Obamacare, Spain, and Puerto Rico: Today's News for September 27th

Associated Press:

‘Obamacare’ survives; GOP concedes on last-gasp repeal try

 “Obamacare” lives on.

Senate Republicans, short of votes, abandoned their latest and possibly final attempt to kill the health care law Tuesday, just ahead of a critical end-of-the-week deadline.

The repeal-and-replace bill’s authors promised to try again at a later date, while President Donald Trump railed against “certain so-called Republicans” who opposed the GOP effort. But for now, Trump and fellow Republicans who vowed for seven years to abolish President Barack Obama’s law will leave it standing and turn their attention to overhauling the nation’s tax code instead.

In summary, the Republicans want to get rid of Obamacare, but they can't agree on the best approach to do it. Ironically, they won't even agree to just dump it completely.

Whether this is a failure of the Republican Party, or just American politics in general, remains in the realm of history to judge.

In other news from across the pond...

The Guardian:

Spain to deploy police to prevent Catalan independence vote

Police will be deployed at polling stations to prevent people from voting in the Catalan independence referendum, the Spanish government has confirmed.

Although the Catalonia regional government has insisted the unilateral poll will go ahead on Sunday, the Spanish government has vowed to stop the vote, which it says is a clear violation of the constitution. Spain’s constitutional court has suspended the legislation underpinning the referendum while it rules on its legality.

A spokesman for the Spanish government’s Catalan delegation said on Tuesday that the region’s prosecutor had ordered the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s police force, to take control of polling booths and identify those in charge.

“The order has been conveyed and it will be executed with all normality,” he said.

The Spanish government said the steps it had taken over the past week, including raiding Catalan government offices, arresting 14 officials and seizing almost 10m ballot papers, meant the vote could not take place.

“Today we can affirm that there will be no effective referendum in Catalonia,” the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia, Enric Millo, told reporters on Tuesday. “All the referendum’s logistics have been dismantled.”

If this was taking place in Russia or China or any third world country, the media would be screaming. In a western country? Barely an eyelash batted, because all government is good in western countries (or so the media thinks).

Change the players in this and see what you think: What if California were holding an independence vote, and the U.S. federal government tried to stop it, imprisoning state officials and ordering the police to arrest anyone who tries to enable the vote to take place?

So what is the U.S. response?

CBS News:

Trump, Rajoy commit to fighting threats to democracy

[President Donald] Trump stood in solidarity with [Spanish Prime Minister Mariano] Rajoy, who protested that Catalonia cannot legally hold a "valid democratic referendum."

"I'm for united Spain," Mr. Trump said. "I really think the people of Catalonia would stay with Spain," he later added.

Think about that: President Trump supports the denial of voting rights by the Spanish government. If that's how he feels about Spain, what would he do in the U.S.?

Speaking of problems in America...

CNN:

Puerto Ricans still waiting for aid a week after Maria's devastation

A week after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, millions of the US commonwealth's residents are struggling to survive without basic necessities.

In the town of Utuado, Lydia Rivera has started to ration crackers and drink rain water to keep her two grandchildren alive.

"No water, no food," Rivera told CNN. "It's nobody's fault. It's the weather. You have to go on."

The storm hit the US territory last week, killing at least 16 people and knocking down power, communication and water grids across the island. But the recovery efforts there have been markedly different from those in Texas and Florida after recent hurricanes.

...With nearly all 1.6 million electricity customers in Puerto Rico without power, the lack of fuel is a key problem across the island.

People are relying on generators to keep appliances such as air conditioners, medical devices and refrigerators running.

Many hospitals are struggling to treat patients and scores of people are lining up with gas cans for hours.

With supplies running out, many of the island's residents are collecting water from mountain streams.

Harry Torres said the water is all they have for cleaning and drinking until help comes. They've heard on the radio that FEMA trucks loaded with supplies have arrived on the island.

"We haven't seen any," Torres told CNN.

Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have seen fewer personnel since Hurricane Maria hit than Texas and Florida during the recent hurricanes.

There are two ways to look at this situation.

First, you can be appalled at the government's pitiful response. Comparably speaking, Texas and Florida should require less assistance than Puerto Rico. In the continental U.S., at least people have the option to go somewhere else if things are too bad where they live. They can even walk there in the worst case. But there are no options like that on an island like Puerto Rico. There is nowhere to go.

On the other hand, kudos to the Puerto Ricans for finding ways to survive in this mess. It shows that people don't need government when all is said and done. Sure, they have it rough now, but they will find a way.

Having said all that, of all the people who have suffered from the recent hurricanes, the American protectorate of Puerto Rico deserves our help the most. Here is a New York Times article listing various charities which are helping with Puerto Rico's recovery.