The Jones Act… huh! Good God… What is it good for?… Absolutely nothing, say it again…

On July 2, 2015 I submitted a petition to President Obama asking him to repeal or amend the Jones Act. Specifically, the requirement that all commercial shipping between the mainland and US territories and island states are required to be carried by the US Merchant Marine. I did it because I want to improve my little corner of the world (Puerto Rico) and because it’s a law that does not give any real benefits to Puerto Rico. A rudimentary business concept, in any industry, is that competition benefits the consumer. This law forbids competition. These are facts , not feelings.

There’s ample room to debate the level of the impact these laws have had and to debate how significant the effect of eliminating them would be. But I have not heard nor seen a single argument based on data suggesting that laws help us or suggesting that eliminating them would hurt us… sooooo, why would we want these laws?? Why would any Puerto Rican defend them?
This is not a partisan issue, although political fanatics try to present it that way (there are members from every political party that have publicly denounced The Jones Act). This is an economic issue that affects all residents of Puerto Rico, and also Hawaii. Even if we become a US state these laws will still negatively affect us; again, look at Hawaii. The only groups that defend these laws are the corporations that comprise the oligopoly created by the law, and their lobbyist of course. If you’re not the owner, or family of the owner, of Crowley, why would you defend the law? What do you gain by obstructing honest attempts to change a shitty law?

I’m very aware of the fact that there is much more that Puerto Rico must improve to get out of the fiscal hole we’re in. Among the many things that we must address are the high local taxes, operational inefficiencies, poor civil/city planning and execution, our colonial status, corruption within our government and gross mismanagement of public funds (note: it’s not lack of money, there’s a lot of money in PR, it’s just mismanaged). That’s a long list of issues huh? How do you attack a long list of issues? ONE AT A TIME.

Most of us, individually, don’t have enough money, power, nor influence to have a profound impact on these issues. Tax rates cannot be modified by regular citizens, that’s up to our elected representatives. We can’t just decide to become a US State or independent country as individuals, the US Federal Government and the Puerto Rican Government have to address that (primarily the former). But we can fight these anti-competitive cabotage laws without lobbyists, without a multi million dollar budget, and without being in a position of power. One by one we can affect change. One by one by one by one we can do great things.

President Obama can remove these laws by executive order. Help us reach the 100,000 signatures and compel the President to respond. Even if he wants to tell us to f**k ourselves, he would have to say it publicly if we reach the signature goal. Please sign and share the petition. This is a problem that we can all attack together. All you need to make a difference is an Internet connection…  if you’re reading this we know you can access the Internet.

Here is the link: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/provide-financial-relief-hawaii-alaska-and-puerto-rico-eliminating-cabotage-laws-born-out-jones-act.\

Please be a part of the solution.

– JGC

PS … do not confuse the Jones Act that imposed cabotage laws with the Jones-Shathrof Act that gave US citizenship to Puerto Ricans. Some people spreading misinformation trying to scare us from taking on the maritime oligopoly.