Puerto Rico votes in favor of statehood

[IndyTom]

PR was made a tax haven at one point which prompted lots of investment and then it was taken away, leading to lots of money leaving. There have been some shenanigans enacted by Congress over the years with regard to PR that have certainly helped screw them over.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Puerto Rico governor asks Trump to consider statehood

There's a written process. Though I could see Trump wanting to be the one to finally do it.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Hrm. Two more senators voting against him?

maybe that’s why the PR crowd is slamming trump so hard, hoping he’ll feel so bad he’ll work to get them statehood

 

[eldirector]

My sis lives in the USVI. When it comes to politics and local government, she says both the USVI and PR are cesspools of corruption. A year after the last hurricane, they still don't have a fully functional hospital, and are still using tents. If it wasn't a US territory, it would be a 3rd world country. Unless there is some sort of strategic importance, I'd sell 'em off to the highest bidder and let someone else deal with the headache (and debt).

 

[HoughMade]

...maybe that’s why the PR crowd is slamming trump so hard, hoping he’ll feel so bad he’ll work to get them statehood

I could buy that....which means they're not paying attention to how Trump operates.

But as far as I can remember, PR has always been leaning left....a hard lean.

 

[CampingJosh]

A year after the last hurricane, they still don't have a fully functional hospital, and are still using tents. If it wasn't a US territory, it would be a 3rd world country.

If it wasn't a U.S. territory it might be a very lowly-developed country, but some of it's current problems stem from being a territory and having to deal with all of that.

 

[Kutnupe14]

My sis lives in the USVI. When it comes to politics and local government, she says both the USVI and PR are cesspools of corruption. A year after the last hurricane, they still don't have a fully functional hospital, and are still using tents. If it wasn't a US territory, it would be a 3rd world country. Unless there is some sort of strategic importance, I'd sell 'em off to the highest bidder and let someone else deal with the headache (and debt).

And the people? Do we just strip them of American citizenship, or do we simply sell the land and bring them to the mainland?

 

[churchmouse]

And the people? Do we just strip them of American citizenship, or do we simply sell the land and bring them to the mainland?

Good point.

There is a steady Navel presence in the USVI

 

[HoughMade]

Good point.

There is a steady Navel presence in the USVI

Bikinis are popular there, huh? Nice to know.

 

[churchmouse]

Bikinis are popular there, huh? Nice to know.

OK I see now what I did.

 

[eldirector]

And the people? Do we just strip them of American citizenship, or do we simply sell the land and bring them to the mainland?

How did it work when we "acquired" the islands from the Dutch? Just do that.

 

[Kutnupe14]

How did it work when we "acquired" the islands from the Dutch? Just do that.

We acquired PR from the Spanish. It was something we wanted, and essentially a spoil from the Spanish-American War. Nevertheless, we've extended citizenship to the people of PR, I know of no way (that I would agree with) that would unilaterally allow the federal government to strip entire populaces of American citizenship. I'm fairly confident you agree, and are simply having a "wouldn't it be nice" day dream.

 

[Spear Dane]

Give it back to the Spanish and let THEM deal with it. Give it to the Russians. Give it to anyone, but for the love of God don't make that hot mess the 51st state.