On Sunday, Lin-Manuel “Miracle” Miranda appeared on the HBO news show to cap off a segment on Puerto Rico’s money troubles and congressional silence on the issue – see his AMAZING freestyle right here (we’ve lined this up for you folks – starts with the rap)
And what’s more, this worked. Senator Ryan is due to meet the superstar over Puerto Rico’s crisis. The dude makes a rap – and it happens.
Chalk up three wins for Hamilton in just under two weeks. First, the show’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda snags a Pulitzer for his work. Then, Hamilton’s sudden popularity keeps him as the “Ten Dollar Founding Father.” And now, thanks to a heartfelt rap performance on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight, Miranda has put Puerto Rico on Congress’s (or at least Rep. Paul Ryan’s) priority list.
Puerto Rico is essentially Detroit writ large: an economy bolstered by now bygone industry, led for decades by politicians who spent as though the bonanza would never come to an end. Unfortunately, unlike Detroit, Puerto Rico is unable to declare bankruptcy, leaving its population in the lurch.
https://heatst.com/culture-wars/usc-cancels-legends-of-the-games-industry-event-for-not-including-women/
Miranda, whose parents are Puerto Rico natives, has been trying to bring attention to the issue for some time. But his performance on Sunday, in which he offered a personal performance of Hamilton in Speaker Paul Ryan’s home (or a dance with Nancy Pelosi), had major impact. Wednesday morning, Rep. Paul Ryan addressed Miranda’s request directly in an interview, calling the request “surreal,” but assuring Miranda that Congress is “working on Puerto Rico.” Ryan urged patience, adding that Congress is considering ways for Puerto Rico to restructure its debt. Ryan did say there would be no taxpayer bailout, however.
Clearly, Paul Ryan really wants those Hamilton tickets.
Whether Congress moves quickly on Puerto Rico depends heavily on whether Republicans or Democrats see a solution as beneficial in November. States with a high expatriate Puerto Rican population, like Florida, could be battlegrounds. Republicans lost the Puerto Rican vote in 2012, but could recover enough to put Florida back in play, if they can come up with a decent recovery plan.