It is unconscionable, during Puerto Rico's extreme deprivation and suffering, that the President should begin criticizing and shaming the Puerto Rican territorial government and its American citizens, living there, for their problems of outstanding debt. Puerto Rico does not need to be scolded by Donald Trump, of all people, trying to teach them a monetary lesson by rubbing their faces in the dirt of their budgetary failure, on national television.
It is a matter of recorded history, that America has always come to the various forms of aid/rescue of desperate and down trodden peoples living in foreign nations, spanning the globe. Maybe, that was America's one archaic Christian virtue, that was the foundation, that made her a great nation--- compassion.
And so...it is inconceivable that an American President would behave this way, toward his own citizen's in such a tragic time of desperate need.
America has forgiven many foreign country's debts to us or worked with them to restructure their debts, due to their inability to pay us back, without intentionally shaming those nations on cable network news outlets.
Pres. Trump's attitude came across as a condescending, indifferent and oblivious ignorance, to the degree of their prolonged and abject suffering. When humanity breaks down to the point where the President of the United States of America, can indifferently ignore the pleading voices of his suffering brother and sister's cries...begging for food, water, medicine and electricity; then we know the moral fiber of the nation at the highest level of power, is bereft of one of the most basic qualities that a great leader can possess---compassion.
The office of the President of the United States of America is a position that is sworn to uphold the Constitution and to serve the people, who are citizens of the United States of America. Where is President Trump's compassion for his own people?
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Debt Owed to the United States by Foreign Countries: Recent Rescheduling and Forgiveness Jonathan E. Sanford Analyst in International Political Economy Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division November 19, 1993
DEBT FORGIVEN, FISCAL YEARS 1990-93
Between fiscal years 1990 and 1993, the U.S. Government forgave $11.582 billion in debts owed by foreign countries. (All but $342 million of this was forgiven between fiscal years 1990 and 1992.) Loans to finance military sales comprised 58%, commercial export loans 13%, and concessional foreign aid loans 29% of the total. Egypt and Poland accounted for 71% of all forgiveness. Figure 4 shows that market-rate debt accounted for almost all the debt the U.S. Government forgave Egypt and Poland. By contrast, all the debt forgiven Asia, Africa, and Latin America was concessional foreign aid debt. Market-rate debt is repaid over a shorter period and at a higher rate of interest. Thus, the forgiveness of such debt offers larger and more immediate balance-of payment benefits for the recipient than does the forgiveness of concessional debt.
Figure 4. Debt Forgiven, 1990-93 Bllllons of Dollars ------------- ------------- ---------- East Mid ~.a E. sub-~. ati in Europe East Afrlca (Poland) (Egypt) Rate Before 1992, various provisions of law required that an amount equal to the face value of a debt must be appropriated before the debt could be forgiven.
Table 4. Debts Rescheduled, Fiscal Years 1990-92 (Millions of Dollars)Sub-Saharan Africa $906.9 Middle East $5,449.3 Angola 1.0 Jordan 155.1 Cameroon 119.0 Morocco 197.1 Central African Republic 4.2 Egypt 5,097.2 Gabon 6.2 Ghana .6 Latin America $3,269.4 Guinea 16.9 Argentina 474.6 Ivory Coast 103.3 Bolivia 131.4 Kenya .7 Brazil 1,115.6 Madagascar 3.2 Chile 39.4 Mali .6 Costa Rica 38.2 Mauritania 1.7 Dominican Republic .2 Mozambique 35.2 Ecuador 67.8 Niger 4.8 El Salvador 93.3 Nigeria 308.2 Guatemala 1.3 Senegal 11.0 Guyana 37.0 Tanzania 20.6 Honduras 55.0 Uganda .5 Jamaica 406.2 Zaire 272.8 Mexico 375.0 Zambia 37.7 Nicaragua 52.6 Zimbabwe 57.6 Panama 103.0 Peru 251.7 Other Countries $4,721.8 Trinidad and Tobago 17.1 Indonesia 1.2 Philippines 378.3 Poland 4,342.3 TOTAL $14,3410.0 The Administration has the authority to reschedule debts owed the United States if it finds this is necessary to facilitate repayment. On this basis, it enhances the prospects for collection of the outstanding debt. Rescheduling does not forgive debt. Rather, it changes the payment schedule so a country can better meet its obligations. The overall size of a country's official debt to the United States may increase if the interest due as a result of the original loan is rescheduled (i.e., capitalized) in order to reduce the country's annual payments.
"Good Night, Shalom and Sweet Dreams!"
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