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Many years ago then governor Carlos Romero Barcelo wrote a column saying that the ones who will benefit the most from Puerto Rico becoming a state are the poor. Little did he know then that his prediction has become a reality.
60% of the population are on some form of handout from the Federal Government. The island has the smallest % of worker participation than any U.S. Territory. It makes better sense to collect welfare and do menial jobs off the books and sleep + make babies all day if one wants to. The more kids, the more money.
To put the frosting on the cake, developers have begun to rent their unsold luxury apartments to welfare recipients under section 8. The Metropolis, a luxury condo that has stood unsold in San Juan's uppity financial district, la Milla De Oro, has been given over to folks from the housing projects. The Metropolis has a pool, exercise rooms, two parking spots for each resident, fantastic views from it upper floors, marble lobby, and huge terraces to party. No this is not a joke! It's not that the poor don't deserve to live well, but the hard working middle classes see this and figure out that it's better to emigrate than to tolerate this nonsense. Statehood is indeed for the poor, and you can see it in the numbers voting for it. Like they say in my home town, Is Candy bitter? Americans should investigate what's going on in its colony and put a stop to it or forever be stuck with Paying the bill for a state like no other.
Excessive welfare and socialism is not a sustainable business model or society model because eventually the parasites kill off the hosts. Perhaps that's why the productive are leaving, in part.
Considering everything, we are still a small island with a population that rates as high per square mile as most anyplace on earth. No economic or political programme is ever going to change this fact, nor is any political structure. Of course there has to be help, and this is the greatest benefit of being part of USA. A huge mainland mass is very important to relieve the pressure of population. More people if Puerto Rican ancestry live on the mainland than the island, proof enough. It is not "them" vs "us", as we are all one political entity with the same citizenship.
Somehow we have to find ways to increase economic development to provide decent futures for our young people. That is a very difficult thing to address, but it will be better accomplished with . federal assistance. Would it be better.through statehood? Nobody really knows. It certainly is.not through independence--exchanging one political system for an unknown ( and penniless) other.
Considering everything, we are still a small island with a population that rates as high per square mile as most anyplace on earth. No economic or political programme is ever going to change this fact, nor is any political structure. Of course there has to be help, and this is the greatest benefit of being part of USA. A huge mainland mass is very important to relieve the pressure of population. More people if Puerto Rican ancestry live on the mainland than the island, proof enough. It is not "them" vs "us", as we are all one political entity with the same citizenship.
Somehow we have to find ways to increase economic development to provide decent futures for our young people. That is a very difficult thing to address, but it will be better accomplished with . federal assistance. Would it be better.through statehood? Nobody really knows. It certainly is.not through independence--exchanging one political system for an unknown ( and penniless) other.
Some folks live in an almost foreign country all their lives and they don't know much about its people, only stereotypes, but still feel they can comment like a local with out even knowing the language the majority speaks. That kind of Hutzpah is well known about some gringos, luckily not all are like this.
Yes we are an overpopulated island but should we sit down and cry? Singapore, Trinidad Tobago, Cyprus and Israel are small countries but do they depend on federal handouts to survive? Israel has made the desert flourish by getting down to work the fields. Singapore, which fits five times into Puerto Rico has developed high finance. Trinidad Tobago which is half of Puerto Rico has an economic growth larger than Puerto Rico.
Yes it's true that portions of the population are emigrating, but hasn't that always been the case when things get difficult on the island? Does the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 50s ring A bell? Close to more than a million left, giving the impression that the island was emptying, it did for a time but everything adjusted.
Mr SunPup there you go again making us think that we can't live without you. Having us think that if American citizenship were lost it would be worse than getting the Ebola virus. Sadly many Puerto Ricans think the same, thus is the colonial mind. Finally, for your info, our American citizenship is statutory, given to us by an act of congress despite the elected politicians opposing it. Different from constitutional citizenship which is protected by the 14 Amendment, ours isn't. As of lately rabid Statehooders like Hernan Padilla are warning Puerto Ricans to hurry up and get incorporated because the ways things are going Republicans might decide to do the unthinkable. LOL
Some folks live in an almost foreign country all their lives and they don't know much about its people, only stereotypes, but still feel they can comment like a local with out even knowing the language the majority speaks. That kind of Hutzpah is well known about some gringos, luckily not all are like this.
Yes we are an overpopulated island but should we sit down and cry? Singapore, Trinidad Tobago, Cyprus and Israel are small countries but do they depend on federal handouts to survive? Israel has made the desert flourish by getting down to work the fields. Singapore, which fits five times into Puerto Rico has developed high finance. Trinidad Tobago which is half of Puerto Rico has an economic growth larger than Puerto Rico.
Yes it's true that portions of the population are emigrating, but hasn't that always been the case when things get difficult on the island? Does the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 50s ring A bell? Close to more than a million left, giving the impression that the island was emptying, it did for a time but everything adjusted.
Mr SunPup there you go again making us think that we can't live without you. Having us think that if American citizenship were lost it would be worse than getting the Ebola virus. Sadly many Puerto Ricans think the same, thus is the colonial mind. Finally, for your info, our American citizenship is statutory, given to us by an act of congress despite the elected politicians opposing it. Different from constitutional citizenship which is protected by the 14 Amendment, ours isn't. As of lately rabid Statehooders like Hernan Padilla are warning Puerto Ricans to hurry up and get incorporated because the ways things are going Republicans might decide to do the unthinkable. LOL
Israel and Cyprus actually *do* get substantial aid, but that is because both are in warlike / garrison situations.
Some folks live in an almost foreign country all their lives and they don't know much about its people, only stereotypes, but still feel they can comment like a local with out even knowing the language the majority speaks. That kind of Hutzpah is well known about some gringos, luckily not all are like this.
Yes we are an overpopulated island but should we sit down and cry? Singapore, Trinidad Tobago, Cyprus and Israel are small countries but do they depend on federal handouts to survive? Israel has made the desert flourish by getting down to work the fields. Singapore, which fits five times into Puerto Rico has developed high finance. Trinidad Tobago which is half of Puerto Rico has an economic growth larger than Puerto Rico.
Yes it's true that portions of the population are emigrating, but hasn't that always been the case when things get difficult on the island? Does the Puerto Rican diaspora of the 50s ring A bell? Close to more than a million left, giving the impression that the island was emptying, it did for a time but everything adjusted.
Mr SunPup there you go again making us think that we can't live without you. Having us think that if American citizenship were lost it would be worse than getting the Ebola virus. Sadly many Puerto Ricans think the same, thus is the colonial mind. Finally, for your info, our American citizenship is statutory, given to us by an act of congress despite the elected politicians opposing it. Different from constitutional citizenship which is protected by the 14 Amendment, ours isn't. As of lately rabid Statehooders like Hernan Padilla are warning Puerto Ricans to hurry up and get incorporated because the ways things are going Republicans might decide to do the unthinkable. LOL
Is sunpup an American or Canadian or Brit? I noticed he uses British spelling in his posts.
As for US citizenship for Puerto Ricans, I believe a court case determined that our citizenship can't be stripped away.
1) Statehood of the U.S.A is for the poor and other social classes. The state and federal government gives many opportunities and aid for low income residents to get out of poverty from education, housing, food, medical and even to start your own small business. That's why millions of Latinos, Asians, Europeans and Africans that are poor come to the U.S.A. or die trying.
2) If the OP has a problem with the size of welfare roles then he should go bark at congress especially the Democrats who is the party of extending welfare for votes with little to no conditions in return but that's another topic. They make the rules and sign the checks. People of low income regardless of race will take whatever the government is willing to give them.
3) All acts and constitutional rights given to citizens from Civil rights to woman's rights are from an ACT OF CONGRESS!!!! DUH!!! they don't fall out of the sky. If congress declares people born in Puerto Rico U.S. citizens then they are protected by the U.S. Constitution and it can't be taken away involuntarily. The U.S. Supreme Court already ruled on this in 1967 in Afroyim v. Rusk. Is a major United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily: Afroyim v. Rusk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The opinion of the court:
Quote:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States...." There is no indication in these words of a fleeting citizenship, good at the moment it is acquired but subject to destruction by the Government at any time. Rather the Amendment can most reasonably be read as defining a citizenship which a citizen keeps unless he voluntarily relinquishes it. Once acquired, this Fourteenth Amendment citizenship was not to be shifted, canceled, or diluted at the will of the Federal Government, the States, or any other governmental unit
Maybe the OP, should spend more time in constitutional law than spreading non-sense in forums. I thought Independentistas were "highly" educated people and know it all. (cough, cough! lol)
4) The OP said that elected officials opposed giving U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans. My question is, what is his source and what history book is he quoting from, I never heard that. The only ones who opposed U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans were the Nationalist Independence movement and they were and still are the very small minority and insignificant.
1) Statehood of the U.S.A is for the poor and other social classes. The state and federal government gives many opportunities and aid for low income residents to get out of poverty from education, housing, food, medical and even to start your own small business. That's why millions of Latinos, Asians, Europeans and Africans that are poor come to the U.S.A. or die trying.
2) If the OP has a problem with the size of welfare roles then he should go bark at congress especially the Democrats who is the party of extending welfare for votes with little to no conditions in return but that's another topic. They make the rules and sign the checks. People of low income regardless of race will take whatever the government is willing to give them.
3) All acts and constitutional rights given to citizens from Civil rights to woman's rights are from an ACT OF CONGRESS!!!! DUH!!! they don't fall out of the sky. If congress declares people born in Puerto Rico U.S. citizens then they are protected by the U.S. Constitution and it can't be taken away involuntarily. The U.S. Supreme Court already ruled on this in 1967 in Afroyim v. Rusk. Is a major United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily: Afroyim v. Rusk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The opinion of the court: Maybe the OP, should spend more time in constitutional law than spreading non-sense in forums. I thought Independentistas were "highly" educated people and know it all. (cough, cough! lol)
4) The OP said that elected officials opposed giving U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans. My question is, what is his source and what history book is he quoting from, I never heard that. The only ones who opposed U.S. citizenship for Puerto Ricans were the Nationalist Independence movement and they were and still are the very small minority and insignificant.
THIS. As I understand it, this issue comes up every 20 odd years and the solid majority always votes to keep Commonwealth Territory status, because (1) much lower taxes, specifically no federal income tax--good old "no taxation without represenation", and statehood would ruin that (2) language issue and (3) Federal aid still flows in, which independence would end, particularly if the loudmouth leftists who tout it ever took power. Fat chance, because they are quite marginal, but anyway....
The problem with our American Citizenship is that it was given to us by an act of Congress, even though the majority of elected politicians on the island objected. On the surface citizenship is citizenship, or so I thought. There is always the small print which most people don't know it exists or don't care to read it.
Several Years ago some Washington lawyers came up with the notion that the american citizenship that Puerto Ricans had wasn't protected by the 14 amendment of the constitution, therefore it was another kind of citizenship. I then understood why Washington was able to discriminate against us, not permitting representation by population and putting us on a lower level for receiving federal payments even though we had citizenship. These lawyers alleged that PR's citizenship was second class and that statehood was not the intention of it being granted in 1917. The issue of being left unincorporated while Hawaii was incorporated in 1898 may give credence to this thought. Nonetheless our status had already been resolved by the "Insular Cases", which even though date from the 20's are still on the books until the supreme court sets them aside.
In the words of then supreme Court justice Howard Taft, "Puerto Rico belonged to the united states but wasn't part of the united states".
When the DC lawyers presented their findings hell broke loose in Washington and San Juan. It was like the truth got out and every one who made a great deal of money with Puerto Rico's colonial status wanted the that truth squelched.
Therefore we are american citizens but statutory and not constitutionally protected by the 14 amendment. Although these details will not frazzle anyone, they could one day come back and bite us in the rear end.
I then understood why Washington was able to discriminate against us, not permitting representation by population
For that to happen, you would have to opt for statehood....as it is, you are as much U.S. citizens as people in Guam or Samoa or the Virgin Islands are?
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