While you are right the votes are non binding, statehood hasn't won a local vote... it is hard to argue that the territory desires statehood, when in fact this is not the case.
Every territory ever admitted to the union wanted statehood, and lobbied hard and long for it... PR and Guam and others have not.
Its hard to argue congress should grant a statehood vote, when the 4 Million folks there haven't pushed for it in any measureable way. I think if PR truly wanted statehood Congress would likely grant them a path into the union, as they have for all states since the original 13 colonies.
I don't see us putting warships off the shore of PR either should independence be their desire.
PR has not, put forward a consistent or large movement for statehood.. and in fact, thanks to taxing loopholes enjoys great benefits from not being a state, which I think many folks in PR recognize. However if statehood is what PR desires, then the politicians and folks of PR need to make that voice consistently heard, in large numbers.
Have your senate offer it as a refferendum and get a majority vote.. show that statehood is indeed the desire of the folks and I think PR would be on the path to state from territory.. but to my knowledge this has not happened.
I don't think the people of the continental US, or the members of congress are dedicated to PR being a territory indefinately... I don't think you would see huge opposition to it if it were truly something that could be demonstrated was the desire of the people there. However, for good or bad, such a movement has not happened.... Maybe you can be the one to make it grow.
good post, lots of good points. I've wondered about that myself (the nondecisiveness of the statehood movement). Maybe the brain drain migration from the island to the upper 48 has something to do with that; I'd bet a solid majority of those who took the guagua aerea would be pro-statehood.
Another factor has got to be the strong statist/democrat influence in local politics there. The same things that we freepers stand against - big government, high taxes, restricted business environment, large union presence feeding from relatively larger underclass - have strong presence on the island.
Obviously, the modern democratic politician is no Truman, Scoop Jackson or Zell Miller - we'll have to wait a generation for men such as these to save that party. Unfortunately, just like here in the upper 48, there don't seem to be any persons of strength on the Puerto Rican dem side of the political house.
The remaining slagheap no-names probably expend half their energy/influence in supporting the kinds of programs that need the poor to exist (the program, that is...). It wouldn't be such a stretch to see that a Puerto Rico becoming a state would mean the death of el Partido Popular. The Hernandez Colon & Sila Calderon's of the island need the present limbo status more than they want what's best for Puerto Rico.
Self-Preservation is the strongest prime-motivator. And I don't care whether it's Old San Juan or the Oval Office, a dhimmicrat is a dhimmicrat where-ever they are.