Wednesday, April 28, 2010

On Puerto Rico & HR 2499

I heard about this this morning through the Tea Party Network I'm a part of.  And not surprisingly, they heard about it through Glenn Beck.

Now I like Glenn quite a lot.  I think he's on the right track.  Sometimes he gets off on things where I think he's barking down a side-trail, but he eventually comes back and continues in the right direction with (mostly) the right arguments. 

At first, it sounded like the argument being made was that the bill had stuff in it to allow illegal aliens and felons to vote.  Which wouldn't shock me considering all the crap stuffed into "teh" Health Care Bill that didn't have anything to do with Health Care.

But when I read the bill ... and it's a short, sweet one ... I wasn't too alarmed.  And I'm not sure how alarmed I should be about this bit in particular.   After all, I think if Puerto Rico wants to vote to be a state... well then let 'em vote.  Deal is, they already can.  So why this "non-binding" bill?  Why now?

So I decided to let Glenn make his case and do some followup research on my own.  And this is what I came up with.

There’s nothing in the bill about illegal aliens voting, or felons or prisoners voting.  And Glenn didn't say that there was.  He was putting this bill in a larger context.

There has been a push in the past to allow Washington DC and Puerto Rican representatives to vote in Congress.

There are also progressive organizations working with the Democratic party to get illegal aliens the vote, because they figure those votes will break their way. And you’ve got progressive organizations like the Center for American Progress … all a part of the Obama coalition … working to get felons the vote. It’s a massive community organizing effort to get votes behind the progressive party. Which right now for the most part is synonymous with the Democratic party.

But it’s not all a part of the bill. Getting statehood for Puerto Rico is just one part of a strategy to secure a permanent majority for the progressive movement. It’s just one prong, and I don’t see where we should be fighting against admitting another state to the union. I don’t have a problem with that.

Of course, none of this would matter if we still went back to the Constitution as to what role government is to play in our lives. But the general Cloward-Piven plan is to get enough people on the government dole that they 1) continue to support the government dole, and 2) would support a move to a different form of government that would guarantee their place on the government dole if an “emergency” came up. You know. Like the insolvency of the country or something.

Right now, at this moment, Puerto Rico is largely run by the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico (NPP). So it’s a good chance that if they seated congressfolk, they would add to the US’s current supermajority. So they want it NOW because they like the probable result. They wouldn’t be pushing for it if it were some conservative party in control. So it’s not wrong … it’s just a danger to our republic at this time because of the current dynamic, and the current dynamic is in favor of a Fundamental Transformation.

But if they have a progressive majority long enough, they can increase the number of people on the government dole. We’re (as a country) about half and half progressive/conservative in the last several elections. They only need to push it a little.

This is why I think the answer is to speak up calmly, firmly, and rationally and convince our friends, one at a time if need be, to at least question their premises and understand what our founding ideals were and what was good about them.  We have a cultural crisis -- one that has been nurtured by progressives.  And it manifests itself at the polls.  We have to convince actual voters, not politicians and government officials.

Now basically, the danger of the bill according to Glenn is that it is designed as part of a plan by the NPP. He’s saying that currently in Puerto Rico there’s about 43% who want to be a state, 20% want to be independent, and about 27% who like things the way they are.

Which means over 60% want …. wait for it …. “Change”.

So the bill lays out the voting this way …

Do you want to stay the way we are, or do you want ‘change’? Vote … 60/40 – “Change”.

Now status quo is off the table.

Next question.

Do you want to be independent, or do you want to be a state?

Well now you split the status-quo vote, and it’s a choice between losing the sweet deal of being a United States Commonwealth … they’re betting they can get at least 8% of the remaining 27% (probably a lot more) to vote “State”.

Two more Progressive senators and another progressive congressman or two.

It’s a numbers game. Divide, conquer. Get the result you want. Then do what you want and claim a mandate.  It’s been done before, at least the accellerated congressional seating plan. Twice. The Tennesee Plan. Not saying it’s wrong or right. But it gets them the results they want, and they don’t feel constrained by the Constitution. They want to … fundamentally transform it.  And that's been done before, too.  Generally in places that elected people who ended up being dictators.

Mr. Beck says tonight he's going to show some of the NPP campaign ads from Puerto Rico and show that the Tennesee Plan is, in fact, the plan.   We'll see.

2 comments:

Cylar said...

Didn't Puerto Rico already have an election on statehood a few years back? The ballot had all three possibilities listed, and the majority of the vote went for "status quo."

I remember wondering, "And just when were the rest of us going to be allowed a say in this matter? If Puerto Rico wants to break away entirely, maybe that's their choice to make - the United States does not retain territory against the wishes of its residents. And we really don't need to be consulted if they opt to remain a territory, either."

But we sure as hell ought to have some say if they want to join us as the 51st state. Yeah, take a Spanish-speaking island whose cultural values are closer to Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti than to ours...and just cram that extra star onto our flag?

I don't THINK so. Maybe the rest of us don't want 'em in here, eh? What happened when Alaska and Hawaii joined? Did the rest of the country get consulted, then? All the same, it's no comparison with trying to graft Puerto Rico onto our country.

It's especially frustrating to read the speculation that the only issue in progressives' minds...is the addition of more Democrats to Congress. Sad.

Unknown said...

Good Morning. Just to clear the air a bit... I am an American born in NYC of Puerto Rican parents and have lived (on and off) in Puerto Rico over the last few years. I can say that very few PR's want Total Independence. Now between Status Quo and Statehood begs the question of who you are polling on the Island. I personally believe that the majority of PR's would go for Statehood than for Status Quo. As for your comment of

"I don't THINK so. Maybe the rest of us don't want 'em in here, eh?"

It's too late. You've been living with them since forever as they are Legal Citizens from birth. They can travel without Passports to the Mainland, they do not have green cards, they all hace Social Security Numbers and all of the pay Federal Taxes on their wages. They do everything YOU do except vote for The President of The United States. The FBI operates in Puerto Rico as it does here in the united States.

Cultural values closer to those of Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti? Laughable! You have not been to Puerto Rico if you had the gall to make that comment. PR has become more and more "Americanized" as time passes. You go to PR and you would hardly notice that you were in a non-English speaking area as most PRs already speak English and the children are learning English in ALL SCHOOLS. Even street signs are increasingly being printed in English.

Please do MORE research before making such comments as people from that region DO READ these blogposts on the internet and are intelligent enough to formulate their own opinions and argue (intelligently) their side of the story.

My Personal Opinion: PR Should Stay As They Are "A Commonwealth". But if they vote (in PR alone) to become a State, they should be welcomed with open arms as they pay their fair share of taxes and 99% of the laws are shared by the United States. Should WE as United States Born Americans have a say in this matter. HELL NO! They should have the total decision-making power. It's THEIR Land, not ours.

Thank You,
Ray