Puerto Rico deserves statehood way more than DC does, even if you ignore the legal and constitutional concerns around DC statehood. It's long overdue.
I completely agree and it's actually upsetting to see how quick the government is being with moving DC to statehood while ignoring Puerto Rico.
It's moving quickly for a reason - it's free seats in Congress. Puerto Rico is a coin toss. Everybody with at least two brain cells that occasionally flare up understands that this has nothing to do with the citizens of DC.
I mean, nothing to do with them other than the fact that they pay taxes but don't receive representation. Even if DC was a bastion of conservatism I'd say that's a problem in need of correcting. Puerto Rico has a high likelihood of voting Democrat as well, but still I'm guessing there's more opposition to its statehood from members of both parties.
I have no problem with that suggestion, though Maryland would need an extra seat or two in the House to make up for the sudden jump in population. Basically the same outcome.
Yeah that's true, but these voters/constituents are being pulled from a hat too, so I don't see statehood as an unreasonable solution to that. If it was solely about winning elections, Democrats would just do like Republicans and pass voter suppression laws in blue states that only target their opposition.
If that all it is, DC would have become a state as soon as Democrats had the majority years ago. Not to mention, Puerto Rico is being discuss in the House as we speak. It isn't one or the other. Good chance if one is passed, the other will be passed right after.
"Yeah, but..." - nah, no butts. I'm not even too sure if the federal government legally *can* declare the land to be a new state - it doesn't *own* DC, the land has been ceded to the federal government for the purposes of establishing a seat of government. The government can choose to shrink its size, but that *does not* answer the question of what happens with the land next. Logically it should be returned to the state that ceded it in the first place, as it was the case with Virginia's land, except Maryland doesn't want it back, which leads to a legal and constitutional conundrum. There's a reason why this issue has been debated for well over a century, and it goes beyond the current administration and its (fairly obvious) attempt at seizing more power in Congress than it already has.
Curiously the push increased in its intensity right as the Democrats are on the cusp of reaching a very comfortable majority (not quite a supermajority, but still) in the Senate and control all branches of government besides the Supreme Court (which they want to pack in order to control that also). Listen. I get what you're saying, but I'm not 5.
I really don’t give the benefit of doubt towards our government. The rate they are pushing to make DC a state makes it obvious that there’s something clearly politically motivated to this change of heart. There needs to be suspicious to the motivations as to why they are doing this and who’s benefiting from making DC a state? Why have been so against adding states in the past but suddenly now decide that it’s time to recognize a new state? I am suspicious of our government’s motivations because of little they act in the people’s favor.
Lol you act like all this stuff was written in stone by Moses. If legislation put us in this conundrum, it can also get us out of it. If Maryland doesn't want the land back, then the focus falls back onto the people living there and not receiving representation in government, and seemingly we're left with only one good option for rectifying that.
I suppose it wasn't the first priority of the Obama administration, but Democrats in the majority have favored adding new states for some time now. Republicans have typically had enough power to obstruct those efforts or prevent relevant bills from even receiving a vote.
The situation does not require rectifying. I sincerely hope that the Senate throws the bill away and prevents a complete Democrat takeover of every single branch of government with zero oversight from their opposition, which is what all of this is really about. Maybe try again in a couple of years, or negotiate with Maryland regarding their no backsies policy.
"Some Americans don't require representation in government." Didn't we fight a war about this?
Lmao, "no fair you staged a takeover of government by getting more people to vote for you." Such a nefarious plan that nobody could possibly see coming.
Perhaps because they have been discussing this for years and enough people are now convinced? Even if we expect the worse and they giving them statehood for the wrong reason, doesn't mean they don't deserve it. Are we just going to block all statehoods because we don't trust the government, no matter what the actual people want?
The nefarious plan of giving yourself free Senators by signing a bill, and giving yourself Supreme Justices by signing another bill, yes. Fortunately they will fail at both since they lack the votes for either proposal, but the fact that they're attempting it alone should be a wakey wakey signal to some people who were napping for the last couple of years. You talk a lot about fascism, and here you are - singing praises for the party that is literally attempting to gain control of the entirety of the government not because it was elected to control all of it, but because they say so. If by some bizarre twist of fate they somehow do manage to pack the court, I hope every single Republican administration adds the same amount of seats plus one going forward. Why not? It's free seats, who cares. 328+ million Supreme Justices, please - we'll figure things out from there."Some Americans don't require representation in government." Didn't we fight a war about this?
Lmao, "no fair you staged a takeover of government by getting more people to vote for you." Such a nefarious plan that nobody could possibly see coming.
Ah yes, the good 'ol "right thing for the wrong reasons" spiel. Nah, give it back to Maryland, that's where the land belongs.
I am not opposing making DC a state, I am questioning why DC before any other and what’s the motivations? As said before, I have a hard time assuming the best of the government because they so rarely act in the best interest of the people. I simply want to understand why DC first, what’s the gain and who’s gaining from it?
DC would have the vote same as any other state. It's not my fault if the Republican platform is completely unappealing to the people who live there (along with the majority of the country). Maybe pulling the party out of the 18th century might help. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
