Puerto Ricans have chosen their lot, over and over again.
They have rejectd Statehood and Independence, while choosing to remain as they are.
They can't have their cake and eat it too.
BTW, the new Governor of PR is bvery anti-Bush, whining about the Iraq war, etc.
if i recall correctly, they have rejected statehood twice
At any rate, my take on Puerto Rico is that they have all the advantages of American Citizens, without the obligations, like PAYING INCOME TAXES!. Sounds like a good deal to me.
What Rep Fortuno should do is to agitate for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, get all the Puerto Ricans into the "system"...then he won't have to be ashamed to look the brave Pureto Rican soldiers "in the eye".
"The conservatives turned out in Puerto Rico for the 2004 elections as well. Fortuno is the second Republican to hold the Puerto Rican seat in Congress since its creation. The first was Federico Degetau, who was elected in 1901."
Just a small correction to the article re: Fortuño. The comment is made that residents of Puerto Rico "don't pay federal taxes". that statement is not altogether correct. Residents of Puerto Rico who work for the federal government pay federal taxes. Also, residents of the island who DON'T work for the federal government, don't pay federal INCOME tax. They do pay various other federal taxes, however, such as the social security tax, unemployment tax, etc.
I'm not sure if these numbers are right,m becouse I don't have the documents in front of me now, but the relative proportions are correct (in other words, we can change the numbers, but the relationship of one to another will remain the same).
It has been estimated that residents of Puerto Rico, if the island is admitted as a state, would pay about $2.2 billion in diverse federal taxes. Of these, approximately $1.8 billion are already being paid. So the "incremental tax burden" for the new state would not be that significant.
Of course, we are not discussing here whether the federal tax structure, as it exists, and current spending policies, are fair or even appropriate. That is a separate issue. I'm sure if various federal "sink-hole" programs were to be eliminated, the tax burden on ALL american citizens would be justifiably reduced.