Posted on 04/29/2010 4:25:14 AM PDT by RightSideNews
in 1959 the only way the republicans would accept Hawaii as a state was to make Alaska a state at the same time...
and visa versa.
what conservative leaning state would any of our other possesions give us....none....so they must remain a commonwealth.
That’s why they’ve got Sovereignty association crap in there. All the benefits of statehood, none of the responsibilities. They’d vote in the election, but they wouldn’t pay taxes.
lock and load
Molon Labe.
Same crowd!
There’s a lot of misinformation being thrown around.
MYTH: Puerto Ricans pay no taxes.
FALSE. Residents of Puerto Rico pay federal Social Security tax, Medicare tax and unemployment tax (FUTA), at the same rate as the residents of the states. on top of that, Puerto Ricans are heavily taxed at the local leve with state income tax, sales taxes, property taxes, etc.
Not only would the results of the federally sanctioned plebiscite not bind Congress to anything, constitutionally they couldn’t force Congress to admit Puerto Rico as a state, since the Constitution vests Congress with the exclusive authority to admit new states. Congress will have the final say on whether PR becomes a state.
As for the “Tennessee Plan,” it’s a gimmick proposed by some pro-statehood politicians in PR. DC did something similar in tbe 1980s, electing “shadow senators” to lobby for statehood (Jesse Jackson was one of them). It was a useless strategy.
I swear, the hysteria I’ve been hearing from conservatives regarding the plebiscite bill (similar to the one passed by tbe Republican House in 1998 that died in the Senate) is something that I would expect from liberals. Yes, the bill has flaws (one of them, allowing all U.S. citizens born in PR to vote even if they don’t live in PR anymore, is blatantly unconstitutional), but there is absolutely nothing nefarious about asking U.S. citizens in PR if they wish to continue living under territorial status (where they are legislated upon by a Congress that they did not elect) or would prefer a non-colonial status.
MYTH: Puerto Rico’s status quo is just fine.
FALSE: Puerto Rico’s current status is the result of judicial activism of the worst kind, and it is unconstitutional. The residents of Puerto Rico, United States citizens, are in fact living in apartheid, enjoying only those rights that Congress allows.
“In my opinion, Congress has no existence and can exercise no authority outside of the Constitution. Still less is it true that Congress can deal with new territories just as other nations have done or may do with their new territories. This nation is under the control of a written constitution, the supreme law of the land and the only source of the powers which our government, or any branch or officer of it, may exert at any time or at any place. Monarchical and despotic governments, unrestrained by written constitutions, may do with newly acquired territories what this government may not do consistently with our fundamental law. To say otherwise is to concede that Congress may, by action taken outside of the Constitution, engraft upon our republican institutions a colonial system such as exists under monarchical governments. Surely such a result was never contemplated by the fathers of the Constitution. If that instrument had contained a word suggesting the possibility of a result of that character it would never have been adopted by the people of the United States. The idea that this country may acquire territories anywhere upon the earth, by conquest or treaty, and hold them as mere colonies or provinces,—the people inhabiting them to enjoy only such rights as Congress chooses to accord to them,—is wholly inconsistent with the spirit and genius, as well as with the words, of the Constitution.” - Justice John Harlan, dissenting in the Insular Cases, 1901
By 1996, the FBI had linked FALN to 146 bombings and a string of armed robberies .... House Interagency Working Group for Puerto Rico recommended meetings with the ...... When you hear ...
redstatepatriot.com/islam_terrorism_and_wmd
FALN does not exist and when it did, it was well known that they were international soviet/cuban financed operatives attacking the U.S. under the facade of the Puerto rican independence movement.
Why not D.C.,Guam etc.This is a coup pure and simple.I never thought it would come so easy for the left.Most people I know of are just voluntarily putting their head under the guillotine and saying thank you for the hope and change.Obama is not really worried about his re election because he is just setting the cornerstone in place and will be martyred for the fundamental dismantling of the former United States of America.Great conservative men past and present have warned and told us what we can do.Levin,Beck,Limbaugh,Savage and others have different views and styles but have made the call for years that this would happen.We need to unite.We need leadership.We need courage.
I’m all for weighty debate on this. But how can we debate statehood if there’s NO FREAKING TIME for debate? For crying out loud!
MYTH: Puerto Rico would be a heavily democrat state.
FALSE: I could not have said it better than Freeper AuH2ORepublican:
Puerto Rico would have 2 Senators and 6 Representatives if it were a state. No one has any idea whether it would elect Republicans or Democrats to Congress. Yes, Puerto Ricans in NYC and Chicago (most of whom are second- or third-generation descendants of the Depression-era migration to the North)vote overwhelmingly Democrat (as do most residents of those cities), but in Central Florida the PR-born Puerto Ricans voted for Jeb Bush in 2002 and George W. Bush and Mel Martinez in 2004. And within Puerto Rico itself, a majority of state Senators and Representatives are Republicans, as is the Governor and the mayors of 5 of the 8 largest (100,000+ population) cities, including San Juan (pop over 400,000) and Bayamon (pop over 200,000).
In 2004, exit polls showed that Puerto Ricans in Central Florida gave President Bush 50% of the vote. Around 1/3 of Puerto Rican voters in Central Florida were actually born and raised in the U.S. mainland (mostly NYC, Chicago, NJ and CT) and we can assume that they voted for Kerry and Castor, so the PR-born Puerto Ricans must have given President Bush and Mel Martinez comfortable majorities. Michael Barone poits to the Puerto Rican vote as the key to Bush carrying Osceola County in 2004 after having done poorly there in 2000.
The Obama Administration has nothing to do wuth the Puerto Rico plebiscite bill, which is a continuation of a congressional effort that was started by Republicans in the 1990s (and more generally, of the 112-year-old statehood movement in Puerto Rico). Obama is less supportive of statehood than any president since at least before Ronald Reagan (part of the reason why Obama got trounced by Hillary by like 80%-20% in the PR Democrat primary), and the bill (and statehood) is opposed by Obama’s “Puerto Rico guy” Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Chicago. But, yes, many Democrats ignorantly assume that a State of Puerto Rico would vote heavily Democrat because that’s how their cousins vote in The Bronx.
The truth is that no one knows how PR would vote were it a state, but the Louisiana electorate (socially conservative, economically populist, pro-military, protectionist, tolerant of a certain amount of corruption) is probably the most simar to the electorate in PR. It should be noted that Louisiana is a swing state that voted for the winner in every presidential election from 1972 to 2004.
At first when I heard it was non binding I thought no big deal - plus after 3 votes already on this by the people of Puerto Rico voting NO all three times, I thought there is little chance of them voting yes this time. But it's not about Statehood, its about pushing another race issue to the front page as we go into election cycle, to make those opposing look racist. The Dems know there is little chance of Puerto Rico becoming a state anytime soon, and they don't really care, because this is all about gaining something else from this.
’ ... crowds formed, pointing to the FBI agents while chanting, “These are the assassins.”’
http://www.workers.org/2005/world/filberto-ojeda-1006
For the next two days almost every sector of Puerto Rican society—from San Juan’s Catholic Archbishop, Roberto González Nieves, to Ricardo Santos, head of the Electrical Workers Union, from ex-Gov. Rafael Henández Colón to Rubén Berríos, president of the Puerto Rican Independence Party—to one degree or another publicly criticized or condemned the FBI for killing Filiberto Ojeda Ríos. All the people mentioned here personally viewed the body and expressed their condolences to Rosado.
Even Tomás Rivera Shatz, titular head of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, publicly questioned the FBI’s judgment and actions, apparently for politically opportunistic reasons.
On Sept. 24, some 29 hours after they had invaded the home of Ojeda and Rosado, the FBI finally announced that they had killed him. His body was transferred to the Forensic Unit of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
There, hundreds of people gathered in the streets.
[snip]
“absolutely nothing nefarious about asking U.S. citizens in PR if they wish to continue living under territorial status (where they are legislated upon by a Congress that they did not elect) or would prefer a non-colonial status.”
If the bill actually read this I would support it. Instead you’ve got ‘sovereignty association’ crap in it. As is, that’s absolutely unconstitutional.
Does Puerto Rico Love America? I’m not so sure ...
Take Back America
http://proamericanprotroops.blogspot.com/
The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition’s musical guest was a rapper with a ‘rap’ sheet. Big surprise, huh? Apparently he had some controversial songs about Bush and about 9/11 being an inside job. When we had our rally, with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star-Spangled Banner, all you could hear were the shouts of the morons across the way. While our side played Taps, you could hear them shouting things like, “Puerto Rico is in the house, Cuba is in the house, Palestine is in the house, etc.” as if that was a good thing! I didn’t hear them say, and this is important, “America is in the house!” America was there that day, but not with the ‘10,000’ Anti-Americans. America was where she belonged, with her 30,000 supporters.
I think this is how they are going to solve the immigration problem; all of the disenfranchised illegal Mexicans will be made honorary citizens of PR-and won’t even have to set foot on it-then they will be able to vote etc.
With these people, you can’t just think outside the box; you have to think outside of the ROOM!
I don’t ever trust legislation that is rushed or sneaked through.
I would disagree with your characterization. I’ve been to PR many times and I’ve never found them to be America-hating.
And not necessarily Democrats either. Many Puerto Ricans are very conservative, almost like Cubans.
They have the best of both worlds right now: the protection and freedoms of the US, without the taxes and headaches. I hope they don’t screw this one up.
However, if they vote for statehood, how ‘bout a swap? Does one of the current states get to leave? Like TX, OK, UT ?
A single language increases a nation’s unity. Multiple languages weaken a nation’s unity. On that basis alone, I am opposed.
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