Puerto Rico Statehood and General Discussion

[mgk920]

(oops, duplicate of an earlier post of mine)



Mike

[Bori427]

Looks great to me!

[Tsoman]

It looks a little asymmetrical to me.

[annavanjhn]

thats funny! everybody knows that it is just a dream of puerto ricons but not americans!

[Bori427]

Puerto Rico Primary A Chance For Influence, Attention
By EDMUND H. MAHONY | Courant Staff Writer
April 27, 2008

Statehooders hope it calls attention to the injustice of life in one of the world's last colonies.

Commonwealthers want to scare Washington away from even talking about statehood.

And the Independentistas are counting on enough confusion that reporters from the mainland write a simpler story: The "emptiness" of it all.

Welcome to the Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico, a place where, for the uninitiated, things rarely are what they seem when politics is part of the equation

Normally, the island rates an asterisk in national elections. Voters, although U.S. citizens, are prohibited as residents of a territory from voting for president or members of Congress.

But the Democratic Party gives Puerto Rico's 4 million citizens 63 delegates, more than it gives 27 of the states. With Hillary Clinton invigorated by Pennsylvania and again challenging Barack Obama in one of the most contentious primaries ever, Puerto Rico's June 1 election has acquired unprecedented importance as the last big — and potentially decisive — contest on the national calendar.

And that is getting it unprecedented attention.

Over the nine remaining primaries, Clinton's best chance of nomination lies in a cumulative or popular-vote victory, and in using such a win to persuade superdelegates — the party leaders who hold a controlling block of convention votes — that she is more electable than Obama, whose delegate lead at this point looks secure.

Puerto Rico could play a key role in settling the question. Its 2.4 million registered voters participate at rates that shame voters in the states. An independent poll conducted the first week of April showed Clinton leading by 13 percentage points among likely primary voters of both sexes, all ages and from all parts of the island.

Of course, Clinton faces an uphill fight. She will need to remain competitive through primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. And she'll need a favorable apportionment of votes in the disputed states of Michigan and Florida. But if events fall her way — a big if — it could leave Democrats with a mess: one candidate ahead in votes, another in delegates and a nomination fight spilling into summer.

Political leaders in Puerto Rico see opportunity in that mess, a historic chance to draw attention to pressing local issues, foremost among them the fundamental fact of political life on the island: Even if Puerto Rico plays a decisive role in selecting a Democratic nominee, its enthusiastic voters will watch in enforced silence come November.

The contradiction has paralyzed the local political debate for decades, dividing voters into rival camps.

Should the island become a sovereign nation and be done with Washington? Should Congress make it the 51st state, with national voting rights? Or should it remain some form of territory, a status referred to as commonwealth but castigated by statehood advocates and Independentistas as a vestige of colonialism?

Clinton and Obama are profoundly neutral on the island's pre-eminent political issue. A candidate who supports one status alienates devotees of the others. But their local surrogates already are sniping over the issue. That could give the last, big stop on the primary map a decidedly Puerto Rican flavor.

"It is ironic that the colony may end up deciding who the president of the empire is going to be," said Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua, an author and commentator in San Juan. "Actually, it is absolutely amazing. Secondly, this primary will have nothing to do with Obama or Hillary. It will be very local, very Puerto Rican."



Quirks
And, potentially, very quirky.

English-speaking candidates will court mostly Spanish-speaking voters on the mountains and beaches of an improbably urgent, Caribbean campaign stop.

They will do so in a Democratic primary on an island where mainland political affiliations, Republican and Democrat, are largely irrelevant. Puerto Rico voters can register to participate in presidential primaries, but identify with local parties built on the competing status options.

It is the island's political leaders who use Republican and Democratic affiliation mainly as a means of gathering support in Washington. With no votes in Congress, those leaders are forced to rely on personal political alliances — and paid lobbyists — to protect Puerto Rico's interests at the nation's Capitol.

"Let's look at the bright side," said Fernando Martin, executive president of the Puerto Rico Independence Party. "The primary is a caricature of colonialism. And if in some way that becomes more evident to Mr. Barack Obama and Mrs. Hillary Clinton, well, all the better. Because, any observer can't but be somewhat shocked by the politically grotesque nature of the event, no?"

While others are voting on June 1, Martin said, the Independentistas will have a "mass rally" to demonstrate "the emptiness of the process" while "trying to take advantage of the fact, I presume, that there will be substantial press from the U.S."

And some in the pro-commonwealth, Popular Democratic Party are hoping for a massive turnout — for a reason their opponents in the pro-statehood New Progressive Party find infuriatingly cynical.

A big turnout in a Democratic primary, the thinking goes, will mortify mainland Republicans who, blind to the nuance of island politics, will take it as a sign that Puerto Rico would send an overwhelmingly Democratic delegation to Congress if admitted as a state.

"Who can convince a Republican that Puerto Rico will not be a Democratic state?" Alejandro Garcia Padilla, a pro-commonwealth candidate for Puerto Rico's Senate asked last month. "The vote in the primary should stop statehood for many generations because no Republican is going to include a state that would have several Democratic legislators."

Statehooders are treating the primary seriously, just as they would if Puerto Rico had a voice in Washington. But they, too, are alert to a chance to make their case.

"I think it draws attention to this grave injustice that you can be a resident of Connecticut and move to Paris and in 30 years of being an American in Paris, you continue voting for president," said Kenneth McClintock, a statehooder and president of the Puerto Rico Senate.

"But if you move to San Juan and continue to live under the American flag, you lose the right to vote for president. An American in Paris votes, while an American in Barrio Paris in Puerto Rico cannot vote."



Hillary Vs. Barack
For their parts, Clinton and Obama are indistinguishably bland on Puerto Rico's status — at least to mainland eyes.

Clinton "strongly believes that Puerto Rico should have the status that a majority of its people want from among all the options." Obama promises to "work closely with the Puerto Rican government, its civil society, and with Congress to create a genuine and transparent process for self-determination."

That hasn't stopped the mining of the campaigns for nuggets of bias.

Some local observers are convinced Obama tipped his hand in February when he wrote Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila that he could support a local constitutional convention on status, the mechanism favored by Acevedo's pro-commonwealth party to resolve the impasse. Acevedo, a Democrat and Puerto Rico superdelegate, endorsed Obama the following day — a coup until March 27, when the governor was indicted for violating federal campaign finance laws.

On the other hand, many prominent statehooders support Clinton. They believe Clinton obliquely endorsed giving the island the political powers of a state when she said, in a position paper, "All people are entitled to a representative form of government at all levels." What's more, when her husband was president he convened a task force that proposed settling the status issue with two plebiscites, the mechanism backed by statehooders.

Clinton is the better known of the two on the island. She was there to protest the U.S. Navy's use of the island of Vieques as a bombing range and, later, inspected damage from Hurricane Georges. As senator, she has support in New York's large Puerto Rican community, and by extension, among others of the 4 million mainland Puerto Ricans living in places like Hartford and Orlando.

Obama visited briefly late last year for a fundraiser, but did not make a public appearance.

Aside from status, both candidates promise to expand health care benefits, clean up and better utilize the bombing range on Vieques, create jobs and stimulate the economy. Clinton is more specific about bringing federal payments, particularly Medicaid, Medicare and tax credits for parents, in line with what Washington gives the states.

Although issues arising from status surround the primary campaigns, status now appears less likely to be the solely determinative factor that it has been in past elections. That, local analysts said, is due to the loss in a March gubernatorial primary by Pedro Rosselló González, an influential Clinton supporter and arguably the island's most ardent statehood proponent.

Had Rosselló won, many believe he would have moved the Clinton campaign closer to the statehood camp and created more space between the candidates on status.

The result has been what one local wag called "gatherings of strange bedfellows." Clinton and Obama have collected endorsements from local political figures on both sides of the status question — politicians who normally would not share a podium.


Hard To Call
The cross-pollination makes the game harder to call.

When status drives elections, the result is usually a draw, because statehood and commonwealth advocates neutralize one another. That's what happened in the last notable presidential primary, the 1980 contest between President Carter and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Puerto Rico gave Carter, a statehood backer, one delegate more than Kennedy, who supported commonwealth.

Garcia Passalacqua, the San Juan commentator, believes the candidates' declared neutrality this time could yield the same kind of tie — giving lie to the prospect of Puerto Rico's playing the role of pre-convention wild card. When polled in early April, supporters of both candidates said the biggest concern they will bring to the polls is improving relations between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Garcia Passalacqua said that's code for resolving the status impasse.

The candidates "have chosen to be irrelevant to the enormous majority of voters here," he said. "This means participation in the primary will very low ... making it irrelevant, since delegates will split evenly. No wild card in Puerto Rico on June 1st."

Not everyone agrees, including Bruno Haring, whose firm, Research & Research, did the poll. His survey indicates 600,000 have a high interest in voting and the number increases to 850,000 when people who "may" vote are included. He said 700,000 voted in the March gubernatorial primary, a figure believed to be a record in a Puerto Rico primary. Others, including the Clinton campaign, have said the June 1 turnout could be even higher.

Andres W. Lopez, a statehooder and early member of the Obama team, said Obama has worked mightily to transcend the status divide, "because in a sense, this is about something larger than that."

"One of the things I think is terrific about this whole process is that it opens the door for people who may have legitimate differences on the status issue to actually work together for this common goal of getting their Democratic presidential candidate to win the primary."

Lopez, a political novice, could not have sounded more sincere. But former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre, a Puerto Rican, said that when status is involved, even open-handed gestures to political unity should be viewed with skepticism. He warned anyone watching the primary results on June 1 that what they see may not be what is really happening. The presidential primary could become a trial run by the statehood and commonwealth camps, preparing for their November elections.

"You may think the horse race will be between Clinton and Obama and that's not what it's going to be," Ferre said. "It is going to be between the two local parties and therefore it will completely skew the results, because nobody in Puerto Rico gives a damn who the candidate is. The irony is that Puerto Rico could give Clinton or Obama the result they need, but Puerto Rican voters in reality would have been voting on a local contest."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...ge=1&track=rss


Puerto Rico eyes statehood status
By Brian DeBose
April 26, 2008

The status of Puerto Rico — commonwealth, U.S. state or independent — could be settled soon by the island's populace if Congress will allow it.



Earlier this week, a bill to allow Puerto Rico residents to hold an official vote on whether to become a U.S. state or continue commonwealth status, passed a congressional committee for the first time, and the head of Puerto Rico's governing party says the time has never been more ripe for the Caribbean island to become the 51st state.



The New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, which is pro-statehood, has been trying to get Congress to sanction a vote for more than two years and says it thinks a bill can be passed this year. Previous referendums on the island's status have been held by its government without U.S. authorization.



"In the past, we've never had a federally sanctioned vote, which caused turnout to drop to about 70 percent, and we feel we can reach our average of 83 percent participation if we have Congress' support," said Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth D. McClintock, a party member.



Mr. McClintock's party is at the height of its political power, controlling both Puerto Rico's House of Representatives and Senate, and 42 of the island's 78 mayoral posts. Party Chairman Luis Fortuno is the territory's nonvoting delegate to Congress.



In addition to that, their chief rival and leader of the opposing party, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila has been indicted on 19 count of campaign-finance violations and mail fraud, negating his ability to effectively advocate against the bill.



Rep. Jose E. Serrano, New York Democrat, introduced the Puerto Rico Democracy Act in 2006, along with with Mr. Fortuno, but the bill had been languishing in committee until this week.



"I am very pleased that the process is finally moving forward to allow Puerto Ricans the ability to decide once and for all whether they would like to be a state or an independent nation," Mr. Serrano said.

Mr. McClintock wants a congressional floor vote by summer in order for his party to reach its goal of a referendum on the territory's status before the end of next year.



"We are very excited now, because my trip here was to advocate for the bill to come out of committee, and an hour before I arrived Tuesday, it was moved, and we are now calling for Congress to hold a vote on the floor," he said.



Mr. McClintock is also involved in the Democratic presidential race as co-chairman of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's National Hispanic Leadership Council.



He said it should be no surprise that recent polls of Puerto Rico voters show her getting 50 percent to Mr. Obama's 37 percent in advance of the island's June 1 Democratic primary, in which 63 delegates are up for grabs. While both Mrs. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have significant Puerto Rican populations in their states, her policy record is far more robust in terms of issues specific to Puerto Rico.



"In six years, she has either sponsored or worked to get passed a number of bills, including the domestic-manufacturing tax cut, and working to expand the child care tax credit so that any Puerto Rican with a child is eligible," he said.



Currently, Puerto Ricans must have three or more children to receive a child tax credit.



He also said Mrs. Clinton has visited the island many times, most notably after Hurricane Georges to make sure the island received Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Mr. Obama's only recent trip has been a fundraiser, in which he met with Mr. Acevedo Vila, but not with Mr. McClintock.



"Senator Obama has not sponsored or co-sponsored any legislation related to Puerto Rico," Mr. McClintock said. "I have had two private meetings and one political meeting with her, and none with him."


http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/...TION/952646792

[Bori427]

Our 51st "Estado"

By Chris Weigant



In the midst of the immigration debate raging in both houses of Congress, an old chestnut has been revived by Republicans: declaring English the national language. The issue polls extremely high with the general public, and Republicans even passed an amendment in the Senate earlier this month by a vote of 64-33, which means a bunch of Democrats (17 of them) voted for it as well. A similar amendment is part of the debate in the House. My question to these lingual purists is: what happens if Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state of the Union?

This is one of those back-burner issues that comes up for a vote now and again (in Puerto Rico), but then "never actually happens" -- so Americans feel free to ignore it as a whole. Or, I should say, "Americans outside of Puerto Rico," since all Puerto Ricans are already American citizens. But every referendum that happens, the percentage voting for statehood gets larger and larger. While it shouldn't be seen as an inevitability, it should indeed be seen as a strong possibility. Say, within the next ten years or so.

So what are we going to do if an American state speaks Spanish as their primary language? It's a question worth thinking about ahead of time.

There's a joke I heard while I was living in Europe, which goes like this:

Q: What do you call a person who speaks three languages?
A: "Trilingual."
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: "Bilingual."
Q: What do you call a person who speaks one language?
A: "An American."

This is obviously due to people from countries (who don't speak English) getting very tired of American tourists who seem to think that: "a-NY-bo-DY... who... speaks... ENG-lish... SLOW-ly... E-nough... and... who... e-NUN-ci-ATES... their... WORDS... well... E-nough..." can be understood by anyone on the planet, no matter what language they speak. You can understand their frustration, if you've ever seen an ignorant American tourist perform this embarrassing pantomime in another country.

But back to the home front. The first question raised is: "How the heck does a territory become a state, anyway?" This is the primary question asked by most Americans, which is due to the fact that we are now in the longest period in American history without admitting a new state. The last states who joined the Union were, of course, Hawaii and Alaska, both in 1959. This happened almost 47 years after the 48th state (Arizona) was admitted in 1912 -- but we have now gone almost 48 years without admitting a new state, breaking the previous record.

The answer is a little vague. Here is the relevant text from the Constitution:

Article IV, Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress.

In practical terms, this has usually meant that (1) the territory in question has to have a certain minimum number of people living in it, (2) they have to vote on it and have the majority favor statehood, and (3) they have to have a state constitutional convention, to enact a state constitution. And then, of course, Congress gets to vote whether to admit them or not.

Now, there really is only one candidate for becoming the 51st state: Puerto Rico. Ignoring deluded fantasies of splitting either California or Texas into multiple new states, and also ignoring the perennial push to declare the District of Columbia a state; Puerto Rico is really the only viable candidate. All the other U.S. territories (mostly islands in the Pacific) simply don't have enough people living in them.

Well, OK, I can't just ignore Washington, D.C. -- simply because they've got one heck of an amusing way of showing how annoyed they are that they have no (voting) representatives in Congress: their vehicle license plates. Since 2001, their license plates have provocatively displayed the following slogan: "Taxation Without Representation."

What a hoot! Using a Revolutionary War slogan on their official license plates to let all the congressional legislators (who see these plates on a daily basis, it should be noted) know how annoyed they are that they have no congressional representation who can cast a vote.

But I digress.

Puerto Rico has been actively considering statehood for some time now. They have held three referenda on the issue in the last few decades. The numbers and the trends they show are interesting, but not conclusive. The first of these three votes took place in 1967. 60.4% voted for continued "commonwealth" status, and 39.0% voted for statehood. The next took place in 1993. This time the vote was much closer, with 48.6% choosing the status quo of being a commonwealth, but 46.3% chose statehood (the numbers don't add up to 100% because other options, such as becoming an independent country, were also on the ballot). That's a spread of only 2.3% -- a pretty small margin. The most recent of these votes took place in 1998. The vote was a little skewed because the "commonwealth" faction overreached and used vague and unpopular language, so the "status quo" vote went to the newly-added "none of the above" option on the ballot. The outcome was 50.3% for "none of the above" and 46.5% for statehood. While the total percentage for statehood was higher than in 1993 by 0.2%, the "spread" was also higher, at 3.8%. So, statistically speaking, it's not clear what would happen if another vote were held today -- the trend could go either way, in other words.

But you've got to admit, it's still a pretty small margin. Which means that at some time during the next 10 years, another referendum could happen on the island, and if they reach a majority, then they will begin working on ratifying a state constitution and applying to Congress for statehood.

And it's an absolute certainty that their state constitution will not be "English-only" or proclaim English as the state language. Quite the opposite: they may set into their state constitution that the state government will conduct its affairs in two languages: Spanish and English. Or they may even (gasp!) declare Spanish their official state language.

So what is Congress going to do when faced with such a dilemma? What will the president (whomever it happens to be) say about the issue? Republican presidential candidates are already on record, with the exception of John McCain, of supporting English as a national language (it plays to their xenophobic base). But even John McCain, after denouncing such efforts, voted for that English-only amendment to the immigration bill (mentioned earlier). The Arizona Republic article skewers McCain thusly: "Anyone know the Spanish translation for flip-flop?"

What would we all do if a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico became our 51st state (after we redesign the U.S. flag, that is)? Obviously, at this point, any "English is our national language" nonsense will have to be repealed.

Of course, it would all be a lot easier if Democrats wouldn't vote for such silliness in the first place, but that may be too much to ask during the horse-trading which is currently at the center of the immigration debate. The most intelligent commentary I've heard on the subject comes from a retired Air Force officer, in an op-ed to the tiny Central Shenandoah Valley News Leader. It's worth reading for the common sense he offers.

I say let's not be the butt of the rest of the world's jokes. Let's admit that America can still be America with two official languages. Let's welcome Puerto Rico (if and when it happens) as our 51st state -- with no linguistic jingoism. We will wind up as a stronger country for having done so.

http://findelacolonia.blogspot.com/

[sogod]

What is the point of having a single country with two populations that can't communicate with one another? Why not just have two countries? Thats usually what happens anyways. And how on Earth can you construe not being able to talk to your fellow citizens as making your country stronger than the alternative, that being everyone can talk to everyone else? Thats just stupid.

[gars129]

Just cause puertoricans are hispanics doesn't mean we are less american. American means we live in the U.S., no matter if they are white, black, hispanics, asians. We are all inmigrants.

[Bori427]

Originally Posted by sogod

What is the point of having a single country with two populations that can't communicate with one another? Why not just have two countries? Thats usually what happens anyways. And how on Earth can you construe not being able to talk to your fellow citizens as making your country stronger than the alternative, that being everyone can talk to everyone else? Thats just stupid.

Then many countries in the world would have to divide,just look at Spain,it would be like 4 countries...

[alexis91]

Let's use this thread now that the other thread was closed.

[davsot]

thank god. thank you alexis for finding this thread. I'm gonna go ahead and add the proper tags just in case I don't want to have to go page by page searching for one thread. Thanks for doing the go ahead .

[davsot]

Originally Posted by annavanjhn

thats funny! everybody knows that it is just a dream of puerto ricons but not americans!

Well, Barrack Obama said he wants it. Is he not American enough for ya?

[davsot]

Originally Posted by sogod

What is the point of having a single country with two populations that can't communicate with one another? Why not just have two countries? Thats usually what happens anyways. And how on Earth can you construe not being able to talk to your fellow citizens as making your country stronger than the alternative, that being everyone can talk to everyone else? Thats just stupid.

How many slices of America would that make?

[davsot]

Originally Posted by MasonsInquiries

yeah, i would say go ahead puerto rico #51. and while they're at it, make USVI #52.

Definitely!

Originally Posted by redspork02

It Looks fine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_state

haha yea it does look fine.

[alexis91]

I like this article from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_state#Puerto_Rico). It is very clear and correct.

Puerto Rican statehood referenda have been consistently, though narrowly, unsuccessful. In each referendum, statehood supporters are matched almost equally by supporters of maintaining the status quo (the balance of the votes being cast by supporters of full independence), although support for statehood has risen in each successive popular referendum.[5] If Puerto Rico were a U.S. state, it would rank 27th in population, and have six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.[6][7][8] Puerto Rico has been under U.S. sovereignty for over a century and Puerto Ricans have been U.S. citizens since 1917; but the island’s ultimate status still has not been determined and its 3.9 million residents still do not have voting representation in their national government. Puerto Rico currently has limited representation in the U.S. Congress in the form of a Resident Commissioner, a nonvoting delegate, and the current Congress had returned the Commissioner's power to vote in the Committee of the Whole, but not on matters where the vote would represent a decisive participation.[9] Puerto Rico has elections on the US Presidential Primary or Caucus of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to select delegates to the respective parties national conventions although presidential electors are not granted on the United States Electoral College.

Contrary to common misconception, residents of Puerto Rico pay some U.S. federal taxes: import/export taxes, federal commodity taxes, social security taxes, etc. Most residents do not pay federal income tax but pay federal payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). But federal employees, or those who do business with the federal government, Puerto Rico-based corporations that intend to send funds to the U.S. and others also pay federal income taxes. Puerto Ricans may enlist in the U.S. military. Puerto Ricans have fully participated in all U.S. wars since 1898, and became United States citizens in 1917. All persons born in Puerto Rico after 1941 are consider natural-born citizens of the United States, one of the constitutional requirements to be President the United States.[10] [11]

President George H.W. Bush issued a memorandum on November 30, 1992, to heads of executive departments and agencies establishing the current administrative relationship between the Federal Government and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This memorandum directs all Federal departments, agencies, and officials to treat Puerto Rico administratively as if it were a State insofar as doing so would not disrupt Federal programs or operations. On December 23, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed executive Order 13183, which established the President's Task Force on Puerto Rico's Status and the rules for its membership. Section 4 of executive Order 13183 (as amended by executive Order 13319) directs the Task Force to "report on its actions to the President ... on progress made in the determination of Puerto Rico's ultimate status." President George W. Bush signed an additional amendment to Executive Order 13183 on December 3, 2003, which established the current co-chairs and instructed the Task Force to issue reports as needed, but no less than once every two years.[6][7]

The statehood position is carried by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico. Both United States major political parties, Democratic Party and Republican Party, in their respective 2008 party platforms, have expressed their support of the rights of the United States Citizens in Puerto Rico to determine the destiny of the Commonwealth to achieve a future permanent non-territorial political status with government by consent and full enfranchisement.[12][13]

The Republican Party political status position in the 2008 platform - We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.

The Democratic Party political status position in the 2008 platform - We believe that the people of Puerto Rico have the right to the political status of their choice, obtained through a fair, neutral, and democratic process of self-determination. The White House and Congress will work with all groups in Puerto Rico to enable the question of Puerto Rico’s status to be resolved during the next four years.

[Onn]

I think Puerto Rico should go for it. It's not like the island wouldn't be welcomed with warm hands, we are all American here. They'll get the representation they deserve in congress, and symbolically. Come on, they'll get their own coin! As a place on the flag, federal money for projects like infrastructure and power. Yeah they’ll have to pay the taxes, but for most people the lowest possible, as Obama plans to cut them.

[davsot]

@alexis91: Gracias, mano. ¡Te botaste!

I want it, but honestly hope Obama closes this chapter in our history once and for all. In other words, statehood!

[Onn]

Originally Posted by davsot

@alexis91: Gracias, mano. ¡Te botaste!

I want it, but honestly hope Obama closes this chapter in our history once and for all. In other words, statehood!

Well the way Obama is talking, you know, about reforming the federal budget, planning for the future, making the hard decisions other presidents have avoided, getting the most bang for our buck; you would think he would address Puerto Rico at some point. A president has to sooner or later. I too hope you get statehood, I think that would be great, it would be a major event in history and a worthy addition to our country.

[davsot]

Originally Posted by Onn

Well the way Obama is talking, you know, about reforming the federal budget, planning for the future, making the hard decisions other presidents have avoided, getting the most bang for our buck; you would think he would address Puerto Rico at some point. A president has to sooner or later. I too hope you get statehood, I think that would be great, it would be a major event in history and a worthy addition to our country.

O yea I didn't tell you. On January 4 was the governor's inauguration (?)(of Puerto Rico) and during this event a representative of Obama gave a message and he said he wanted to solve this in the next four years. gasp!

[alexis91]

The event was on January 2