Can Puerto Rico be the 51st state of the United States?

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30 May 2011, 8:27 pm

Given the current economic problems I'd say Puerto Rico could very well be told they need to choose between independence or statehood. Theres a lot of federal money going into PR islands and right now they're cutting off expenses wherever they can.

On the flip side, statehood would mean PR would have to let go many of the benefits it enjoys which US states do not, plus adopt the US legal system and many other things.

Personally I'd say the US should let PR go and have them be independent rather than a protectorate.

psychohist
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31 May 2011, 1:37 am

ConfusedDude wrote:

Which I gonna leave you with a question: Can Puerto Rico be the next state(i.e. The 51st State) of the United States of America?

When English becomes the dominant language on Puerto Rico, it will be ready for statehood.

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31 May 2011, 4:33 am

psychohist wrote:

ConfusedDude wrote:

Which I gonna leave you with a question: Can Puerto Rico be the next state(i.e. The 51st State) of the United States of America?

When English becomes the dominant language on Puerto Rico, it will be ready for statehood.

What? They can speak Spanish if they like. And most of them speak both.

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31 May 2011, 4:44 am

psychohist wrote:

ConfusedDude wrote:

Which I gonna leave you with a question: Can Puerto Rico be the next state(i.e. The 51st State) of the United States of America?

When English becomes the dominant language on Puerto Rico, it will be ready for statehood.

Since the US has no official language this is irrelevant.

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31 May 2011, 5:54 am

leejosepho wrote:

ConfusedDude wrote:

John_Browning wrote:

Puerto Rico had been
Some people vote on polls and some do not, and a third option like "No opinion" or "Just show the results" is something many people appreciate.

Yes. And further the poll should be set up something like this:

should PR (1) become an independant country ?, (2) become a state?, or(3) stay as it is, or (4) I only think about PR when watching "West SIde Story" and so I have no opinion on the subject.

That would be more interesting.

I would pick four because im an american but not a puerto rican so its hard for me to even give a darn. Im more interested in the plight of my mid-atlantic seaboard nieghbors who live in the district of columbia who get taxed but dont get representation in congress ( DC doesnt have to be an actual state but they ought to having voting members in congress).

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31 May 2011, 6:10 am

naturalplastic wrote:

I would pick four because im an american but not a puerto rican so its hard for me to even give a darn. Im more interested in the plight of my mid-atlantic seaboard nieghbors who live in the district of columbia who get taxed but dont get representation in congress ( DC doesnt have to be an actual state but they ought to having voting members in congress).

The District of Columbia has Congress as its City Council. Oh, the Horror, the Horror.

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31 May 2011, 6:15 am

Orwell wrote:

I doubt that independence from the US would be in Puerto Rico's interest, and I doubt the political consensus can be built in the mainland to grant Puerto Rico statehood, so it will likely remain a commonwealth as it is now.

50 really is a nice round number for states. I know it sounds idiotic and arbitrary, but a lot of people will oppose expanding beyond 50 states. We would also have to design a new national flag. I would favor granting statehood, though- PR certainly is big enough to be its own state. It has a larger population than Hawaii, and they got statehood. Why should PR be any different?

PR has a bigger population than Mississippi, Iowa, Alaska, and about 17 other states.

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31 May 2011, 10:18 am

Sorry about the trouble in the poll. You guys are right. I should've put "Undecided" as a 3rd option.

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31 May 2011, 10:40 am

naturalplastic wrote:

Orwell wrote:

PR has a bigger population than Mississippi, Iowa, Alaska, and about 17 other states.

If it were a state, it would be the 29th largest, so 21 states are smaller than it. When this issue had been brought up before, I had assumed that PR was not really considered for statehood because it would be too small. It was a bit of a surprise to check their population numbers and find that they were more than big enough to be considered a state. I do have to wonder about some of the uninhabited patches of farmland on the mainland, though. Rural areas are given ridiculous over-representation in the Senate. Perhaps we should consolidate some adjacent small-population states into one.

psychohist wrote:

When English becomes the dominant language on Puerto Rico, it will be ready for statehood.

It already is largely English-speaking, and there is no such requirement for statehood anyways as there is no national language.

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02 Jun 2011, 3:54 am

DeaconBlues wrote:

Of course, if the Parti Quebecois ever makes a comeback, the point may become moot - one of the party's major planks is secession from the Dominion of Canada, and the leaders of Alberta and Saskatchewan have already announced that if Quebec secedes, they will too, and apply for statehood.

When the hell did they say that? I'd like a source. While the conservative Premiers of both Provinces are morons, I never thought of them to be *that* moronic (if the previous NDP Premier of Saskatchewan made that call, I'd be even more surprised).

EDIT: OH, WAIT, NEVERMIND - BRAD WALL IS THAT STUPID!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzZt-1MtQOo[/youtube]

^ Brad Wall, current Premier of Saskatchewan, with fellow staffers for the (know defunct) Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan.

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