Poll of the Day > Do you support Puerto Rico and Samoa becoming states?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Why is it taking so long? It was much fater dor hawaii
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Samoa? is that even owned by us?

but yea, for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, all of the territories that are held by the US should be allowed to either become states or independent nations. There's no reason to keep them as territories after a hundred years.

I'd support their statehood if they want it.
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Fuck no. They literally have nothing to offer and just scream "helpless and dependent"
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TheOrangeMisfit posted...

Fuck no. They literally have nothing to offer and just scream "helpless and dependent"

what would change with statehood? they still are dependent. why not just let them be a state? either way, we take care of them. the deep SOUTH states are dependent and we let them be states

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statehood_movement_in_Puerto_Rico

I don't see why not.
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Yes they deserve fair representation in our government if they are part of the US
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No. I don't know much about American Samoa, but PR has its share of difficulties associated with it becoming a full-fledged state. For starters, PR would not be able to become a full-on state until its territorial debt of 73 billion is either forgiven or paid off entirely. In addition, while statehood may sound like a nice, symbolic representation, PR would be giving up its autonomy for what? Seats in the Senate and House? PR currently enjoys the most autonomy of any US territory thanks to the fact that it's not a full-fledged state. The cost of this has always been a lack of official representation, but it also means the island is more self-contained. A lot of Puerto Ricans prefer such autonomy, and aside from some impoverished areas and communities ravaged by the last hurricane season, its current status has had a tremendous impact in maintaining its environment. IDK about anybody else here, but I'd take a day on a Puerto Rican beach over one in Hawaii any day.

Statehood would also lead to an increase in taxes to support benefits for the island's increasing rate of unemployment, which would not be solved by statehood and might even be further exacerbated. Effectively, this means working Puerto Ricans would have to pay extra taxes to support the unemployed, something many citizens would resent. Talks are currently in progress to get senate representation for the island put in place, independent of the push for statehood.
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