@Hetrose
I agree let them have which ever they want.

Puerto Rico’s voters have also petitioned Congress to be admitted to the union. In a 2012 referendum, 54 percent of the electorate voted to end the current territorial status, and 60 percent chose statehood as the preferred alternative. Five years later, 97 percent voted for statehood. Despite these two clear petitions, Congress to date remains deaf to the democratic aspirations of the American citizens of Puerto Rico.

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2018/06/10/commentary-puerto-r...

the U.S. did right by Puerto Rico. Give them the choice to become a full fledged State or allow them to cut loose from us and become a free nation, as they see fit. Either way we own them some money and help to rebuild. Make it so.

@detroitmechworks But do I need to search for links to several plebiscites that rejected independence?
Can you link to one where a majority of Puerto Ricans wanted independence?

There's a group here in Illinois that wants the Southern part to become a seperate state. I doubt if they have a majority.

If there is a plebiscite that shows a majority want to be independent, by all means let them go. And let the ones who want to stay Americans (like my State Rep) get relocation assistance to the mainland.

Speaking of my State Rep, would his American citizenship be revoked? Would he have to resign from the General Assembly and be deported? How about all those born in Puerto Rico and now residing in Chicago and New York? That includes several prominent politicians.

It's easy to shit on America, but think of consequences of your proposal.

Wanted to be independent they would vote for it. Since our democracy is sacred, we cannot bow to the whims of some foreign interloper, who would dare question the rights of American Citizens to vote as they please. And Time and time again, the American People have Chosen to Keep Amerika United az it alvays haas been und alvays vill be until ze endink uf Ze VORLD! You zere! RAUS! RAUS!

/snark

@WoodsDweller @WoodsDweller loose and deport the people on the mainland saying, "You are no longer an American citizen. You are a Puerto Rican national. go home." It's not like Puerto Rico was a rich island. Their economic choice is between being part of the USA or just another dirt-poor Caribbean country dominated by multi-national companies. Their best bet would be to compete with the Cayman islands in money laundering.

I'm sure they want two senators. Red states will never give it to them.

... and you all know that "Pangloss" is my middle name ... I might say that the neglect of PR in the wake of Maria was a deliberate attempt to cling to political power.
If the mainland had aggressively pursued the normalization of life in the aftermath (perhaps under the leadership of a Democratic Socialist President), the citizens of PR would have felt closer than ever to the people of the mainland and been eager to gain full statehood. It's likely that they would lean Democratic in their voting patterns, for example sending a couple more Democratic senators to DC.
And of course, if you were an aspiring fascist tyrant who lost the popular vote to the worst candidate in American history (who fortunately had no idea how the Electoral College works) and whose only hope is to keep brown skinned people out and prevent the brown skinned people here from voting, wouldn't you do everything in your power to make Puerto Ricans hate the US?

@gjohnsit

The corporations/billionaires might provide charity to lesser beings - as long as everything and everyone goes their way. Some might think of it as investing in maintenance of their property - but it's part of that engineered perceptual change, from an ideal of democracy where the people form self-government to serve the public interest to the acceptance of a fascist state, where corporate CEOs/billionaires own and control all and the people forming countries must beg for everything from jobs to housing from a very few self-interests. And if it suits their self-interests, TPTB might oblige those whose rights and country they've stolen by enabling various among them to continue living.

Alms, alms, for the beggars!

a disturbing trend

I recently noticed a string of interesting news stories, all with the same theme. Domino’s Pizza is donating money to 20 U.S. cities, to be used for fixing potholes and cracked roads. Salesforce has donated $1.5 million to reduce homelessness in San Francisco, and its CEO, Marc Benioff, has spoken of grander schemes to end homelessness in the city entirely. And Facebook is talking about renovating a defunct bridge that runs across the San Francisco Bay near its offices.

All of these initiatives, in and of themselves, are good things. It’s good for potholes to be fixed, homeless people to be housed, and traffic congestion to be relieved. But the fact that it’s private companies taking these steps is an ominous sign for the nation. It suggests a breakdown in the government’s ability or willingness to carry out one of its core functions — the efficient provision of public goods.