Sanders: Trump attacking San Juan mayor is 'unspeakable'

[Hassin Bin Sober]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/01/politics/bernie-sanders-mick-mulvaney-puerto-rico-cnntv/index.html

Sanders: Trump attacking San Juan mayor is 'unspeakable'

Washington (CNN)Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday rebuked President Donald Trump's decision to attack the mayor of San Juan on Twitter as Puerto Rico continues to struggle after being hit by back-to-back hurricanes.

"It is unspeakable," Sanders told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

Sanders drew a contrast between Trump and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, saying Trump was "speaking from his fancy golf club, playing golf with his billionaire friends, attacking the mayor of San Juan, who is struggling to bring electricity to the island, food to the island, water to the island, gas to the island."

In a separate interview on the same program, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney defended Trump's tweets and said he interpreted them as Trump trying to impress upon the public how difficult the storm relief efforts were.

[dalton99a]

1. It's despicable

[NCjack]

2. Past the time to act in the interest of Puerto Rico's people.

Here is the letter that I sent to my congressional delegation today:



Dear Sirs:

Puerto Rico's economy and infrastructure are now in ruins. The president has made statements indicating that he plans to hold the island ransom to a deal that will tie its reconstruction to a debt settlement. The island people have no cash to survive such a deal without surrendering ownership of their land. He would create permanent debt slaves of the people who remain on the island. When we defeated The Axis Powers in World War II, we did not require such an odious deal of our former enemies. The people of Puerto Rico are not our enemies – they are our fellow citizens. The world is watching. I ask that you not let the ownership of their land be taken away.

Instead, I ask that Congress' plan for a tax cut be stopped, and that Congress give grants to Puerto Rico that are sufficient over 10 years to reconstruct Puerto Rico.

If such grants are made, they should require new building and land use standards to make Puerto Rico more resilient against the forces and effects of hurricanes and sea level rise. A resulting benefit could be the making of the island a business hub for advanced design and reconstruction of future disaster zones.

Sincerely yours,





cc: President D. J. Trump