Puerto Rico is the latest below-the-radar issue that John Oliver has taken on.
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“Look, there are certainly better voices than mine to speak on behalf of Puerto Rico”. Last night on Last Week Tonight, Oliver delved into Puerto Rico’s financial crisis, demonstrating that the quagmire that’s left half of the island’s population in poverty is not entirely of its own making. “We have to start treating [Puerto Rico] like an island of American citizens whose fate is interwoven with ours”, Oliver said.
The comedian then called on Miranda, the son of Puerto Rican immigrants and a recent Pulitzer Prize-recipient for “Hamilton”, to help urge USA lawmakers to allow Puerto Rico to restructure its debt.
Against a morose piano accompaniment, Miranda describes Puerto Rico as “a commonwealth with not a lotta wealth, a not-quite nation” before launching into a desperate bid for the American government to heed his concerns.
“Hoping to God John Oliver’s comical dissertation resonates with the Congress that got us in this situation”, he rapped. Along with suicidal tax incentive declarations, ‘Yeah we’ll pay your bonds first, close the hospital, f- the patients. “A hurricane is coming and we’re running up a loss”.
Puerto Rico has been forced to cut costs for healthcare even as the Zika virus threatens to infect one-in-five residents of the island. Not a bailout, just relief, a belief that you can pass legislation to ease our grief.
To drive the point home, the creator of the hit Broadway show “Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel Miranda, appeared on the HBO show and performed an original rap on the crisis.
Miranda also promised Paul Ryan that he would personally come sing at his house while wearing “my Hamilton blouse”.
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“The good news here is, Congress is now considering a bipartisan bill that would give Puerto Rico some breathing room to negotiate with creditors”, Oliver explained as he noted, “This could be a real help to Puerto Rico”.
