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Okay so Puerto Rico statehood has come up a few times in the past month and then I made the terrible decision to suffer through Fox News talking about it (never forgiving @jaywillis and @GalvinAlmanza for this) so now I have to rant. Enjoy my thread 
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Puerto Rico statehood is NOT the same as DC statehood!
1. Imposing statehood on PR could mean imposing federal income taxes on PR-generated income in an island that is already saddled with debt. DC pays full federal income taxes.
1. Imposing statehood on PR could mean imposing federal income taxes on PR-generated income in an island that is already saddled with debt. DC pays full federal income taxes.
And btw, the US gov& #39;t only made matters worse when they imposed seven people as an unelected fiscal control board that stripped the islandâs of its power to oversee the island& #39;s debts, and imposed colonial austerity measures.
2. PR has its own identity. With its own culture, own language, own customs, etc. That& #39;s not to say that statehood and unique identity can& #39;t co-exist, like it does in Hawaii, but the loss of culture is a real concern for folks living in PR. DC, on the other hand, is the capital.
And DC residents can vote for President! They have representation in the electoral college...without being a state.
I don& #39;t live on the island and was raised in the states, so I don& #39;t think I am the person to provide the answer on PR& #39;s status. Puerto Ricans living on the island should be able to make that decision for themselves (and no, not in a rigged referendum).
But as a Puerto Rican with family on the island, it is extremely frustrating to hear both Democrats and Republicans frame statehood in a way that only thinks about how it could affect a party in a system that has failed to consider the needs of Puerto Ricans for years.
This is pure. colonialism.
And as a second point (because priority #1 when considering the status of PR should be the PR people themselves), the assumption that the Democratic party would benefit from PR statehood is probably wrong! There are lots of Republicans in PR!
And many of them are also in support of statehood. Look at the Puerto Rican elected officials who support statehood -
1. Jenniffer GonzĂĄlez-ColĂłn - non-voting member of congress, former co-chair of Latinos for Trump
2. Wanda Vazquez - current governor of PR, Trump supporter
1. Jenniffer GonzĂĄlez-ColĂłn - non-voting member of congress, former co-chair of Latinos for Trump
2. Wanda Vazquez - current governor of PR, Trump supporter
In short. Stop arguing about the status of my people without considering their needs.
K done goodnight :)
K done goodnight :)
