Puerto Rico, to become the 51st State?

Today I when I was watching Wolf Blitzer on CNN they briefly mentioned about a vote for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state.

So I did some Searching on Google and I came accorss this Artical on the Wall Street Journal while reading it I discovered that the House Voted 223 - 169 to begin the process to attempt to get the island of Puerto Rico's Status Changed from common wealth of the United States to Statehood.

My Question is why isn't this being Covered by the media in more Depth and do you think that recognizing the Island of Puerto Rico as a State of the United States should be something that we should do?

 

the people should choose

 

its owned by the us so why shouldn't it be a state

 

They've put it up for vote repetitively in Puerto Rico, and they have rejected statehood many times. Democrats in Congress are pushing for it to tip the balance in federal elections to their favor. Right now, Democrats in California are also pushing for open primaries. If it passes, the Democratic majority will be able to effect what Republican candidate is put up for election, assuring Democratic dominance in the state. In a similar bit of trickery, the newest ballot being presented to Puerto Ricans regarding statehood has been worded and orchestrated in such a way as to almost guarantee they will become a state. The word sleazy doesn't even begin to describe our representation in Government at the moment.

 

Just bought a cheap bank stock in Puerto Rico (Popular) and thought it alredy was a State.......Ops.

Would be a good idea, as long as they know it is permanent, might help the bank.

Cuba in ~1858 nearly became a state but the slave issue ended the deal in congress.

 

[video=youtube;1hs37IXB9ow]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hs37IXB9ow[/video]

CNN interviewing Citizens of Puerto Rico and their Representatives and discussing about Puerto Rico becoming a state. The Quality sucks but its still something worth watching.

 

i think puerto rico would be beneficial it would make for more diversity

 

We should make Somalia a state, for the sake of diversity.

 

Aint never going to happen... I have lived in the Virgin Islands for years..(next door to PR, for those of my geographically challenged friends) and the Boricuas are too split to make it happen

 

This isn't anything new, the US has wanted to take control of Porto Rico for many years... Another Hawaii

 

Please study up on the situation before posting. Believe me, if you poll American's they most definitely do not want their federal votes watered down by Puerto Rico. The only people in this country who favor that are the DNC.

 

From what I understand Puerto Rico does not want to become a state....so lets leave them alone.

 

So you say....

 

Gallup has more recent data, but I cant find a free reference to it.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5e...#v=onepage&q=gallup puerto rico state&f=false

30% of Americans favor Puerto Rico as a state. Does that sound like a majority to you? Democrats, on the other hand, love the idea. There are a variety of polls available on how Puerto Rican's feel on the issue, but most of those also weigh in against statehood, though by a smaller margin. PLease don't ask others to do research you should have done yourself.

 

Loved that link, thank you.

Here we go guys.

"Those with higher levels [of education] are most likely to favour making it the 51st state". Very interesting sentence. If you're cleaver, you want Porto Rico to join up. Although, polls show that people re largely undecided.

This is a very simple technique used when you want to seem neutral, but are in fact trying to push the the argument to one side. The side you endorse.

Example:

I'm a TV reporter, and decide to invite two guests who have different opinions about a given mater to join me for a debate. After they finish debating, I'll ask my guests what universities they attended, knowing before hand that the one I support has a degree from Harvard, whilst the other possesses one from a normal unknown University. Therefore, the "Harvard" opinion has more weight since it is known to everyone that he attended a better University. Whose opinion to you think the viewer will be more inclined to accept has being correct?

 

What am I to make of this? Your angle earlier was that the US was trying to absorb the good and honest territory known as Puerto Rico. I point out that, by large margin, the only people in the US who want to absorb Puerto Rico are Democrats looking to pad their numbers in Congress. You call that my opinion, since I didn't provide a link. I provide a credible link. Then you add spin to imply I am suggesting the poll shows intelligent people want Puerto Rico to become a state? Do you know how to read a poll?

Even on the specific line item you are calling to attention, those with a postgraduate degree in favor of Puerto Rico becoming a state are outnumbered by those in favor of it remaining a territory or becoming independent by 3%. You'll notice the numbers jump in favor of statehood if your politics are Liberal, or if you identify with the Democratic party. It isn't specifically stated in the numbers but I would venture a guess the "postgraduate" group in favor of statehood also stated political party as Democrat and political ideology as Liberal.

Yes, there are those in the US working hard to absorb Puerto Rico as a state, even though the majority of Puerto Ricans still appear to be opposed to it. No it is not some conspiracy theory or US Imperialist agenda. Yes it is a political play by those of a certain political party in the US. If you have some evidence to the contrary, I'm waiting patiently.

 

I wasn't trying to imply you are for integration, but that the article seemed to be in favour. The wording used was very well structure in my opinion. People reading that information will undoubtedly be drawn to one opinion over the other because it is clearly stated that that's the opinion of those with a higher level of education. Although, as you correctly noted, many people are undecided and opinions are spread out evenly between all three alternatives.

 

Only one of the four alternatives was statehood. Undecided was an extreme minority. Only 30% were for statehood. This is where I point out that foreigners making observations about US politics is just silly. Many of those with post graduate degrees in America work in Acedemia, which gives them a greater than 75% chance of being Liberal(a word that may need explanation if you are not familiar with what an American liberal is). You, as a European, read that poll and think the more educated people more likely to be for statehood. Americans read that poll and see liberals are more likely to be for statehood. They are both true, but the meaning is obviously different to you. It is also worth pointing out that in both cases, amongst the liberals and the highly educated, those in favor of statehood do not make up a majority.

 

This point is very important. Puerto Rico may very well become a state by accident, due to the weasel-wording of the ballot.

 

Too bad those damn Democrats aren't Americans. It would make things so much less cluttered...

Would've let this pass, but it is the second time in as many posts that you have made a distinction between "Americans" and "Democrats" (or, the DNC in the first post).

I have no position on the matter of Statehood. Would have to wonder why we aren't doing the same for Micronesia, Guam and other protectorates or territories.

The new age of American Imperialism?