They also have absolutely no say in the US government that has ultimate control of their fate. No taxation without representation; no representation - no taxation.
Having decided to make PR its territory (and also having made a decision not to tax it, based on the above principle), the US government has a moral responsibility to look after its inhabitants. If it isn’t willing to live up to that, then the US government should admit this and relinquish its claim.
Yikes, somewhere along the line I either missed or forgot that!
Aleck
2014
The residents of the District of Columbia would like a word with you…
Oof.
Daagar
2015
Hmm. Can we apply that to corporations within the US as well?
CraigM
2016
Yeah I’ve dug into the details and the answer is more complex. There are some federal taxes not collected, or collected in reduced capacity, but likewise there are federal programs they do not recieve.
For example they do pay some federal payroll and income taxes, but they don’t receive earned income tax credits. The last year I found comparisons was 2016, where they paid 3.5 billion and had 4.1 billion in spending. So their overall status is neither some tax free zone or one of overly generous federal spending.
In fact fiscal policy and their local economy mean they would probably net benefit from statehood financially.
magnet
2017
The last referendum was a straightforward yes or no question:
“Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the Union as a State?”. There were 655,505 votes in favor of statehood (52.52%) and 592,671 votes opposed (47.48%).
Aleck
2018
That’s mostly true, but not entirely. While the wording was straightforward, the consequences/outcomes were not. A “no” vote actually meant that you were voting against statehood, which, according to the Senate bill, started a process whereby Puerto Rico would seek either independence from the United States or free association with the United States (i.e. there was no way to say “keep the status quo”). At least, that’s what Ballotpedia says.
magnet
2019
That may be what Ballotpedia says, but the Senate bill didn’t actually say that.
(Something like what you describe was in section 4.4b of the original draft, but it was ultimately removed).
Aleck
2020
Very interesting! So the final bill said nothing about what would happen if the vote was “No” – which shoots my point out of the water. I stand corrected, sir!
The only problem is it’s Alabama
Alstein
2022
maybe Roy Moore wins a primary again , only hope. That said, they’d probably not care this time.
Ah, Shelby the opportunist. Rode a blue wave into the senate in a close race as a Democrat in 1986, back when Republicans winning senate seats in the deep south was still kind of an interesting news item. Coasted to an easy win on a bigger blue wave in 1992. Then jumped ship immediately after the 1994 midterms.
Like Portman, he’s a guy I’ve come to loathe as a politician for his cowardice…but I also fear the insanity of the candidate who may replace him in the senate.
LockerK
2026
She’s still all-in on Trump. Which is probably at worst neutral for her Senate candidacy in Ohio, sadly.
And he’s out. Which just means we’re probably going to get someone even more unqualified that Tuberville
They are going to elect a corpse?
Forget it, Jake. It’s Alabama.
