Opinion of Puerto Rico

[TDAS04]

?

[Asian Nazi]

One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  Freedom Commonwealth. 

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Should become 51st State

[The Arizonan]

Should become 51st State

The Republicans in the Senate are not going to let it happen for obvious reasons.

I suspect that it would vote Democratic in presidential elections and elect members of its local political parties to both houses of Congress if it became a state.

[RFayette]

One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  Freedom Commonwealth. 

[bagelman]

Should be a state, regardless what the stupid beltway politicians think.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I have this weird quirk about not wanting a 51st state. I'd be fine with Puerto Rico joining the Union if we merged the Dakotas or Maryland and Delaware or something crazy and impossible like that. Maybe we can give Alaska back to the Ruskies?

[Leinad]

I have this weird quirk about not wanting a 51st state. I'd be fine with Puerto Rico joining the Union if we merged the Dakotas or Maryland and Delaware or something crazy and impossible like that. Maybe we can give Alaska back to the Ruskies?

For a bi-partisan agreement, merging CT and RI or MD and DE would make sense.

Looking outside of partisanship, merging the Dakotas would be best--do we really need two? Seriously, two Dakotas? I have nothing against Dakota, but it's not like it would be too much for one state to handle.

Or, how about this:

New State: Puerto Rico - D+1
New State: District of Columbia - D+1
Merger: SD + ND = Dakota R-1
Split: Texas = North Texas + South Texas R+1
Merger: Conn. + Rhode Island = [New England State Name TBD] D-1
Merger: Maryland + Delaware = [Mid-Atlantic State Name TBD] D-1

That would make it fifty, let PR and DC both join, and it should be favorable to both parties. 4 birds with one [admittedly very complex and most likely infeasable] stone!

Might I also add that Republicans, such as Reagan himself, have supported the concept of adding Puerto Rico as a state in the past.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Should become 51st State

The Republicans in the Senate are not going to let it happen for obvious reasons.

I suspect that it would vote Democratic in presidential elections and elect members of its local political parties to both houses of Congress if it became a state.

It will happen in a Dem house post 2022

[angus]

One of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  Freedom Commonwealth. 

I agree. I was just about to say commonwealth instead of territory.

I have only been there once, but it was for about two weeks and we thought it was a beautiful place.  Enjoyed it very much.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Been there.  Some parts amazing.  Some parts trash.  Overall, meh.  Definitely don't want them as a 51st state.

[Green Line]

FF.  They should only be allowed in though if they agree to drop all the Spanish.

[angus]

Definitely don't want them as a 51st state.

well you're in luck.  Neither do they.  They have a vote on this issue about once every ten years, and consistently they vote the same way.  About 40% or so consistently want statehood.  (55% consistently vote for status quo, and about 5% consistently vote for complete independence.)  When I was there, it was actually just a few weeks after one such election, and I talked to several people about it.  Each side made logical arguments, but those who favored commonwealth status actually made the most sense, so I began to understand why the majority want to keep it as it is.

[bagelman]

I have this weird quirk about not wanting a 51st state. I'd be fine with Puerto Rico joining the Union if we merged the Dakotas or Maryland and Delaware or something crazy and impossible like that. Maybe we can give Alaska back to the Ruskies?

For a bi-partisan agreement, merging CT and RI or MD and DE would make sense.

Looking outside of partisanship, merging the Dakotas would be best--do we really need two? Seriously, two Dakotas? I have nothing against Dakota, but it's not like it would be too much for one state to handle.

Or, how about this:

New State: Puerto Rico - D+1
New State: District of Columbia - D+1
Merger: SD + ND = Dakota R-1
Split: Texas = North Texas + South Texas R+1
Merger: Conn. + Rhode Island = [New England State Name TBD] D-1
Merger: Maryland + Delaware = [Mid-Atlantic State Name TBD] D-1

That would make it fifty, let PR and DC both join, and it should be favorable to both parties. 4 birds with one [admittedly very complex and most likely infeasable] stone!

Might I also add that Republicans, such as Reagan himself, have supported the concept of adding Puerto Rico as a state in the past.

I find the idea of admitting DC at the same time as merging MD and DE terrible.

FF.  They should only be allowed in though if they agree to drop all the Spanish.

There is no official federal language of the USA.

[angus]

I find the idea of admitting DC at the same time as merging MD and DE terrible.

Would make more sense to merge DC and MD.  Delaware was always separate.

We should definitely admit DC as a state (or incorporate it withing Maryland).  Unlike puertorriqueños, the residents of DC want statehood, and all the privileges and burdens thereunto appertaining. 

It seems wrong to me somehow to let partisan advantage or disadvantage factor into these decisions.  The people of DC deserve a voting member of congress regardless of their political affiliation.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Puerto Rico is basically controlled by two patronage machines. One machine thinks its ambitions will be served better as state, the other is quite happy to be left getting fat off the current status quo, thank you very much.

They do exist in a legal quandary which has really exacerbated this crisis. It would probably be in everyone's interest if they were offered a "statehood or independence" ballot rather than this insanity.

[Хahar 🤔]

If Delaware were to be annexed to another state, the obvious solution would be Pennsylvania, not Maryland.

[The Arizonan]

Delaware is more like Maryland and not Pennsylvania.

[Virginiá]

I find the idea of admitting DC at the same time as merging MD and DE terrible.

Would make more sense to merge DC and MD.  Delaware was always separate.

We should definitely admit DC as a state (or incorporate it withing Maryland).  Unlike puertorriqueños, the residents of DC want statehood, and all the privileges and burdens thereunto appertaining.  

It seems wrong to me somehow to let partisan advantage or disadvantage factor into these decisions. The people of DC deserve a voting member of congress regardless of their political affiliation.

It is, but unfortunately that is the way things are. Republicans know that giving DC statehood is the same as giving Democrats 2 permanent Senators and 1 permanent US House member. Republicans have not had more than a 55 member Senate majority in almost 100 years, so DC statehood would significantly hurt their ability to maintain even a simple majority in the US Senate.

Some day, hopefully. Even if just for partisan reasons, this is one of the main things I hope Democrats do this whenever they take back Congress. It has the advantage of being something long overdue, completely fair and deserved, and gives a big advantage to Democrats in the Senate. Honestly, it is difficult to understand why they are not pushing hard for this already. After all, it won't require anything more than a simple bill. Reduce the size of the federal district to the hill/primary federal buildings only, then make the rest a state.

I'd love to see Republicans trying to fight such a thing. After all, they'd essentially be arguing that over 500,000 law-abiding citizens should be disenfranchised / shouldn't have fair representation - A population bigger than several states

[Cubby]

If Delaware were to be annexed to another state, the obvious solution would be Pennsylvania, not Maryland.

I've always thought Pennsylvania should get New Castle County and Maryland gets Kent/Sussex. That way Pennsylvania would get nearly 1 house seat of population, and sort of a coastline, if Delaware Bay could be considered coastal. It would also make PA more Democratic, and Maryland more Republican.

And for all the people saying that CT and RI should be merged, I'd love to get some better beaches but I disagree. RI has far more in common with Massachusetts than CT. What should happen is merge RI with MA from Worcester County eastward, and merge western MA (Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, Berkshire counties) with CT. I'd love to get our 6th house seat back that was cruelly taken from us in 2000.

[Figueira]

Merging states is a terrible idea that will never happen.

However, if Western Massachusetts is ever merged with another state, it should be Vermont, not Connecticut. Or you could give Hampden County to CT and the rest to VT.

[Cubby]

Merging states is a terrible idea that will never happen.

However, if Western Massachusetts is ever merged with another state, it should be Vermont, not Connecticut. Or you could give Hampden County to CT and the rest to VT.

But that's the worst county in Western MA 

I'd rather have any part of Rhode Island merge with CT than Hampden County.

[seb_pard]

I like Calle 13, FT.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Delaware is more like Maryland and not Pennsylvania.

That...doesn't even seem remotely right. You do realize the city of Wilmington is effectively an outlet of the city of Philadelphia and many, many people a) drive from Pennsylvania to Delaware for liquor or b) commute from random Delaware towns to work in Philadelphia and c) Philadelphia companies serve most of the Delaware clientele. I'd argue this stretches down to Dover, and many in west Philly use Dewey Beach the same way New Yorkers might use AC or Ocean City.

I'm not aware of Baltimore being tied into Delaware in any way. The traffic to get between the two must be unbearable.


Back to the thread at hand - one ugly island...always the hurricanes blowing and the population growing and the money owing. Get 'em outta here!

[Leinad]

Would make more sense to merge DC and MD.  Delaware was always separate.

Merging states is a terrible idea that will never happen.

I agree with both things, I was simply spitballing ways to keep 50 states that both parties would support and would lead to both DC and PR getting representation.