A bill to bail out Puerto Rico from the consequences of its huge deficits has exposed the fact that the RINO’s (Republicans In Name Only) prefer to deal with liberal Democrats rather than conservatives in their own party. Both The Washington Post and Politico report that Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva is boasting that the GOP leadership approach to the bailout will require joining with Democrats and bypassing conservatives.

“They have to work with us” Grijalva is quoted as saying in Politico. He predicted that the final bill would have “an overwhelming number of Democrats” voting for it. The bill being pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan would reward Puerto Rico for its deficit spending by making it possible to write off nearly half its debt, leaving bond owners holding the bag. The bonds were purchased with the assurance that Federal law did not permit Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy, while the House bill would allow bankruptcy in all but name. Conservatives have insisted that Puerto Rico must cut back on its massive welfare state in order to repay those who loaned it the $72 billion currently owed.

GOP leaders have even threatened that if conservatives do not allow the bill to pass, the next step would be to proceed with a taxpayer-financed bailout of Puerto Rico (no doubt with enthusiastic Democratic support). That might set a precedent for further bailouts of mismanaged Democratic states, such as Illinois, which also have serious debt problems.

Democrats, with whom the GOP leaders have been negotiating, are demanding that the bill’s spending controls be loosened and that regulatory relief be eliminated. They appear confident that the GOP leaders will make these concessions rather than push a get-tough-on-spending bill that would have conservative support.

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