UPDATE: The bill advocating Puerto Rican statehood passed on April 30th and now moves to the Senate. An amendment was added allowing Puerto Rico a fourth option in the second round of voting. That option would be to retain the status quo, i.e. opt out of any changes at all. At least they have an out now. We’ll see what happens when the “World’s Most Deliberative Body” gets hold of it. Any bets?
This bill was advocated by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico. No surprise there. They are all of one spirit with this monstrous radical leftist Congress and President, who are becoming increasingly transparent in their desperate bid to keep the reins of power.Glenn Beck’s rundown on the Puerto Rico statehood movement was excellent. See it here.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Apparently there is to be a vote later today [April 29th] on a bill regarding Puerto Rican statehood. They are calling it “non-binding” but it is not non-binding! It is a trap. The bill makes eventual Puerto Rican statehood a virtual certainty. This is despite the fact that statehood has been voted down repeatedly. The Puerto Rican people don’t want it!
But since when has that stopped the Left from ramming what they want down people’s throats? And why do they want it? The same reason they want everything, to further entrench their power. Statehood would mean two new senators, six or seven new representatives, and a whole slew of new voters. As Examiner.com’s Robert Moon points out:
Oh, and never mind us. We don't get a say in this either. Puerto Rico, which doesn't want statehood, is being forced to vote, while we American citizens, who have a vested interest in the outcome, will not be given the opportunity to vote! Simply incredible!Due to its dense population of poverty-stricken minorities, Puerto Rico can be counted on to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats and all their handouts, and their representation will also consequently outnumber that of 25 other existing U.S. states.Meanwhile, with Puerto Ricans having an average income of less than half that of our poorest state, they will instantly become eligible for dozens of our welfare programs. Truckloads of taxpayer dollars will also have to be perpetually dumped into the territory, by federal law, to bring it up to American infrastructure and environmental standards.
HR 2499, titled “A Bill, to provide for a federally sanctioned self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico” follows a very devious, underhanded multi-step path to essentially force Puerto Rican voters to eventually adopt statehood. Here’s how.
The bill first authorizes Puerto Rico to hold a vote where they are given the following two choices only:
- Puerto Rico should maintain its current political status.
- Puerto Rico should have a different political status (Different political status. These vague words are exactly as in the bill.)
So citizens get to choose 1 or 2. Period, no ifs, ands or buts. Then the bill stipulates what comes next:
If the people choose option 1 – which they have chosen multiple times already – then the Puerto Rican government is directed to conduct more plebiscites every eight years for the foreseeable future. So in other words, Mr. Puerto Rican citizen, we are going to keep cramming this down your throat until a majority of you choose option 2.
Once the people choose option 2, then there will be a second vote with the following three options:
- Full independence.
- Sovereignty “in association with the United States…” not subject to the Constitution’s Territorial Clause.
- Statehood.
For the record, the first two options will not get much support. So the entire structure of the bill is designed to funnel Puerto Rican voters into a predetermined outcome: Statehood. This despite the fact that Puerto Ricans have voted against statehood over and over again!
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a senior Democrat Congressman no less, just posted his views on this bill at Huffington Post. Here is what he has to say about it:
I am a senior Democratic Member of Congress, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico, and for whom Puerto Rico self-determination has been - and remains - a central issue of my congressional career. This statehood bill is the opposite of self-determination.It is designed to craft an artificial majority for statehood where none exists now (Emphasis, mine). Every time the people of Puerto Rico have been consulted on this issue through a plebiscite they've said NO to Statehood. NO to Statehood in 1967. NO to Statehood in 1993. NO to Statehood in 1998. This should be called the "Don't you dare say NO to Statehood Bill".
But he is just getting going. Listen to this:
We all know now from the outrageous experience of Obamacare that leftists could care less what the will of the people is. For those of you who traditionally vote Democrat this should serve as a warning: that includes you! Even if it’s those poor, downtrodden Puerto Ricans the Left claims to want to help so much. Ram Obamacare down Americas’ throat; ram statehood down Puerto Rico’s throat.When a similar Puerto Rico bill came up under Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican controlled Congress a decade ago, it was the product of lengthy and thorough hearings and an open and fair process. Then, I was given time to offer seven amendments. Then I was able to clarify the bill for the Puerto Rican people. Then, each of my seven amendments got 30 minutes of floor time for debate.Flash forward to now. Now a Democratic Majority Congress is only allowing me two of the 16 amendments I offered in the Rules Committee on Wednesday. Now I only have 10 minutes to debate each one. Now, under Democratic Leadership, we get one hearing, no forewarning, no companion Senate bill, and a debate only a few seconds longer than a NASCAR pit-stop…I get more time to debate renaming a Post Office than I will get to debate a bill that could make Puerto Rico the fifty-first state.In my opinion, this bill is the political equivalent of a shady Goldman Sachs derivative: It's secretive. It lacks transparency. It's likely to blow up down the road and cause systemic risk to out democracy. And those who put this political derivative together don't really tell you what this is really about and will play dumb when it explodes.
Do I detect a pattern here?
This information needs to go viral. Congress needs to hear from all of us big time. Congress needs to be shut down with phone calls and faxes starting first thing in the morning. That is today, April 29, 2010.
All this is going on while everyone is distracted by the monstrous financial bailout bill coming out of the Senate. The timing was deliberate! And we now hear that despite losing support from lone RINO Republican Lindsey Graham, the Democrats are going to go ahead with illegal immigrant amnesty.
So now we have a pretty comprehensive electoral strategy mapped out:
- Naturalize 12 million illegal aliens
- Do away with Electoral College using state-by-state approach
- Force Puerto Rican statehood.
- Soros-funded Secretary of State project to help steal close elections
- Cap & Trade, and Stimulus monies as political slush fund.
If you’re not sufficiently angry and alarmed now, there is no hope for you. These people are demonstrating right to our faces their willingness to trample our rights and defy our will. If they are willing to do this now, what will they be willing to do if they get the permanent majorities they want?
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