Thread: URGENT-MUST ACT:Puerto Rico Statehood-Progressive Plan

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Puerto Rico Democracy Act -- Legislation Biased in Favor of Statehood

Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 9:27 PM

Guest Post from Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation

According to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House will vote on H.R. 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act, [Thursday]. The legislation provides Puerto Rico a two stage voting process and makes some non-resident Puerto Ricans eligible to vote on Puerto Rican statehood. This legislation has rigged the process in favor of making Puerto Rico the 51st state and is not a fair way to force statehood on a Commonwealth whose people may not want it. Furthermore, this may be an expensive proposition for the American people who are already on the hook for approximately $12.9 trillion in national debt.
This bill attempts to rig the voting process and denies the American people a real say on the issue of whether they want to allow Puerto Rico to be granted statehood. The fact of the matter is that Puerto Ricans have rejected statehood numerous times and this bill seems to have been written in a way to fast track statehood without a majority of Puerto Ricans favoring the idea. Furthermore, the people of the United States should be allowed a vote on whether they want to admit Puerto Rico as a new state. If the people of Puerto Rico can vote, the people of the United States should have a vote.

The legislation contains many questionable provisions. First, the legislation sets up a voting process rigged for success. The legislation sets up a preliminary vote and the voters are given two options. If a majority of Puerto Ricans vote in favor of changing the status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to “a different political status,â€

They are debating this on c-span right now!

Democrats Rushing Though Puerto Rico Power Grab

April 27 1:04 PM Conservative Examiner Robert Moon

Quietly sailing through the House this week is yet another piece of partisan stealth legislation aimed at manufacturing more Democrat power at the expense of the American people, the economy and the country.

This time, it's the Puerto Rico Democracy Act (H.R. 2499). It would force Puerto Rico to vote on U.S. statehood and is designed to stack the deck in favor of statehood, going even as far as to require the territory to vote every eight years until statehood is accepted.

Not only is Puerto Rico already a fully-functioning democracy, but it has also repeatedly rejected attempts to turn it into a U.S. state, for decades.

But still, desperate to create new Democrat voters and elected officials, the left is now aggressively setting the stage for the creation of a 51st state.

Due to its dense population of poverty-stricken minorities, Puerto Rico can be counted on to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats and all their handouts, and their representation will also consequently outnumber that of 25 other existing U.S. states.

Meanwhile, with Puerto Ricans having an average income of less than half that of our poorest state, they will instantly become eligible for dozens of our welfare programs. Truckloads of taxpayer dollars will also have to be perpetually dumped into the territory, by federal law, to bring it up to American infrastructure and environmental standards.

This will also force the U.S. to become a bi-lingual country overnight, which will produce a whole new set of problems.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... d-8550899/
("Puerto Rican Statehood" by K.C. McAlpin, executive director of Pro English, a nonprofit organization which advocates for official English.)

http://www.examiner.com/x-35976-Conserv ... power-grab

You go girl, Rep. Nydii Velazquez D-New York . . .Yah for her!!! A Democrat making sense . . . now that is R A R E !!!

Originally Posted by florgal

We really need to check into this. HR 2499 is 'supposed' to still be waiting on the congressional calendar. Glenn Beck is saying there will be a vote TOMORROW (Thursday April 29). So is JBS.

I am sorry for my comments on this. I did not see any state hood provistions. But GB scarred the heck out of me... I guess we will see today if this is the real deal!!!

i think it failed, no traction.

House votes 223-169 to allow Puerto Ricans to decide their own political future and relationship with U.S.

Here's the roll call vote:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll242.xml

Puerto Rico statehood bill passes House, 223-169; Update: Ballot bias towards statehood cured?

I made the case yesterday that there’s still a long way to go before PR
becomes number 51, but I doubt that’ll comfort most of our commenters.
Oh well.

Proponents say the measure gives citizens of the island the right to
self-determination.‬‪ ‬‪Critics say the measure is a device to impose
statehood on a population that doesn’t want it.‬‪ ‬‪Thursday’s action
was nonbinding, and if Puerto Ricans eventually select statehood,
Congress would still have to vote to admit the island to the union as
the 51st state.‬‪ ‬‪

The issue divided Democrats and Republicans alike as liberal Democrats
with ties to Puerto Rico teamed with conservative Republicans to oppose
the measure.

The divides were particularly stark among members of the House
Republican leadership team. House Minority Leader John Boehner,R-Ohio,
voted against the legislation. Meantime, House Minority Whip Eric
Cantor, R-Va., and Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind.,
voted in favor.

The GOP tried to add an amendment making English the official language
of a Puerto Rican state but the Dems naturally knocked it down. The
full roll isn’t available yet but you should be able to find it here
once it is. I’ll update in any case to note major Republican and
Democratic defections. Two on the lefty side are Luis Gutierrez and
Nydia Velazquez, both of whom opposed the measure for one of the same
reasons Glenn Beck did — namely, that it supposedly tilts the vote in
favor of statehood.

Via Cubachi, here’s Pence’s floor speech in favor of the bill. An
unanswered question per yesterday’s post: Why does Congress need to act
here at all? The Puerto Rican government is perfectly capable of
calling its own referendums (as it’s done three times before) and
Congress is perfectly capable of taking the results under advisement.
No need to nudge them.

Update: The roll is up. Among the Republicans voting yes: Marsha
Blackburn, Cantor, Joe Cao, Mike Castle, Tom Cole, Jeff Flake, Jeb
Hensarling, Darrell Issa, Peter King, Mark Kirk, Kevin McCarthy, Pence,
and Aaron Schock. Among the Democrats voting no: Jason Altmire, Rosa
DeLauro, Barney Frank(!), Gutierrez, Dennis Kucinich(!), Walt Minnick,
Tom Perriello, Bobby Rush, Velazquez, and Anthony Weiner.

Update: Reader Jorge B. makes a nice catch. One of the criticisms of
the proposed ballot was that it offered no option for Puerto Ricans to
retain their current status as a commonwealth on the second part of the
vote. Remember? It’s a two-step process: First, they’re asked whether
they want to retain their present status or become something different,
and if a majority votes for the latter, they proceed to a vote on
statehood, independence, or “sovereignty in association with the United
States.â€

The English language was not included in the vote today as I understood it.

John 14:27 (King James Version)
It is written,... Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The English was voted down in an amendment.