'cept they aren't Americans.
They are Puerto Ricans.
Not the same thing.
And they don't want to pay taxes, but they want to take our aid and live under our protection. They have no military, no national guard, and yet they still haven't got enough money to even take care of themselves BEFORE the hurricane, much less after.
And now it is Trumps fault that there is still debris is the streets. It should have been cleaned up by the US, apparently. The Puerto Rican's won't take responsibility for their own homes?
Coverage by CBS starts from incorrect premises and devolves from there....
They are Puerto Ricans.
Not the same thing.
And they don't want to pay taxes, but they want to take our aid and live under our protection. They have no military, no national guard, and yet they still haven't got enough money to even take care of themselves BEFORE the hurricane, much less after.
And now it is Trumps fault that there is still debris is the streets. It should have been cleaned up by the US, apparently. The Puerto Rican's won't take responsibility for their own homes?
Coverage by CBS starts from incorrect premises and devolves from there....
8 comments:
Unfortunately, PR is an American territory. The people there ARE technically Americans. Of course, this is like the many "sovereign indian nations" in the United States; they're "sovereign nations" when it benefits them, and Americans when it benefits them...
They are American citizens and are just as American as was Barry Goldwater, when he was born in the Arizona territory.
Let's see...Citizens of the United Stares of America = Americans
Oh, and the Jones Act waiver was allowed to lapse, prices have doubled...
When they pay the same taxes as American citizens, have the same obligations as American citizens, then they'll be American citizens. Until then, I don't consider 'em anything but a bunch of folks that are getting a free ride from the US.
Oh, and those "citizens" cannot vote for national offices:
Puerto Rico is an insular area — a United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of Columbia, the nation's federal district. Insular areas, such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, are not allowed to choose electors in U.S. presidential elections or elect voting members to the U.S. Congress. This grows out of Article I and Article II of the United States Constitution, which specifically mandate that electors are to be chosen by "the People of the several States". In 1961, the 23rd amendment to the constitution extended the right to choose electors to the District of Columbia.
Any U.S. citizen who resides in Puerto Rico (whether a Puerto Rican or not) is effectively disenfranchised at the national level. Although the Republican Party and Democratic Party chapters in Puerto Rico have selected voting delegates to the national nominating conventions participating in U.S. presidential primaries or caucuses, U.S. citizens not residing in one of the 50 states or in the District of Columbia may not vote in federal elections.
Various scholars (including a prominent U.S. judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit) conclude that the U.S. national-electoral process is not fully democratic due to U.S. government disenfranchisement of U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico.[65][66]
As of 2010, under Igartúa v. United States, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is judicially considered not to be self-executing, and therefore requires further legislative action to put it into effect domestically. Judge Kermit Lipez wrote in a concurring opinion, however, that the en banc majority's conclusion that the ICCPR is non-self-executing is ripe for reconsideration in a new en banc proceeding, and that if issues highlighted in a partial dissent by Judge Juan R. Torruella were to be decided in favor of the plaintiffs, United States citizens residing in Puerto Rico would have a viable claim to equal voting rights .[63]
Congress has in fact acted in partial compliance with its obligations under the ICCPR when, in 1961, just a few years after the United Nations first ratified the ICCPR, it amended our fundamental charter to allow the United States citizens who reside in the District of Columbia to vote for the Executive offices. See U.S. Constitutional Amendment XXIII.51. Indeed, a bill is now pending in Congress that would treat the District of Columbia as "a congressional district for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives", and permit United States citizens residing in the capitol to vote for members of the House of Representatives. See District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act, S.160, 111th Congress (passed by the Senate, February 26, 2009) (2009).52 However, the United States has not taken similar "steps" with regard to the five million United States citizens who reside in the other U.S. territories, of which close to four million are residents of Puerto Rico. This inaction is in clear violation of the United States' obligations under the ICCPR".[63]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States
B., you can consider what YOU want, they ARE U.S. Citizens.
CP: Then why can't they vote? If they ARE citizens, then they should get a vote and pay taxes.
They do neither. So there is apparently a disconnect here. Either one has the rights and obligations of a citizen, or one doesn't.
Er, because the Congress declined to allow them to vote (in Presidential elections) IF RESIDENT IN PUERTO RICO, because they don't pay U.S. Income Tax. A Puerto Rican who moves to the U.S. and establishes a residence is IMMEDIATLY eligible to vote...whoops, I guess they ARE citizens. The tax issue is a familiar one, ever heard of taxation without representation?
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