As of now there are around 120 cosponsors of a House bill that will give Congressional approval to the Puerto Rican statehood movement to officially vote on statehood... The statehood movement in PR was - with a majority - approved by the voters of Puerto Rico. 3 cosponsors were added on December 11th alone.

When do you / do you think this statehood bill will be passed by Congress? I predict it will garner media attention rapidly and be addressed in the next year.,

I see no reason to make PR a state. They will be a leech on the rest of us when we can least afford it. They are under no foreign threat. What would the purpose be?

(12-17-2013 04:05 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  I see no reason to make PR a state. They will be a leech on the rest of us when we can least afford it. They are under no foreign threat. What would the purpose be?

They are a territory of the United States at the moment, meaning they get most - if not all - of the same laws and policies the rest of us do. They even have members of Congress - they just cannot vote.

It is the principle of "taxation without representation". They are technically part of the USA as a protected territory, but they are not technically a state.

(12-17-2013 04:14 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 04:05 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  I see no reason to make PR a state. They will be a leech on the rest of us when we can least afford it. They are under no foreign threat. What would the purpose be?

They are a territory of the United States at the moment, meaning they get most - if not all - of the same laws and policies the rest of us do. They even have members of Congress - they just cannot vote.

It is the principle of "taxation without representation". They are technically part of the USA as a protected territory, but they are not technically a state.

They can also vote for independence, but that would mean no more cash cow.

What does PR bring to the table? We already got plenty of poverty.

(12-17-2013 04:18 PM)SumOfAllFears Wrote:  What does PR bring to the table? We already got plenty of poverty.

The economy would get a boost from all of the 51 star flag sales?

Whoever pays attention might get a civics lesson?

The majority of Puerto Ricans probably don’t want statehood…

Their 2012 statehood ballot was politically contrived.. so much that
nearly half a million voters who did not support statehood were not
counted due to a manipulated two part referendum.

I don't think now is a good time to insert a divided and corrupt little protectorate to our welfare rolls.

(12-17-2013 04:03 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  As of now there are around 120 cosponsors of a House bill that will give Congressional approval to the Puerto Rican statehood movement to officially vote on statehood... The statehood movement in PR was - with a majority - approved by the voters of Puerto Rico. 3 cosponsors were added on December 11th alone.

When do you / do you think this statehood bill will be passed by Congress? I predict it will garner media attention rapidly and be addressed in the next year.,

It flat out won't happen. And I am against it. Here's why:

1) Puerto Rico's debt to GDP is a staggering 89%. It is literally TEN FOLD worse than any other state. It is several times worse even than Detroit. Of course they want statehood: THEY WANT A BAILOUT.

2) Puerto Rico is very VERY liberal. As long as the GOP controls any part of the legislative process, it won't happen. Not unless you're going to also allow Texas to split into multiple states like their statehood charter allows or bring in USVI or some other conservative area.

(12-17-2013 04:14 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 04:05 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  I see no reason to make PR a state. They will be a leech on the rest of us when we can least afford it. They are under no foreign threat. What would the purpose be?

They are a territory of the United States at the moment, meaning they get most - if not all - of the same laws and policies the rest of us do. They even have members of Congress - they just cannot vote.

It is the principle of "taxation without representation". They are technically part of the USA as a protected territory, but they are not technically a state.

Their application for statehood cannot be taken seriously when they are bankrupt. They had Fortuno who was turning things around, but they booted him out because the freebies were curtailed. Now they want the freebies to come direct from Washington. There is a reason half the damn island is in New York City: even NYC seems like a bastion of responsible governance and low regulation by comparison. And that is before we address cultural issues ... they don't even teach English on the island. How in the hell are regular people going to be able to inform themselves of what is going on in Washington when it isn't even in the same language??

(12-17-2013 04:22 PM)AngryAphid Wrote:  The majority of Puerto Ricans probably don’t want statehood…

Their 2012 statehood ballot was politically contrived.. so much that
nearly half a million voters who did not support statehood were not
counted due to a manipulated two part referendum.

agreed, Aphid... the population of PR doesn't want statehood. The only reason it passed the last time was as you said, due to some political shenagins.

Expect to hear from the Macheteros if PR gets any closer to statehood than they are now. You can sometimes hear them as bombs going off or gun fire. They're a nasty bunch.

(12-17-2013 04:05 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  I see no reason to make PR a state. They will be a leech on the rest of us when we can least afford it. They are under no foreign threat. What would the purpose be?

They already leech off the US and pay no taxes. What this is, is the democrats trying to get to more senators from what would become a DARK BLUE state. They are also pushing for DC state hood so they pick up 4 forever blue senate seats.

Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

(12-17-2013 07:30 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

Times were different then. Most people probably had no idea about either of those two places.

(12-17-2013 07:30 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

Both states weren't bankrupt. Hawaii has a booming tourism industry. Alaska is rich in natural resources.

Puerto Rico is bankrupt with no major industries.

(12-17-2013 07:50 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 07:30 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

Both states weren't bankrupt. Hawaii has a booming tourism industry. Alaska is rich in natural resources.

Puerto Rico is bankrupt with no major industries.

Well, they do have tourism and Big Pharma has a lot of large plants down there. They also have a booming drug trade, particularly cocaine.

(12-17-2013 07:50 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 07:30 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

Both states weren't bankrupt. Hawaii has a booming tourism industry. Alaska is rich in natural resources.

Puerto Rico is bankrupt with no major industries.

I wouldn't be shocked if Myrtle Beach generated more tourism dollars than the whole of Puerto Rico.

(12-17-2013 08:09 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 07:50 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(12-17-2013 07:30 PM)Ole Blue Wrote:  Do you think people said, Hawaii will be a Democrat state, when they went from territory to state? Same for Alaska.

Both states weren't bankrupt. Hawaii has a booming tourism industry. Alaska is rich in natural resources.

Puerto Rico is bankrupt with no major industries.

I wouldn't be shocked if Myrtle Beach generated more tourism dollars than the whole of Puerto Rico.

Its a great place to win a basketball tournament.