President Obama is the first sitting president in about 50 years to visit Puerto Rico, and apparently the message he's bringing is "statehood now." http://blogs.reuters.com/gregg-east...the-51st-state-it-would-be-good-for-business/ Thoughts?
I'm personally for it just because Puerto Rico already follows a lot of US customs, primarily with currency, so it actually seems unfair that they can't vote and such with being a US territory. I've honestly wondered why this hadn't happened yet for a long time because I never understood the whole "territory" concept not being a state.
So Puerto Ricans have no problems with this? I honestly don't know their thoughts on losing a chance at true national autonomy.
Yeah, the Republicans are going to be the biggest hurdle. The flag isn't a big deal. It's changed before, it can change again. The US wouldn't be taking over anything. Puerto Rico is already a commonwealth of the US. They basically are a state already, they just can't vote for president and don't have senators and congressmen to represent them in the Senate. No, Hawaii was the 50th. Puerto Rico has relied on the federal government for so long, that I'm not sure they can truly break away and be autonomous. None of the states can, which is why I laugh when a bunch of inbred rednecks in the south say they still want to secede. Their states are reliant on the federal government for defense, disaster relief, social security, medicare, infrastructure, etc, that the state would go broke without support for the government. I was in Puerto Rico a few years ago and a tour guide mentioned that Puerto Ricans are allowed to join the US Army and be sent off to die, but they can't vote for the people who would ship them off to war. And that's bullshit. And Puerto Rico is a fun place to visit, I recommend everyone goes some time. If you're a US Citizen, you don't need a passport, it's like traveling to any other state. Next time you're planning a vacation to a beach down in Florida, consider Puerto Rico instead.
I support this completely. Maybe I'll even see things improve between us and Cuba in my lifetime, that'd be interesting.
Considering how much it has in common with any other state already, I find it silly for anyone to be "against" adding Puerto Rico as a state.
What do the Republicans have to do with anything? Since when has expanding the empire been something the right isn't in favor for? Are we under the impression it'll just be a "I like the idea but hate Obama so fuck it" type deal?
Puerto Rico would basically guarantee 2 more Democratic senators, at least one more Democratic congressman, and at least 3 Democratic electoral votes. It's the same reason they're against statehood for Washington DC. DC is almost in the same boat as Puerto Rico. DC has 3 electoral votes, but no senators or congressional representatives. It's all about politics. The teabaggers will whine about no taxation without representation (even though they are represented - just by people they don't like) but the second people who truly are taxed without representation fight for that representation, the baggers are against it because it wouldn't help them politically. If PR or DC were heavily Republican areas, I bet they'd both be states by now.
I think that could be worked around. Many "traditionally" Democrat/Republican areas swing back and forth with a little extra effort, and if what I'm reading about PR being super pissed off about high crime and no jobs, that actually sounds like a golden bagger opportunity. Not entirely likely, but plausible enough I think.
Yeah, it's not that Puerto Rico would be liberal like California or anything, but the GOP hasn't done anything to win over Latinos. The Tea Party is a bunch of racists, their immigration policies suck, and they've worked so hard for so long to deny Puerto Rico voting rights that they're not going to win anyone over. I once heard a bagger bitching about all of the illegal immigrants for Puerto Rico. I brought up the fact that there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant from Puerto Rico since Puerto Ricans are US citizens and are free to move to the mainland, and when confronted with these facts, he said "Well, they're a bunch of [insert racial slur for Mexicans here] anyways" I was there in 2008 during the primaries - right before Puerto Ricans voted (they do get to vote in presidential primaries, just not the general election). I saw a lot of signs and support for Clinton and Obama, and none for any of the GOP candidates.
Yeah, the whole thing is strange, really. You'd think conservatives would work harder for the Latino vote. The Republicans are usually good at playing politics to their advantage, but I guess being a xenophobic dipshit can really cloud your judgment. Edit: Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, I'm not saying all Republicans are like that. I'm not one for broad generalizations.
But I think it's safe to say that if you ARE a xenophobic dipshit, there's a 95% chance you're a Republican
http://www.nbra.info/ The NBRA would disagree with the generalizing ignorance here. What does Puerta Rico have to offer economically? Because politics asside, the only reason we should consider taking in any other states, would be if we were a stable country (which we're not) orrrr another state could help. I don't see that happening in this situation.