Your editorial has a few mistakes which I would like to correct. It says "Mr. García Padilla says he is prepared to make sacrifices, including cutting more spending" but he is unwilling to layoff one single government worker (a campaign pledge) from a bloated payroll which takes up one third of the budget. Your number of 70,000 is what the governor claims it is now, down from 120,000, yet consultant contracts have more than tripled.Most countries in Europe that use value added tax are doing well. Value added tax is an efficient way to fund government that makes it much more difficult for the underground cash economy. This is a severe problem in Puerto Rico and a properly administrated value added tax in place of all or a good portion of the island tax would have solved a number of problems. A value added tax is something the U.S. should give serious consideration to.
Each of the three budgets he has put forth, which he claimed were balanced, have wound up not being so. The island can only take in realistically $8 billion in fiscal (2015-16 which began yesterday), and that number may even be lower with less spending since the sales tax has jumped from 7% to 11.5% (much higher than any state). Yet the governor yesterday signed a $9.8 billion budget. The 11.5% tax rate is only April when it will change to a 16% VAT. With more than 70,000 persons leaving the island permanently in the first five months of this year, it is easy to figure out that tax estimates are way off the charts.
It has become obvious that the governor hoodwinked the Editorial Board of the Times by telling you last week that "the debt is unpayable" yet yesterday, suddenly $1.6 billion appeared out of nowhere to make two huge payments due June 30. Then we come to find out that the PREPA payment of more than $440 million was made with the help of a short term loan at 12%.
this is another example of your exalted solution the VAT.
the issue is always the same with you. all opinion and no facts and then insults to cover your lack of knowledge and your failure to admit that you are a communist.