Jake Towne's Comments on HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009
HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, passed the House last week by a vote of 223-169. by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Monday, May 3, 2010
HR 2499, the Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2009, passed the House last week by a vote of 223-169. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed by the President, this will authorize a two-stage public vote on the future political status of Puerto Rico (application to Congress for statehood, independence, or continue current status as a territory). As your future Congressman, I will do my best to provide my views to you on how and why I would have voted on all House floor bills, which is more accountable than the incumbent in most cases who has no intention of following the Our Open Office plan I have proposed. As always, feel free to leave your comments below. (Here is a video of my comments.)
As with most congressional decisions these days, this decision is not only somewhat hasty and not transparent to the public, but irresponsible as the most critical decisions that need to be made involve massive cuts to federal spending, a withdrawal of overseas military personnel, and a new strategy to address suicide terrorism. America must act now to avoid a currency crisis and to avoid the upcoming chaos to government-sponsored safety nets of Medicare and Social Security.
Regardless of the results of any vote in Puerto Rico, Congress must vote to approve statehood per the Constitution. However, there is a list of questions and comments that I take issue with.
First, the vote should be the responsibility of the Puerto Ricans residing on the island, and I fail to see why Congress should stipulate the exact rules of the vote, especially since the vote will be funded by Puerto Rico.
Second, the Congress has stipulated that all Puerto Ricans who do not live on the island (who roughly equal to the those that do) should also have a vote. This seems rather contradictory, and with the unique voting rules that favor the selection of statehood, it will be extremely possible for the measure to pass with less than 50% of the people residing on the island favoring statehood.
Third, remarkably there has not been a detailed financial study to determine whether Puerto Rico can provide a mutual benefit to the United States and can afford to shoulder the tax burden if they were to join the other 50 sovereign states, such as paying the dreaded federal income tax and assuming a segment of the national debt. With a population of about 1% of the US, on a per capita basis, my back-of-the-envelope calculation is at least $10,000 per person a year. As the current median HOUSEHOLD income is about $18,000, this does not seem to be possible, nor in Puerto Rico's best interests. The Congessional Budget Office's report only examined the cost of the vote, and a statehood admission report must be closely looked at.
Conversely, the question that should rather be asked after this fiscal report is completed is whether Puerto Rico should even REMAIN a territory. Just like Guantanamo Bay, Puerto Rico was conquered as a concession during the unnecessary Spanish-American War of 1898, and self-determination by the Puerto Ricans is the most sensible policy. I should add that if Puerto Rico were to become independent, the United States should by all means offer commerce, honest friendship, and peace.
The incumbent representative, Charles Dent, votedFOR this measure, and was a co-sponsor of the bill, reasons unknown. The Democrat challenger, John Callahan, has not stated an opinion on this bill to my knowledge.
I would have voted AGAINST this measure for the reasons described above.
May 3, 2010
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Jake Towne is running for U.S. Congressin Pennsylvania's 15th District in the 2010 election as a citizen unaffiliated with any political parties.
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We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
Veritas numquam perit. Veritas odit moras. Veritas vincit. Truth never perishes. Truth hates delay. Truth conquers.
Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito. Do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it.
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I was born in Puerto Rico and currently live in the state of Michigan. Having been born in Puerto RicoThe people born in Puerto Rico are US citizens just like you. Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898. They have fought in the wars and they do pay federal taxes in the form of social security as well as other Federal taxes. Currently, Puerto Rico has TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. The US citizens in Puerto Rico have been disenfranchised in each and every Presidential election because by Puerto Rico having no representation in Congress they have 0 electoral colleges. When I moved to the state of Michigan, I gained my Presidential voting rights. If you, Jake, decide to move to Puerto Rico, you lose your Presidential voting rights because you will still be living in the US with 0 electoral colleges. If you move to China, you will NOT lose your US Presidential voting rights because you can vote absentee in the US embassy. The President of the USA as commander in chief can send any Puerto Rican to a war against his or her will if a draft is implemented. This happened in the World Wars and in Vietnam. Yet, the people of Puerto Rico have no say in Congress with regards to such war. By putting roadblocks to Puerto Rico becoming a state or independent, you are discriminating against American citizens and are considering them to be inferior to you.
From a libertarian perspective, the current status quo of Puerto Rico is unacceptable. The people of Puerto Rico are bound by all US Federal laws and the ever increasing reach of the Federal Government into the state's issues. Currently Puerto Rico is a de-facto US state with open borders with the US mainland, same currency, defense, US citizenship, etc... The ONLY difference is the representation in Congress and thus the Presidential vote.
This bill sends a clear message to Puerto Rico: Either you are in or you are out... and the reason for which it needs to be stipulated by Congress is that if it is not, then is just a mere survey which Congress can just ignore. I think the bill should have even been more aggressive with specific timelines and an ultimatum with only two options: Statehood or Independence (either they are IN or they are OUT). Statehood NEEDS to be an option, because if the US government decides to make Puerto Rico independent unilaterally (which they can) it would be equivalent to giving freedom to the black slaves but with the condition of sending them back to Africa and they can’t stay here. Puerto Rico has been a territory for 112 years, so Statehood should definitely be an option.
I do however agree with one of your points: The people of Puerto Rico currently living outside the island should not vote on a plebiscite and that includes me. If you are not living there, you should have no say. Nevertheless, since the bill is going to allow me to vote even though I no longer live in Puerto Rico, I will vote for Statehood.
I was born in Puerto Rico and currently live in the state of Michigan. Having been born in Puerto RicoThe people born in Puerto Rico are US citizens just like you. Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898. They have fought in the wars and they do pay federal taxes in the form of social security as well as other Federal taxes. Currently, Puerto Rico has TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. The US citizens in Puerto Rico have been disenfranchised in each and every Presidential election because by Puerto Rico having no representation in Congress they have 0 electoral colleges. When I moved to the state of Michigan, I gained my Presidential voting rights. If you, Jake, decide to move to Puerto Rico, you lose your Presidential voting rights because you will still be living in the US with 0 electoral colleges. If you move to China, you will NOT lose your US Presidential voting rights because you can vote absentee in the US embassy. The President of the USA as commander in chief can send any Puerto Rican to a war against his or her will if a draft is implemented. This happened in the World Wars and in Vietnam. Yet, the people of Puerto Rico have no say in Congress with regards to such war. By putting roadblocks to Puerto Rico becoming a state or independent, you are discriminating against American citizens and are considering them to be inferior to you.
From a libertarian perspective, the current status quo of Puerto Rico is unacceptable. The people of Puerto Rico are bound by all US Federal laws and the ever increasing reach of the Federal Government into the state's issues. Currently Puerto Rico is a de-facto US state with open borders with the US mainland, same currency, defense, US citizenship, etc... The ONLY difference is the representation in Congress and thus the Presidential vote.
This bill sends a clear message to Puerto Rico: Either you are in or you are out... and the reason for which it needs to be stipulated by Congress is that if it is not, then is just a mere survey which Congress can just ignore. I think the bill should have even been more aggressive with specific timelines and an ultimatum with only two options: Statehood or Independence (either they are IN or they are OUT). Statehood NEEDS to be an option, because if the US government decides to make Puerto Rico independent unilaterally (which they can) it would be equivalent to giving freedom to the black slaves but with the condition of sending them back to Africa and they can’t stay here. Puerto Rico has been a territory for 112 years, so Statehood should definitely be an option.
I do however agree with one of your points: The people of Puerto Rico currently living outside the island should not vote on a plebiscite and that includes me. If you are not living there, you should have no say. Nevertheless, since the bill is going to allow me to vote even though I no longer live in Puerto Rico, I will vote for Statehood.
Conversely, the question that should rather be asked after this fiscal report is completed is whether Puerto Rico should even REMAIN a territory. 