Except that PR doesn’t want to be a state (all the benefits, no responsibilities)...and becoming a state could be a condition for the feds paying that debt off. The Obama might be happy to write a $72,000,000,000 check (bounce? nah, he’ll just borrow $72B from the Federal Reserve) if PR residents vote for statehood, boosting the voter base just before November 2016.
If the Obama is lucky, Texas will secede (taking a comparable chunk of the opposition’s voter base with it), obviating the problem of deciding how to cram 51 stars on the flag.
Democratic candidate wins, Wall Street sighs with relief, the Left is happy, the Right is diminished...sounds like a plan if you’re so inclined (which I’m not).
Peurto Rico already voted to become the 51st state, Nov 2012.