An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
H.R. 2499 Update
Yesterday, I posted on H.R. 2499, expressing confusion over my rep, Marsha Blackburn‘s co-sponsoring this bill. I had actually read the bill, and naturally, had concerns. When the only source of information comes from a TV pundit, it can be quite disconcerting. After hearing Glenn Beck talk about a bill that had not been in the news, was not posted on my rep’s website, and never mentioned in her emails, well, you can imagine I was thinking we were being bamboozled. Normal reaction, considering the current climate of D.C.
I had a nice, long conversation with Marsha’s communications director. Nice young fellow, who has pretty much laid my concerns to rest. Not completely, mind you, but many questions were answered. I can officially blame him for the folks in the 7th District NOT being informed of this bill. Yes, there are some people in D.C. who still do take responsibility. Surprising, I know, but there it is. 
Would have been nice if there had been something on the website though. I’m wondering if I can blame him for that, too? Hmm….
Marsha’s support of this bill makes perfect sense when you take into consideration that, although, Puerto Rico receives federal funds, aka taxpayer money, the residents do not pay into those funds through the federal income tax. Definitely a take, and no give, relationship. They vote, they serve in the armed forces, receive aid, yet contribute little to the treasury. This is a large drain of money. (Think ObamaCare. 
)
The way the bill originally read, it was not clear this was only the first vote that would be taken. A second vote is needed. THAT is the important vote, to my understanding. It will be on whether or not Puerto Rico should become a state, and contribute to national funds, or become an independent nation. It’s all about self determination, and I think most of us can agree, being self determining is a good thing (even though we’re being denied said self determination in many areas right now).
I read the bill again a short time ago, and noticed a major change:
Section 3 (e)
(1) ensure that all ballots used for any plebiscite held under this Act include the full content of the ballot printed in English;
Added:
(3) inform persons voting in any plebiscite held under this Act that, if Puerto Rico retains its current political status or is admitted as a State of the United States, it is the Sense of Congress that it is in the best interest of the United States for the teaching of English to be promoted in Puerto Rico as the language of opportunity and empowerment in the United States in order to enable students in public schools to achieve English language proficiency.
This is not a bad thing, however, when reading this, I started thinking…..shouldn’t that be the requirement for ALL residents of the U.S.?
As to the second vote, this is the one that will determine whether or not Puerto Rico will be admitted as a state, or if it will become the Republic of Puerto Rico, an independent country. One thing I did forget to ask, just when will this second vote happen? Will it be before the vote of the citizens of PR, or after? Now, being the person I am, thinking a bit more logically than I should sometimes, I would say it would have to be after. What good would it do if the House took such a vote before the residents decided if they want to continue in the same political manner, as a dependent, with little to no say. Considering there is little logic in the way D.C. operates…. who knows!
I was also concerned with the number of votes on either side. 39 Republicans for, and 40 Democrats against. I’m thinking that it was business as usual, and many people did not read the bill, or, if they did, they didn’t understand the ramifications. Kind of like me. I’m also thinking that, because of the Democrat mindset, so many voted FOR it because they believe that, because Puerto Rico is Hispanic, they will gain more votes in order to keep their power, so they will have even more money in the coffers to play with.
It turns out, even though the political party is called the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, they are actually quite conservative. It’s quite natural to make an assumption with the word “progressive” in the name, you think liberal>progressive>socialist>commie. Perhaps this is not the case after all?
So, after my conversation, perhaps this bill is not such a bad thing after all. The decision should be left up to the citizens of Puerto Rico. Considering they have voted against statehood frequently, perhaps they will opt for independence?
I think he hoodwinked you. Did some fast fancy talking and got you where he wanted you.
If you REAAAAALLLLLYYYY think that an island full of hispanics are going to vote REPUBLICAN, especially after theyve been told they were forced by a majority of republicans to basically become a state and pay taxes against their will, then I have a nice piece of land to sell you down in Florida.
Dont forget the part where the Dems go rushing over there to tell them evil republicans are coming to take their benefits, like they tell everyone here.
This is a powergrab. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Dems will gain 2 more votes in Congress.
Why is it you think we werent notified? They just FORGOT to tell the American public theyre trying to make a 51st state? It wasnt just you who wasnt notified. Noone was.
Why is that? >.<
So according to your reasoning here, we need to also make the Phillipines and Haiti states as well, being as they are taking and not giving, so to speak.
Doesnt make much sense in that light, now does it?
I think Ill take what Beck has told me, over a PR rep for a Politician who is sneaking around behind our backs.
Let’s make Mexico part of the USA.
10% of it’s population of 111 m illion are already here and Obama is trying to make them citizens anyhow.
We should just annex the whole damn country!!
It should be done before 51% of our population is Hispanic and they vote our country into being a part of Mexico.
Just a note.
There are, at the very least, 8 million illegal Mexicans in the US.
There are only about 4 million,at most, people in PR.
SB, neither the Philippines nor Haiti are U.S. territories, so your argument is moot. I was trying to pass along the information. And seriously, I resent the attack.
Lets face a simple truth, if PR does become a state it will have at least 3 votes in Congress. Two in the Senate and one or more in the House. Probably more than one, meaning that some smaller states will lose votes in the House. And those new voting members of Congress will be Democrats for sure. Afraid I not up to par on what the required vote in Congress is to admit a state, could just be a simple majority. In that case toss all the flags away they will be obsolete.
I’m REALLY hoping that if this thing goes all the way, which, odds are, the way I’m hearing it…it won’t, PR will vote for independence. Honestly, we don’t need another state. We aren’t taking care of the ones we’ve already got!
This isn’t an attack, but it is a respectful challenge:
I too think you may have been hoodwinked. Perhaps your Representative as well.
But maybe not. I’m open.
Did you find out any information about what Beck is calling the Tennessee Plan; ie- the five step process that Tennessee [and similarly Alaska] used to push their way into the US? Is there some indication this nice sounding bill won’t be used in that way? Even tho the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico has stated it is sponsoring this bill with specific intent to use the Tennessee strategy?
Becks theory on the subtle word manipulation of future ballots seems highly plausible as well. “Do you want to be a state?” is going to bring a very different result than “Do you want PR to maintain it’s current status?”. Any protection in this bill from that sort of manipulation?
I also think your/her/his thoughts on the relative ‘conservativeness’ of Latin America is a tid bit flawed. They are indeed socially conservative as you would expect from a Catholic dominated culture. Abortion is out. Gay marriage- nope. Anti-crime- yep! However, economically there is a MASSIVE streak of progressive tilt to nearly all of Latin America. This is amply illustrated by the Latin Americans who come to this country: they love the relatively free economy of the US and happily use it to support their families here and abroad, but when it comes time to vote, the vast majority vote for increasing every public entitlement available, and of course, open borders. Head to any ER in the country and try to convince yourself Hispanics don’t think health care is an entitlement. and school. and bilingual education and etc…. (BTW, Puerto Rico already has Universal Health care) None of this is to say that they aren’t ververy often very hard workers. But it is meant to say that they very often don’t buy into the American sentiment of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps and not expecting someone else to foot the bill for as much cool free stuf as government can provide. The entire Liberation Theology movement was started in South America as a way of infiltrating Marxist egalitarian thought into the traditionally conservative church. And boy has it worked! From the farthest tip of Argentina all the way up thru Mexico and on over to much of the Caribbean a large percentage of the people tend to unite over a common themes of ‘government is supposed to make it all fair’ and ‘social justice’. ‘Would you like a Che shirt or a bumper sticker?’
As individuals I suspect many Latinos south of our border lean toward a smaller freer government, but as a group they are highly susceptible to the promises of the far Left. (more and more, so are we!) Beck showed a bit of the charter statement of the the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico and it’s straight out of the egalitarian handbook. It’s dangerous work getting into bed with any organization that openly claims one of it’s goals is that oh-so-favorite ‘social justice’. Slippery SOBs those folks are, and quite frankly there isn’t a single politician I trust to have the foresight to effectively manage the hidden pitfalls they’ve got us lined up for.
“It’s about the money and making it fair for the taxpayer! Yeah!”
“OOPSEY! Did we accidentally make that part toothless??”
“Oh well. You don’t have the votes to oppose it. Thanks for your help getting the ball rolling!”
Sorry to be so negative, but just like immigration reform, we’re gonna start with the best of intentions and then we’re gonna end up with egg on our face.
I agree that the lines we call ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ etc… get blurry when we leave our borders, but on balance I suspect the American progressives have it right when they think Puerto Rico will vote to put Progressive politicians in their newly acquired congressional seats. It’ll be easy enuf to find PR politicians that will promise piles of cool stuf from the big US tax/spend machine while making backroom deals to allow a certain amount of autonomy regarding abortion, gay marriage etc… Get’em in the fold and used to the cash flow, then work on the social engineering stuf later.
BTW, for Mr. Russell, it’s 2 Senate seats and 6 House seats if they get in.
So there’s my 2cents. Hope I’m wrong but i ‘spose we’ll see soon enuf.
Take care, Allen
Evidently, in trying to give an explanation of Marsha’s support for the bill, people have assumed that I support it. Wrong! I do not. Perhaps because I was in a good mood yesterday morning, I didn’t explain very well. I DO understand the ramifications. Obviously, since I didn’t have the conversation recorded, and I don’t have a ‘photographic’ memory, I couldn’t relay the entire thing. We spoke for about 45 minutes, on a variety of topics, not just PR.
I have been accused of being ‘bought out’ and ‘siding with Democrats! All because I was TRYING to clear a few things up.
I will repeat this….if, and that’s a BIG if…this thing even gets to the Senate floor, and IF it passes, that does NOT mean PR will automatically become the 51st state. PR will have to have the vote, if they want to continue or change. (Jeeeez, I’m really starting to hate that word!) Depending on how that vote comes out, there would be another vote, and it goes back and forth.
There is something more behind all this, which I am not privy to, otherwise, why would four of the most conservative members of the House vote FOR this bill? It’s my understanding they work on a conservative committee with a rep from PR, but beyond that, I have no idea what was/is going on.
And all I wanted to do was share the information. Perhaps, next time, I’ll just keep it myself.
Well your words have been showing support, whether you intended them to or not.
You said “Republicans gave PR the SHAFT” when they voted against this.
You also said “Marsha’s support of this bill makes perfect sense when you take into consideration that, although, Puerto Rico receives federal funds, aka taxpayer money, the residents do not pay into those funds through the federal income tax.”
That doesnt sound like youre in support of this?
Or this part: “So, after my conversation, perhaps this bill is not such a bad thing after all.”
OB theres 2 kinds of people in this world, those that will tell you what you want to hear (most people), and those that tell you what you NEED to hear(friends).
When I see you siding with Democrats and sneaky politicians, Im not going to hold my tongue.
And since when are the phillipines NOT a US territory? Not that it matters. You think Obama isnt probably trying to hatch some scheme to make Haiti a state, or at least get that process started? My point was we certainly dont need another state, let alone one that will have like 60% of its population instantly on food stamps.
Allen you made some good points, but being anti-gay marriage and Church going and anti-abortion dont make you conservative, just ask black people.
SB, you should have let it go! First off, you got it wrong, so you might want to go back and see what I actually said…of the 39 Republicans who voted FOR the bill!
The Philippines have been an independent nation since WWII. Haiti has been an independent nation since 1804. Neither will ever become states.
I’m an extremely nice person, quite patient, but I do have my limits. Insult me one more time……
I should have started my post by saying “Thanks for taking the time to talk to your representative, OB.” I am sorry for that oversight. Your conveyance of the content of your discussion is certainly appreciated by me. It’s very valuable to hear what the politicians understand about these bills, especially in regard to things that seem so obviously troublesome to the little people they’re supposed to be representing. You certainly did clear a few things up for me. Thank you.
Sounds like we both still have lots of questions about this bill and why the forces for and against it are lining up the way they are. Tis confounding to me, especially regarding this whole Tennessee plan thingy. Perhaps Beck is totally off base on that one? I wish he’d have more Congress-critters on so we’d get a better rounded understanding of what’s going on. IMO, he’s always needed an interview styled half-hour in addition to his regular show. (take it from Hannity would be fine w/me!)
Perhaps the most conservative members of the House are for this because they believe they’ll get some anti-abortion voting help if PR is included?
Sounds like your Rep. is moving forward with it from the $ perspective which is certainly great IF it stays true and pure to those goals. (color me dubious, as previously stated) Still, it’s nice to hear at least somebody in D.C. is trying to look after our money.
Finally, it’s so hard to read and express ‘tone’ accurately on the web so if you took umbrage at anything I typed I hope you’ll be generous in forgiving me. I meant no disrespect. Thanks for your post.
I appreciate that, Allen. I realize that not everyone is going to agree with everything I post, but mainly, my original was rant wasn’t actually directed toward you, you just happened to be in between.
I have a lot of respect for Marsha, even though I don’t agree with her 100% of the time….more like 70%. If I agreed with everyone, 100%, I’d be just like an Obamite, and that’s highly unlikely to EVER happen. My faith is WAY too strong for that. 
I am from Puerto Rico and I think is great that our people may have a chance of deciding our future political status. However if we decide that we want to change our status and we end up voting for statehood, I don’t see it happening. Why not? It makes no sense. Puerto Rico has been part of the US for 112 years and puertoricans have been US citizens for 93 years. We have fought in every war the US have fough since ww1. So why now? It makes no sense for the US goverment to consider making Puerto Rico the 51st state specially under this economic climate. In Puerto Rico’s defense, a great part of the island’s population is bilingual. We have great technical schools that train great engineers that are later employed by the US goverment and NASA. (most of NASA employees are puertoricans). And we have already been traveling freely from any of the 50 states to Puerto Rico for 93yrs. And when it comes to showbiz Puerto Rico and its decendants have produced many of the world’s most famous singers and actors who have generated trillions of dollars across the world since the early 20th century.
I think it Puerto Ricans deciding their own fate is an excellent idea, as I’ve said. I still get the impression it’s about power.