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  • Independence for Puerto Rico?

    It would appear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is all for it.
    https://www.foxnews.com/media/aoc-de...on-puerto-rico

  • #2
    Thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets after online chats from Rosselló and other top officials that mocked women, gays, political opponents, and victims of Hurricane Maria were leaked.
    Disgraceful! They had no power for many months in Puerto Rico. MONTHS!!

    How can the governor and other "top officials" be saying such things.

    Gunny & Z know what the ravages of these hurricanes are like.
    Last edited by Double Edge; 26 Jul 19,, 12:20.

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    • #3
      As far as Puerto Rico's status is concerned, this is one of those "shit or get off the pot" type things. I'd favor welcoming Puerto Rico as the 51st state if its residents cared enough to actually vote for it in a decisive way.

      There was a non-binding referendum in 2012, either for status quo (no, 46%) or something else (yes, 54%) The breakdown was:
      • 834,191 for statehood
      • 828,077 for the status quo
      • 515,348 blank or invalidated votes (not counted toward the total of votes cast)
      • 454,768 for free association
      • 74,895 for independence

      Technically, the option that got the most votes in the "something else" category was the winning option in the referendum.

      But out of the total ballots cast, only 30.8% were cast for statehood. 69.2% were cast for status quo, free association, independence, or were blank/invalidated votes. The latter weren't part of the official count, but I have no doubt that most were cast as protest votes or to express a lack of confidence in the process.

      Even though "statehood" was technically the winning option in the non-binding referendum, I think it's hard to argue that the pursuit of statehood represented the will of the Puerto Rican electorate, with only 30.8% of ballots being cast for it.

      As far as the response to the devastation of the hurricane is concerned, the fact that aid was not more forthcoming, slow to arrive, and deficient in every way, as well as the general attitude of the powers-that-be in the US toward Puerto Rico and its people, was a shame, in my opinion.

      Regardless of Puerto Rico's political status, these people are American citizens, Puerto Rico is part of the United States, and aid and assistance should have been no less forthcoming than it was for Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey.
      Last edited by Ironduke; 07 Aug 19,, 21:50.
      "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
        Even though "statehood" was technically the winning option in the non-binding referendum, I think it's hard to argue that the pursuit of statehood represented the will of the Puerto Rican electorate, with only 30.8% of ballots being cast for it.
        What's curious about those numbers is an equal big number want status quo

        Implying there are possible advantages that would be lost with statehood.

        So the bigger question is why not to be a state. Course that was back in 2012, things might be different today but somehow i doubt it.

        If people were in favour it would have happened long ago.
        Last edited by Double Edge; 07 Aug 19,, 23:37.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by surfgun View Post
          It would appear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is all for it.
          https://www.foxnews.com/media/aoc-de...on-puerto-rico
          Can we call it PRexit

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
            What's curious about those numbers is an equal big number want status quo

            Implying there are possible advantages that would be lost with statehood.

            So the bigger question is why not to be a state. Course that was back in 2012, things might be different today but somehow i doubt it.

            If people were in favour it would have happened long ago.
            I actually made a mistake with my numbers.

            It was a two-part ballot.
            • yes or no to continue the current territorial status in the first part
            • statehood, independence, or free association in the second part

            If 'yes' won a majority on the first ballot, then the second part would be disregarded. 'No' won a majority on the first ballot, so that brought the second part into play (in a non-binding way).

            The breakdown was:
            • statehood: 834,191
            • free association: 454,768
            • independence: 74,895
            • invalid or blank votes: 515,115

            So, 44.4% of votes cast in part two were for statehood. Again, my interpretation of the invalid or blank votes is that they were intentionally left blank as a protest or to express a lack of faith in the process.

            In 2017, there was another non-binding referendum on statehood. 97.1% voted for statehood, on 23% turnout. Like the invalid/blank votes in the 2012 referendum, it brought the referendum into question as to whether it represented the will of the Puerto Rican electorate.
            "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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            • #7
              Puerto Rico does not have a Federal Income tax. Many enjoy freebies from the mainland without contributing to the coffers.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by surfgun View Post
                Puerto Rico does not have a Federal Income tax. Many enjoy freebies from the mainland without contributing to the coffers.
                Federal receipts vs. expenditures in Puerto Rico are in the same league as Mississippi or West Virginia. These make up the bottom three between 1990 and 2009. All received between 2.5 and 2.9x as much federal money as they've paid in.

                Funny, my home state Minnesota is ranked #2 in the nation per capita. Twice as much federal tax was collected there than got spent. Just a smidge less than Delaware, which is #1.

                Minnesota isn't a tax haven, which means it must have the most fundamentally sound economy in the entire United States, and is making better decisions than any other state at practically every level.

                Look at Maryland and DC. -149% to MN's +199%. Enjoy those Minnesota welfare payments, I suppose. You live in a state funded by my state. ;-)

                Last edited by Ironduke; 09 Aug 19,, 04:06.
                "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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