Should Puerto Rico be a state?

[Gustaf]

NO way.  Too Democratic.  I'd rather make them 'independent'.

You would refuse to give them statehood because they would give the Democrats 3 ECs?

That's our Opebo. He is consistently immoral.

[Gustaf]

NO way.  Too Democratic.  I'd rather make them 'independent'.

You would refuse to give them statehood because they would give the Democrats 3 ECs?

That's our Opebo. He is consistently immoral.

I would suggest that he is consistently amoral.  

But it is true that Democrats outnumber Republicans 8 to 1, or thereabouts.  I think both those groups are smaller than Governor Calderon's Commonwealth Party.  But htmldon makes a good point, states were admitted in pairs in the 1820s, why not now?  In order to get the PR statehood through, we could admit both PR and Cuba with 3 votes each to balance each other out.  That assumes either would want statehood, of course.  And I think PR definitely has a better deal already.  Cuba obviously does not.

Lol, sorry, I should have said amoral...though it's a matter of perception really isn't it?

[Gustaf]

The Puerto Ricans have no political influence, right?

How does that work exactly? Since I'm a foreigner, I'm not really aware of those things...are they counted as citizens?

[Gustaf]

Yes, persons born in the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are United States citizens.  They carry US passports and are subject to the rights and priveleges and duties of all US citizens, with the exception that they do not have voting representation in congress and no votes for President.  (They send a non-voting delegate to Washington, like DC, VI, and Guam).

OK...what about no taxation without representation?

[Gustaf]

Yes, persons born in the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are United States citizens.  They carry US passports and are subject to the rights and priveleges and duties of all US citizens, with the exception that they do not have voting representation in congress and no votes for President.  (They send a non-voting delegate to Washington, like DC, VI, and Guam).

OK...what about no taxation without representation?

Because they do not get a vote in Congress, they don't have to pay federal taxes.  There are local taxes, however, which are administered by the locally elected Puerto Rican government.

OK, thanks.