Puerto Rican voters back statehood in questioned referendum

a reply to: lordcomac

Yes, this is the 5 th time or 4 th time they vote, but they never get enough votes to make a statement.

Congress doesn't have any desire to turn PR into a state, they don't need too.

originally posted by: Dembow
a reply to: D8Tee

Huge corruption problem, endemic. Its blatant obvious and in your face. And both parties keep their mouth shut because both do the same.

Ugh. no thank you, we already have NYC and Chicago.

I don't know why we keep offering them statehood. They always vote it down, which makes the results of this latest poll highly suspect. The only reason I can see they'd want to join now is because they're broke.

We don't need another state, especially an ungrateful one.

originally posted by: SBMcG

The main reason it’s a nonstarter this time is that Congress is going to have no appetite to take on the problems, poverty, crime, and debt of what is essentially a third world country, not to mention the billions it would cost to Federalize the island.

The U.S. federal government already has a major presence on the island.

There are U.S. federal courthouses there, and federal agencies (such as Social Security, IRS, FBI, U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Probation office, HUD, HHS, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Dept. of Labor, and other federal agencies) already have active offices on Puerto Rico, because it is a U.S. territory.

Other U.S. Territories, such as the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, and Guam and Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, also have similar U.S. federal government presences (i.e., U.S. courthouses and U.S. federal agencies) that play an active role on those islands.

They will not be granted statehood unless they agree to send only republicans as representatives or wait until after the mid terms.

originally posted by: Dembow
a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Huge drug problem because the island is one the gateways to US soil. Whatever drugs come to the island most are ending up in the US where they're worth double.

No doubt the island's drug problem is a result of its gateway status, but what's really hurting Puerto Rico isn't the drugs that go through the island but the drugs that don't leave. I would hazard a guess that a major contributor to Puerto Rico's financial woes is the money being sucked out of island going to the cartels.

In any case, statehood will not solve the problem.

originally posted by: Restricted
I don't know why we keep offering them statehood. They always vote it down, which makes the results of this latest poll highly suspect. The only reason I can see they'd want to join now is because they're broke.

That is exactly why they voted for statehood now. They don't realize that statehood won't magically make their financial problems go away.

In fact, I'd think statehood would just make Puerto Ricans even poorer, because they'd have to start paying the federal income tax.

Another failed Democrat ran state/territory. You have to be blind not to see the pattern.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry...

Anyone who does not see the $$$$ just waiting for regular folks like us to be made modernizing and investing in PR is a fool.

I don't think I'm a fool, but I could be wrong...

What I am is a land developer (25 years experience) and a consultant for a VC group that is always on the lookout for development and investment opportunities. I know a good deal when I see one, and with a couple of minor exceptions, have rarely been wrong.

I have been to Puerto Rico Numerous times. I am a sailor. My ex and I spent most vacations during our 20+-year marriage sailing the Caribbean. Many times we would "bare boat" (always a catamaran of course) out of Moorings or the smaller outfits at Fajardo.

I have spent a good amount of time "on the ground" in PR. Enough to know with absolute certainty that there is no untapped bounty just waiting to be realized.

The problems begin (and probably end) with infrastructure, location, and the core economy. Agriculture, tourism, and small-scale technologically-outmoded manufacturing will only get you so far these days...

Bottom line -- it should be a huge Red Flag to anyone thinking about pouring more resources into PR that for about 12 years running they have produced one of the few economies ON EARTH that has consistently experienced negative growth.

Seriously, it is a really uneducated mindset that believes adding physical taxable land and a massive new tax base to their country is not a profitable move. If adding land was ever a bad thing, empires would have never existed.

I have a graduate degree, and while I might not always be the brightest bulb on the mango tree, I don't think by any reasonable standard, I would be considered "uneducated". I have no idea what an "uneducated mindset" might be...

Puerto Rico already can't pay its bills, from the government right on down to the average citizen. There is no tax bounty to be had. Quite the opposite.

Property and income taxes in PR are ridiculously low. Total tax revenues in PR are some of the lowest in the world -- about 9%. Last time I checked, property taxes on residential real estate were effectively nil because property valuations and assessments are so low.

There is a statutory 25% "transfer tax" when a property is sold to a foreign party (a rare occurrence), but there are a bazillion loop holes and allowances that effectively make that tax irrelevant.

PR takes in about $9 billion in tax revenues per year -- much of that from commercial and corporate taxes, tariffs, and fees. The vast majority of Puerto Ricans pay little or no personal tax. Many of them actually get EITC stipends from the US government.

A "State" of Puerto Rico would be a massive liability to the Federal government and thus American taxpayer for decades.

Don't even get me started on your rather odd desire to add the impoverished narco-state of Mexico to our Union...

a reply to: Restricted

No, the statehood is only granted by congress, PR has always been asking for it, but congress have guidelines of how many voters needs to vote in order to be even be considered.

So far PR have failed to gather enough votes, 23% of the population is not enough.

originally posted by: Box of Rain

originally posted by: SBMcG

The main reason it’s a nonstarter this time is that Congress is going to have no appetite to take on the problems, poverty, crime, and debt of what is essentially a third world country, not to mention the billions it would cost to Federalize the island.

The U.S. federal government already has a major presence on the island.

There are U.S. federal courthouses there, and federal agencies (such as Social Security, IRS, FBI, U.S. Attorneys, U.S. Probation office, HUD, HHS, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Dept. of Labor, and other federal agencies) already have active offices on Puerto Rico, because it is a U.S. territory.

Other U.S. Territories, such as the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, and Guam and Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, also have similar U.S. federal government presences (i.e., U.S. courthouses and U.S. federal agencies) that play an active role on those islands.

I'm aware of that -- I've spent a good amount of time in PR...

Comparing the Federal government's existing infrastructure in Puerto Rico to what would be required per existing reg's if PR were a state is like comparing a consulate to an embassy.

Big difference.

a reply to: SBMcG
Clearly you lack any kind of vision or are simply uninterested in moving or working from PR for your own reasons. Guess what, money will be put into the state, private companies will receive contracts, new jobs will be created in the process. Just because you have zero interest will not negate the fact that it will happen, people will profit, and the economy will eventually repair itself with changes in tax codes and business regulations.

You can believe whatever you want, but it will still happen.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I'll tell you with 100% certainty what WON'T happen...

Puerto Rico will never be a state.

originally posted by: Dembow
a reply to: DBCowboy

Terrorist because he fought for puertorrican independence? I guess the same label fits the Founders.

Right now, I'd be all for letting Puerto Rico go on their own. It beats letting them join and immediately get bailed out by the rest of us. The reality is that they're broke, and we have our own internal problems coming due -- California and Illinois. I can't think New York is far behind there, either.

At least if we're forced to bail out those two states, they've been part of the country for decades to over a hundred years as opposed to joining suddenly and then announcing they are the financial equivalent of stage IV cancer.

a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah we stop protecting puerto rico then as soon as we leave the cartels move in and it becomes a narco state and or taken by the chinese or another state actor.

originally posted by: yuppa
a reply to: ketsuko

Yeah we stop protecting puerto rico then as soon as we leave the cartels move in and it becomes a narco state and or taken by the chinese or another state actor.

We can't afford to annex them, either. As others have said, we can't shoulder their debt, and we can't tackle all the problems that come attendant with their status.

Now if they had made themselves a respectable second or first world territory, they would be a decent prospect, but had they done that, we wouldn't be having this discussion. They likely would have become a state already.

a reply to: ketsuko

You obviously have never been to the island and don't know anything about it. Its not somalia ffs.

a reply to: ketsuko

Heres a idea. Peurto rico *sells* itself to pay its debt to the US. And in exchange they refuse representation for two presidential terms. Nothing in the law that states when a state gets its representatives actually.