Future of Puerto Rico

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Let them have a vote. Go with what the majority says, akin to what we did in Alaska.
Shall we petition Obama? (Can he even add a state?)

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Puerto Rico is more populous than Wyoming, so, yes, it should be added as a state. How many electoral votes would it have, though?

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^^That would be a fairly large state. And bundling the US Pacific trusts into another state would be roughly five more votes, creating two new fairly large states. I would say to go for it if the people approve.

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^I'm pretty sure Maine had 6-8 when it joined the union.
Micronesia is currently independent. I'm talking about Guam, northern Mariana Islands and the like. Islands that we currently possess.

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The combined population of those three territories stands at roughly 360,000. That's just short of Wyoming, still not that bad. And it gives voting rights to these people on a national level, a right they should've had to begin with.

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We do not own Micronesia! I highly doubt that they will rejoin the union, so thus they will not be grouped with Samoa. There's not even a movement that I know of for us to regain the former trust territories. I'm recommending that we group our current Pacific possessions into a state.
Anyway, east and west Oregon are quite different, there's no requirement that a state has a unified culture.

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I thought you were suggesting annexing Micronesia (the country).
Is it a legal requirement that states have a unified culture? Nope. Native American groups inhabiting say, Wisconsin, may be very different in culture from the state at large, but Wisconsin stands as a state.

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).

On October 23, 2007, that Resources Committee unanimously approved a substitute bill of HR900, which establishes that before 2009, a first plebiscite will be held in which Puerto Ricans will be asked if they desire to maintain their territorial status, in a yes or no question. The bill states that should the No as the favored choice, either another plebiscite asking between statehood, independence or an associated republic, or a constitutional assembly would follow thereafter, by choice of the United States Federal Court of Puerto Rico. The bill is yet to be considered by the United States House of Representatives, waiting for enough votes to carry a debate. Several organizations in Puerto Rico, such as the Puerto Rico Lawyer's College, have pledged to lobby against it, in an effort to prevent the solution of the status issue.

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).

On October 23, 2007, that Resources Committee unanimously approved a substitute bill of HR900, which establishes that before 2009, a first plebiscite will be held in which Puerto Ricans will be asked if they desire to maintain their territorial status, in a yes or no question. The bill states that should the No as the favored choice, either another plebiscite asking between statehood, independence or an associated republic, or a constitutional assembly would follow thereafter, by choice of the United States Federal Court of Puerto Rico. The bill is yet to be considered by the United States House of Representatives, waiting for enough votes to carry a debate. Several organizations in Puerto Rico, such as the Puerto Rico Lawyer's College, have pledged to lobby against it, in an effort to prevent the solution of the status issue.

I really hate how against finding a solution to this issue Puerto Rico appears to be.  I also hate how apathetic the U.S. Virgin Islands appear to be.  There's no discussion at all about whether they would like to be become a state or independent.  What's so appealing about being U.S. property?
In Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands it appears that the majority is in favor of statehood and while they would be a small state, I believe it is necessary that we find a solution to this problem once and for all.  I'm not sure what can be done about Samoa though.  They're too far from Hawaii or the Mariana Islands and too small to become a state.  Maybe we should just let them go?

Actually, Puerto Rico's support for statehood has consistently risen for the past few years. It is now well over 50%. The Pro-statehood party there just gained 48/68 of the "Senate" seats on the island, and the Governor's mansion.
We should probably chuck the Virgin islands in with Puerto Rico, as they're fairly close together. Samoa is an issue. We could ask Micronesia if they would like to be annexed, but that would be a foreign policy nightmare.

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That is true, but what say you to offering annexation to several of our former trust territories?

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That is true, but even so, PNP gained far over a majority in the election.