- Messages
- 362
- Reactions
- 1
I know this is not firearm related but we have kind of de facto relaxed the restriction, haven't we?
Fearing Puerto Rico
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
May 03, 2010, 7:22PM
With headlines full of news about oil spills and financial reform, you may not have noticed that the House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday to authorize the commonwealth of Puerto Rico to consider whether it wanted to become a full-fledged state of the United States. The House resolution, which is unlikely to see action in the Senate before the midterm election, passed 233-169.
A resolution is the mildest sort of legislation that Congress can pass, and this one is anything but bold. It permits Puerto Rico to take a vote of its residents, and of former Puerto Ricans living in the United States, to ask whether they want the island to continue as a commonwealth. If they say "No," then a follow-up vote would be held to ask them if they prefer statehood, independence or a third category of sovereignty, in association with the United States.
It's not radical stuff, and there's been discussion for decades about the idea of Puerto Rico becoming a state. It's certainly a worthy thing to debate, whether you believe simply that an island that sends its sons and daughters to fight in American wars deserves to have a vote in Congress, or whether you think it would be better to avoid committing the federal government to providing a full range of federal services to island residents. There are arguments pro and con.
But what's strange this time is the feverish rhetoric whipped up by some who detect something sinister in all this. The House rejected an amendment offered by Washington Republican Doc Hastings, who proposed that Puerto Rico be required to make English the sole official language of Puerto Rico. (It already is the official language, along with Spanish. And English is a required subject in the island's public schools.) Cable television entertainer Glenn Beck denounced the idea of Puerto Rican statehood with an odd tirade that invoked Adolph Hitler, the Tennessee Plan and Marxism. ("That's what's happening: The fundamental transformation of America. And this is only the beginning.") Added conservative commentator Naomi Lopez Bauman in an essay on the National Review Online site, "Puerto Ricans cannot be counted on to support free-market and conservative candidates on the national level."
This kind of talk embarrasses sensible people, many of whom are Republicans who voted for the resolution. But because there remains a market for manufactured outrage, it may become difficult for the Senate to take up the resolution this year.
Still, a time is coming when the sane center will have to say "Enough" to the rhetoric from the fringe. The question of Puerto Rico statehood revolves around notions of liberty, democratic values and equal access to the services and obligations of the state. It should provide a forum for reasonable debate, which means, in this case, letting the islanders ask themselves whether they want to be the kinds of Americans that we are.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/05/fearing_puerto_rico.html
Fearing Puerto Rico
By The Oregonian Editorial Board
May 03, 2010, 7:22PM
With headlines full of news about oil spills and financial reform, you may not have noticed that the House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday to authorize the commonwealth of Puerto Rico to consider whether it wanted to become a full-fledged state of the United States. The House resolution, which is unlikely to see action in the Senate before the midterm election, passed 233-169.
A resolution is the mildest sort of legislation that Congress can pass, and this one is anything but bold. It permits Puerto Rico to take a vote of its residents, and of former Puerto Ricans living in the United States, to ask whether they want the island to continue as a commonwealth. If they say "No," then a follow-up vote would be held to ask them if they prefer statehood, independence or a third category of sovereignty, in association with the United States.
It's not radical stuff, and there's been discussion for decades about the idea of Puerto Rico becoming a state. It's certainly a worthy thing to debate, whether you believe simply that an island that sends its sons and daughters to fight in American wars deserves to have a vote in Congress, or whether you think it would be better to avoid committing the federal government to providing a full range of federal services to island residents. There are arguments pro and con.
But what's strange this time is the feverish rhetoric whipped up by some who detect something sinister in all this. The House rejected an amendment offered by Washington Republican Doc Hastings, who proposed that Puerto Rico be required to make English the sole official language of Puerto Rico. (It already is the official language, along with Spanish. And English is a required subject in the island's public schools.) Cable television entertainer Glenn Beck denounced the idea of Puerto Rican statehood with an odd tirade that invoked Adolph Hitler, the Tennessee Plan and Marxism. ("That's what's happening: The fundamental transformation of America. And this is only the beginning.") Added conservative commentator Naomi Lopez Bauman in an essay on the National Review Online site, "Puerto Ricans cannot be counted on to support free-market and conservative candidates on the national level."
This kind of talk embarrasses sensible people, many of whom are Republicans who voted for the resolution. But because there remains a market for manufactured outrage, it may become difficult for the Senate to take up the resolution this year.
Still, a time is coming when the sane center will have to say "Enough" to the rhetoric from the fringe. The question of Puerto Rico statehood revolves around notions of liberty, democratic values and equal access to the services and obligations of the state. It should provide a forum for reasonable debate, which means, in this case, letting the islanders ask themselves whether they want to be the kinds of Americans that we are.
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/05/fearing_puerto_rico.html
You hit the nail right on the head. The democrats are trying to get together their votes so that it would be hard to take back the presidency. Make Puerto Rico a state, legalize 20 million illegals, make DC a state and give them electoral votes and they figure they can plan on being in power for a long time to come. 
