Shhh! Posted on 04/29/2010 9:28:44 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
Shhh!
Don't tell anybody but Congress is scheduled to vote today on H.R. 2499, a bill that could end up paving the way to Puerto Rican statehood, that is being presented with such incredible stealth that it has been given almost no coverage in the mainstream media. In fact, about the only person in the media shining a light on this bill until recently has been Glenn Beck. Liberals can be expected to write off Beck's criticisms of H.R. 2499 as just another example of "right-wing kookery." Frances Martel of Mediaite has already mocked Beck for his opposition to this bill.
However, liberals will have a hard time writing off similar criticisms of the stealth Puerto Rico status bill being made by liberal Democrat Luis Gutierrez of Illinois who is of Puerto Rican descent. While reading Guiterrez slamming H.R. 249 in his Huffington Post blog, you sometimes have to slap yourself as a reminder that these criticisms are not coming from a conservative Republican...or Glenn Beck:
H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico statehood bill was brought to the House this week after a surprise announcement last Thursday. Debate on this bill has been severely limited by the way Democratic Leaders are managing the process. Democratic Puerto Rican Members of Congress are being shut out of the process and will be severely limited in their ability to debate the bill and offer amendments. Under the current Democratic Leadership, there will be less opportunity for Members and for the people of Puerto Rico to gain a better understanding of the bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Actually there are a lot of Puerto Ricans who want statehood. Their reasons are probably many. I think the original intent of staying as a Commonwealth was that many felt they could preserve the Spanish language and identity better than if they were a state. Only fools support independence. The place would be swamped by Marxists-—that’s who is for independence.
Uh, yeah...shouldn’t the Puerto Ricans have a say in this??
Independence isn’t really a viable option. Very few in PR support it.
Fine. I’m a fool. Make them independent, make them pay their own way,and stop additional immigration without limit. We don’t need more people coming here because “everything’s free in America”.
Cut them loose.
The democrats are pushing them into a box with two exits. One exit is the one we can’t afford (Statehood) and the other is the one Puerto Rico can’t survive. (independence)
The fact that the democrats are pushing it and being so secretive is a good enough reason to stop and go over it with a fine tooth comb.
This insidious plan seeks to force the Puerto Ricans to vote first on whether they want change or want to remain the same. If you combine the first two completely opposite groups from above, that vote will carry with about 70% of the vote for a change.
The follow up vote will be between total independence or statehood, and presumbably they'd be forced to vote for statehood in that scenario.
Then Puerto Rico would have two senators and more members in the house than about half the existing states.
It screws the Puerto Ricans, it screws the American people, but it benefits Democratic politicians, marxists and race hustlers - so it's the perfect plan for the Democratic Party.
Puerto Ricans have been citizens for a long time and thus have had the ability to come and go as they wished. Even if they did gain independence, their would still be a special relationship for those who are citizens. I doubt we would just take US citizenship from some 4-5 million people.
Fed needs their taxes!
I though the supporters of independence were more like 10%.
Didn’t read it through, but we should also be given a choice.
If PR joins, we’re just incurring more costs, since the $$ to there will greatly exceed any $$ from there.
And of course, since the above is true, we know which way the welfare kings and queens will vote when it comes to taking from the rest of the states.
If they were independent, they shouldn’t be citizens. Down with colonialismo! ;-)
I thought there were some special tax benefits for businesses in PR as long as the status didn’t change. I think the Democrats are trying to screw with something they don’t understand. I thought Puerto Ricans had a pretty good deal.
No that’s wrong.
In the last plebiscite (in ‘98) they voted:
Independence 39,800 (2.5%)
Commonwealth 5,000 (0.3%)
Statehood 728,200 (46.7%)
None of the above 787,900 (50.3%)
So they’re pretty much split in half between keeping the status quo and becoming a state.
Dems needs their votes!
No, that’s not true. They are pushing a third option, called ‘sovereignty association. All of the benefits, including voting, none of the respsonsibilities.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.