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<h1 id="reader-title">Marco Rubio introduces a law, to lower the
Puerto Rico minimum wage to $5 an hour!</h1>
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<p> December 15, 2016<br>
</p>
<p><span>Under the banner of “economic assistance” for
Puerto Rico, Marco Rubio has introduced a bill in the
US Senate that would lower the minimum wage to $5.</span></p>
<p><span>It is called the EMPLEO Act (“Economic Mobility
for Productive Livelihoods and Expanding Opportunity).
According to Rubio, EMPLEO will “jump start” the
island’s economy and create “<span><a
href="http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/marco-rubio-unveils-empleo-act-jump-start-puerto-ricos-economy"
target="_blank">new employment opportunities</a></span>.”</span></p>
<p><span>EMPLEO is a very dangerous bill.</span><br>
<br>
<span>With a GOP president and congress, it could get
fast-tracked and passed within few weeks.</span></p>
<p><span>Here is the text of the entire bill, which is
designated as S. 3503…</span></p>
<p><span><a
href="https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s3503/BILLS-114s3503is.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s3503/BILLS-114s3503is.pdf</a></span></p>
<p><span>The bill accomplishes two things:</span></p>
<p><span><strong>#1</strong></span></p>
<p><span>It sets a minimum wage floor of $5 for <em>everyone
</em>on the island, regardless of age. This goes
further than the PROMESA bill, which also contemplated
a minimum wage reduction …but only for workers aged 25
and under.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>#2 </strong></span></p>
<p><span>It creates a US federal wage subsidy of up to
$2.50 an hour, for those employers who pay between $5
and $7.50 an hour.</span></p>
<p><span>According to Rubio, this will “reduce the cost of
hiring new workers” and “make it easier to find a
job.”</span></p>
<p><span>Oren Cass, a Manhattan Institute Fellow who
helped to craft Rubio’s law, said that “reducing the
minimum wage should create many more entry-level job
openings.”</span></p>
<p><span>Cass also proclaimed that it will “mark a <span><a
href="http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/marco-rubio-unveils-empleo-act-jump-start-puerto-ricos-economy"
target="_blank">starting point for meaningful
reform</a></span> in mainland economic policy.”</span></p>
<p><span>Cass also called Rubio’s bill a “<span><a
href="http://www.city-journal.org/html/help-wanted-puerto-rico-14885.html"
target="_blank">compassionate tool</a></span> for
addressing Puerto Rico’s challenges.”</span></p>
<p><span><strong>PROMISES FROM DRACULA</strong></span></p>
<p><span>There’s no other way to put this…Rubio and Cass
are victimizing poor people in order to enhance their
own careers, and possibly their bank accounts.</span></p>
<p><span>Their alleged “rationale” is that, even though
the <span><a
href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/07/03/memo-to-the-fight-for-15-puerto-rico-happens-with-a-too-high-minimum-wage/#457b3b5212da"
target="_blank">Puerto Rico median wage</a></span>
is only $9.42 (compared to the <span><a
href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/01/the-absurdity-of-a-15-minimum-wage/#620191b5483a"
target="_blank">US median wage</a></span> of
$16.70), Puerto Ricans are being paid <strong>too
much</strong>…and this is stalling the island’s
economy. Therefore, say Rubio and Cass, a minimum wage
<strong>cut</strong> will lift the economy…and benefit
the people of Puerto Rico.</span></p>
<p><span>This is the same tortured logic that Dracula
offers his victims, when he sucks their blood but
makes them immortal.<strong> </strong></span></p>
<p><span><strong>LET’S DO THE MATH</strong></span></p>
<p><span>The numbers are quite simple. Thanks to the Jones
Act, the cost of living in Puerto Rico is artificially
inflated…with all the excess profits going to US auto
manufacturers, food suppliers, and consumer goods
companies.</span></p>
<p><span>A recent study <span><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/12/puerto-rico-cost-of-living"
target="_blank">compared the cost of living</a></span>
in Puerto Rico to that of 325 US urban areas. Here is
what they found:</span></p>
<pre><img data-attachment-id="6437" data-permalink="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/12/15/marco-rubio-introduces-a-law-to-lower-the-puerto-rico-minimum-wage-to-5-an-hour/pr-vs-us-cost/" data-orig-file="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/pr-vs-us-cost1.jpg?w=616&h=318" data-orig-size="364,188" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1481714919","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="pr-vs-us-cost" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/pr-vs-us-cost1.jpg?w=616&h=318?w=300" data-large-file="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/pr-vs-us-cost1.jpg?w=616&h=318?w=364" class="aligncenter wp-image-6437" src="cid:part9.18997D4D.5E40E331@freedomarchives.org" alt="pr-vs-us-cost" height="318" width="616"></pre><p><span><span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/12/puerto-rico-cost-of-living" target="_blank">In general</a></span>, supermarket items in Puerto Rico were <strong>21% more expensive</strong> than the US, and the overall cost of living was <strong>13% higher</strong> than in the 325 US urban areas.</span></p><p><span>Electricity alone costs <strong>300%</strong> <strong>more</strong> in Puerto Rico (25 cents per kilowatt hour) than in New York City…and next year, in 2017, the rates <a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/09/22/electrical-blackout-in-puerto-ricoall-of-puerto-rico/"><u>will rise another 22%</u></a> !</span></p><p><span><strong>THE PRICE OF CARS</strong></span></p><p><span>The same car costs $6,000 more in Puerto Rico than in Miami. Since there are more than 3 million cars in Puerto Rico, this amounts to an excess profit – mostly to US auto manufacturers – of <strong>18 BILLION DOLLARS</strong>.</span></p><p><span>According to the US Dept. of Transportation, the <span><a href="http://blog.popular.com/en/life-expectancy-car/2061" target="_blank">average life expectancy</a></span> of a car is 13 years…so roughly <strong>$1.38 billion per year</strong> (18 billion <strong>÷ </strong>13) is leaving Puerto Rico for <strong>excess</strong> profits on cars.</span></p><p><span>The US share of this is over $1 billion annually…in <strong>excess </strong>profits.</span></p><p><span>And that’s for cars alone!</span></p><p><span><strong>INCOME VERSUS EXPENSES</strong></span></p><p><span>The <span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/02/27/puerto-rico-versus-the-entire-u-s-capitalist-system/" target="_blank">per capita income of Puerto Rican</a>s</span> is roughly $16,000 a year…about <em>half </em>that of Mississippi, the poorest state in the US.</span></p><p><span>So if Puerto Ricans are <strong>twice as poor</strong> as the poorest state in the US, but their cost of living is <strong>13% higher</strong> than the US, then how will <strong>lowering</strong> <strong>the minimum wage</strong> <strong>to $5</strong> be a benefit to Puerto Rico?</span></p><p><span>The answer is…it won’t.</span></p><p><span>It will turn Puerto Rico into a land of beggars and billionaires…a playground for the world’s elite, and the broken human beings who serve them.</span></p><p><span><strong>MORE DEPENDENCY, MORE DISASTERS</strong></span></p><p><span>Rather than strengthen Puerto Rico, EMPLEO will increase their dependence on US congress.</span></p><p><span>It will force US taxpayers to subsidize billionaires like John Paulson – who will pay only $5 to his hotel and beach resort workers. Then Paulson<em> himself</em> will turn around – and pay <strong><u>no</u></strong> taxes on interest, dividend or capital gains – thanks to <a href="http://www.doradobeach.com/living-in-puerto-rico/act-20-22-tax-incentives" target="_blank"><span>Acts 20 and 22</span><u>.</u></a></span></p><p><span>The greatest disaster will arrive when congress “forgets” to include the employer subsidy of $2.50 in future federal budgets…and then Puerto Ricans will be paid $5 an hour, <strong>period</strong>.</span></p><p><span>If anyone doubts the likelihood of congressional “forgetfulness,” they can consider how congress “forgot” that Law 53 (<span><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2015/4/21/part_2_nelson_denis_on_the" target="_blank">the Gag Law</a></span>) violated the first amendment… then “forgot” to include Puerto Rico in the 1984 bankruptcy law…and “forgot” to amend the Jones Act, every year, for the past 96 years.</span></p><p><span><strong>THE PAYROLLS OF MARCO RUBIO</strong></span></p><p><span>If Marco Rubio really wanted to “reform” the economy of Puerto Rico, he would join Congressman Gary Palmer and Senator John McCain, in their efforts to reform the Jones Act.</span></p><p><span>Rep. Palmer even <span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/09/29/u-s-congressman-wants-to-repeal-the-jones-act-in-puerto-rico/" target="_blank">tried to add a Jones Act exemption</a></span> as part of the PROMESA bill – and was immediately shut down by Rep. Rob Bishop, the chair of the Natural Resources Committee.</span></p><p><span>But <em>real</em> reform is not on Rubio’s agenda.</span>
<span>Rubio will do nothing about Jones Act reform…he will even <em>oppose</em> it, in order to protect the jobs, unions, and <strong>campaign donors</strong> in Jacksonville, FL.</span></p><p><span>Rubio also has a well-known record as a “Senator for Sale,” specifically with regard to Puerto Rico.</span></p><p><span>In his own home state, the Florida newspapers reported that after receiving <span><a href="http://floridapolitics.com/archives/193892-after-taking-donations-from-hedge-funds-holding-puerto-rican-debt-marco-rubio-opposed-bankruptcy" target="_blank">campaign donations from six hedge funds</a></span> holding Puerto Rican debt, Rubio became the <strong><em>only</em> </strong>U.S. presidential candidate to openly oppose bankruptcy reform for Puerto Rico.</span></p><p><span>Right now, thanks to Citizens United, Rubio may be on several payrolls:</span></p><ul><li><span><span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/03/22/the-mafia-godfather-of-puerto-rico-2/" target="_blank">John Paulson payroll</a></span> – six hotels, multiple beach resorts, the AIG building, and 8.6% of Banco Popular…all in Puerto Rico</span></li><li><span><span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/07/03/the-governor-of-puerto-rico-is-ready-to-make-big-moneywith-the-financial-control-board/" target="_blank"><u>Nicholas Prouty payroll</u></a></span> – the largest marina in the Caribbean</span></li><li><span><span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/10/31/monsanto-sponsors-the-somos-el-futuro-conference-in-puerto-rico/" target="_blank"><u>Monsanto payroll</u></a></span> – with thousands of agricultural employees</span></li><li><span><span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/12/07/goldman-sachs-steals-1-25-billion-from-puerto-ricoand-uses-two-governors-to-cover-it-up/" target="_blank"><u>Goldman Sachs payroll</u></a></span> – with 50-year leases on PR-22 and PR-5 valued at $4 billion</span></li><li><span><span><a href="http://puertoricotaxincentives.com/" target="_blank"><u>Act 20 and 22 payroll</u></a> </span>– hundreds of US millionaires & billionaires paying no taxes for 20 years, and $5 an hour to their Puerto Rican servants</span></li><li><span><span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/how-hedge-funds-are-pillaging-puerto-rico" target="_blank"><u>Hedge fund payroll</u></a></span> – as dozens of “P3s” (public-private partnerships) blanket the island, as collateral for an unpaid $72 billion “debt”</span></li><li><span><span><a href="https://waragainstallpuertoricans.com/2016/10/21/the-government-is-lying-to-9-million-puerto-ricans/" target="_blank"><u>Don Q payroll</u></a> </span>– the Serallés family in Ponce received a sweetheart lease on 34,500 acres of public land to plant…sugar cane fields! </span></li><li><span>All the above will need workers…the <strong><em>cheapest </em></strong>possible workers…to keep the profits flowing.</span></li></ul><p><span><strong>HAPPY 100<sup>TH</sup> ANNIVERSARY</strong></span></p><p><span>They give Puerto Rico PROMESA.</span></p><p><span>Now they send EMPLEO.</span></p><p><span>In 1917, they sent CIUDADANO.</span></p><p><span>The US has been lying to Puerto Rico for over a century.</span></p><p><span>Next year, 2017, will mark the 100<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Puerto Ricans as US “citizens.”</span></p><p><span>And what will we get?</span></p><p><span>A $5 dollar minimum wage, and a plane ticket to Orlando.</span></p><p> </p>
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