VI more in debt than PR per capita

Plaskett:

Congress has not done its responsibility to give economic tools and support to the territories to be able to grow their own economies

I wonder what she is talking about?

Maybe the governor should pay more attention to the infrastructure instead of gallivanting off to China with his entourage looking for an investor for that luxury hotel on STX he seems fixated on building and persuading a Chinese airline to include the island in its itinerary. The icing on the cake is likely the anticipation that the Chinese will bestow upon him an Honorary Emperor title. No clothes, just title.

Plasket complaining that the feds don't do enough is pretty sad.

We don't pay federal income taxes yet we get a ton of money from the federal government.
If that money was better utilized, and we had a balanced budget for a responsible VI government instead of a friends and family jobs program, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation.

Maps dreams of China bringing charter tourist flights (like the danes) is indicative of someone lacking a globe. Bejing to STX ilooks a bit dicey at the limit of an A380-800 or 777-200LR. (?maybe someone with greater aviation expertise could weigh in).

The Danes have history here. Maybe he's expecting the Chinese to flock here to take a gander at a refinery? Does he even know what a globe is?

sounds like she thinks the federal government should give even more to a territory that cannot sustain itself.

seems like the government want to have their cake and eat it too

Plaskett:

Congress has not done its responsibility to give economic tools and support to the territories to be able to grow their own economies

I wonder what she is talking about?

We may not pay federal income tax but were helped (all the territories) by a federal tax break for corporations to move business here which was done away with as part of the Bush tax cuts.

If there was someone besides Ronald Russell running as delegate against her, I'd vote for them but unfortunately we don't have much choice in the matter, this time around. Plastic Plaskett is the better option than the repugnant Russell.
And I'm not impressed with her at all.

Did you see where Mapp's new budget is $2.1 BILLION?
We're already in debt for that amount.
I can't find the article or I'd post it.

Who the hell wants to invest in islands that have no proper infrastructure and whose schools are falling apart due to age and lack of proper maintenance?

If there was someone besides Ronald Russell running as delegate against her, I'd vote for them but unfortunately we don't have much choice in the matter, this time around. Plastic Plaskett is the better option than the repugnant Russell.
And I'm not impressed with her at all.

Did you see where Mapp's new budget is $2.1 BILLION?
We're already in debt for that amount.
I can't find the article or I'd post it.

Who the hell wants to invest in islands that have no proper infrastructure and whose schools are falling apart due to age and lack of proper maintenance?

$1.35 billion is the proposed budget.

My mistake.
Add that to the $2 plus BILLION we're indebted for already.

I don't usually go to this site but headline caught my interest.

TWO YEARS INTO HIS REIGN AS GOVERNOR, MAPP ONCE AGAIN HAS THE TERRITORY ON THE BRINK OF FINANCIAL COLLAPSE

http://vifreepress.com/2016/05/two-years-reign-governor-mapp-territory-brink-financial-collapse/

If there was someone besides Ronald Russell running as delegate against her, I'd vote for them but unfortunately we don't have much choice in the matter, this time around. Plastic Plaskett is the better option than the repugnant Russell.
And I'm not impressed with her at all.

Ha, ha. You've managed to give nicknames like Trump and post link to possibly VI version of National Enquirer all in the same day.

I think you need a vacay from VI.

Soon come!

Ha, ha! Did I call it or what? I had a short sanity-saving vacay recently, and am taking another in June. Hope I won't need another for a while. I think you don't need them as much if you ignore the politics, but then you can't be a change agent. We need all the fighters and watch dogs we can get.

One thing in the article that caught my eye: the population has decreased? It seems to me that there are many MORE people, cars, dogs, chickens and everything else. Maybe it is the LEGAL population that has decreased. I did not have any faith that the last census was anywhere near correct.

Then of course there's this:

RATINGS FIRM DOWNGRADES WAPA BONDS TO JUNK STATUS

http://viconsortium.com/business/ratings-firm-downgrades-wapa-bonds-to-junk-status/

All the while Monarch Mapp is off on his luxury trip to China with 16 of his most prized sycophants. Who wants to bet it's First Class, all the way?

The government needs to pay its damned bills and stop sticking it to taxpayers.

I don't believe the census is correct based on my experience in STX.

Due to difficulties in paying the enumerators, the long form required in the VI many people were not counted.

In my neighborhood the count wasn't taken until July and by that time snowbirds were gone and people that take summer vacations were also off island.

In the VI since there were not lists of valid street addresses it was difficult for the census takers to cross reference non responders to a valid address.

Having worked on a project in the VI I found that the government didn't even have an accurate count of how many homes are on each island.

Another example of how the USVI government left money on the table for the next ten years.

The census figues have always been a very rough estimate - I personally know scores of households which were never counted in the 3 or 4 censuses taken during my time here.

53 years on STX and never been counted.

Interesting. I wasn't even living here and I got tracked down to verify that.

Both PR and VI have lost large numbers so less federal allocation after next census.

Both PR and VI have lost large numbers so less federal allocation after next census.

Where are you finding statistics reflecting loss of "large numbers"' in the USVI?

Population 1980 97,000
1990 103.963
2000 108,639

and in 2010, 106.405 - a drop of just 2% from 2000.

And Hess closed when?

And Hess closed when?

And the number of longtime Hess employees who left island was?

Some estimates 5,000+ which includes workers in businesses that relied on Hess. One private school closed.