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IMHO if PR become a state it would dig itself into such debt that it would become a nightmare. PR if I'm not mistaken already has one of the highest marginal tax rates. Can you imagine the outrage it would cause if PR became a state and its residents were also responsible for federal taxes on their personal income.
over 45% of Americans in the 50 states don't pay federal taxes or very little after all the tax deductions, credits, and loopholes. Puerto Rico wouldn't be any different.
Actually, the poor and middle class in Puerto Rico would benefit because they would get federal credits like the Earned Income Credit and other tax credits that evens out from their state and local taxes that they don't get now because Puerto Rico is not incorporated in the federal tax system.
That's how high taxing states like New York and New Jersey do it.
and Puerto Rico's debt has nothing to do with the revenues of taxes. It's a government spending problem for decades that it exploded. You don't spend more money that comes in. In the private sector, they follow that rule if they expect to survive. In government, they have a different mentality because it's not their money and they can pass the buck to the next administration or another government agency.
there are many places on the mainland that are just as Hispanic as Puerto Rico.
No. "Hispanic" in the united states is just a political label. It's really means nothing. The "hispanics" born and raised in the United States more often don't even speak the Spanish language - especially not people of Puerto Rican descent. Almost no Puerto Ricans in the most "hispanic" neighborhoods in NYC speak any Spanish. Not even older people. I met a 50 year old Puerto Rican - no Spanish.
Puerto Rico, on the other hand, is a full-fleged Latin American country that is completely Spanish and culturally unrelated to the United States. They live and function in Spanish every day. The language of instruction in public schools there is Spanish. Nothing like that exists in the united states - not even the most "hispanic" places in the United States.
Their closest cultural relatives are Dominicans and Cubans, not mainland Americans.
You make an excellent point about the diversity within the U.S. When I first went to live in PR, I had only lived in New England -- so my memory is of that PR-New England cultural contrast, which, IMO, is vast. I've also since lived in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia. They, too, are very different culturally from my native New England.
Yes, there are regional differences in the United States, but Americans have much more in common with each other than any of us do with Puerto Ricans.
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I frequently go to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It is a hybridized place -- a mix of Mexican and U.S. influences -- unique in the country. However, even in Brownsville, which is 93% *Hispanic*, everyone born and raised there speaks perfect American / Texan English. Many don't know any other language. It is a bit isolated, but not nearly as much as PR.
This is the difference. A "hispanic" community in the United States are just americans that have some origin in Spanish speaking countries. They don't even speak Spanish.
Is there anyone in Puerto Rico that would like their complete independence and not be a US territory any longer?
Yes, there are plenty of people like this. They are the ones that should be taken seriously. They need to be given a voice in the media. This could motivate our elected officials to finally just end this already. It's ridiculous that over 100 years later we are still holding on to Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico needs to be independent. It is the only reasonable solution to their problems which are caused by their colonial status.
Yes, there are plenty of people like this. They are the ones that should be taken seriously. They need to be given a voice in the media. This could motivate our elected officials to finally just end this already. It's ridiculous that over 100 years later we are still holding on to Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico needs to be independent. It is the only reasonable solution to their problems which are caused by their colonial status.
Where are they? they sure don't show up when it counts in the voting booth. Since you are so obsessed with Puerto Rico being independent BY REMOTE CONTROL in your home in the STATES!!!, why don't you move to the island and open up the movement and you run it from the ground up and see how many people follow you......"de la boca es un mamey" (talk is cheap).
So what are the causes of the problems in Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua....they aren't U.S. territories and they have worse problems than Puerto Rico by the mile.
So you want Puerto Rico to trade their problems to the problems of Latin Republics? LOL.
Where are they? they sure don't show up when it counts in the voting booth. Since you are so obsessed with Puerto Rico being independent BY REMOTE CONTROL in your home in the STATES!!!, why don't you move to the island and open up the movement and you run it from the ground up and see how many people follow you......"de la boca es un mamey" (talk is cheap).
So what are the causes of the problems in Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua....they aren't U.S. territories and they have worse problems than Puerto Rico by the mile.
So you want Puerto Rico to trade their problems to the problems of Latin Republics? LOL.
And not to mention that they control the media (virtually all El Nuevo Dia writers for instance are pro-independence and their articles have a strong pro-independence slant) and the education systems (especially at the University of Puerto Rico) yet they still struggle to move beyond minuscule levels of support.
They already have virtually every handicap possible ... yet can't crack 5%. Tritone needs to get over it.
No they haven't........if you look at every referendum on the status on Puerto Rico since 1967, the majority of the voters voted against statehood or boycotted the referendum by voting for "none of the above" (actually, that was a choice in 1998 and won) since then I gave up and moved on and since then I have seen the anti-Americanism in the island grow and in the universities in the island with the younger generation and way to the left. You have the mayor of San Juan who is very anti-American and won re-election. SAN JUAN!!!!!!! That was a very pro statehood and pro United States city for decades before I was born.
That's why I don't want to hear any Puerto Rican in the island complain and cry that they don't have the same benefits and are not equal as the states. If congress gave them statehood on a silver platter today, they would reject it in a referendum and then later complain that they don't have the same rights as the states and blame the "gringos".
Puerto Rico disagrees with you. In the 2017 referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico, 97.18% of Puerto Ricans voted for statehood with 23* turnout.
Last edited by Carolina Knight; 06-11-2018 at 08:38 AM..
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina Knight
Puerto Rico disagrees with you. In the 2017 referendum on the political status of Puerto Rico, 97.18% of Puerto Ricans voted for statehood with 23* turnout.
But as you point out only with 23% of eligible voters voted. The 97.18% isn't gonna cut it with 23%.
But as you point out only with 23% of eligible voters voted. The 97.18% isn't gonna cut it with 23%.
The turnout in many places for non-presidential election year races for the very senators and congressmen/women who vote on Puerto Rico matters isn't much higher.
At any rate, every possible option was on the ballot. Every sector had their option to choose from. Statehood, independence, and the current territorial status were all there on the ballot. If a person doesn't care enough to participate than obviously they don't care about the outcome.
But as you point out only with 23% of eligible voters voted. The 97.18% isn't gonna cut it with 23%.
Puerto Rico disagrees with you.
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