Puerto Rico to be 51st State

bobo26b

So guys what do you think?? Looks like thats what the people of Puerto Rico have voted for, but will the Americans and more importantly there goverment approve of it??

Ponster

I have no idea why this isn't bigger news to be honest but AFAIK if there is a big enough majority then it may pass through congress and be down to Obama to decide (and he has said that he'll go with the will of the people).

Benny_Cake

Ponster wrote: »

I have no idea why this isn't bigger news to be honest but AFAIK if there is a big enough majority then it may pass through congress and be down to Obama to decide (and he has said that he'll go with the will of the people).

First I've heard of this too. Wouldn't Puerto Rico be a deep blue state if admitted to the Union - something Republicans in the House might not be too happy about?

Benny_Cake

Benny_Cake wrote: »

First I've heard of this too. Wouldn't Puerto Rico be a deep blue state if admitted to the Union - something Republicans in the House might not be too happy about?

Yeah so until the Democrats control the lot to pass such a proposition it ain't gonna happen.

MadYaker

No way in hell will the republicans let this through congress.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

The Republican Party has a solution for you. Move to Puerto Rico.

The party's platform has this to say about residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory with a Republican governor:

We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state if they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a State, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2012/08/30/republicans-support-statehood-for-puerto-rico-but-not-dc


seriously

i googled "republicans puerto rico state"

that's all.

Manic Moran

Benny_Cake wrote: »

First I've heard of this too. Wouldn't Puerto Rico be a deep blue state if admitted to the Union - something Republicans in the House might not be too happy about?

No. Actually, are likely to side Republican. Don't make the mistake of thinking that Hispanic = Democrat. Puerto Rican political parties (they don't have D and R) tend to all be fairly conservative, especially when it comes to social matters such as abortion, gay rights, and military service (I have met an unsually high number of Puerto Ricans in the Army). Since historically the Republicans have tended to be more favourable towards the Statehood idea, the PR have leaned that way as well.

For the record the US Army, being the sort of forward-planning organisation that they are, has had a 51-star flag design in the wings for some years. I don't think I want to know how much money it would cost to change out every flag we have....

metaoblivia

Puerto Rico is not as strongly Democrat as some might lead you to believe, and I don't think it would be wise for the Republicans to block their admission given their current standing with the increasing Hispanic population which does lean more Democrat at the moment.

I think the real issue will be the new governor, who was elected by a very narrow margin, but is against statehood. We'll see if he respects the majority in Puerto Rico.

poeticseraphim

Manic Moran wrote: »

No. Actually, are likely to side Republican. Don't make the mistake of thinking that Hispanic = Democrat. Puerto Rican political parties (they don't have D and R) tend to all be fairly conservative, especially when it comes to social matters such as abortion, gay rights, and military service (I have met an unsually high number of Puerto Ricans in the Army). Since historically the Republicans have tended to be more favourable towards the Statehood idea, the PR have leaned that way as well.

For the record the US Army, being the sort of forward-planning organisation that they are, has had a 51-star flag design in the wings for some years. I don't think I want to know how much money it would cost to change out every flag we have....

Actually some of the most right wing republican support could potentially come from puerto rico.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/03/luis-gutierrez-puerto-rico-heidi-wys_n_1734580.html
Didn't they just have a republican governor?

Anyway their population is about the same as the ROI i think.

MadsL

Heard something interesting on All Things Considered yesterday, this has been widely reported as a pro-Statehood result. Yet there were issues with the way the ballot was phrased so there were calls for Blank voting. Half a million voters left the ballot blank.

"However, on the second question, only about 1.3 million voters made a choice. Of those, nearly 61 percent chose statehood. It marks the first time in 45 years that more Puerto Ricans favored being a U.S. state than maintaining their status as a U.S. Commonwealth, according to US News. Approximately 437,000 voted for sovereign free association and 72,560 chose independence. Nearly 500,000, however, left that question blank.
Read more at http://www.enstarz.com/articles/9078/20121108/puerto-rico-statehood-mixed-supports-half-million.htm#zWhkGrgo7qZdakZY.99 "

Raphael

But how many of those blanks were yes votes from the previous question - people who were voting for the status quo? And even with those blanks being treated as "none of the above", statehood still has plurality if not majority - which is the best you can hope for when you have 5 choices and no option to have a secondary opinion. After all, the sovereign free association guys or independence may prefer statehood to status quo, so if they can't get their ideal, they might be happy with statehood.

Might be another vote down the line (Statehood Yes/No) to clear it up, though. Probably the best thing to do.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmyaA0XkbNI

Standard Fox, jeez.

Ozymandius2011

Not so fast. They also ousted their pro-statehood Governor.

Overheal

Manic Moran wrote: »

.......It's subtle, but is still definitely screwing with my head.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmyaA0XkbNI

Standard Fox, jeez.

Who is this FOX f*cknut?

Jimmy Iovine

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmyaA0XkbNI

Standard Fox, jeez.

What a dope.

seamus

Raphael wrote: »

But how many of those blanks were yes votes from the previous question - people who were voting for the status quo?

As best I understand it, this was one of a number of things being voted on that day. So assuming that each voter is handed all of the ballots in one go, a lot of blank votes simply means that a lot of people turned up to vote but for whatever reason didn't vote on that question.
Many people may have had no opinion on that question, but wanted to vote on the other issues, so cast a blank ballot. You can't really look at half a million blank ballots and surmise that it was an intentional "mass blanking".

Might be another vote down the line (Statehood Yes/No) to clear it up, though. Probably the best thing to do.

As it was non-binding, and given the oddness of the poll (including the blanks issue), I suspect the US congress will send the Puerto Ricans back to hold a final binding referendum (on a day when nothing else is being voted on) in order to be sure that their accession to the USA is valid.

Lirange

Deleted User wrote: »

Who is this FOX f*cknut?

Stuart Varney :mad:

Ozymandius2011

Fox/GOP know that PR would be yet another Democrat state in the Electoral College. That is why they oppose it. The GOP governor there was just ousted, but ironically he was pro-statehood and the replacement is against. The status of PR is still up in the air.

Raphael

I don't think it's an intentional mass blanking, I just think that since there were 400 more blank ballots on the "Which option" than on the "Do you want to change things" ballot means that it's a decent bet those are related to people who don't want to change, and thus don't have any feeling about which way is better. I'd say your bang on about another referendum, though.