Puerto Rico- The 51st U.S. State ??????

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Puerto Rico has a population of about 3.5 million. Puerto Ricans ARE U.S. Citizens. It would be our 31st most populace state, IF it were to become a state. The latest polls in PR are almost 50% for statehood. While the status quo, and becoming an independent nation, both account for only about 30%. There is nothing sacred about having just 50 states. Each year Statehood gets closer and closer. Will we have to redesign the flag?

Personally, I believe PRs will always be second class citizens, if they remain as they are. A hurricane proved that.
 

How about making Washington, D.C. a state? They have been begging, pleading, lobbying etc. for statehood for a very long time.
 
Well, Puerto Rico could take the place of California, if California follows through on their threat to become a separate nation. Then there'd be a star available for PR. I'm not sure who we'd have to get rid of to make way for the state of Washington DC.....

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has always felt that, like Rodney Dangerfield, "they don't get no respect" and there has been a vocal minority that wants to split off and become their own state. Dagnabbitt, ANOTHER star to worry about. Maybe we can give Alaska back to Russia.
 

jujube said:
Well, Puerto Rico could take the place of California, if California follows through on their threat to become a separate nation. Then there'd be a star available for PR. I'm not sure who we'd have to get rid of to make way for the state of Washington DC.....

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has always felt that, like Rodney Dangerfield, "they don't get no respect" and there has been a vocal minority that wants to split off and become their own state. Dagnabbitt, ANOTHER star to worry about. Maybe we can give Alaska back to Russia.
Click to expand...

Leave CA. alone!!

I say just add Rhode Island to NY.


556071CA-53ED-4E01-B0B1-BAFD54D0EEF4.gif
 
The U.S. really does not need PR’s debt. The people in PR receives a lot of the same benefits as the people in the U.S. and unless they work for the gov’t., they don’t pay federal income taxes. PR also receives over $20bil in aid every year.
 
This issue has gone to referendum 3 times. The choices were independence, status quo, statehood. Status quo won every time.
If you look at the nearby islands, independence would be a total looser. Statehood would cost them their special tax treatment.
That leaves them the status quo, but they need to clean it up and manage it better.
The people of the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa are all American citizens. Those entities are not states either. DC was never intended to be a state.
If anything it should be reduced to the area where government is conducted, and the rest returned to Maryland. Arlington VA was once part of DC and was returned to VA.
 
Sorry, Manatee. There was a referendum in 2017. They gave a referendum and nobody voted. It was boycotted by 80% of PR, but "statehood" won by a landslide. Currently, all polls are overwhelmingly for statehood. It was pretty obvious the difference in disaster aid depended on whether you were a US State vs. a US Territory.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Sorry, Manatee. There was a referendum in 2017. They gave a referendum and nobody voted. It was boycotted by 80% of PR, but "statehood" won by a landslide. Currently, all polls are overwhelmingly for statehood. It was pretty obvious the difference in disaster aid depended on whether you were a US State vs. a US Territory.
Click to expand...


The difference in disaster aid was a result of geography, It is 1000 miles from mainland US to PR. The infrastructure was a disaster before the storm.
 
oldman said:
The U.S. really does not need PR’s debt. The people in PR receives a lot of the same benefits as the people in the U.S. and unless they work for the gov’t., they don’t pay federal income taxes. PR also receives over $20bil in aid every year.
Click to expand...

PR is a mess. The median income is less than 20K/yr., which means that if that place were granted statehood, more than half the population would be added to our already stressed social programs....it would accelerate the day when things like Medicare reach a breaking point. Unless/Until PR addresses some of its own internal issues, they should NOT be granted statehood, IMO.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top