And of course, it’s politically unpopular among Republicans on the mainland who don’t want 2 more senators, whereas Democrats are generally in favor. However, the new member of Congress for PR is a Dem who opposes statehood, so it’s not black and white. He says PR benefits from its current status

It’s a complicated political situation there with a long history. The anti-statehood argument is that PR has a unique tax status (most residents exempt from fed income tax) as well as a cultural/political identity (Spanish language, etc), both of which would change if it became a state

Yeah, the fight boils down to political representation vs the argument that statehood would take away PR’s cultural identity (like its own delegation in the Olympics). It’s the first time in 20 years that the delegate will be opposed to statehood, but he’s a Dem who wants to expand federal benefits

It’s the seventh referendum they’ve held. The two main parties in PR have been fighting about the island’s status for decades

In other words, it’s not solely because of bad forces like Trump that statehood might not come to pass, but because it’s a complicated political situation with a long history within PR as well as without

The complication is that the presumptive resident commissioner in Congress is firmly opposed to statehood, and his party instructed voters to boycott the referendum so a huge number of ballots were left blank. Not to deflate hope but to say that we shouldn’t feel defeated if statehood doesn’t happen

I miss some clicky stories by never using blind quotes, but really, fuck them. Say it with your chest, use your name. Don't use me to launder your gossip.

King Arthur

I keep seeing these posts and getting the Perry Mason theme stuck in my head

Twist is that the likely next resident commissioner for PR in Congress is opposed to statehood. Unless this sinks his campaign

What you want is the album Gris Gris by Dr. John

Oh nice!

Oh ha! I haven’t seen that since I knew anything about synths. Was it a Fairlight or something?

Oof! As always, I will look at people’s synth collections past and present and think “how can you afford all this!?”