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An Important Vote Overlooked

Alareth

Philosopher
Alareth
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,682
Location
Jacksonville, FL
Amidst all the Presidential and Congressional pearl clutching yesterday a significant referendum vote showed that for the first time in history a majority of Puerto Rican's desire obtaining statehood.

It's something I honestly never thought would happen in my lifetime.

The newly elected Governor of the territory is against statehood and there are other political hurdles to overcome, the least of which is Congress voting to approve.

Also, it'll be a real pain to redesign the flag for that extra star ...
 
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Good! First step towards bringing all those businesses who use PR as a tax and regulation dodge to heel...
 
Alareth said:
Also, it'll be a real pain to redesign the flag for that extra star ...
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Yeah, I'm surprised to hear so little about it! I only knew because of social media - didn't see any mention on news sites or shows.

A friend in Hawaii says she is hearing more & more talk about Hawaiian sovreignity, and that maybe we can keep the 50-star flag and just trade Hawaii for Puerto Rico.
 
Would they add more Congressional seats or take away from other states if PR becomes a state?

PR has about the same population as Oklahoma, so that means 5 Congressional seats.
 
Spindrift said:
Would they add more Congressional seats or take away from other states if PR becomes a state?

PR has about the same population as Oklahoma, so that means 5 Congressional seats.
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Similar to the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, I would expect a temporary increase of 5 seats to PR until the next census reapportioned the 435. That would be a matter of the law that admitted PR though, and I think technically PR can be admitted without any House Representatives until the next census does the auto-correct.
 
Spindrift said:
Would they add more Congressional seats or take away from other states if PR becomes a state?

PR has about the same population as Oklahoma, so that means 5 Congressional seats.
Click to expand...

I think the number in the House is capped (they did not add seats for Hawaii or Alaska, they only redistributed the number of seats the House already had), so they would need to re-apportion. The Senate, however, would add two.
 
crescent said:
I think the number in the House is capped (they did not add seats for Hawaii or Alaska, they only redistributed the number of seats the House already had), so they would need to re-apportion. The Senate, however, would add two.
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Wikipedia.org said:
The number was temporarily increased to 437 in 1959 upon the admission of Alaska and Hawaii (seating one representative from each of those states without changing existing apportionment), and returned to 435 four years later, after the reapportionment consequent to the 1960 census.
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Us_house_of_representatives#ApportionmentWP

Highlighting in both quotes added by me. They did not add permanent seats but they did add temporary seats until the next consensus apportionment. Which is now automatic instead of requiring congressional apportionment acts.
 
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Count me as one who was shocked that this wasn't bigger news. I saw it while browsing reddit earlier today. I assumed they had gotten something wrong because I hadn't heard it anywhere but sure enough, it's legit. I mean you'd think it would be all over the place. Another state added to the union? That hasn't happened since 1959!

I have a few questions about this though. How likely is it for statehood to become a reality? Can the new Governor do something to block it? Is the Congressional approval basically a formality or will there be opposition? What are the pros and cons of Puerto Rican statehood to the USA? What are the pros and cons of Puerto Rican statehood to Puerto Rico?


If nothing else, this will give a big boost to the flag making industry. ;)
 
err 13 could be wrong; I always thought it was this...


800px-us_flag_13_stars_e28093_betsy_ross-svg.png
 
EventHorizon said:
Count me as one who was shocked that this wasn't bigger news. I saw it while browsing reddit earlier today. I assumed they had gotten something wrong because I hadn't heard it anywhere but sure enough, it's legit. I mean you'd think it would be all over the place. Another state added to the union? That hasn't happened since 1959!

I have a few questions about this though. How likely is it for statehood to become a reality? Can the new Governor do something to block it? Is the Congressional approval basically a formality or will there be opposition? What are the pros and cons of Puerto Rican statehood to the USA? What are the pros and cons of Puerto Rican statehood to Puerto Rico?


If nothing else, this will give a big boost to the flag making industry. ;)
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I would think the cons depend on what party you belong to. Do the Republicans want to give 2 senators and 5 congressman and 7 electoral votes to the Democrats for the foreseeable future?

ETA: If the Republicans ever want to make inroads with the Latinos they would seize this issue and get behind Puerto Rican statehood. Unfortunately for the Republicans, that would alienate their xenophobic base.
 
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