2020 US General Election Thread VIII: Cs, Ds, and Es

[Bienenhalde]

US political hot take: Every territory that is sending a representative to Congress should become a state.

This means that Guam, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands should all become states. If these places are all sending representatives to the US, why should we deny them full statehood and make them effectively second class citizens?

That's only a hot take to people with an (R) next to their name. The rest of us support the idea.

Obviously Puerto Rico should become a state, but I think some of the other territories you mention are too small in terms of population. DC maybe has enough population to be a state, but it could just as easily be annexed into Maryland. Maybe the US Virgin Islands could be added to Puerto Rico, since they are close by?

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

That's only a hot take to people with an (R) next to their name. The rest of us support the idea.

Obviously Puerto Rico should become a state, but I think some of the other territories you mention are too small in terms of population. DC maybe has enough population to be a state, but it could just as easily be annexed into Maryland. Maybe the US Virgin Islands could be added to Puerto Rico, since they are close by?

Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands together as the State of the American Caribbean Islands (SACI) and American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands as the State of the American Pacific Islands (SAPI).

[The Rich Port]

That's only a hot take to people with an (R) next to their name. The rest of us support the idea.

Obviously Puerto Rico should become a state, but I think some of the other territories you mention are too small in terms of population. DC maybe has enough population to be a state, but it could just as easily be annexed into Maryland. Maybe the US Virgin Islands could be added to Puerto Rico, since they are close by?

Nah, Trump says we need to "pay our debts" first.

Imagine thinking Puerto Rico owes him a fucking penny after America were the ones who fucking stole Puerto Rico in the first place, and then letting the corporations, who don't pay any fucking taxes, to run the country into the ground and lobby the Popular Party to keep it a territory because they make more money because we have no power to regulate them as a territory.

You don't get to declare bankruptcy on that one, can you.

I say let him kick us out of the Union so we can nationalize all the asshole corporations to recoup our costs.

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

Obviously Puerto Rico should become a state, but I think some of the other territories you mention are too small in terms of population. DC maybe has enough population to be a state, but it could just as easily be annexed into Maryland. Maybe the US Virgin Islands could be added to Puerto Rico, since they are close by?

Nah, Trump says we need to "pay our debts" first.

Imagine thinking Puerto Rico owes him a fucking penny after America were the ones who fucking stole Puerto Rico in the first place, and then letting the corporations, who don't pay any fucking taxes, to run the country into the ground and lobby the Popular Party to keep it a territory because they make more money because we have no power to regulate them as a territory.

You don't get to declare bankruptcy on that one, can you.

I say let him kick us out of the Union so we can nationalize all the asshole corporations to recoup our costs.

I mean... we didn't steal you. The Spanish surrendered you after they got their asses kicked. True that war wasn't justified, but we didn't know that at the time.

[The Rich Port]

Nah, Trump says we need to "pay our debts" first.

Imagine thinking Puerto Rico owes him a fucking penny after America were the ones who fucking stole Puerto Rico in the first place, and then letting the corporations, who don't pay any fucking taxes, to run the country into the ground and lobby the Popular Party to keep it a territory because they make more money because we have no power to regulate them as a territory.

You don't get to declare bankruptcy on that one, can you.

I say let him kick us out of the Union so we can nationalize all the asshole corporations to recoup our costs.

I mean... we didn't steal you. The Spanish surrendered you after they got their asses kicked. True that war wasn't justified, but we didn't know that at the time.

Kinda pedantic dontchathink. If I challenged a man to a duel for his TV, and even if he lost he says I can't have his TV, so I hold a gun to his head, that's still stealing.

Yeah, the Spaniards stole it from the Natives, but they're all dead now so.

[New Visayan Islands]

Jeb is pretty much the worst kind of Republican though.

Jeb isn't as based as Mutti Merkel, but is still much better than Trump.

*** Warned for trolling through political nicknaming. ***

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

I mean... we didn't steal you. The Spanish surrendered you after they got their asses kicked. True that war wasn't justified, but we didn't know that at the time.

Kinda pedantic dontchathink. If I challenged a man to a duel for his TV, and even if he lost he says I can't have his TV, so I hold a gun to his head, that's still stealing.

Yeah, the Spaniards stole it from the Natives, but they're all dead now so.

That's... not really what happened. The war was about Cuba, not Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico and the Philippines were just a bonus.

[The Rich Port]

Kinda pedantic dontchathink. If I challenged a man to a duel for his TV, and even if he lost he says I can't have his TV, so I hold a gun to his head, that's still stealing.

Yeah, the Spaniards stole it from the Natives, but they're all dead now so.

That's... not really what happened. The war was about Cuba, not Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico and the Philippines were just a bonus.

=_=

So I took the guy's TV and I took the money in his wallet too as a bonus. Still stealing.

Either way, Puerto Rico didn't get a choice in staying in America until... 150 years later?

And even then, the two most recent plebiscites have been ignored, because they were in favor of statehood.

Where's our fucking ratification vote.

[Washington Resistance Army]

Very interesting news I just learned. Amy Comey Barrett has in the past opposed qualified immunity, I'm kinda shocked the GOP would be willing to go forward with that given all the cop loving rhetoric.

[Shrillland]

That's... not really what happened. The war was about Cuba, not Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico and the Philippines were just a bonus.

=_=

So I took the guy's TV and I took the money in his wallet too as a bonus. Still stealing.

Either way, Puerto Rico didn't get a choice in staying in America until... 150 years later?

And even then, the two most recent plebiscites have been ignored, because they were in favor of statehood.

Where's our fucking ratification vote.

Erm...the last one was ignored because it was a PNP power grab and a sham vote with 23% turnout.

[The Black Forrest]

Very interesting news I just learned. Amy Comey Barrett has in the past opposed qualified immunity, I'm kinda shocked the GOP would be willing to go forward with that given all the cop loving rhetoric.

Hmmm? Where is the story?

Smells like “look libs she isn’t that bad!”

[The Rich Port]

Very interesting news I just learned. Amy Comey Barrett has in the past opposed qualified immunity, I'm kinda shocked the GOP would be willing to go forward with that given all the cop loving rhetoric.

Either they forgot or they're trying to very sneakily and slowly change their overall tune of "cops can do nothing wrong" to "Eh I mean sometimes... Look we're hemorrhaging voters OK"

[Rusozak]

Very interesting news I just learned. Amy Comey Barrett has in the past opposed qualified immunity, I'm kinda shocked the GOP would be willing to go forward with that given all the cop loving rhetoric.

Their support only goes as far it serves their purpose. The ideology of the GOP is power for power's sake. They'll let that slide so long as their support base doesn't waver.

[The Rich Port]

=_=

So I took the guy's TV and I took the money in his wallet too as a bonus. Still stealing.

Either way, Puerto Rico didn't get a choice in staying in America until... 150 years later?

And even then, the two most recent plebiscites have been ignored, because they were in favor of statehood.

Where's our fucking ratification vote.

Erm...the last one was ignored because it was a PNP power grab and a sham vote with 23% turnout.

How convenient that the move that is bad for corporations and the USA's bottom line was a "sham vote".

[Uiiop]

I feel either an implicit "2022 will wreck republicans to either make them lose seat or change their "politicians" and/or a "Oh, we're adding Guam too" vibe.

Either way, I'm not sure what you're saying is true. The poll pundits say there's already a small plurality for court packing and people are excepted to grow that number once things actually start to happen. People are polarized already and it's not like Court packing in response to other moves is going to offend the swing voter.

I don't pretend to know what's going to happen in '22, but I do think the Democrats are more likely to be successful in general if they empower themselves to really do more than one significant piece of legislation, and that means padding their majority. Incorporating new states is a legal way to do that. So it's probably more of the latter. I'd be in favor of statehood for D.C., Puerto Rico and breaking California up, if I was advising the party.

And, yes, I may be mistaken. But it seems from my observation that packing the court riles all the partisans up on both sides without addressing the structural imbalance that the majority party has a very shaky grasp on maintaining power in the senate for any length of time. The long term solution then seems obvious. Build that durable majority with hardball if necessary and use it to deliver reforms that, at once reward and gratify your own supporters, but universally improve things for the whole country (this is why healthcare would be at the top of the list). I think that's a more viable long term path than resorting to immediate court packing, but, yeah, sure, I'll concede that it's all speculation.

It's all up in the air I agree. What I'm leaning is more "try statehood and ditching the filibuster first but get court reform done before the midterms "than "just do courts first" to be clear. I honestly say there's a chance the courts will try to screw them over the first two giving people enough excuse anyways. Not necessarily a likely chance mind, but who's knows where the ideological winds can take us.

[Organized States]

US political hot take: Every territory that is sending a representative to Congress should become a state.

This means that Guam, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands should all become states. If these places are all sending representatives to the US, why should we deny them full statehood and make them effectively second class citizens?

Political Hot Take: How about you let us actually decide what we want rather than have another hundred years of dictating it from Washington?

[Washington Resistance Army]

Very interesting news I just learned. Amy Comey Barrett has in the past opposed qualified immunity, I'm kinda shocked the GOP would be willing to go forward with that given all the cop loving rhetoric.

Hmmm? Where is the story?

Smells like “look libs she isn’t that bad!”

The short version is she isn't perfect on the topic and does sometimes side with the government, but it's not a lockstep thing and she has sided with the little person against law enforcement too.

[Uiiop]

US political hot take: Every territory that is sending a representative to Congress should become a state.

This means that Guam, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands should all become states. If these places are all sending representatives to the US, why should we deny them full statehood and make them effectively second class citizens?

Political Hot Take: How about you let us actually decide what we want rather than have another hundred years of dictating it from Washington?

Well in that case, What do both the individual and collective you want then?

[The Rich Port]

US political hot take: Every territory that is sending a representative to Congress should become a state.

This means that Guam, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands should all become states. If these places are all sending representatives to the US, why should we deny them full statehood and make them effectively second class citizens?

Political Hot Take: How about you let us actually decide what we want rather than have another hundred years of dictating it from Washington?

... Wouldn't becoming a state give you exactly that?

[Shrillland]

Erm...the last one was ignored because it was a PNP power grab and a sham vote with 23% turnout.

How convenient that the move that is bad for corporations and the USA's bottom line was a "sham vote".

Yeah, but if hardly anybody voted on it then it can hardly be seen as representative of the people's will.

[Organized States]

Political Hot Take: How about you let us actually decide what we want rather than have another hundred years of dictating it from Washington?

Well in that case, What do both the individual and collective you want then?

If you ask me, personally, I'm in favor of getting a Commonwealth status with evolved political powers similar to the Northern Marianas (they legally maintain their own customs territory and have a number of very specific native land rights that Guam does not and that I would like to see implemented so that my future children won't get priced out of their own island by the Department of Defense).

Most people on Guam are in favor of full statehood or a form of Free Association similar to those of Palau and the Federated States. We actually need to hold a vote, but the Federal Government has repeatedly said no.

[The Black Forrest]

Hmmm? Where is the story?

Smells like “look libs she isn’t that bad!”

The short version is she isn't perfect on the topic and does sometimes side with the government, but it's not a lockstep thing and she has sided with the little person against law enforcement too.

Interesting. The problem? If old McC and Trump want her?....She is a hard core con and thought to be a guaranteed yes vote for con causes.

[Organized States]

Political Hot Take: How about you let us actually decide what we want rather than have another hundred years of dictating it from Washington?

... Wouldn't becoming a state give you exactly that?

No. We would lose the ability to develop our own laws regarding native land holdings and regulate our own Customs Territory.

[Shrillland]

Well in that case, What do both the individual and collective you want then?

If you ask me, personally, I'm in favor of getting a Commonwealth status with evolved political powers similar to the Northern Marianas (they legally maintain their own customs territory and have a number of very specific native land rights that Guam does not and that I would like to see implemented so that my future children won't get priced out of their own island by the Department of Defense).

Most people on Guam are in favor of full statehood or a form of Free Association similar to those of Palau and the Federated States. We actually need to hold a vote, but the Federal Government has repeatedly said no.

Because then the Pentagon can't use you guys as their own Pacific pleasure playground?

[Organized States]

If you ask me, personally, I'm in favor of getting a Commonwealth status with evolved political powers similar to the Northern Marianas (they legally maintain their own customs territory and have a number of very specific native land rights that Guam does not and that I would like to see implemented so that my future children won't get priced out of their own island by the Department of Defense).

Most people on Guam are in favor of full statehood or a form of Free Association similar to those of Palau and the Federated States. We actually need to hold a vote, but the Federal Government has repeatedly said no.

Because then the Pentagon can't use you guys as their own Pacific pleasure playground?

More like my future kids will be able to own their homes so they don't get cashed out like Native Hawaiians have on O'ahu.