Puerto Rico, the 51st State?

[Hypestyle]

Puerto Rican island residents formally vote for statehood- http://tinyurl.com/b2qf5hy
This non-binding referendum would have to be approved by Congress.

I respect the independence movement, but I think that full statehood would help to force the rest of the country to accept the multiculturalism that is already becoming more of the norm in different regions. I hope this becomes something to formally address by the White House, sooner than later.

American tourists head to puerto rico for fun, but they don't really have to take the residents "seriously", since they can't vote for a President. Same goes for American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. If conservatives and others are genuinely interested in reaching out to more diverse coalitions, they'll take this topic seriously instead of reflexively dismissing it.

side note- I'm sure a lot of people are under the impression that there have "always" been 50 states, lol. Of course, it wasn't truly that long ago when there were just 48 well into the 20th century. Perhaps a future president can be from...

 

[SuperFerret]

Puerto Rican island residents formally vote for statehood- http://tinyurl.com/b2qf5hy
This non-binding referendum would have to be approved by Congress.

I respect the independence movement, but I think that full statehood would help to force the rest of the country to accept the multiculturalism that is already becoming more of the norm in different regions. I hope this becomes something to formally address by the White House, sooner than later.

American tourists head to puerto rico for fun, but they don't really have to take the residents "seriously", since they can't vote for a President. Same goes for American Samoa and the Virgin Islands. If conservatives and others are genuinely interested in reaching out to more diverse coalitions, they'll take this topic seriously instead of reflexively dismissing it.

side note- I'm sure a lot of people are under the impression that there have "always" been 50 states, lol. Of course, it wasn't truly that long ago when there were just 48 well into the 20th century. Perhaps a future president can be from...

Guh?

 

[Hypestyle]

Guh?

Back in 2008, reggaeton rapper/singer Daddy Yankee publicly endorsed John McCain during his Presidential bid. I know how various folks feel about celeb endorsements, but my point is this. Whoever Yankee endorsed is absolutely his business-- but looking at Yankee's background, he was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and apparently was raised on the island. By the time of his endorsement of McCain, I don't know if he was an official resident of the mainland or not-- but if not, this guy would not be allowed to vote for his candidate!

As geographically distant from the mainland as Hawaii and Alaska are, it's taken for granted for decades now that these regions are just as "American" as anywhere else..

 

[SuperFerret]

Not even close.

Stereotypically, American tourists don't take any residents of the places they visit seriously, and believe me, as a resident of a major tourist destination (where people can and do vote for President), the ability to vote is not a consideration in that regard.

 

[Marx]

The potential design for the new US flag is pretty cool.

 

[Evelisse]

Sound's good to me, would have to fine a 52nd state quick, OCD people will not cope with 51 stars on the flag for long I'd imagine.

 

[wiegeabo]

The potential design for the new US flag is pretty cool.

Are you talking about the one with the circle?

 

[Marx]

Are you talking about the one with the circle?

Yep.

 

[wiegeabo]

That one freaks me out. Doesn't even look like the US flag anymore!

This is another proposed flag

 

[Marx]

...that one isn't bad either.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

I figured Washington D.C. would become a state first....

I don't think it legally can. It's all Federal land.

 

[Boom]

The potential design for the new US flag is pretty cool.

Interesting. Could you post it?

 

[Mikelus]

Congress expected to ignore Puerto Rico's vote for statehood

Congress is likely to respond to Puerto Rico's vote in favor of statehood with stony silence, and is not expected to undertake any effort to make Puerto Rico the 51st state.

Puerto Rico's vote to seek statehood with the United States seems historic on its face, since the island territory had never formally approved such a referendum. But congressional staffers said the numbers behind the vote, plus the related political circumstances under which it occurred, mean few in Congress are expected to see any pressing need to pass legislation related to the island's status.

On the numbers, Puerto Ricans voted 922,374-786,749 against the status quo of the island being a U.S. territory. With that hurdle cleared, 61 percent of voters chose statehood in a second question, and 39 percent picked other options.

But the ballot did not include other non-statehood options, and hundreds of thousands of voters left blank their preferred choice. CNN reported this week that this flaw in the vote could mean that the option of statehood might still garner less than 50 percent of the vote, and could be near the 46 to 48 percent level of support that has been seen in past votes.

Republican and Democratic staffers in the House told The Hill this week that they are fully aware of these details, which is why the vote is not being seen in Congress as reason to start considering legislation for Puerto Rico's statehood. One House aide said the 61 percent vote in favor of statehood is seem by some in Congress as a "statistical fiction."

The political circumstances surrounding the vote are also being seen as real hurdles to making the island a U.S. state. Most importantly, Puerto Rican voters also decided to oust Republican Gov. Luis Fortuno, a strong supporter of statehood.

Fortuno was beaten by Alejandro Garcia Padilla, who wants Puerto Rico to remain a U.S. territory. This means that while Puerto Rico's non-voting Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D) will continue to push for statehood in the U.S. Congress, the effort is unlikely to go anywhere.

"The new government doesn't support statehood," one House aide said flatly, speaking of the new governor.

Pierluisi, who won reelection on Tuesday, told reporters this week that the statehood referendum means the U.S. Congress will "have to react." But his office did not respond to a request for comment about whether Pierluisi effectively lost his mandate to keep pursuing statehood when Garcia was elected.

Another House aide said some in Congress see the mandate for statehood as being significantly weakened because some believe it was only raised in an effort by Fortuno to draw more voters into the voting booths to help save his own reelection. This aide said that perception hurts Puerto Rico's case, since it makes the vote look like an attempt to engineer the outcome of the governor's race, rather than a sincere attempt to seek statehood.

"As a strategy, it failed miserably," this aide added, given that Fortuno lost his race anyway.

Puerto Rico faces other hurdles within the United States. Statehood for the island is an issue that Republicans tend to oppose, which makes it highly unlikely that House Republicans would advance the issue even if Puerto Rico were making a genuine push for this change.

The House voted 223-169 in favor of statehood in 2010, but that vote was held when Democrats controlled the chamber.

It's also unclear whether the Obama administration sees Puerto Rico's vote as an action-forcing event. The Obama administration assembled a task force on Puerto Rico's status, which released a report in 2010 that outlined several status options the island might pursue.

But the administration did not respond to a request for comment on how it sees the vote. The State Department, which participated in the task-force report, deferred questions to the White House.

Over the summer, the Democrats' 2012 political platform said Puerto Rico needs to decide for itself what change in status it should seek in relation to the United States. But it also said that if the Nov. 6 vote does not resolve the issue, the U.S. should set out a clear set of options for the island.

As of this week, at least, it's unclear whether the administration sees the Nov. 6 vote as providing clarity, or muddling the question even further.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-acti...xpected-to-ignore-puerto-ricos-statehood-vote

 

[Marx]

Interesting. Could you post it?

I think these are the two most talked about...

 

[wiegeabo]

The circle just freaks me out, man.

FREAKS ME OUT!!!


seriously, it doesn't even look like a US flag

 

[Kelly]

No...........................no circle thing. No, just NO.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I always thought it was strange that they added stars every time a new state joined. By that logic, they should change the stripes as well.

 

[Kelly]

I always thought it was strange that they added stars every time a new state joined. By that logic, they should change the stripes as well.

Why? when the stripes are to represent the original 13 colonies...?

 

[Thundercrack85]

Why? when the stripes are to represent the original 13 colonies...?

They had thirteen stripes because they had thirteen states. They also had thirteen stars to represent the same thirteen states. Seems arbitrary to change the stars and not the stripes.

 

[Kelly]

They had thirteen stripes because they had thirteen states. They also had thirteen stars to represent the same thirteen states. Seems arbitrary to change the stars and not the stripes.

Because they do not represent the 13 states, they represent the 13 original colonies that fought for this countries Independence...therefore there is no reason to change the number of stripes because there were only 13 original colonies.

In the following years the flag did not change until 1818, when a plan was passed by Congress at the suggestion of U.S. Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid. This act increased the star count on the flag to 20, while maintaining the original thirteen stripes to symbolize the original thirteen colonies. The act also included a provision stating that as new states are admitted to the union, a new star would be added to the flag on the following Fourth of July.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I'm sure that in some parallel universe Captain Reid said "add a stripe for every new state".

 

[Smashlilman]

like 6-7 more electoral votes for the Democrats. lol

The funny thing is that Puerto Rico as a country is conservative. It's only when Puerto Ricans move to the main land United States they get pushed into the arms of the Democrats by Republicans. If Republicans could run a fresh face Republican that has a Jeb Bush or a George W Bush like appeal to Hispanic then Republicans could actually win Puerto Rico. The party leaders just need to stand up to the bigoted elements within the republican party to do so instead of just pandering to them.

The circle just freaks me out, man.

FREAKS ME OUT!!!


seriously, it doesn't even look like a US flag

No...........................no circle thing. No, just NO.

Why not?! It looks old school American to me.

 

[Hypestyle]

51 >>>>>>>>>>>> 50

 

[Mikelus]

The funny thing is that Puerto Rico as a country is conservative. It's only when Puerto Ricans move to the main land United States they get pushed into the arms of the Democrats by Republicans.

Puerto Ricans are not that conservative, they like big government and federal benefits, which is the main reason they prefer being a territory of the United States over independence.

Puerto Rico's economy has experienced a downward spiral since the 1970s. Based on tax-incentivized investments from big business and the largesse of big government, the current economic model isn't working, according to key officials and opinion-makers interviewed by the Cronkite Borderlands Initiative.

Puerto Rico's unemployment rate is almost double the U.S. mainland's rate. The labor force participation rate is one of the lowest in the world, an indication that a high percentage of Puerto Ricans find it better to depend on government benefits than to work.

Puerto Rico's per capita income of $15,203 is not even half that of Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S. The island's largest employer is the government. U.S.-based businesses reap tax benefits as foreign investors, but their profits haven't been invested locally to fuel the infrastructure, growth and job development that were envisioned.

"We do have the poverty we have, and we need to deal with [it], and that's an issue," said Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, who represents Puerto Rico in a non-voting capacity in Congress. "That's going to be an issue as a state, as a territory, regardless."

The Economist magazine calculated that from 1990 to 2009, the U.S. government spent $182 billion more in Puerto Rico than it received from the territory in taxes. Eleven other states had a higher deficit, but Puerto Rico's deficit was the highest when evaluated as a percentage of its annual economic output, Gross Domestic Product. Puerto Rico's deficit was 290 percent of GDP. Comparable measurements indicated that the closest states were New Mexico, Mississippi and West Virginia. The conclusion? Puerto Rico benefits more from federal expenditures than any of the poorest U.S. states.

Increasingly Dependent on the U.S. Government

In addition to its reliance on outside investment, Puerto Rico has become increasingly dependent on Washington. Of the approximately $22 billion it receives from the U.S. annually, more than $6 billion went towards federal aid such as food stamps and funding for low income housing in 2011.

Rather than empowering Puerto Ricans and encouraging a strong manufacturing and small-business platform, the system encourages government handouts, said Franklin Delano López, former chairman of the New Democratic Party of Puerto Rico.

"The failure that we're seeing on the island in terms of economy, in terms of violence and corruption," said López, "is a result of a failed educational system that has been designed within the framework of a paternalistic society."

http://cronkite.asu.edu/buffett/puertorico/economy.html

 

[wraith20878]

That one freaks me out. Doesn't even look like the US flag anymore!

This is another proposed flag

I like that one, reminds me of the American flag during the Civil War.