Progressives Want To Make DC And Puerto Rico States. It May Not Go As Well As They Think

[mystery-ak]

Progressives Want To Make DC And Puerto Rico States. It May Not Go As Well As They Think


Varun Hukeri
Reporter
January 15, 2021 9:24 PM ET


Democrats are heading into this year with control over the White House and majorities in both chambers of Congress after Republican losses in the presidential election and Georgia Senate runoffs.

Granting statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico has gained traction among progressive Democrats and could be considered in the upcoming Congress.

Progressives argue that adding D.C. and Puerto Rico as the union’s two newest states is a matter of representation. But the move appears more like a power grab to control the Senate, as pushing through statehood for both would add four likely Democratic seats, according to Five Thirty Eight.

Granting statehood would first require ending the filibuster, a move that moderate Democrats like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin have already ruled out. But the issue goes beyond party politics — here’s why progressives may need to think twice about their plan to grant D.C. and Puerto Rico statehood.

more
https://dailycaller.com/2021/01/15/washington-dc-puerto-rico-statehood-progressives-democrats-congress/

[jmyrlefuller]

I remember not too long ago Puerto Rico electing a Republican governor (Luís Fortuño). (Apparently even more recently there had been a Republican appointee to the post, Wanda Vázquez Garced.) So to think that PR would automatically be a solid blue state would be a grave miscalculation, I think.

[libertybele]

I remember not too long ago Puerto Rico electing a Republican governor (Luís Fortuño). (Apparently even more recently there had been a Republican appointee to the post, Wanda Vázquez Garced.) So to think that PR would automatically be a solid blue state would be a grave miscalculation, I think.

The DEMS can make Puerto Rico a blue state; all they have to do is set the voting machines accordingly.