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After Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms to have ever formed in the Atlantic, devastated the American islands of Saint Thomas and Saint John as well as parts of Florida, Donald Trump flew to Fort Myers to see the staggering damage first hand. Once he landed he gave remarks praising the hard work of the US and State government agencies, which in actuality he despises and ignores their warnings, said this about Rick Scott:
"I hope this man right here Rick Scott runs for the Senate. I don't know what he is going to do. I know that a certain point it ends to you and we can't let it end, so I hope he runs for Senate."
Remember that Trump is on an official presidential trip. Politicians usually stay away from playing politics in these moments. That goes double -- or more like quadruple -- when you are visiting a place where a natural disaster has struck less than a week ago.
Know the old phrase "There's a time and a place for everything"? Well, Trump doesn't.
The AP, in a recent news story noted that “more than a million Puerto Ricans — about 5 percent of Florida’s population — already call the state home, and given the outrage many feel over President Donald Trump’s handling of the storm, political observers say this voting bloc could loosen the Republican Party’s hold on this battleground state.”
The AP story focuses on Javier Gonzalez, who along with 140,000 others moved to the US Mainland. He settled in Miami, and Florida was the destination for 130,000 others that have arrived so far. Below is part of his story.
Gonzalez, 38, saw the storm destroy the restaurant he opened with his father five years ago. Without power or reliable water, he became violently ill from food poisoning for three weeks. Finally, he packed his bags, determined to make his future in Miami instead.
“There is resentment, and we feel abandoned compared to Texas and Florida,” Gonzalez said. “We were desperate for help.”
Like any Puerto Rican, Gonzalez can vote in all elections now that he’s moved to the mainland. He doesn’t plan to register for any party, but he follows the news and understands their platforms. He’s aware of Trump’s tweets.
Snip
Puerto Ricans are not the gift to the Republican Party that the anti-Castro Cuban diaspora has been historically. They’ve tended to favor Democrats, given their support for public education and social services. Around 70 percent of Florida’s non-Cuban Latinos voted for Hillary Clinton.
Both parties are courting the new arrivals to Florida, which Trump won last year by just 112,000 votes out of 9.6 million cast.
Snip
Newcomers must register by next July 30 to vote in 2018 for a new governor to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott and choose Florida’s congressional delegation, now 11 Democrats and 16 Republicans. Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson also defends his seat next year, and Scott, who has been applauded for helping evacuees, is expected to challenge him in what could be a close race.
Snip
Maria’s evacuees are following waves of people frustrated by Puerto Rico’s unemployment and debt crisis who settled in Central Florida, shifting from New York, the favored destination of previous generations. Of the more than 140,000 islanders estimated to have left since the storm, more than 130,000 went to Florida, where Puerto Ricans may soon displace Cubans as the largest Latino group.
Snip
“It is a strong indication that voters are paying attention, and they are angry,” said Cristobal Alex, president of the Latino Victory Project. “We wouldn’t have the devastation and abandonment of Puerto Rico without Donald Trump. People will look at that.”
On the island, Puerto Rico’s lack of statehood means they can’t vote in general presidential elections, and can only send a non-voting representative to Congress. On the mainland, they’ll have more power.
“I know for a fact that we are well educated and we are going to come here to work,” Gonzalez said. “And yes, we are going to make a voice. We are going to make a bigger voice than before.”
“If they will register to vote, which I’m certainly going to encourage, because I can tell you among the Puerto Rican community in the greater Orlando area, they have been very embracing of my public service,” he said at a San Juan news conference after Puerto Rican reporter asked him about the post-storm migration. “The question is how many will want to register, and how many will want to return.”
Standing next to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, Nelson took pains to say he wasn’t encouraging Puerto Ricans to depart forever. Puerto Ricans worry an exodus of working professionals — on the heels of years of emigration during the island’s financial crisis — will only make it more difficult for the economy to get going again.
snip
The question of how a wave of Puerto Ricans, who tend to vote Democratic, could reshape Florida politics is perhaps more urgent for Nelson than for any other statewide politician. He faces a potential challenge next year from Republican Gov. Rick Scott, whose administration has set up relief centers for Puerto Rican arrivals at Orlando and Miami airports and seaports to assist them with schooling, housing and employment.
snip
Without naming names, Nelson criticized fellow mainland lawmakers who have remarked after flying over Puerto Rico that the devastation doesn’t look so bad because the island’s homes weren’t flattened.
“Well, they don’t know what’s happening inside that concrete structure that is wet, and now the mold and mildew is building up,” Nelson said. “This is the story that I will tell tomorrow afternoon on the floor of the United States Senate, because a lot of the reports that have come back have not told about the extent of the damage.”
Rosselló called Nelson a longtime “champion for Puerto Rico, and a great friend,” and alluded to the help the island will need to get an aid package through Congress soon.
“Now more than ever we’re going to need him and his colleagues to continue championing our efforts here,” Rosselló said.
DONATION LINKS
Here’s some great agencies with aid-workers hard at work on the ground in PR right now:
New project: artists in Chicago donated their music to relief for Puerto Rico. $7 minimum donation, all money to be donated to the Hurricane Maria Community Relief and Recovery Fund. So in addition to giving, you get the gift of music. relief.bandcamp.com
Circle of Health is one of the groups providing maternal support.
Vector control- Entomologists and commercial mosquito control supplies.
You Caring — Emergency Relief Fund for LGBTQ Boricuas
www.internationalmedicalrelief.org
americanblackcross.org — It’s a group of activists that were upset over the gaps in the traditional help groups after Harvey so decided to do something about. They are now concentrating on Puerto Rico.
You can donate right to the José Andrés’s Chef’s group at https://www.worldcentralkitchen.org
Hispanic Federation
Americares
Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund
Catholic Relief Services Hurricane Relief (Caribbean-wide)
Here is a GoFundMe we can get behind as well. To help those in the most need, celebrities and others started sending their private planes to pick up cancer patients, elderly, people needing medical care, etc.
More donation sites worthy of contributions.
DK ACT BLUE (and other) DISASTER RELIEF DONATION LINKS:
Here’s a link from Bill McKibben for an org to help Puerto Rico:
From Vetwife, Former Presidents Working for All Americans:
Another choice, from Denise Oliver Velez:
- Unidos Fund, from the Hispanic Federation (After you click the orange DONATE button on the Unidos page, you’ll see a dropdown below your name & address. You can choose to donate to hurricane relief for PR, and also to Mexican earthquake relief.)
And of course, h/t TexMex:
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2017 · 12:11:49 PM +00:00 · Pakalolo
Bill Nelson is going to make climate change an issue in his senate race.
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, after surveying the damage that Hurricane Irma inflicted across his state, blasted Republican politicians who reject the science and minimize the importance of climate change—including his likely opponent in 2018, Governor Rick Scott.
In an interview Tuesday evening with POLITICO, Nelson said it’s clear that manmade global warming made Irma worse by increasing the temperature and the height of the seas that fueled the storm. He said he didn’t want to play partisan politics in the aftermath of a hurricane, but then went on to criticize Republicans in general and Scott in particular—though not by name—for opposing climate action. He noted that both the Trump administration in Washington and the Scott administration in Tallahassee have reportedly discouraged government employees from even talking about climate change.