouldn't go THAT far

You're just assuming our ersatz president is sitting around like some kind of movie villain who lights cigars with $100 bills, twiddles his handlebar moustache and thinks of ways to kick defenseless widows and orphans off their land. That, fine sir, would be giving this dipshit far more credit than he deserves.

I think the reality is far more sinister: Donald Trump wants to golf, complain about football players not behaving in Trump-Approved Fashion, throw campaign rallies and cut his own taxes. He probably didn't realize he even could do anything to help the beleaguered residents of Puerto Rico and didn't bother to find out if he could. In short, he doesn't want to do presidential work.

[lark]

41. I would!

I do think he's full of hate and is a total villain. Anyone who says that KKK and Nazis marchers are good people is a total racist asshole. He's trying to take away healthcare for the poor, how much lower does he have to go to prove to you that he is irredeemable? He's letting people in Puerto Rico die and not giving them anywhere near the support they need, not even what was done for FL and TX, with not even a 10th of the crying need. He's literally killing Puerto Ricans with his care less attitude. It's not just that he's fat and lazy, he's full of hate and often wants to hurt others. he cared enough to help FL an TX, why not Puerto Rico? Answer - because they are brown and can't vote for him so he doesn't give a shit. He knew he could provide help, didn't want to because didn't want to have shippers losing profits. It wasn't until Clinton shamed him so badly that he took any steps at all to help, in a totally catastrophic situation.

The Drumpf you describe sounds kind of funny, just really lazy. That's not the truth, he's way worse than that.

[BarbaRosa]

28. You gotta wonder, did he figure out a way to profit from it?

[King_Klonopin]

31. Other posters have postulated a "shock doctrine" takover of the whole damn island

They will use the excuse of a humanitarian crisis to justify turning
over control to private business entities, like they did in Flint, MI.

The evil stench of the GOP is just so exquisite ! Making money off
of human misery and death. Satan is blushing at the thought...

[Gothmog]

33. Yeah