Paul Ryan is angry people are calling the plan to provide relieve to Puerto Rico a "bailout." According to him, it's a campaign from big Wall Street investors who don't want legislation passed that would allow Puerto Rico to write down a great deal of its debt. The claim is that "The American Taxpayer" shouldn't be on the hook for the 72 billion worth of debt Puerto Rico owes and legislation allowing them to file a form of Chapter 9 bankruptcy is the only option. What he won't tell you is the taxpayer will be on the hook anyhow since many of the investors in this type of debt are pension and mutual funds. What we need to do is force Puerto Rico to make some very hard decisions about its finances. It will likely have to cut all of its social welfare programs, cut salaries, lay off government workers, heck it might have to reduce its regulations and become a more attractive place for businesses to start and grow. If the reconstruction is done correctly, Puerto Rico could return to a trul
