Trump's Puerto Rico Misadventure: Today's News for October 4th

The Atlantic:

Trump's Puerto Rico Visit Is a Political Disaster

Making his first appearance in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico since Maria’s landfall, President Trump offered a hearty round of congratulations to federal relief efforts and thanked the island’s governor. But the president also suggested Maria was not a “real catastrophe,” made an odd and misleading comparison to the death toll from Hurricane Katrina, and joked about how the hurricane would affect the federal budget.

It was a typically strange, disjointed appearance by the president, and it came just days after Trump spent much of the weekend picking fights with the mayor of San Juan and insisting that, against all evidence, the recovery effort had largely responded to Puerto Rico’s needs. At Muñiz Air Force Base, Trump was eager to praise the work of federal agencies, including FEMA, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Coast Guard, amid a chorus of criticism that Washington’s response has been too slow and too small. But that praise led him in strange directions.

“Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here and what is your death count? Sixteen people, versus in the thousands,” Trump said. “You can be very proud. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people.”

And compared to 9/11, or World War II, it is even smaller!

Bear time:

Continuing:

That statement is problematic in several ways. The idea that Maria was not a “real catastrophe” defies all evidence, and any discussion of the death toll is premature. While the official number remains at 16, where it has been for several days without update, officials have acknowledged it will end up much higher. The Center for Investigative Journalism reported Monday that “dozens” of people are dead, with bodies piling up in morgues, even as the official count has not kept pace. Trump’s decision to use Hurricane Katrina as a benchmark also makes little sense and belittles the suffering in Puerto Rico. Katrina is both the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history since 1928 and a prime example of a mismanaged disaster. Trump also overstated the toll of Katrina, which was less than 2,000.

Trump also misstated Maria’s strength at landfall. “Few people have ever even heard of a Category 5 hitting land, but it hit land, and boy did it hit land,” he said, but the storm was a Category-4 storm when it struck. Trump also said the Coast Guard had saved 16,000 lives in Texas. It’s unclear where he got that number; the Coast Guard has claimed 11,000 rescues.

One thing you can say for Trump: He never met a fact he couldn't butcher.

In other Puerto Rico news...

The Hill:

Oxfam slams US response in Puerto Rico as 'slow, inadequate'

Oxfam America is stepping in to help Puerto Rico, saying the Trump administration's response has been “inadequate."

The global nonprofit's president, Abby Maxman, said in a statement Tuesday that the group is “outraged” at the U.S. government’s slow response in Puerto Rico, where more than half of the population is without clean drinking water and food and electricity are scarce in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

“We’re hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a cohesive and compassionate response,” Maxman said.

The organization primarily focuses on humanitarian aid in developing nations and rarely helps wealthy countries like the U.S., but it said it is making an exception as the situation in Puerto Rico worsens.

While this is embarrassing for the U.S., there are several things to consider about Puerto Rico.

First, Hurricane Maria came in the wake of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey, which had already stretched FEMA's resources thin.

Second, Puerto Rico was an economic mess prior to Hurricane Maria hitting. It didn't take much to push them over the edge.

Third, Puerto Rico is an island. While hurricane relief could be delivered over land to areas in Texas and Florida, Puerto Rico can only receive aid by sea and air.

With all that said, it took President Trump far too long to waive the Jones Act so relief efforts could come from foreign countries by sea. He did it immediately for Texas and Florida.

Second, Trump keeps praising U.S. relief efforts, instead of admitting that we got blindsided by the third hurricane in a month. Sometimes, it is better to admit we need help, rather than trying to gloss over failures with lies.

This incident made Trump look out of touch, and his actions have only made that impression worse.

In other news of big government failures...

Politico:

IRS awards multimillion-dollar fraud-prevention contract to Equifax

The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.

A contract award for Equifax's data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will "verify taxpayer identity" and "assist in ongoing identity verification and validations" at the IRS, according to the award.

The notice describes the contract as a "sole source order," meaning Equifax is the only company deemed capable of providing the service. It says the order was issued to prevent a lapse in identity checks while officials resolve a dispute over a separate contract.

In other words, Equifax has a monopoly. Instead of just throwing money at Equifax, shouldn't the government be bringing an antitrust lawsuit against them?

On the bright side, at least the government is trying to figure out a way around this issue...

Wall Street Journal:

End of the Social Security Number? A White House Official Thinks So

The administration of President Donald Trump is exploring ways to replace the Social Security number with a safer system based on modern technology in the wake of the Equifax Inc...hack, the White House cybersecurity czar said Tuesday.

Rob Joyce, the White House’s cybersecurity coordinator, said one possibility is using cryptographic keys, or a combination of long random numbers, to unlock personal data. The merit of such numbers is that they could be revoked once they are found to be compromised, he said.

“I feel very strongly that the Social Security number has outlived its usefulness,” Mr. Joyce said at a cybersecurity conference hosted by the Washington Post. “It’s a flawed system. If you think about it, every time we use the Social Security number, we put it at risk.” He described the current system as “untenable,” noting that his own Social Security number has been compromised at least four times.

“We’ve got a modern digital age. We’ve got to find a way to use that modern cryptographic identifier to help us drive down that risk,” Mr. Joyce said, adding he has asked various departments and federal agencies to submit ideas. He didn’t provide a schedule for further policy steps.

In other words, none of us will ever know what our own Social Security number is. Consider the possibilities: What happens when the government computer loses your "cryptographic key"? You will no longer exist. Or what about the possibility of two (or more!) people being randomly assigned the same key? Or, with constantly changing keys, what if you get the same key someone else had last week? If you think identity theft was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet!